blogbus – Day one – Why are we here?

Orange has flown a group of bloggers to the Bay Area of America to discover Silicon Valley and San Francisco’s particular brand of the American Dream.

We’re here to find out how this area continues to innovate and produce some of the world’s richest companies.

We want to know how they do it. What are the systems, processes, institutions and personalities behind the continued phenomenal success of this area?

To find out we’re visiting an impressive array of businesses, institutions and personalities. We’re going to ask them to show us what they do, how they do it and why doing it here in the Valley is better than elsewhere.

I’ve already witnessed one of their secrets. Hard work. Yesterday, Sunday, we contacted a couple of companies to see if we could arrange a last minute visit. Both of them replied – and we quickly had all the arrangements made to come and see them. Try that almost anywhere else in the Western World and you’d have been very unlikely to get a reply of any kind until at least Monday morning (if at all).

The fact that these people were available on a Sunday, and able to make quick decisions and arrangements to see us, says everything.

Lesson number one: To be like the Valley you’ve got to be ready to work, and hard, anytime you need to.

Lesson number two: Move fast and be decisive.

I like this place already…