Day 2: Why am I Here?

It's day two of the trip (travel days do count, in my opinion), and I've already been forced to confront the ever-present, existential question, "why am I here?" Though, the question wasn't posed in an existential, "why are we on earth" kind of way. We were asked that by John Rauser, our host at Snapchat, and it's been sitting in the back of my head all day. But more on that later.

Day two... Begin!

As all good days tend to do, this one started with breakfast.

I promise I'm not as tired as I look

Yesterday we were all too tired to try to find a grocery store for breakfast foods, so a couple of us decided to go out for breakfast. Luckily, Macrina Bakery is right next to our condos, so we didn't have to walk far to get our caffeine fix. Mine was in the form of a chai tea, accompanied by a ham and cheese brioche roll. Both were highly tasty. Definitely a recommendation.

Onward to Snapchat!

After breakfast, our travel group reconvened to travel out to our first visit: Snapchat. We met with Josh Rauser, a friend of Brad's from a former company. We didn't get to look around too much, but we did see the extensive complimentary food selection that Snapchat offers its employees. Josh was kind enough to talk to us for a couple hours, telling us all about his career path and trying to find where he really wanted to be. One thing that came up as we talked was the value of failure. Obviously failure is something that everyone shies away from, which is understandable. After all, it's far easier to succeed than to fail, and it feels so much better too. But that's exactly why learning how to fail is important. Now, this doesn't mean learning how to intentionally screw something up. Rather, it refers to coping with failure. Failure is inevitable in life. Eventually, you will screw up. The best you can hope is that when you do, it doesn't cause massive problems. However, the value of failure is not in falling down, it's in getting back up again. Sometimes your solution was flawed and you need to solve the problem a different way. Sometimes you've totally wasted your time and need to walk away from the project you've been dedicating your time to. Both are all right. As Adam Savage famously said, "Failure is always an option." Try to rectify your mistakes, but if you can't, it's fine to move on.

Yes, I did take this using Snapchat.

Why am I here?

The other thing that Jeff said that stuck with me was the question he posed to us, "what do you want from this trip?" Or, in other words, "why are you here?" Everyone seemed a little surprised at the question, and as we went around the table giving our answers, everyone's was different. Some people wanted to learn tips on how to start a new business. Others wanted to hear stories from people in the "real world" and learn about and from the mistakes they've made or encountered. Obviously there's the rather banal answer of, "I needed the J2 credit to graduate." But that doesn't answer the question. To be perfectly honest, I'm not particularly entrepreneurially minded. I have no aspirations of going out and starting the next Google. So why was I on a trip designed to specifically look at entrepreneurship? It's not a simple answer. To some extent, it does come down to the fact that spending January on the West Coast seems pretty nice compared to spending it in Decorah. But there's more to it than that. I want to see a variety of companies, to get a feel for how they operate and their company culture. I want to hear people's stories on how they got started in the tech world, what advice they wish they would have known, and what mistakes they've made. I want to know how to not just be a better employee, but to use my time in a way that will be valuable to me when I look back. It's not a simple answer, but I want to learn. Josh told us that sometimes when people ask a question, you have to answer not just the question they asked, but they question they were trying to ask. Hopefully, somewhere in the jumbled up string of wants that I have for this trip is the answer to the question. But, like any unresolved issue, I'm sure I'll keep thinking about it over the next three weeks.

Tourism, ho!

Snapchat was certainly an interesting visit, but by the time we got out of our meeting, we were all pretty hungry. Being in the heart of downtown Seattle, there is no dearth of options for lunch, so we split off to find sustenance. Being that we were only a few blocks from the renowned Pike Place Market (and we had a recommendation from Josh of a bar-b-que place there), myself, Jacob Schwartz, Ryan Simon, and Matt Deetz decided to head down and scope it out.

Pike's Pit Bar-B-Que, in close proximity to the flying fish

We ended up walking through the market until we found what we were looking for: Pike's Pit Bar-B-Que. They have a variety of offerings, but I settled on a walkabout bowl, which is beans, coleslaw, and meat (in my case, sliced beef) in a to-go container. Another recommended option for mealtime fare.

And I thought I had a big head.

Of course, no meal is complete without dessert,and we happened to be right next to Pike's Place Bakery, and they happened to be having a special on their "Texas" donuts. So naturally, the four of us decided to split one (after some coercing). 

Cheers!

Another culinary success. Since we had some spare time before regrouping for our afternoon visit, we decided to take in the market. It seems like everyone is willing to share (multiple) samples, and I enjoyed trying the variety around the market. Notable samples include a blackberry vinegar and a spicy jam called "Death Valley" (it wasn't really that spicy though). I'm looking forward to a possible return visit when I don't have to pack as light so that I can but full versions of these.

It's a little rainy, but it's Seattle

(from left to right, Matt, Ryan, Jacob, and myself)

Off to DomainTools

Our afternoon visit was to a small company called DomainTools. I'm pretty sure none of us had heard of them before today, but they're a very interesting company. Long story short, they keep a database of domain names and histories around them, including owner, risk threat, and associates. All this data can be used by many different entities in order to provide some preventative threat assessment. Cyber security is a huge area of interest to me, so I really enjoyed getting a chance to see what one option looked like out in the job realms. We got to talk to several people from the company, including CEO Timothy Chen and CTO Bruce Roberts. The theme of mistakes came up again, and along with it came the idea of being hungry. Not physically hungry, of course, but intellectually hungry. It's important in the tech world to be intellectually hungry and constantly on the lookout for new things to learn and areas to improve. Don't just be a valuable employee, be an invaluable employee. Look out for opportunities and follow them relentlessly. But do your best to always be passionate about what you're doing. Timothy Chen talked about the early days of starting a company, and mentioned that there will always be ups and downs. The important thing is keeping your drive and your passion in order to push through those rough patches. It's good career advice in general. There will be days when you aren't enjoying what you're doing for one reason or another. But if you're passionate about what you're working on, you'll be able to keep going. He also mentioned to us that we should always be looking to improve and learn more. Complacency breeds stagnation. I imagine that is true especially in the cyber security world. 

The gear logo actually spins in the DomainTools office

The Three Investments

The last piece of advice we got was passed down from several generations, "invest in good shoes, a good bed, and a good car." The advice is not necessarily literal, though good shoes, a good bed, and a good car are all nice things to have. The point was to invest in the important thing--the things that you need to get up every day and go to do your best work. Those things won't be the same for everyone. For me it might be a good computer, a good bed (because sleep is important, despite what my freshman-year roommate might think), and a comfy sweatshirt. The point is that you should focus on the important things, and let the unimportant ones fall by the wayside. Nobody ever got ahead by investing in good toothpaste.

L to R: Ryan, Eric, Matt, Tyler, Jacob, and myself

Dinner and Shopping

We had a remarkable visit at DomainTools, and the folks there were highly generous with their time (did I mention I got to shake CEO Timothy Chen's hand?), but every meeting must come to an end, and with that end came the end of our scheduled day. After a quick change into something more comfortable, a small group of us went out in search of dinner, as well as a place to buy groceries. As we were walking, our eyes caught the sign for the Belltown Pub. After a cursory glance at the menu, we decided to top in for a quick bite. We were still in time for happy hour, so we all got some moderately priced meals. I ordered chicken and waffles, but unfortunately their waffle maker broke. Ah well, no day can be perfect. I ended up getting a cheeseburger and fries, which was still enjoyable. After dinner, we went back down to Pike Place Market, though by the time we got there, the shops were closed. Still, we got to take in the view of the sound at night, including a fully lit Ferris Wheel.

It looks better in person

After enjoying the cool Seattle night air for a bit, we found a Target and stopped in to pick up some groceries--namely breakfast supplies and materials for dinner tomorrow (stay tuned!). By the time we got back we were all pretty tired, and decided to call it for the night. Tomorrow: a visit to Amazon and an attempt at making dinner.