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This is Your Life in Silicon Valley — Society & Culture
This is Your Life in Silicon Valley

Do you love HBO’s Silicon Valley? Do you like reading about the latest technology trends? Then you’ll love this show. Think of us as the real world/explain-it-how-it-is podcast for anyone with a Silicon Valley fetish. The Bay Area, San Francisco, and California in general are undergoing massive political and social change. We tackle issues like homelessness, the housing crisis, dating in the age of technology, startups, and other things you care about. How will it affect your life? It doesn’t matter whether you live in New York, Texas, Arkansas, Bulgaria or Latvia – you will find something applicable to your day-to-day life from this show.

And love it, or hate it the Silicon Valley/The Bay Area/California are the center of the technology universe right now. Insiders, and Valley apologists liken the Silicon Valley to Rome during the Renaissance. Others are more skeptical of the people in the Valley and their intentions. We examine life in the Valley by interviewing some of its most prominent insiders – both apologists and skeptics. We discuss the cultural quirks of living here, what to legitimately fear, what to feel excited about, and what is just plain weird.

(Image credit: Irina Blok, Producer: Max Savage (noisysavage.com).

Latest Episodes:

Don't Pay Your Water Bill? Pay the Consequences. (Guest: Tiffani Bell, The Human Utility) Oct 14, 2019

Show notes

Tiffani Bell is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur working on a not-for-profit funded by Y Combinator. Tiffani's mission? Help people pay their water bills. The consequences are direr, and the stakes are much higher than you'd think.

Tiffani is helping families in Detroit pay their water bills. You will walk away absolutely shocked with what the consequences are if you skip paying your bills - on what everyone considers to be a basic human right.

We talk to Tiffani about her journey to Silicon Valley and her first startup. Tiffani talks about her experience on a CNN show, and what it was like having cameras follow her around every hour of every day. And how the experience changed her and her perspective. We talk to Tiffani about bias in Silicon Valley and how she would explain bias in simple terms to investors and other entrepreneurs. Tiffani talks about pattern recognition being a massive driver of bias, and what the ramifications are.

Tiffani provides a detailed explanation of water rights, how they work, and how the water rights could be the next major battleground in the Bay Area.

This is a fascinating, informative episode of the podcast which may scare you a bit. Enjoy and tweet us @subes01 or @kaykas if you have future guest suggestions!

If You're So Amazing, Why Are You Still Single? (Guest: Amanda Bradford, Founder/CEO of The League) Jul 31, 2019

Show notes

We hosted our second live show in San Francisco featuring Amanda Bradford - the Founder/CEO of The League. We asked Amanda about why online dating is broken, what she thinks of all the major dating websites, and how The League's approach differs. We invite audience members to share crazy online dating stories at the end of this episode - it's a must-listen.

Amanda explains her love for data, which she developed during her time at Salesforce. She talks about Marc Benioff's influence on her life as an entrepreneur, and how she employed data to find her current boyfriend. She even goes into details behind the 'funnel' stats and how many people she had to meet in order to find her current beau. What we discover in the process is that most people constrain their preferences quite extensively.

We ask Amanda about what she thinks of other popular dating websites such as 'Bumble', which she calls a 'fake startup'. It's a provocative section of the podcast for sure which you don't want to miss. We learn about how The League filters prospective candidates, and we learn Amanda's motivations behind starting the site. We ask Amanda why people are searching for the near impossible when they date, and what it will take to find 'the one'.

We invite random audience members up on stage to discuss their online dating stories. The second story is almost too unbelievable to be true.

Silicon Valley Does Not Care About Female Founders (Guest: Lisa Fetterman, Founder/CEO, Nomiku) Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

Lisa Fetterman is here to tell it like it is. She's a gifted entrepreneur and inventor, and she cannot understand why Silicon Valley doesn't care about female founders. This is a must-listen edition of the show featuring some great insight on how to fix the diversity problem in tech.

Fetterman started her current company with her husband, and when we asked her about an anecdote about the company, we heard the horrible tale of an investor who had other intentions when he put money in the company. We hear from Lisa about how her experience is fairly common, but it's what motivates her ultimately.

Lisa shout-outs some of her favorite female founders (including Jessica Scorpio from Getaround, and Sara Mauskopf from Winnie. We hear about the groups that Lisa runs, and what female founders say about VCs and male founders when they are not in the room.

We learn the ultimate, and easiest solution to fix the diversity problem Silicon Valley is plagued with. A lot of ground covered on this episode, so please do give it a listen!

Are Smartphones Actually That Bad For You? (Guest: Tim Kendall, CEO of Moment, Former President of Pinterest) May 23, 2019

Show notes

Tim Kendall is a Silicon Valley OG. Tim ran monetization at Facebook, and later became Head of Product At Pinterest (and eventually President). Tim is responsible for thinking through products that impact our lives on a daily basis. His latest mission is to get people to use their smartphones less through an app called Moment.

We talk to Tim about how he ended up joining Facebook, his meeting with Peter Thiel, and what he worked on in the early days of the company. Tim met Eric Schmidt through a Stanford lunch that very few others attended, which is what ultimately led to this life and career changing opportunity. We ask Tim about the Chris Hughes NYT OpEd and his opinion on the matter. Tim talks about whether Facebook knew what it would be capable of in the early days, and what it was like in DT Palo Alto back in the day.

Tim talks about Pinterest and why it gets less media scrutiny than other competitors in the social media space. He talks about Pinterest's culture, and it's ability to respond to crises such as the anti-vax hoaxes that were being spread on the platform in the not-too-distant past.

We spend a lot of time asking Tim why he decided to focus on a company that tries to get people to use smartphones less given that he built some of the technologies that actually make us want to use our phones more. His answers may suprise you. We ask Tim about the growing movement of people in the Valley sounding the alarm about smartphone usage.

Please check out this must-listen episode of the podcast.

Will it Take a Natural Disaster for People to Like Silicon Valley Again? (Guest: Susan MacTavish Best) May 15, 2019

Show notes

Susan MacTavish Best is a San Francisco cultural icon. Originally from Scotland and Canada, MacTavish worked in the PR business and got to know some of technology's top executives since the 90s. MacTavish now splits time between San Francisco, New York and London, and has a starkly unique perspective on how life in the Bay Area has changed in recent decades.

Susan talks about her time in San Francisco in the 90s, her move to India, and her view of life in San Francisco vs. New York vs. LA vs. London. Susan is famous for her dinner parties, but we learn that she is surprisingly an introvert.

We ask Susan what it takes to become a cultural figure in San Francisco, and ask her to share some of the prominent guests she's hosted at her house (from Michael Pollan to the Founders of Yelp). 'Salons' are becoming trendy in part because of Susan's influence. We ask Susan how they became a thing, and about her upcoming book wherein Susan will be branded as the 'Marie Kondo' of salons.

We talk to Susan about the growing rift between media and tech's elite, and ask her for her opinion on what it will take to fix San Francisco's PR crisis. Her answer will definitely surprise you, but is absolutely thought provoking.

Enjoy this wide-ranging conversation from one of San Francisco's most beloved cultural figures. You'll listen to the episode and feel like being invited to Susan's house for a salon.

Do You Prefer Starbucks, Blue Bottle, or Philz? (Guests: Philz Coffee CEO Jacob Jaber, Techcrunch Reporter Kate Clark) May 09, 2019

Show notes

Special episode alert! Techcrunch reporter Kate Clark sent a tweet out about how she hates Philz Coffee. We decided to bring her on the show with Philz CEO Jacob Jaber to convince her otherwise. Hilarity ensued.

Kate's tweet said she 'hated Philz more than Starbucks'. Co-host Sunil decided to reach out on the thread since he is a Philz fan and tag the official Philz corporate account along with CEO Jacob Jaber. Jaber agreed to join Sunil, Jascha and Kate for a special edition of the show.

Jacob served Kate, Sunil and Jascha special drinks before the show to convince Kate that she just had a bad experience in the past. To begin with, Kate shares her thoughts about the drinks she tasted, and compares them to her favorite coffee beverage at Starbucks (iced vanilla latte). She also talks about her pre-disposition to love Starbucks because of its brand.

Clark talks about her journey from Seattle to San Francisco and her relatively recent arrival to San Francisco. While Jaber talks about how he was born in South San Francisco and can't envision living in another region. Jaber explains the number of varities of Philz drinks that are possible.

The guests talk about different regions, their favorite Twitter accounts, and whether they are optimistic about the future of San Francisco. The answers will likely surprise you.

Jaber essentially plays customer service rep as Kate talks about her frustration around the Philz queuing system.

This is a hilarious special edition of the podcast that you don't want to miss.

Is Homelessness Easier To Solve Than We Think? (Guest: Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Oakland) Mar 11, 2019

Show notes

The podcast is growing. So we decided to take it to the next level by hosting our first ever live event - in San Francisco - where we hosted Oakland's charismatic mayor Libby Schaaf. We were nervous that we'd screw up somehow and forget to hit the 'record' button, but thankfully the conversation is intact. Mayor Schaaf is a great, great interview - for longtime listeners - or first-time listeners - this episode is a great place to start on our podcast. We cover a lot of ground - including homelessness, the 2020 Presidential Race, Sports, and more.

We spoke to Mayor Schaaf about her view of the 2020 race, and which candidate she's supporting. We speculate on which tech CEOs may be considering a 2020 run, and spend some time talking about both sides of Prop C (Mayor Schaaf weighs in on the Jack vs. Benioff debate). We talk extensively about the growing homeless problem in San Francisco, and what Oakland is doing to address the issue.

We talk to Mayor Schaaf about the recent Oakland Teachers' strike and the numerous strikes that occurred around the country. What does the future hold in terms of country-wide strikes? How can the issue of underpaid teachers be solved? We ask the Mayor about this and more.

Of course, we talk sports - the Warriors, the Raiders (cough) and the A's. What does the future of professional sports look like in Oakland, and what's the Mayor's view of each team? We get very candid takes from the Mayor on each of the teams.

We try to convince Mayor Schaaf to share her favorite two Oakland restaurants, and we find some compromise. The event was hosted at The Battery in San Francisco.

Special thanks to El Sur Restaurant, Erica Terry Derryck, Carissa Torres-Cruz, Tyler Hafer, Max Savage, Marianne Despres, Colleen Curlin, Stacy Horne, The Battery and others for supporting this episode.

Can Theater Survive in the Age of Instagram? (Guests: Pam MacKinnon and Andy Donald, American Conservatory Theater) Jan 24, 2019

Show notes

Pam MacKinnon is a Tony Award-winning Director. She's spent decades atop the theater world, directing shows on and off-Broadway. Andy Donald is a west-coast native but has spent recent years on the East Coast as an artistic director. Both are now part of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco (as Artistic Director and Associate Artistic Director respectively). But what is it like running a high profile theater in the technology epicenter of the universe?

We talk to Pam and Andy about their journeys to San Francisco, their times on the East Coast and the ongoing SF/LA rivalry. We have a deep conversation about what it's like to run a show to audiences with short attention spans who are looking at smartphones constantly. What does theater need to do in order to evolve to the Instagram age? What about the arts scene in San Francisco? Andy and Pam pontificate on both and describe what it's like to be in San Francisco at this day/age and time.

We talk about the American Conservatory Theater, its mission, and its most recent show (listener note - this episode was recorded last year, and the show discussed during the interview is not currently running). If you're into the arts, theater, and looking for insight on where it's all headed, this episode is for you. It's a fascinating discussion.

Should You Tweet About Your Meditation Retreat to Myanmar? (Guest: Jessica Powell, Author, Former Head of Communications at Google) Jan 22, 2019

Show notes

Jessica Powell ran communications at Google. She's now a bestselling author. We asked Jessica - who has seen her fair share of PR crises over the years - how she would handle communications issues facing some of the top tech companies in the world. You might be surprised where she stands on various issues plaguing some of technology's top players.

We asked her about Jack Dorsey's now infamous 'tweetstorm' about his meditation retreat to Myanmar and her reaction to it. We examined the broad spectrum of reactions that played out on social media.

We dig into Jessica's journey to San Francisco, which started in sunny So Cal, and the 'fake' Los Angeles San Francisco rivalry. Jessica dishes on some of her favorite athletes and sports teams.

As a communications exec, we had the opportunity to ask Jessica how she would handle PR crises at Facebook. And what was inherently different about Facebook and Google culture. We also asked Jessica about where change needs to occur at these companies - whether regulation will work, or how lasting change will really take place.

Jessica talks about why she began writing satire, and how people reacted to it. She talks about her recent interview on Fox News with Tucker Carlson and what that experience was like. Enjoy this broad, amazing interview with one of tech's top marketing execs!

Why Does Uber Get Such Bad Press? (Guest: Mike Isaac, Technology Reporter, New York Times) Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

Mike Isaac is in charge of covering Uber for the New York Times. He’s covered the company extensively for the past several years and is publishing what will be considered the definitive book on the company. He’s also hilarious on Twitter.

We host Mike and ask him how press leaks occur - what the anatomy of a press leak is and how information gets communicated (and why). Mike explains why leaks are sometimes just symptoms of much larger problems at companies. We also have a long chat about journalism in general, and how stories inevitably lead to other stories.

We speak extensively with Mike about Uber - and why the company receives such bad press relative to its competitors. We talk about his upcoming book, the Uber IPO, and what he would ask Travis Kalanick if he agreed to a sit-down interview.

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