Hanging out at Facebook, Google, and the Hacker Dojo
The Googleplex
Life has been good for Nemonics lately. I’m still in Silicon Valley and Nathan is in Nashville (sorry about the heat, dude). The bay continues to be an amazing experience. Last week I had lunch at the Googleplex and dinner at Facebook HQ. I got to meet MG Siegler (TechCrunch, VentureBeat), saw a lecture from Danny Hillis (Applied Minds), and explored TechShop in both Menlo Park and SOMA, SF. The startup is also making great headway with QuoteTh.is: doing our first official round of user testing, working with some killer designers to do branding, and about to bring in some UX muscle. Over at Google I met with Sam Arons, who works with the company’s greening team. From putting carbon calculations into Google Finance to buying carbon offsets to making server farms more organic, Google is involved in a deep and aggressive push to make the company more sustainable. I’ve tried, fruitlessly, in the past to get a top Googler as a guest on TreeHugger Radio to discuss such matters; maybe this is the turning point.
The Google campus itself is truly inspiring. On the outskirts of Mountain View the Googleplex stretches out at the foot of heather-colored hills. The buildings are modern and alluring, and despite their sharp edges they blend elegantly with the lush landscaping. Vines climb up steel pillars and concrete walls are covered in greenery. From where I parked I rode one of the many primary-colored bikes (made by Republic) up to the center of the Plex. The final stretch of my commute was through a sculpture garden where the faces of great ocean explorers are immortalized in granite. I was especially pleased to see Sylvia Earle, whom I’ve interview, a pioneer of the deep know affectionately as the “Sturgeon General.” (see pic at the bottom of page)
A heated flamingo/T-Rex battle at Google
At Facebook I got a tour from a Nashville native who now works on the social network’s internal UI team. Facebook is a seriously young company. The average age looked to be about 15. But the atmosphere is great: people look super busy but seem to having fun doing it. There are numerous bars tucked into various corners, hacked arcade games, a keg that will take your photo before filling your cup, secret conference (war?) rooms. Moments after walking in we passed a glass meeting room where Zuckerberg was holding council.
Everyone eats dinner in the downstairs cafeteria and the food is great. Facebook will even do your laundry if you bring it to work with you. If you want to get from point A to B and don’t feel like walking, there’s probably a Ripstick nearby. You can’t work there unless you can ride one. I almost had it figured out.
The last thing I’ll mention here is that I’ve been working sporadically at the Hacker Dojo. The Dojo is a defunct stained glass factory that is now home to hackers and all manner of startups, not to mention ground zero for numerous meetups, classes, and workshops. For $100 a month you can drop in and grab a desk or couch, guzzle coffee, and even use the 3D printer. There’s a startup working on flying machines controlled by smartphones, and Micromobs, an improvement-on-the-email-thread product. Everyone pitches in and helps make the place work, and the atmosphere is supportive and creative (though sometimes it feels like nerd’s study hall). I know there are a good number of places like this out there, but more cities should have such things.
I’ll check back in with more updates shortly. If you have any questions or want to link up and talk startups, drop me a line. jacob(at)nemonicsmedia.com
The Sturgeon General
The famous Hangar 1 on NASA’s Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA.
