Reflecting on Seven Years: A Revisited Perspective
I’ve chosen to revisit this post, originally published in 2017, which was likely the second entry on this blog. Much has unfolded since then: it was my first year in the US (still thinking in getting back to Mexico), my brother was still in Mexico, the onset of Trump’s presidency, and the world was not expecting a pandemic yet. Seven years later, I’m appending Part 2 following a recent visit to San Francisco. What changes have transpired, and what might I have overlooked? Let’s delve into it.
Part 1: From Mexico to Seattle
Originally published on September 28, 2017
Every engineer aspiring to turn their hometown into a Silicon Valley should reside in one or at least consider themselves insiders.
I wish I had learned this years ago and, if not ready to move immediately, prepared for it. I can’t change the past, but I have the opportunity to alter the futures of some people — including my brother. That’s the purpose of this blog.
I moved to the US just a year ago. The transition hasn’t been painful or difficult; my partner supports me, and my dog is small enough to travel onboard. There’s a low-cost airline offering direct flights to my hometown three times a week, and I don’t have kids. Hence, as we say in Mexico, “I fell into soft” (Cai en blandito). But that doesn’t mean everything has been flawless.
With over 30 years on my human back and 15 years in my professional belt, I relocated to work for an IT company in the Greater Seattle Area. This migration is temporary, as is my visa, and I expect to return to Mexico soon… ish. But before I return, I want to equip myself with the tools needed to transform Mexico. In the past year, during the slow pursuit of those tools, I’ve realized it’s a task I can’t undertake alone — neither can you, nor the Mexican institutions.
Fortunately, the government and institutions in my hometown understand this. They’ve established incubators with ties to US-based accelerators, organized challenges, hackathons, and large-scale conferences. They invite individuals like Jon “Maddog” Hall, Wozniak, Kevin Mitnick, Akira Yamaoka, or Buzz Aldrin. They send our best and brightest (or let’s say those with specific qualifications who navigate the process better than others) for months-long internships. But that’s not enough, and sponsored programs alone will never suffice.
My hometown — the second-largest city in Mexico — boasted 113,944 graduate engineers in 2015. Most of them have at least basic English skills. But how many of these engineers can the government/institutions send abroad? My guess is just a small percentage (<1%) — a percentage that, though numerically insignificant, has made a significant impact in shaping the city’s technological landscape.
Thanks to various programs, Guadalajara (dubbed the Mexican Silicon Valley) has truly become a technological hub, a software engineering cluster housing engineering sites of big corporates like Oracle, IBM, Intel, Tata, etc., as well as new-age startups such as Wizeline, Ooyala, etc. It’s an incredible place with world-class culture, food, entertainment, people, and ample career growth opportunities.
Can you imagine if 20% of engineers could transform it with a clear vision of what they want to change? Can you imagine if 50% of engineers had the experience to avoid the same mistakes as Silicon Valley?
Living and working abroad not only involves improving language skills and acquiring new technical expertise (things one can more or less do in their home country) but also entails learning to interact with new cultures, adapting to different management styles, and fostering unconventional synergies. It’s about discerning what’s beneficial and what’s not in cities, gaining experience, and using it as a tool to avoid major mistakes, dead ends, and pitfalls. It’s only with our collective efforts that we can reshape the landscape of our cities for the common good — and, why not, for the sheer joy of it.
“The best way to learn something is to play with it."
Part 2: From Seattle to … Seattle
Well, 7 years later, I find myself still in the US. Unexpectedly, it has gradually become my home. I’ve settled down in the suburbs of Seattle, and I now have a little one to care for.
After working in downtown Bellevue for a little over a year, I interviewed and received an offer to work for Microsoft. At that time, I was still contemplating returning to Mexico. However, after a year at Microsoft (my third year in the US), we began to consider that this might be a long-term journey.
Last week, I visited San Francisco for the second time in my life, not just any Silicon Valley, but THE Silicon Valley. Driving through downtown, South SFO, Palo Alto, and Mountain View, I was still amazed by the hundreds of companies generating a tech-hub synergy. The crypto-boom and startup-boom may not be what they were a few years ago, and you can certainly notice that on the streets.
During my previous visit, I had the opportunity to visit the offices of Facebook (now Meta) and over the dinner compare the culture there with that of Microsoft. Now, I can also observe the flaws of the tech-boom, for example, the constant gentrification of neighborhoods pushing out those who cannot afford to live there, forcing them to move elsewhere or resign to perpetual renting. Tech cannot solve everything.
My brother moved to the US, specifically Los Angeles, and experienced a taste of a tech hub, albeit not quite like Seattle or San Francisco. However, something in my thoughts has shifted. I’m unsure if once an engineer moves abroad, they will consider returning. Different priorities come into play, of course. For some, family and community may represent a stronger driving force than the pursuit of tech knowledge.
The culture at companies like Microsoft, IBM, Meta, Amazon, Google, Oracle, and others is vastly different from their headquarters than in other places, even within the same country. The history, culture, synergy, but mainly the opportunities for impact, exciting projects, and tech choices are markedly different. I’ve witnessed how many projects or products at Microsoft are very Redmond-centric, even though companies have become more flexible after the pandemic. The same can be said for others, and although we now have more remote positions available all over the place, particularly for startups, the big tech hubs still dominate job listings.
Nevertheless, I am still in favor of migration. Diversity benefits both ways, enriching not only the lives of those who migrate but also those left behind in the home country and those who become part of your new team. I still believe that every engineer needs to experience a Silicon Valley, whether for making it their permanent home or simply as an enriched journey. After all, it’s through embracing new experiences and environments that we evolve, both as individuals and as a global community.