Silicon Valley Business Etiquette: 9 Important Rules

“In France, 17 century manners were a matter of political importance. King Louis XIV and his predecessors, gathering all the knowledge of France under the roof of Versailles, practically established a school of manners.

The courtiers lived in the palace under the despotic supervision of the king. If you didn’t please Louis, the next day he just “will not see you”. And when the king himself “doesn’t see you,” they practically cease to reckon with you at Versailles.

Modern manners - and the official rules of the protocols, and unwritten, but widely embedded in the everyday culture of the rules (such as table behavior) - are more likely a way not to offend other people. You control yourself so that others will not be unpleasant to you. ”

Margaret Visser

Yes, the etiquette of Versailles was just awful. To enter the king, for example, it was impossible to knock on his door — only to scrape the little finger of his left hand with a fingernail. That is why many courtiers grew this nail longer than others. Another strange rule - the door was opened only by the gatekeeper. If he was not there, he had to stand and wait until he appeared to leave the room.

Nightmare. But replace “Louis” with “Big potential corporate client” or “Talent”, and get: “If you don’t please the Big Potential Corporate Client / Talent, he won’t see you the next day. ” Do you agree?

Author of this Medium material, Romain Serman, has been living in Silicon Valley for almost 7 years. According to him, he, a Frenchman, made many mistakes. For example, elegantly dressed at the first meeting in Google, including, put on a tie. The guys from Google did not immediately realize that he was not a limousine driver.

Yes, in Silicon Valley also exists Etiquette. You could even say that such Etiquette exists wherever people do business. But in the Valley - its own culture. And when foreigners come to San Francisco, they believe that just because people here are like them, the same rules as at home work in communicating with them.

BUT NO. As in any other region, Silicon Valley has its own rules. Their goal is to lubricate the gears of the social mechanism so that as few people as possible suffer from them. The principles that are of particular importance here are Efficiency, Respect and Communication. And they are inscribed in a specific code of conduct.

Below are the rules of conduct in Silicon Valley. If you stick to them, "The king will meet with you the next day. ”. If not - "you will no longer be reckoned with in Silicon Versailles. ”

Rule # 1: Come to meetings on time.

Фото: Depositphotos

Arriving on time is a signal. We live in an environment of insufficient information. People know little or nothing about you. To add up about you at least some impression, they use any signals from you. If you are late, this signals 3 points:

• You are not organized. Would you like to deal with promiscuous people? You do not need to talk about traffic jams on the 101 highway - of course, there are traffic jams, but there are applications with traffic data.
• You do not respect the person. "Sorry, my previous meeting was delayed." That is: “You may also have a meeting after me, but what do I care your graphics". This is disrespectful.
• You can not be trusted. By negotiating a meeting, we conclude our first deal. You just broke it.

It sounds bad. In Silicon Valley you either come on time or have no business with you. If you are late for some reason, and this happens, send a message at least 20 minutes before the meeting with the words:

• If you are late for 10 minutes: “I'll be late for X minutes, I hope, not scary. I apologize ”(I will be X mn late, hope it's fine. All my apologies);
• If you are late for a longer period: “I apologize, I do not have time. I'm going to be late for at least 10 minutes. Maybe we should postpone our meeting? ”(All my apologies, I’m at least 10 mn late. Should we reschedule our meeting?).

Coming on time is so important that a venture capital firm in California penalizes its employees for $ 10 every minute they are late for a meeting with entrepreneurs. For the company this is a question, first of all, respect for the.

Incidentally, to arrive on time is to be in place for 3-4 minutes before the meeting.

Rule # 2: Answer the letters a day.

Respond to received emails no later than a few hours. The answer on the same day is the norm, the next day - wherever it goes. The answer in 24 hours and more after receiving is already a problem. This is again a signal. In this case, that:

• You control your work
  
• You respond quickly. This is good.
• What the sender wrote to you important to you. You give a person sense of importance. It is strong.

Rule №3: Ask permission to meet

You can not do anything without valuable links and a serious base of contacts. This applies even to foreign entrepreneurs arriving in the Valley - although they, it would seem, cannot know anyone here. Dating to business people is the same as gasoline for a car: you cannot go far without them.

Dating is one of the most regulated by the code of conduct of the etiquette of Silicon Valley. Basic principles:

• The acquaintance should be useful for all parties: those who represent and those who represent each other. Successful people cannot spend their valuable time getting to know unnecessary people.
• Can not force meeting people is unproductive and can be harmful instead of good.

There is an 2 dating script.

• John wants to introduce Paul Helene. First, John asks Paul if he wants to be introduced to Helena. Then John asks Helen if she would like to meet Paul. If both agree, John introduces them to each other.
• Paul wants to be introduced to Helene. Paul asks John if he can imagine him. Paul briefly explains the context, the purpose and why Helene might be interested. At best, Paul sends John a letter to use for the presentation (see Rule No. 4 below). If John doesn't mind, he asks Helena for permission to meet Paul.

It sounds trite, but not all use this rule. Permission to meet provides the opportunity for the other party refuse From him. If you can't accept it, don't start.

Rule # 4: Write letters to the 3 item

Фото: Depositphotos

People have very little time. The CEO, directors, top managers, all. A poorly written letter is like a message in a bottle: throw it into the water and pray that it does not fall on the deserted shore.

Your messages must be succinct (3 clause, maximum 5 lines), understandable (in order to hear you do not need to have a PhD in philosophy) and accurate (data, data and data, see Rule No. 8 below).

The letter on the 3 item looks like this:

• What do you do? (2 stitches).
• Why is it worth the attention? (2 stitches).
• What do you want? (1 line).

And that's it! Interesting statistics: directors of venture firms spend on reading a slide presentation, on average, 3 minutes 44 seconds. They probably allocate no more than 30 seconds to the letter.

Rule # 5: Maintain Good Karma

According to the author of the material, Good Karma is the basis of the culture of Silicon Valley. This means that if you do something good, then good things will happen to you. Be full of Good Karma. Be full of Gratitude. Say thank you to people. Someone introduced you to someone, and it benefited you? Thank him! Write a letter of thanks and tell how this relationship has evolved. If nothing happened, thank you all the same. If you help, help in response. Give away people as much as you can. You will see, as far as magically this behavior.

Rule # 6: Hold meetings either for 15 minutes by phone, or 30 / 60 minutes in person

This is where the protocol rules begin. Someone once said, "People who like to spend time in meetings should not manage anything. ”.

Meetings are 3 types:

• 15 minute call. This is a great format for a first acquaintance, for providing context for the next meeting or for discussion. one irrelevant issue.
• 30 minute or 60 minute face-to-face meeting. The difference is in the essence of the issues that need to be discussed. If you have enough minutes for discussion on 30, why demand and take another person away for an hour? If you ask for a “30-minute meeting,” it will signal that you are familiar with this system. Respect

Vinod Khosla, the founder of several companies, divides his workday into 15 slots each minute. Perhaps it takes effort, but productive people are incredibly organized.

15, 30, 60. It's simple. If you have agreed on an 15 minute call, hang up after 15 minutes. If you have an appointment for an hour, after an hour you get up and leave. It's really easy.

Rule # 7. Do not be afraid to speak with an accent

Фото: Depositphotos

Many successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs speak with an accent. 52% of US startups with a market value above $ 1 billion were co-founded with immigrants (in the first or second generation). Immigration is one of the key engines for the prosperity of this region.

So being a foreigner is not scary. Remember: There is nothing wrong with the accent. Bad - do not speak English. To succeed, you must be able to explain - exactly, in detail and with nuances. Improving English should be a priority from the first day of being here. Otherwise, at some point you will feel discriminated against yourself.

And one more thing.

Some American words differ slightly in meaning from what they learned in school. For example:

“What you are doing is great”! (What you do is awesome!).
Translate: “You are OK”.

"Your product is normal" (Your product is OK).
Translate: “Sludge product. I won't buy it for sure. ”

“Thank you, wonderful meeting” (Thanks, we had a great meeting).
Translate: "Thank you for coming".

“Thank you for the meeting. Let's plan a second one and connect other people ”(Thanks for the meeting. Let's do it again).
Translate: "It was interesting. We want to get to know you better. ”

Repeated meeting is the best feedback you can get. Forget the rest.

Rule # 8: Data or Death

In Silicon Valley, you can use stilted, nice words. Your product is “the best in the world,” your technology is “unique,” ​​your team is “world class,” your profits are “growing by leaps and bounds,” and the market for your product is “huge.” In short, you will “change the world for the better.” But it is better to remove these words from your vocabulary and from your presentations.

People are interested in data. There is nothing better, clearer, more objective and comparable than the data. This is all "unique" and "world class" is better to show with numbers, not words. Types of data are different, they are applicable to different businesses and stages of development of the company. But in any case, forget about adverbs in superlatives. Replace them with data.

Rule # 9: Tell a story

This is one of the most difficult skills and depends largely on the education received. The skill of storytelling is incredibly valuable and very important in Silicon Valley (and in any other place). It is an effective way to win people's attention and raise awareness.

This is the best way to sell your product.

And this is the essence - you need to be in a seller's condition all the timeday and night Want to hire a talented person? You have to sell your vision. Do you communicate with the client? You have to sell your product, obviously. Looking for an investor? You sell a part of your company. Are you dating a journalist? She needs to sell you to her readers.

In other words, every attempt to sell yourself must contain a story. A good story connects you (your product) with something big.. This may be a mission. Maybe an emotion. Maybe the way. But anyway, other people should be involved. History is a well thought out scenario. This is a missile. With the exact goal.

It is difficult to tell stories. This is art. This is a process. It takes effort. But if you want to come to the Valley, get ready to tell good, fascinating stories. Everybody does it. Remember, you are not far from Hollywood - in a kind Technovud.

If the tips seem obvious to you, then they do not seem to be, they are so. But just so, according to experience, you need to behave in Silicon Valley.

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