Juan David's Newsletter - May 16, 2021
First Year of College, Startup Cities, and Roommate.
Hi there,
Freshmen year is over, which means summer is here 😎. My first year was characterized by meaningless pressure/fear to get into the engineering school (still in the process), engaging in scientific research, and a very thoughtful and reflective year about my goals and ways of living.
To my surprise, college was quite transformative because of how much your values, principles, and sense of self are challenged and put to test. College can either make you or break you. You can get lost or discover more about yourself.
Well, I won’t be back on campus until August so I’ll worry about those things later.
My summer plans? Summer classes (yeah, I know! Thrilling), working on a couple of projects that hopefully get traction over the next few weeks and particularly excited to have more time (theoretically) to work and tinker with random things.
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This week’s essay is about why we shouldn’t be worried about creating startup cities, and how to create a system where the cities can create themselves by focusing on the “What Should I Do with My Life?” question.
Let Startup Cities Create Themselves
If you prefer, you can read this essay on my website.
Many cities have tried to create Silicon Valley 2.0. They’ve tried and no one has really succeeded. This time might be different as the new rise of the “startup cities,” like Austin and Miami, continues to develop. Instead of talking about creating the next startup city. Let’s talk about the most important question every human asks themselves, the “What Should I Do with My Life?” question.
What does this question have to do with startup cities? Silicon Valley’s secret sauce is talent. The unique accumulation of top ambitious talent of engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs who wanted to build the future. That’s Silicon Valley.
We shouldn’t be concerned about trying to create these hubs. We should be more worried about what made these “talented” people talented, and what made them gather in one specific area.
This is because of the equilibrium between talent and vocation.
A new experience for me was having a roommate, and my roommate, Ayush, was such a great dude. We were both super focused and hard-working and woke up early (yes waking up early is important for me).
My favorite memory was playing soccer 1-1 at 7 am on a random rainy Wednesday morning (I won both games but I’ll give you the first one. कान के निचे दुँगा एक!).
Ciao,
Juan David Campolargo