[Silicon Valley]… It’s not a place and it’s not even an organization. It’s a mindset.
– Jan Sandred
Jan Sandred, from the country known as the Kingdom of Sweden, has been a journalist for 23 years. After studying chemistry and mathematics, he was recruited from his job on the student newspaper to work for an IT publication where he worked for 17 years. In an interview, we spoke about the types of drivers motivating start-ups he’s interested in as it pertains to his work, real versus “wanna be” journalism, privacy online, and some of the differences between the U.S. and Sweden. Jan is reserved and polite, President of the Chamber Choir of Uppsala Cathedral, and at the same time, an opinionated journalist, a social conscience innovator, and a punk rocker.
Jan Sandred interview (Part 1 of 2)
Jan Sandred interview (Part 2 of 2)
He now works for VINNOVA (The Swedish National Agency for Innovation Systems), as described on their web site, is:
a State authority that aims to promote growth and prosperity throughout Sweden. Their goal is to create growth by funding and eventually supporting commercializing in any given industry based on “needs-driven” research.
What is needs-driven research versus “curiosity-driven”? Jan answers the question.
VINNOVA focuses on “innovation systems”, and are presently investing $280 million in companies and research. Frustrated with a telepresence model of attending conferences, Jan says nothing replaces “being there”, so while 40% of the start-ups here are founded by non-U.S. entrepreneurs, ½ of the venture capitalists are here on Sand Hill Road and he says, he really needs to be here.
Once a punk rocker, he was in a band called the “N-Liners” (the N stands for natural sciences) with 3 PhD’s in the band. Physics, Biology, and Zoology which played together from ’78 – ’82. Watch the video for more pix.
Sweden has roughly the population of the state of Georgia, just over 9 million. They are a socialist country, with the highest taxes in the world, and they take a different approach on health care and education. They are the Sandals Resorts of the world. Seldom do the Swedes need to ask themselves, “Where are my taxes going?”
Does this make for the differences in culture between Stockholm and Palo Alto? Compared to the U.S., Sweden stands above us in other ways as well. Sweden has avoided participation in any war for almost two centuries. The U.S. as most are painfully aware, have had and has a strong hand in every major war. On the CIA’s website under “transnational issues”, Sweden is listed as having none. For the U.S., the list starts with arguments between the U.S. and countries all over the world over land and sea ownership. The list goes on; illegal refugees, and illicit drugs. The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of cocaine, heroin and marijuana, ecstasy, methamphetamine, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and we’re a major laundering center. Maybe the hallucinogens have affected some of our decisions, here.
In 2004 Jan joined with Stanford University’s Innovation Journalism (InJo) program in Palo Alto, California. As part of his relationship with InJo, he was engaged to run the program back home in Sweden which he did from 2005 – 2009. He selected journalism fellows and conducted building activities for the group at VINNOVA. Now the program is run at Linne University in Sweden.
Related links:
Jan Sandred interview (Part 1)
http://amiestreet.com/music/collegium-cantorum/
http://www.facebook.com/jansandredJan Sandred interview
Lisa Padilla is the CEO of a marketing agency in Silicon Valley, co-founder of Grabbit.net, and editor and host of Lisacast.com, a media and technology show. She has spent most of her career with technology companies or showing other companies how to use technology.
Born in San Francisco and raised in Marin, she has always been surrounded by open-minded people unafraid to be different, try new things, and fail sometimes. Lisa has taken on the largest brands, the most finicky clients, with the high expectations of taking ideas and turning them into businesses.
In doing so, she’s learned that power wielded just for the sake of power is wasted energy, and so to find meaning in the projects we take on, the work we do in our lives is the ultimate goal, even if it means wholesale changes to the friends and colleagues you are with today.
The things that are meaningful to her are cultural behavior, the adoption and exposure to technology, to other cultures, and what it means to the world, not just Silicon Valley. She writes for We Blog the World because she wants to share in the story-telling of adaptation of cultures, real stories based on real things. As she says: “Knowledge is shared, truth reigns, and we can all evolve together”.
