Considering a Move to Silicon Valley? It Would Be Prudent to Do Your Homework First

If you are a lawyer at a law firm contemplating opening a Silicon Valley office or a start-up contemplating moving the company to Silicon Valley,  it would be prudent to do some serious homework on what you are getting into before taking the plunge.  As many of you know, I relocated out to Silicon Valley from the Southeast sixteen years ago, and I quickly discovered how very different the culture of Silicon Valley law firms and companies was from law firms and companies in the East Coast, Northeast as well as Southeast.  The attitudes and priorities of the people working here were even more different.  At the same time, there is an entrepreneurial spirit that prevails over every aspect of the culture, and tends to infect anyone who comes and stays here, which  if understood, encouraged, and developed can be an incredible asset to an organization.  If overlooked, ignored, and discouraged, the same spirit can be equally detrimental to the success of the organization in Silicon Valley.  What makes law firms and businesses successful in Silicon Valley is more complicated than most organizations understand when they first arrive--and frankly the same could be said about professionals that come here to try their luck at building a career here.  This Tech Crunch contributor has some additional words of caution about the pitfalls of Silicon Valley for organizations looking to cash in on Silicon Valley successes:

Beware the pitfalls of Silicon Valley