All posts by Lisa

What it’s like to be a Silicon Valley correspondent

By Lisa in Career, English, Living · May 28, 2013 · 4 comments

Nobody ever asks me that question. No one ever asks reporters any questions because they’re way too concerned about getting their story out. So since no one ever asked, I’m happy to write it down for you.

To long to read: It’s a beautiful struggle (just like the rest of my life).

One of my editors recently told me it looks like things are going great in San Francisco according to my status updates. I feel kind of bad that I left that impression. Not everything’s all that shiny. Actually most of it isn’t. But a lot of people pretend it is. When I mentioned the other day that sometimes I feel a void now that I’ve reached my life goal of moving to San Francisco and don’t know what’s next to come, quite some people reached out to me to tell me they were feeling the same way. The reason why I write this personal post is just that – remind people that they are not alone.

The Arrival

Unlike every other person I know who moved here recently, I didn’t relocate to be in Silicon Valley, be part of the startup scene, call myself an entrepreneur. I’ve had this dream of moving here ever since I was 21 when I first lived here for a couple of months. Whenever I touch down in San Francisco, my soul feels like it finally has arrived where it’s supposed to be. It’s hard to explain, but other SF lovers wrote beautiful songs about it. So doing tech reporting is really just a means to make all of this happen for me.

Also, I am a news junkie and when I visited back in November, I realized the future is happening here. As a journalist, that’s probably the best thing that can happen to you. I want to tell the world what’s happening here.Though I didn’t move here to party with 20 year-old developers (with all due respect, I’m just too old for that). And I didn’t move here to report on your new app that’s putting fancy filters on your photos. I came here to cover a revolution, get the bigger picture. Quite frankly, 70 per cent of what’s happening here feels overhyped to me and makes me yawn. But catching the 30 per cent of brillance is what makes being here so awesome.

In the first weeks I felt somewhat pushed into a role. When you get here, you need to hit the tech scene, you need to meet this guy and that founder. When really all I wanted to do is sip tea and reconnect with old friends, meet amazing people and write interesting stories about them. Luckily, I realized that I don’t need to play any role and since I am a natural born loner, I’d much rather be lonely than being someone else. So yes, the first couple of weeks I was lonely – and still am.

The People

As a reporter, a lot of people first and foremost see a way to get their story out when they meet you. After all, they are the very disruptive entrepreneur fixing whatever it is that is “broken” and you’re the journalist who’s supposed to be happy to pick up that story. Also, some of the expats from my home country seem to act like little boys in the candy store. I met 40-somethings who were all overjoyed because everything is “so super awesome and super easy here”. Well, for the rest of San Francisco who doesn’t work in tech and doesn’t make 100+k, it’s not that easy here. In fact, the locals I know here don’t live in any of the hip districts. Because outside the tech boom, making ends meet can be a struggle. The thing is, as awesome as all the smart brains here are, most of the entrepreneurs and tech workers are living in a bubble. If you’ve ever picked up the local news, you’d probably read a piece or two about what the tech boom is doing to the city. People, you are not superstars. The least you can do is give back to the community.

A lot of people who relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area were sponsored by their employers, or had some investments that made moving here easier. As a self-employed journalist, I don’t get any of that. I’m not complaining here because this was my choice and it’s the one I’m most proud of in my life. Also, you do get a lot of free stuff as a journalist. On the other hand, I did pay for conference tickets that I was going to report on and then the editor never ran the story. Being a Silicon Valley correspondent is the most risky investment I ever made. And while most people I interview are telling me how they’ve just raised some 100k for an app that does whatever, I fight over 10 Euros with clients. I probably make a third of what a developer in the bay area makes (I don’t even know, I don’t even want to think about it until I have to do my taxes).

So yes, it was all my choice. But it’s just frustrating having people tell you how things are super smooth and how raising money is so easy when you’re constantly struggling. There are so many articles out there about how entrepeneur’s life is so tough. I deserve to say how a reporter’s life is so tough. Did I mention I am lonely?

The Work

Most of my time I’m not actually working but figuring out what I’m gonna work on next. Work is the best part of my life here – it is after all the reason that got me here. But just like everyone else who’s just starting a new business, I’m not nearly where I want to be yet. I’ve stopped beating myself up for that and accepted the fact that things don’t happen over night. What’s really frustrating is that there are so many stories to tell, but I need to convince the news outlets to run them. Just like entrepreneurs, I constantly need to pitch my ideas – but I need to find new ideas every other day and when someone loves it, I get a few bucks for it, not some couple of 100k.

As a freelancer you are very much dependent on your clients and on the publications you write for. I’ve been trying to work on my own projects to become more independent, though some stuff is on hold because I need to get jobs done that actually make money first.

But I love it. I am so proud of having this job.

The New People

So after I felt pushed into roles I didn’t want to play and met so many super easy and smooth entrepreneurs that I got sick of it, I decided to become pro-active. I’ve reached out to people who I assumed I could identify with – female journalists. This was one of the best things I’ve done recently. I’ve met wonderful people with similar backgrounds who were not trying to make their work sound easy. But rather they confirmed that indeed, it is a struggle to be a reporter. Even one of the most outgoing, extroverted women I know (who’s also been on TV) told me that the first six months here were the toughest for her.

You have to realize, as a reporter you are always the outsider. Yes, you can be a part of the “scene” but still you have a different role than everyone else – and I won’t get too meta here. What’s even worse when you’re a correspondent, you don’t have co-workers to connect with. After I meet people for interviews, I usually go home or to some coffee place to write that story down. There’s no one I can talk to about how interesting that conversation was or how hard it is to get a scoop. You do have your editors overseas, but they’re in another time zone. While you are sleeping, they are editing your story and publishing it.

I wake up to 20 to 40 emails a day. That’s not too bad and most of it isn’t urgent. But as a west coast reporter I’m constantly in fear that something is wrong with my story and I wasn’t able to react earlier because I was asleep. Dealing with this internal stress is a challenge, it took me two months to adopt to it.

The Private Life

Let’s just say I don’t have one. Most of what I do here evolves around work. Though I do have a couple of non-techy friends I appreciate muchly. Making friends is hard, even more so when you’re older and you’re not single and trying to meet your next lover. And yes, long-distance relationships suck. I probably reached my lowest point when I went to Walgreens to get SAMe.

How To Deal

When I feel depressed, I get out for a walk in the beautiful neighborhood that is Nob Hill. Sucking in the air and beautiful views, I remember why I moved here in the first place. Sometimes I let myself distract from what’s really my mission. Then I just catch a glimpse of the bay and calm down.

To keep myself from being lonely and getting disconnected, I started doing work dates and blogging sessions with friends. Just this week I decided to join a shared office space with another Silicon Valley correspondent from Sweden because she’s been experiencing the same work struggles.

Relocating to a new city is hard. It was a lot easier when I was 21 compared to now, eight years later. Being a freelance journalist has never been an easy ride. I combined both of these situations just to live in the best city on earth. It’s awesome, it’s frustrating, it’s stressful, it’s exciting. Most of all, it’s a beautiful struggle.

Please do me a favor: Next time you meet a reporter, sincerely ask them how they feel before you pitch them whatever disruptive app you’re currently working on.

Btw: Justin Evanish published a beautiful post about his first year in San Francisco.

Before you leave, here’s a new project I’m working on: HealthUp.

How To Transition From The Expert Friend To Paid Consultant

By Lisa in English, San Francisco, Tech · May 6, 2013 · No comments

A couple of months ago, someone I knew through connections reached out to me for some advice on taking his business to the next level. We met up for coffee and I brainstormed some ideas that seemed obvious for me, but not to him apparently. I consider my brain a complete database of the digital space of Austria – be it media and journalism, marketing and advertising or tech and startup, I know pretty much every big and tiny player and am happy to share that knowledge. After wrapping up our coffee talk, I realized that I could probably charge easily €100 for a consulting session like this. Instead, I paid for my own coffee.

Last weekend I woke up to the news that he actually launched a product that I suggested him. Admittedly, I don’t know any details and this could be totally unrelated to the advice I had given, still I felt pretty bummed throughout my breakfast. Though I am very well aware there’s only one to blame here: my naivity.

Now don’t get me wrong: I’m all up for giving free advice and sharing my experience. I consider Karma to be my religion and sometimes reach out for unpaid advice myself (and try to “pay back” in other ways). But since I am self-employed now and living in one of the most expensive cities on earth, I realize I need to make a change. Turns out, Karma doesn’t pay my rent – at least not for the next months.

To be honest, I find the shift to getting paid for consulting really tough. A couple of weeks ago I wanted to unsolicitedly share some insights and inspirations with a former employer until I realized (soon enough, thankfully) that I would be giving away advice that would be well worth a couple of hundred (or even thousand) Euros. The very fact that I considered doing this without being asked for it makes me realize that my entrepreneur brain isn’t quite where it’s supposed to be yet. Ever since I quit my day job as managing editor and moved to San Francisco, more and more people are reaching out to me. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a way to properly monetize my assets. I find this even harder because my skills are somewhat soft, meaning I don’t build anything with instant gratification (unless I’m writing articles which then you can absorb through the letters).

So, apparently I don’t have an answer to the question in the headline. What’s comforting is that almost all of my friends who started their own business made similar experiences. What I do know is that next time I share my advice with someone, I won’t pay for my own coffee.

Has this happened to you? Would love to read your experiences!

Update: my entrepreneur’s brain tells me this is a good opportunity to promote my business. Hire me!

My meta thoughts about Boston

By Lisa in English · April 16, 2013 · No comments

I was truly shocked when I heard the news about the Boston attack. I was on a conference call with some friends while it happened and jumped in on the news a bit late – late in terms of social media time. While I do appreciate real time information on the web, I got pretty frustrated by some of the comments made by German speaking Twitter people. The tenor was very negative and anti-America, also bashing media. There’s a lot of hate towards the United States, and since I am a current (and proud) resident of this country now, I wanted to share my thoughts on this.

Yes, tragedy happens every day. Yes, bombs explode every day in Iraq. In the Bay Area, one person was fatally hit by Caltrain today. In my neighborhood, a man got shot this weekend. But does that mean a nation is not supposed to be in shock about an attack at a public event? Sure, the media is getting crazy about things and I’ve seen images today that I wish I hadn’t seen. I don’t know why a lot of Germans and Austrians give the US so much crap for calling it the biggest tragedy since 9/11. Seriously, if we are not supposed to be publicly shocked and devastated about the event, how else should we react? Shrug our shoulders and be like, “Oh well, dozens of people died in Iraq. We got it so much better. Let’s go back to work.”

Also, if you’ve never lived here, you may have never experienced one of the greatest gifts of US citizens: community support. People here care about each other, and if someone attacks the country, pretty much the whole population feels affected and is sending out their prayers. You have to realize that 315 million individuals live in the US. Given that most of them talk about the marathon attack today and in the next few days, that’s quite an amplifier.

Lastly, here’s the point that struck me the most today: The US is one big nation. And if the incident in Boston turns out to be a terrorist attack, pretty much all of the 315 million people living here are affected. I found myself wondering what will happen if this really turns out to be a huge thing. I actually don’t think it will and I’m not freaked out or anything. But no one knows which turn this event will take. To all the smartypants on Twitter, have you ever experienced heightened alert in your country? And if so, were you like “Well, whatever, xx people died in Iraq today.” Plus your country most probably is not stretched over a whole contintent.

I lived in San Francisco when London was bombed in 2005. Although I do remember how the news shocked pretty much all of the Western world, I didn’t feel nearly as affected as I do today. It just feels different if you are a resident of the attacked nation. That’s another point to think about, smartypants. Incidents like the one happened today are a very sensitive subject. And it’s definitely not the right time and place to tell a nation how they are supposed to not react.

My thoughts go out to all runners and families affected by this. And I have a lot of love for all the helpers at the scene. When I saw parts of the footage (I only watched about a minute), I was amazed by how quickly people reacted just seconds after the explosion. Talk about community support.

My LA Story

By Lisa in English, Living, San Francisco, Uncategorized · April 4, 2013 · 2 comments

I’ve been to the LA area a couple of times now (probably five times in the last eight years, lost track) and for some reason, it’s always a mind-boggling experience. Because I am a writer, I have to absorb all these impressions and spit them out on paper (or on the blog, that is). I actually should be working but I need to get this out of my fingers before I can write on something else.

Where do I start? Crossing Borders.

Last time I visited LA, which was in November, I flew in from San Francisco and basically drove straight to the Universal Amphitheater to see a concert. I felt culture-shocked to say the least. People were not using Square at the coffeeshop. People were not constantly checking their phones. People were eating crap fast food. That was when I realized that San Francisco is not the real world, it’s a bubble. Today I took the I5 down to LA (in a Toyota Prius, I should mention, for no specific reason) and realized that the real world actually starts right when you’ve left the Bay Area. I stopped at some Starbucks and I rarely ever go to Starbucks in SF anymore because there are so many other options. But I know I always can get green juice and some decent vegetarian snack. Well, not at this location. Apparently, the Evolution Fresh juices are not really available outside the Bay. Also, the only vegetarian snack they had was egg sandwich, which is not vegetarian in my book.

The Music.

I used to think, “nobody ever listens to the radio anymore”. Wrong. If you spend most of your life in your car (as in: you live in LA), you begin to appreciate the radio. And I happen to love the SoCal radio stations. Weirdly, whenever I’m here I hear the same songs (even on different radio stations). Here are some of the the classics.

Puff Daddy – I’ll be missing you
Adele – Rumor has it (this is really random, I think it has never been a single)
The full discography of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
The full discography of No Doubt
Dave Matthews Band – Crash into me
Bush – Swallowed

I bet all of these songs are played at least once per day somewhere on SoCal radio.

The Housing.

Ah, real estate, my favorite topic. At this point I should mention that I think the Los Angeles area is really beautiful. While I feel like the downtown area is just a huge highway surrounded by chain restaurants, living there must be awesome. There are lots of apartment complexes (sitting in one as I type this), a lot of them have pretty lawns (something I rarely see in SF) and nice gardens, you’ll probably even have a pool. And you’ll be living in your own 2 bedroom, compared to sharing a tiny apartment with six roomies in the bay. Usually I stay somewhere by the beach when I visit SoCal – Redondo Beach, Long Beach, Venice Beach, Santa Monica. I love staring at the ocean and zoning out. Also, Venice and Santa Monica have the hipster vibe I’m used to in SF. Today I’m actually staying in North Hollywood, which may be the reason I feel so overwhelmed.

Ugh. The City Life.

The very reason why I whole-heartedly dislike Los Angeles is the fact that it’s not walkable. To be perfectly honest, SF is probably the only walkable city on the west coast. But I’m genuinely annoyed by being dependent on a car. I have taken public transport in LA before, but it’s just too much of a hassle. And again, if you live in LA, you pretty much spend most of your time in your car. Also, never in my life will I understand why you need an SUV in this city. A compact car would totally be sufficient. The car-dependence further results in the fact that crosswalks are rare. The upside is that you will never ever run over a pedestrian, because there just aren’t any.

It’s only fair to say that people here are awesome, super friendly and open. I guess the sunshine warms their souls. It’s funny though how everyone asks you what car you drive and what your fiance does for a living while in SF you’re asked what projects you have been recently working on.

Plastic. Non-Local.

I must admit that SF spoiled me. Most restaurants and coffee places sell artisanal products (which basically means homemade). LA people wouldn’t even know how to spell artisanal (actually, no one outside the Bay area has ever heard that word). The restaurants just don’t seem to be appealing, at least not to me. I’m sure there are lots of awesome places out there, but just the fact that I actually have to take my car there will keep me from accidentally stumbling upon a great place (I discovered most of my fave places in SF by just walking by).

Another observation I’ve made is that Wifi isn’t as widely available as it is in the SF area. Plus people don’t hang out with their MacBooks in coffeeshops. I truly assume that this is because LA people live in real houses or nice big apartments and don’t need to escape their 2×2 ft rooms.

Another reality check just hit me at the department store: I got as many free plastic bags as I wanted. In San Francisco, free plastic bags have been banned for a while now. Totally forgot that this was an SF thing. Welcome to the future.

The Beauty.

Ugh. What should I say. I was at this juice bar today, surrounded by beautiful women in their beautiful gym clothes with their beautiful noses. This is how it made me feel.

Which brings me to my conclusion. LA is surreal. Some of it I love, lots of it I hate. Still, I feel a weird attraction to the city (due to the affordable rents maybe) and I enjoy driving down Sunset Boulevard listening to some 90s rock, looking at all the lush green lawns and pretty houses. Also, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside to know that I may be only a few blocks away from some of my favorite celebrities. It is so amazing how different San Francisco and Los Angeles are. The only thing they have in common is the fact that they are located in the same state. Whenever I’m here, I try to picture myself living in some LA neighborhood. I could get a hip place in Venice for cheap. Then again, I’d have to get a vehicle that reflects my socio-economic status. In my case that would be at least a Ford Mustang. Kidding. But I would get a Mustang.

This opening scene of LA Story pretty much sums it up. If you haven’t seen the whole movie, go see it. I always have that song in my ear when I come here.

It’s official: I’m moving to San Francisco

By Lisa in English, Living · January 17, 2013 · 6 comments

It’s been quiet on my blog ever since I returned from the west coast. Now I have huge news to share: I’m moving to San Francisco in March!

Long story short: I figured that with all that’s going on in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, I just couldn’t spend my time sitting at a desk doing my 9 to 5 (or 7) job anymore. There’s just so much going on there. In November, I finally realized who I really am: A writer who wants to tell stories. A journalist who wants to inform readers about awesome stuff that’s happening (and the not so awesome, too). A business mind who wants to create and build beautiful journalistic products (I do believe that high quality content can make money).

So that’s basically what I told my boss when I came back to work after my vacation and made a huge decision. I’m giving up my full-time position at Werbeplanung.at and will be working for them as a Silicon Valley correspondent starting in March. Yesterday, I received the US journalist visa, it’s all official!

Besides writing for Werbeplanung.at, I am also in talks with other media outlets. My main objective is to bring Silicon Valley closer to Europe. And I’m not talking about fancy-schmancy apps and stuff, but real business. There’s so much more than Facebook, Google and a zillion app startups over there. And I will deliver you the news. I will also work on other projects and my own ideas. (If you are interested or want to hire me for freelance work, let me know!)

I’ve been wanting this for more than seven years, and now I’m actually doing it. When I visited San Francisco last November, I actually didn’t plan on moving there. I honestly was convinced that I didn’t want to live there anymore. And quite frankly, when I check apartment listings, I get sick in my stomach and wonder why I’m doing this to myself. I’m giving up a lot and am very well aware that I will have to work really hard in the next months. It’s going to be tough. My current plan is to stay at least till the end of the year. I don’t want to plan too much ahead. Let’s see how things work out. I tell people I’ll come back when I’m broke – or super rich.

Anyway, thanks to whoever reads this for taking the time to read about my dream. If we haven’t seen each other (if at all) in a long time and you want to meet up before I leave, let me know! Let me know what you guys think of my plans. Am I crazy? Am very grateful for any advice, be it relocating, freelancing, jobs or whatver).