In a trip to tech-central, the Silicon Valley, Josh Bancroft finally figured out why he doesn’t feel like he belongs there: He hates the technology industry–not the tech part, but the business part.
Believe me, Josh, there are all kinds. It’s not just about Gizmodo gadgeteers or bluetoothed business people. It’s not a single dimensioned spectrum.
Take me, for instance. I’m a tech enthusiast that you’d probably group on the business side of things because I thoroughly enjoy thinking about how technology and businesses go together. However, to me it’s all about building and seeing someone benefit from something I’ve worked on. How does the business part fit in? First and foremost I’m a builder. I love making things. It doesn’t matter what it is–digging ditches, writing software, building Robots–I just like making things. But I can’t just stop at creating something in the basement. Doing so would give it no value, would be of no use to anyone else. I have to share it with others; I have to see people use it and learn from how they view it. This is where the business part comes in. This is where communication is so central to the technology itself. You have to not only make something, you have to communicate it, you have to transport whatever it is to them. I’m enthralled by the whole package. It’s a single thing to me.
I’m a bit quirky, I know. Besides making things I get a kick out of looking at office buildings and office furniture (I really do!) or reading about how people created this or that, the decisions they made, why they made them, what worked, what didn’t, what people at the time thought about what they were doing. All of this is so fascinating to me.
Over the years I’ve gotten a kick out of people trying to label me one way or another. I’m too much an engineer, not enough of an engineer, too much a thinker, not enough of a thinker, too much business minded, not enough business minded, don’t have enough commercial experience, too experienced with old technologies, too focused on new technologies. Don’t fall asleep yet. I could go on, but I won’t.
You know what’s funny though? They’re all correct. I’m all of those things. It may sound strange, but that’s why I love the tech industry so much. It’s so vast that I can be all of these things giving myself room to learn more and do better.