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Take me to Silicon Valley: 19 year old designer seeking opportunity

takemetosiliconvalley.com

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Re: Take me to Silicon Valley: 19 year old designer seeking opportunity

#5

Post by feralmoan »

pork wrote: post #3

Very cool, but please don't drop out of university. For the vast majority of students, this is a decision that will come back and bite you in the ass when whatever you quit Uni for comes to an end.

"* My school gives me the opportunity to postpone my studies for as long as I need to, so I actually don't need to drop out (my mom will sleep better)"

... plus the world might end this year

Re: Take me to Silicon Valley: 19 year old designer seeking opportunity

#6

Post by kloncks »

As someone who's dropped out of college (three months ago) to start a company in Silicon Valley, I would urge you to think a lot about this decision. I know I have. It's a very serious decision and one that a lot of people take hastily, not knowing what it will really entail until much later.

College is important. I plan on going back before I die. You can get involved with startups, work with them and learn from them, without leaving college. Our world is all about networking, and just like I had an amazing network in SV from my dorm room in Ohio, so can you in Eastern Europe.

I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I've made my decision and I feel convinced it was the right one. I just think some people make it too hastily. Feel free to ping me if you have any questions.

Re: Take me to Silicon Valley: 19 year old designer seeking opportunity

#7

Post by aaront »

Looks great, just a few little things:

* "I am Filip Santa, 19 years old designer from Slovakia" sounds a little strange. Maybe something like "I am Filip Santa, a 19 year old designer from Slovakia"

* In your timeline, instead of "Learning what is layer", maybe "Learning about layers"

* Also in the timeline: "Trying first webs & posters", maybe "Designing first web sites & posters"

And, here's my OCD peeking through, the images seem to have a colour profile associated with them, which clashes with mine producing: http://i.imgur.com/6BV6o.png (try making the background transparent)

Best of luck!

Re: Take me to Silicon Valley: 19 year old designer seeking opportunity

#8

Post by kylelibra »

aaront wrote: post #7

Looks great, just a few little things: * "I am Filip Santa, 19 years old designer from Slovakia" sounds a little strange. Maybe something like "I am Filip Santa, a 19 year old designer from Slovakia" * In your timeline, instead of "Learning what is layer", maybe "Learning about layers" * Also in the timeline: "Trying first webs & posters", maybe "Designing first web sites & posters" And, here's my OCD peeking through…

It bugged me as well, but I assumed English wasn't his first language, so it is forgivable in my book.

Re: Take me to Silicon Valley: 19 year old designer seeking opportunity

#9

Post by bri3d »

kloncks wrote: post #6

As someone who's dropped out of college (three months ago) to start a company in Silicon Valley, I would urge you to think a lot about this decision. I know I have. It's a very serious decision and one that a lot of people take hastily, not knowing what it will really entail until much later. College is important. I plan on going back before I die. You can get involved with startups, work with them and learn from the…

I'd urge him to consider carefully not only because dropping out of university might not be wise, but because he'll probably end up in the US on an H-1B visa.

An H-1B visa isn't a big deal, but it prevents you from working for a few weeks on contract to try things out, and it makes it quite a bit harder to change companies or quit.

Valley companies tend to overwork and under-compensate, and an H-1B makes it -that much- harder to get out of a terrible situation if you find yourself in one. An American designer in the Valley can say "no thanks" and change careers or move elsewhere with a minimum of effort compared to the issues associated with leaving with an H1B.

EDIT: It turns out I don't know much about visas and it's hard to get an H1B without a degree (thanks HN - learning a lot!). See replies for a wide variety of speculation as to which visa type would work in this situation, and feel free to sub in your choice of visa where I initially said H1B, because I think the danger of a poor working situation is either similar or even more pronounced with another type of visa.

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