December 22, 2015

The Language of Geeks

San Francisco is an incredibly exciting place to be right now, with its constant stream of innovations and advancing technologies. The best and brightest from across the country and the globe flock to companies both new and established, hoping to be part of the magic that happens there.

Moving to Silicon Valley can feel like moving to a different world, though. This is especially true where language is concerned. Silicon Valley locals have built a vocabulary unique to their industry, and knowing the meaning behind their buzzwords goes a long way in fitting in with the start-up and tech scene.

As a self-described word geek, this dynamic has fascinated me since I moved to Silicon Valley. I am fluent in Japanese so learning languages isn’t a problem for me… but the terms frequently used by Valley locals threw me when I first moved here! I wanted to know more about where these terms came from and how they had become such a huge part of techie culture. My research led me to create a new book, Valley Speak: Deciphering the Jargon of Silicon Valley, that defines these mystifying terms. Covering the spectrum from technical to cultural, documenting the origin and meaning of these words was a labor of love. In fact, I brought my husband, Steven Ganz, on as a co-author because of his own unique background in Silicon Valley. He is a startup founder, and because he’s a specialist in programming languages he’s a word geek too!

One of the most fascinating discoveries we made while creating the book was that this vocabulary is so new that some of the popular phrases people use constantly didn’t yet have fully formed definitions. We’ve made an effort to flesh out many of those definitions through careful research, and using quotes from many of Silicon Valley rockstars, whose names you’ll likely recognize.

We wrote Valley Speak for people who want to become part of the Silicon Valley world, but also for anyone who just wants to learn more about the culture that surrounds the world of startups and high tech. In fact, we’ve already published a version of this book, because of high demand for it… in Japanese. People in Japan are fascinated by the Bay Area, and have been coming here in droves to open outposts of their companies here.

To bring the book to American readers, we’ve decided to go the self-publishing route. This is where you come in. We’re going to be launching a Kickstarter campaign in January 2016! The campaign will include lots of special offers, discounts on the book, and limited edition Silicon Valley inspired merchandise. To be the first to find out about the campaign’s details and launch date, make sure to sign up for our mailing list!

– Rochelle Kopp