All posts tagged: mindset

SILICON VALLEY MINDSET – 5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM VISITING DIGITAL LEADERS

Published by Gert Christen

(Translated from an account by Gian Berger, master’s student at HWZ University Zurich* and Head of Digital & Channel Marketing at Migros, Switzerland’s largest retailer) June 2022. San Francisco – A clear blue sky above and a sensational view of the Golden Gate Bridge below – finally possible again after two years of the pandemic. * HWZ University Zurich is Switzerland’s largest part-time business university. Its Center for Digital Business pioneered academic educational programs for a digitalized business world. DIGIRAM editor Gert Christen is an alumnus of HWZ and founded their entrepreneurship department before returning to California. Students of the HWZ University master study program “Digital Leadership” were once again able to travel to the capital of technology and startups to experience the famous Silicon Valley spirit up close and personal. Gert Christen, head of the HWZ University Silicon Valley Outpost, created an exciting program. Many conversations with startup entrepreneurs, pitches of digital business models, insights into Amazon’s corporate culture, amazing networking events, and reserved time for reflection sessions opened space for discussions and exchanges between students and actors of the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Together …

Digigram December 2022

Digigram Newsletter of December 2022

Published by Gert Christen

Welcome back to DIGIGRAM! After a bit of a hiatus, I am back to give you an update on the latest topics, trends, and stories from Silicon Valley and beyond. A lot has happened in the world over the last year. While a lot of gloom befell the world, there have also been some incredible milestones this year. There is much to celebrate that happened in 2022! For instance, in the last year, we’ve had these incredible technological and scientific breakthroughs: The United States Senate passed a bill to boost domestic chip manufacturing. The law also includes $67 billion to fund research into how to slow down climate change, a new record! I hope that a significant portion will go towards developing climate technologies. A new report found that if the current pace of wind and solar growth continues, the world will meet its climate targets. Switzerland qualified for the last 16 nations at the soccer World Cup. And was promptly eliminated by Portugal – oh well… In this edition of Digigram: #1: Mitipi and KEVIN’s …

Silicon Valley Innovation Tours Done Right

Published by Gert Christen

This article was first published as a LinkedIn article by Antonio Grgic on November 12, 2018. He condensed his personal learnings from a study tour to Silicon Valley organized by HWZ University of Applied Sciences Zurich. What follows is the English translation of the article with an introduction by Gert Christen who organized and led the study tour. Silicon Valley Tours – Just Tourism or Meaningful for Innovation? If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area you know the two types of buses shuttling people between San Francisco and Silicon Valley: Employee buses of the large tech companies on the one hand and chartered buses carrying visitors from all over the world to the same tech companies on the other. Each week there are hundreds of delegations from all over the world traveling around the Silicon Valley determined to learn its secrets. They fall into five categories: Politicians who want to learn how to set policies that attract innovative companies, resulting in more high qualified jobs and highly profitable and future-proof companies. Business people who want to learn how to be more innovative and who want to sell their products, find new suppliers or create …