When 25th century archaeologists look back on 21st century Silicon Valley, they’ll be struck by a lot of things:
How primitive our smartphones were. “I can’t believe they actually had to touch a physical object to communicate! Texting by telepathy is so much more hygienic…”
How silly it was to the build the world’s innovation hub right next to a giant body of water. “Why didn’t they listen to Prophet Gore?”
How weird our language was. “WTF is a brogrammer???”
Which just goes to show how important language is. Not just for the ancient Babylonians or a tribe deep in the heart of the Amazon. But for every society in every time.
Because language is one of the fundamental markers of status in society. If you know the lingo, you’re part of the tribe. If you don’t, you’re on the outside looking in.
And that’s why I’m so in love with a new book by Rochelle Kopp and Steven Ganz, Valley Speak: Deciphering the Jargon of Silicon Valley.
Because the authors are like those 25th century archaeologists, refusing to take all the Valley’s techie weirdness for granted. And instead, they deconstruct it buzzword by buzzword, from A/B test to zero day exploit.
The result is that you, the modern-day tech job-seeker, now have a roadmap to insider status in this crazy tribe.
Instead of feeling stuck on the outside, afraid of walking into an interview and getting stumped by questions about your approach to agile development or your experience with growth hacking, you’ll feel like you belong from start to finish:
You’ll be able to attend any tech Meetup and join in conversations about the latest trends in semantic search and synthetic biology
When a new friend at the Meetup asks for your resume, you’ll be happy to share your techie CV, complete with references to your expertise in thought leadership and community management
And then when you get the offer, you’ll be ready to pop a nootropic and hop on the Google bus!
That’s the power of language to open doors and democratize an industry that can often feel closed-off and cultish. And that’s exactly what Kopp and Ganz have done here.
So whether you’re completely new to tech or just trying to figure out what all your fellow techies are talking about, do yourself a favor: Don’t wait until the Bay overruns the Valley to learn the lingo. Grab a copy of Valley Speak and break into tech today!
Already an expert on tech talk? Think you know the difference between PaaS, IaaS, and AaaS (and no, I didn’t make those up!)? Find out where you rank with the authors’ Valley Speak IQ test.