CONFESSIONS OF A SILICON VALLEY INSIDER

The following review of Sheridan 
Tatsuno's new book, In the Valley 
of Digital Dreams, is being provided 
by Lana Tran, who is an energy 
industry analyst and was a project 
leader at the California Public 
Utilities Commission.  She is now an 
MBA candidate at the IAE Paris -- 
Sorbonne Graduate Business School.  
Sheridan (photo above) was 
instrumental in the early thinking 
for Blue Revolution Hawaii.  As 
you might guess, he lives in the 
Bay Area.

“But to understand the soul of Silicon Valley, you 
need to know its past, hopes, dreams and quirks.” 

This idea that Silicon Valley has a soul is a notion not 
evident to most until you read Sheridan Tatsuno’s 
new memoir. Tatsuno is a 30 year veteran of Silicon 
Valley high-tech, witnessing, with a near-front row view,
 30 years of exciting innovation, pivotal moments and 
events. This is a man who worked at market intelligence 
giant Dataquest, has interviewed a young Michael Dell and
shares his notes on meeting with Apple’s then CEO John
Scully and a young Steve Case (of AOL). Witnessing 
firsthand make or break moments for several household 
name corporations, including a near miss of being an 
early Yahoo employee. Guy Kawasaki provides the preface 
for the book. But, his story of Silicon Valley begins far 
before that. The book presents a cultural history of Silicon
 Valley that Tatsuno reminds us, after all, takes place 
geographically in Steinbeck’s Valley. Chronologically, the 
book places the start up of Silicon Valley in the 
1950s-60s, with a unique take on the “Leave It to Beaver” 
image of America. Tatsuno portrays it as a multi-cultural 
valley of “…farmers, farm workers, cannery workers and 
shopkeepers –Italians, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese, 
Blacks, Filipinos, Portuguese – who grew up downtown 
in simple worker homes down the street from the more 
elegant Victorians of bankers, lawyers and doctors lining 
avenues of maple and sycamore trees.” 

This was important to Tatsuno’s father, who was a member 
of the Airport Commission and friend and ally of the first 
Asian-American mayor, Norman Mineta. He refuses to 
move the family from downtown San Jose to the urban 
white suburbs as the Valley grows. Beyond that, the 
Tatsunos were rebuilding their place as 
Japanese-Americans in the wake of the internments 
of WWII. This is the Silicon Valley we hear very little 
about; nevertheless, this is San Jose before the digital and 
Internet revolution. 

The book also provides a fascinating look at snippets deep 
within the Valley’s history, that perhaps some of today’s 
startup CEOs were not around to remember. Has anyone 
heard of the Shockley Transistor? It was the predecessor 
to what Intel, AMD, and National Semiconductor would 
capitalize on. There was also a time, which today we 
would find incredulous, when few of the powers that be 
believed San Jose would not need an international airport. 

On another plane, Tatsuno weaves together pivotal 
moments in Silicon Valley economic history such as the 
fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of Japan, and how 
deeply the impact of these events were for the Valley – 
more than most of us may have been aware of. 

As a business student, what drew me to read this book 
initially were the case studies of business strategies such 
as the “Intel Inside” campaign, Japan’s strategy 
to clone Silicon Valley called “Technopolis”, and the 
Fairchild buyout which prompted international security
 concerns by the US Trade Commission. 

The book recounts experiences worthy of this Silicon 
Valley insider, sharing some key market strategy insights 
from corporate America’s past as well. The book provides 
many rich lessons in business practice, corporate and 
cultural history. Sure, there's a feeling the book is too short,
that each of these elements deserves its own book. However,
the opportunity to know more within this book was irresistible.

You can purchase a digital copy, of course, from Amazon.com for $5.
Or, better yet, you can borrow the book for FREE!  How?  Click on
the link.

(Sorry, but you need to first click on that link above to 

look inside.)

-