Transcript
A (0:13)
Hi everyone. Welcome to our show. Chief Change Officer, I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change. Progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. A few days ago we published a three part series with George Trim, the co author of the book Employment is Dead. But we are not done yet. We are doubling down on this conversation today I've invited his co author, Deborah Perry P. An entrepreneur, Silicon Valley insider and best selling author of the book Secrets of Silicon Valley. Before diving into the world of startups, Deborah spent 18 years in Washington D.C. working in the White House, on Capitol Hill and as a political commentator for msnbc, Fox News and cnn. But everything changed when she moved to Silicon Valley. Instead of politics, power and division, she discovered a culture built on collaboration, innovation and risk taking. That shift led her to build six companies, write multiple best selling books and now to found the Work3 Institute. Helping businesses navigate the future of work. We're featuring Deborah in a two part series. In part one, we explore her incredible journey from shaping policy in Washington D.C. to securing venture capital through a chance encounter at a star box. She shares how risk taking, adaptability and breaking the old rules shaped her success. Then in part two, we tackle the future of employment. Why degrees aren't what they used to be, how AI and Web3 are reshaping jobs, and what companies must do before it's too late. And of course we'll answer the big question, is employment really dead? Get ready for bold eye opening conversation. Let's jump in. Good morning Deborah. Welcome to our show. You are the first interview I conduct in the new year. Thank you so much for your time.
B (3:20)
Thank you so much Vince. It's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you for allowing me to share my story because I think my story, my background is so, so critical how I now see the world. And so prior to coming to Silicon Valley, I had spent 18 years in Washington D.C. i worked on Capitol Hill, I worked in the White House, I was appointed into one of the Presidential administrations. And then I ended up following into media as an on air commentator with MSNBC, Fox News and CNN. And then D.C. ended up writing my first book. But what I realized when we moved to the west coast and Silicon Valley, I really had spent 18 years doing two things. Two things I learned how to do really well. I learned how to divide people into an us versus them. Because in Washington D.C. it is all about politics. You're a Democrat, a Republican, for the bill, against the bill. There really is two camps in that regard. And I also learned how to put fear in people. Because when you put fear in people, you can increase viewership at your respective television network that you're at. And you can also increase political contributions if you're putting fear into people. So I just thought, everybody worked this way. This is the way things were. I never realized that there were other cultures out there in the way that things got done. So in 2006, my husband and I moved out here and I quickly realized how the shift in the questions and how people introduce themselves. I was so used to Washington D.C. two questions. Where did you go to school? Who do you work for? And then suddenly I came into this culture where it was, how can I help you? And that very question came up at a Starbucks three weeks after being here. And I was standing in line at a Starbucks. Someone noticed I was new in our little small town right near Stanford University and asked me, how can I help you? And because of that very meeting, a couple weeks later, I was sitting down with one of the premier venture capitalists, Kleiner Perkins, and that venture capitalist said, I like you, figure out something to do, I'm going to fund you. And because of that funding and my first company that I ended up building out with my co founder, that company sold 18 months later. And I realized what a unique culture Silicon Valley truly is. It's collaborative, you often work with your competitors. It's for the greater good. It's not about money or power or greed at the forefront. It's more about how can I contribute in a way to changing the world. And so from that experience, I ended up writing the book Secrets of Silicon Valley that got picked up in 39 countries around the world. It made the New York Times bestseller list. And I realized that having this perspective of not being from Silicon Valley really gave me an interesting view on how things could be and how things should be. So I was really the first person to attempt to write what this culture was about. And if you wanted to try to adopt a similar alchemy, these were the characteristics, the mindset and the culture that you need to be bring to the forefront in order to make it successful. So really in Silicon Valley, I very much did a build a company, write a book, go on a speaking tour, wash and repeat. So I built out six companies. This is my sixth book coming out and continue to be on a global speaking tour. Not only teaching the Silicon Valley ecosystem risk taking to enable innovation, but also an innovation process that is a bottoms up process where any person at any quarter in the company can bring forth Good ideas. And of course, this next book, employment is dead. How do you make this transformation from the traditional into the era of AI and Web3 technologies?