Does a College Degree Still Matter in the AI Age?
What is disappearing is not the university. It is the era when a diploma alone was enough to prove what you could do.
SV SECRET
The Untold Stories of Silicon Valley
SV SECRET
The Untold Stories of Silicon Valley
Mike Hong
Hi, I’m Mike Hong. I write about creativity, process, and building
a life around making things.
+ About Mike
Sand Hill Road & The VC Engine
The venture capitalists of Sand Hill Road operated under a completely different playbook:
“Making $200K a Year but Still Can’t Buy a House?”
In Silicon Valley, the center of the global technology industry, the question is increasingly not simply “How much is your salary?” but “What kind of equity are you getting, and under what conditions?”
Who Holds the Political Power?
But as America approaches the 2026 midterm elections, the political atmosphere in Silicon Valley looks very different. That does not mean Silicon Valley has suddenly become conservative. Far from it. Rather, it has become increasingly difficult to describe this region with a single political label such as a “progressive stronghold.”
The Year Silicon Valley Was Redrawn
Then came a single headline in a weekly trade publication. Almost overnight, those disparate orchards and suburban towns were bound together under a single, iconic moniker: Silicon Valley.
How “The Traitorous Eight” Built the Silicon Valley
Within this new environment, new opportunities flourished. In 1959, Robert Noyce advanced the development of the silicon-based integrated circuit at Fairchild, exponentially expanding the industrial potential of computing hardware.
Reading John Steinbeck in Silicon Valley
Having worked as a journalist at the heart of California’s Silicon Valley for nearly three decades, I have witnessed the most extraordinary technological breakthroughs and wealth generation in human history from the front lines. From the rise and fall of the dot- com bubble to the mobile revolution and today’s AI era, this region has always been a "promised land"—a place living in tomorrow, today.
Why San Jose is Still Called ‘Man Jose’
Single Professionals (Ages 25–34):The ratio spikes to114 to 119 men for every 100 women.
The Architecture of the “Free Lunch”
What Silicon Valley companies are truly buying is their employees' focus, spontaneous collaboration, and time. And in the high-stakes AI era of 2026, that calculation remains as powerful as ever.
“Not in Our Backyard!”
Gallup survey found that 71% of Americans opposed construction of an AI data center in their local area, including 48% who strongly opposed it.