"In the course of the last fifteen years I watched an entire region lose itself in a world of speed. Both individuals and entire companies became obsessed with capturing and controlling cyberspace, the 'new frontier of unlimited possibility.' It was the unlimited aspect of the tech world that offered the lure to the explorer, the risk-taking entrepreneur and the gambler alike. For those wrapped up in the pursuit of these frontiers, Silicon Valley produced a new kind of high. People got hooked on speed!
"A new business culture was born that paired investors with inventors, who together gambled on an eventual IPO that would bring them millions. The lore of a couple of geeks tinkering in a small garage became the blueprint for the path to success, a fantasy come true that anyone could emulate. This idea, and the thousands of small start-ups that followed this path, spread like a prairie fire, changing an entire county and much of the San Francisco Bay area into Silicon Valley.
"Speed is the race, the drive to get there first. Speed is tied to the magic of instant success. Speed is instant discovery that promises billions in stock options and propels you to a Nobel Prize. It was, and is, all about fast — the fastest search engine, the fastest connection, the fastest way to get and spread information — and the high this race produced.
"Twenty years ago this high led to a full-blown experience of addiction for many involved. The addiction was the unstoppable pursuit of fast and faster and the behaviors, beliefs, and emotions that fueled it and reinforced it.
"This high-on-speed addiction spread through and beyond companies, crept over city boundaries, filled up the business and cultural space of an entire county, became a regional virus. Ours became a society captivated by its belief in the absence of limits, by grandiosity about the human potential to control what can't be controlled. The pursuit of technological discovery became a drive to conquer the new, unknown, uncharted territory of cyberspace. The lure of progress, success, money, and fame created a wave of contagion. You needed to get on board: don't wait, don't stop. Just like the alcoholic. Just like the 'addictive mind.'
"The culture of the late nineties was a gold rush mentality of greedy frenzy. People were certain they risked failure if they took time to eat dinner with their families, go for a leisurely Saturday bike ride, or read a book just for fun. They were utterly focused on constant progress. People in the nineties worshipped the god of speed — anything worth doing was worth doing fast."
