Silicon Valley was very impressive on a number of fronts and here are my thoughts:

1. The amount of great network events, workshops and presentations taking place all the time is mind boggling.
2. When you go to see a presentation about LinkedIn for example, the presenter is actually someone from LinkedIn and someone very senior at that.
3. The willingness from people to meet, compliment and constructive critic ones business without any expectation for pay back is inspiring.
4. The Irish Network and business community is very strong, it really is home away from home on a business level at least (the weather reminds you it is not home).
5. There is no negativity in the valley, just different levels of positivity.
6. Visiting the valley and not learning is like leaving a good restaurant hungry, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

My sincere thanks to Anne Marie McCallion, Tara Sims, Pasty Donaghey, Janette Gillen, Ultan Faherty and Joanne Grehan

Also, thanks to the great gang of up-starts (sorry start-ups) who made the trip:

Aidan McKenna
Enda Madden
Gerry Burke
Henrich Anhold
James McGloin
John McNamara

Thanks for driving and the great laughs (particularly the great laughs).