Article by Lidia Baratta (www.Linkiesta.it)

At first it seemed a paradise for workers. In the Italian offices came legends of young people who were investors to realize their ideas, green meadows next to the desks, women managers who could be perfect at home and at work. Lately, however, the criticism came. The famous spirit of Silicon Valley does not convince everyone.

First there were the back. How to Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo (taken with a bump of six months), who said stop to flexibility and telecommuting. And that of Google, which erased the benefits that allowed employees to spend 20% of working hours to innovative ideas (for instance: so was born Gmail).

There have been investigations by journalists who have shown next to the structure of the Googleplex dreams, the homeless (homeless) have grown by 20%, and with them veritable tent city. Last but not least, came the warning of Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, before Google, which invited women to make a move (the title of his book is Lean In, translated into Italian Let forward. The women, work and the desire to succeed), which denounced the New Yorker denouncing the macho culture of the valley.

Yet another criticism was delivered by Forbes, in the article "Why Silicon Valley's Work Culture Is Killing Us", "Why is Silicon Valley's work culture is killing us", which denounces as with the history of corporate welfare and flexibility in the valley of California valleys' work has become a religion and private life something to squeeze inside. " The proposal is to put the rules. Such as: "Do not send email at 10 pm".

Silicon ValleyMappa of many major companies in Silicon Valley, California

But really the model Silicon Valley is in crisis and is failing? "I disagree," he says from San Francisco Anna Gatti, driving a startup for e-commerce after experiences of managers between Google, YouTube and Skype. Mom and manager, she attended the Silicon Valley for nearly 15 years. He says: "You have to focus while you are at work and maybe a discipline without wasting time. So do not give up to the important things, like dinner with my daughter. At least four vole a week. "

Anna GattiCome you arrived in Silicon Valley and what was your journey so far?
They arrived in Silicon Valley in 1999 to finish the PhD program started at Bocconi University of Stanford, after a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan. After a post-doc at Stanford, I was offered a position as a researcher at the University of Berkley. In 2002 I was contacted by the UN for a job in Geneva, the World Health Organization. Then I got tired of Geneva, he lacked the spirit of Silicon Valley. I decided to return. They hired me to MyQube, venture capitalists fund that invests in startups. After a couple of years I was looking for a more operational experience. I did interviews at Google and they hired me as head of Consumer International Operation. The next step is to YouTube, as head of the international part of Online Sales and Operations. After a few years, Skype, where I was director of monetization. After Microsoft bought Skype, I went out and created my startup, which deals with artificial intelligence to make customization of e-commerce. It's a good challenge.

What is the spirit of Silicon Valley you speak of?
Silicon Valley is an area where there is the desire to push the boundaries. In front of a problem searching for the best solution. People sit and think "the best solution to any problem." There are people willing to talk about your idea, to help you achieve it. There are prejudices. You know you can experiment with. Do not you think "I do not try if you do not look bad." If you believe in something you can do so here: "You can change the world". The breaths street this thing. Tesla was born here, here are the startup for shipments in space, 3D printing DNA.

How does a manager mom in Silicon Valley?
I am satisfied to lifestyle, quality and professionalism. I am a single mother and my daughter is completely integrated into my life. She travels with me for business or pleasure since she was four weeks. Here during pregnancy you work up to two weeks before delivery. To me it is not weighed. I'm a manager, I do not do hard physical work. A YouTube have taken more responsibility with the task of creating a new function when I was 7 months pregnant. At the job interview, I said that I would take all six months of maturity that Google offers (the American law grants six weeks). And they said to me that they would wait for me. My daughter was born on February 18, I worked until 7.

How do you organize your workday?
You have to be very focused. In Italy it is thrown away a long time. You take your coffee with colleagues and you lose 15 minutes. They are 15 minutes that would remove the game with my daughter. We must increase efficiency, you have to be disciplined, there are things I want to do and do it. Not organize morning meetings before 9 because I want to drive my daughter to school. Similarly I have decided that I have to have dinner at home with my daughter at least four times a week. And I do. Of course, there is a nanny who helps me, and that practically lives with us. But they are very strict on the respect of the times, responsibilities and people.

Some people, however, wrote that the Silicon Valley lifestyle has made a religion of work, at the expense of privacy.
I disagree with those who criticize the Silicon Valley working style, saying that the work is a religion and private life is just something to be embedded inside. If I want to 10pm reply to emails, such as who wrote the post on Facebook before going to bed. If from 18.30 to 21 I have absolutely looked at the computer because I wanted to play with my daughter, I can also send an email to ten at night. But I do not expect me to respond 23. A Google were made of meetings internally to talk about these things. It was said not to send the email at midnight to new employees, because maybe they would feel obliged to respond immediately. It is something that is always discussed in healthy companies like Google. This way to work I see it more as an opportunity than as a sacrifice. I worked in the team Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating today. Italian How greatly I see the difference between Italy and Silicon Valley. It is a community that is founded on production and innovation base. It is an area that comes with the microchip.

How we organize the work in Silicon Valley?
Everything here is based on performance. The working hours are eight hours, 9-18 or 8.30 to 17.30. Then maybe we stop half an hour more. But after 18:30 it is difficult for people to be in the office. You can have business meetings at 7:30 in the morning, even for a matter of time zones. What matters are the performance and objectives. But the fundamental difference is another.

Which?
But the fundamental difference is that here the work is not conceived as work. What you do is not work, it's your passion. As well as in a conversation we can talk about books, food or travel, we are talking about the projects. The business you do on the barbecue. As well as a law reporter to the New York Times at ten at night, does it for work or passion? In Silicon Valley they transfer the most ambitious people from all parts of the world. There's a lot drivers. There are people who want to better themselves. I could make fine university professor in Italy, as they had asked me, instead I flew here.

And the myth of corporate welfare? It's all true?
I have worked for amazing companies like Google. But of course not all companies are so. A Google in my office there was a beautiful pool. When I was pregnant, I was doing before working hour of swimming. There were my colleagues who brought the dogs. Googleplex is the place par excellence of corporate welfare.

Yet, as also mentioned Sheryl Sandberg, women in top management are few. As well as Hispanics. Silicon Valley is really so meritocratic?
Silicon Valley is meritocratic. Of course, there is still much difference between men and women. But compared to Italy is the paradise of women for professional opportunities. In absolute terms the man has more ease. I think this is also a biological tendency. We humans are pretty isomorphic, reassured by our fellows. In a three-male team, they will take on more 'easily another male because they think they understand it better. As well as between women. There is no equality. Obviously these attitudes can and must change. It is an issue that is much discussion in Silicon Valley. This is due both to the fact that men get a command position more easily, and because women have not learned how to negotiate with the head increases, promotions. When you offer positions of responsibility to a woman, often he thinks "then if I get married, get pregnant", men do not.