Can you speak the language?

I made the jump from large firm to tech world about two years ago. At some point after signing my offer letter, I remember meeting my CEO and some of our investors for drinks and dinner while they were in New York. A normally talkative person, I ended up sitting around the table barely uttering a word.

I wasn’t shy. I wasn’t intimidating. I just had no freakin’ idea what these guys were talking about. They used tech and VC jargon I had barely heard of before and it was common language to them. I just didn’t get it back then.

Given my job was to talk to people in tech everyday, I knew I had a challenge in front of me. I had to learn to speak their language. I set out to sign-up for newsletters. I started following the right people on tech and VC twitter. I read and read and read.

Looking back on that time seemed like a long time ago. Once you’re in the tech world, you have to start living it.

Perhaps the first time when I realized that I got everything was when I rewatched Silicon Valley for the first time a few months ago. I was shocked at how much more relevant and funny it was the after getting more of the jokes.

This of course isn’t a blog post about me finally fitting in with the cool kids. In fact, I would argue that it’s quite the opposite of the “cool” crowd, but I digress.

You have to be able to speak the language of your clients and industry. Whatever that industry may be, tech, investing, healthcare, etc. if you can’t relate to your customers, you’re going to be treated as an outsider. In a world of relationships and belonging, you don’t want to be treated as an outsider.

We’ve made some great hires from both people traditionally outside the tech world and from those that have been in the industry for awhile. As part of our training, I tend to inundate our new hires with tech/VC news and recommend different blogs for them to subscribe to.

At Secfi, we provide valuable financial services for those in the tech, startup, and VC world. Our team needs to be able to speak their language so they can provide the best service.