NoscAi in Silicon Valley: Learnings from the heart of tech innovation

We at NoscAi recently had a fantastic opportunity: Thanks to the “Trans-Nation Co-Creation” program, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), our co-founder was able to travel to Silicon Valley for a week. The aim was, together with managing directors of other German startups and SMEs, to gain deep insights into what is arguably the most dynamic technology ecosystem in the world — not just as a tourist, but through intensive workshops and visits to renowned institutions and companies.

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Academic excellence meets entrepreneurial spirit: Stanford & d.school Insights

The first few days at Stanford University were a highlight in themselves. You can immediately feel this special energy where cutting-edge research, established companies and aspiring startups are extremely closely connected and are shaping the future together. The exchange in the famous Stanford Faculty Club with Professor Michael Shanks on design and innovation, the practical sessions at the d.school on Design Thinking — a core part of our work on ClinicOS® — and another leadership workshop with the equally renowned Professor Banny Banerjee were incredibly valuable. The workshops gave us the valuable opportunity to experience these methods and ways of thinking directly at their place of origin and to better understand their practical relevance.

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Valley reality: From Da Vinci robots to autonomous Waymos

But the valley doesn't just live on theory. We experienced innovation up close: At pitch events, we felt the ambition and pragmatic scaling focus of the next generation of founders. An absolute highlight, especially for us as a HealthTech start-up, was the visit to Intuitive Surgical. It was hugely inspiring to see how far the company behind the Da Vinci surgical robots has come and how their technology is changing lives around the world. At Ideo, we saw how systematic creativity leads to groundbreaking products. And then the trips with Waymo: Autonomous vehicles are already part of everyday life there, not in the distant future — an impressive sign of the tremendous speed and adaptability in Silicon Valley.

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Mindset & leadership: Learn from expats and tech giants

The meetings were at least as important. The exchange with successful German expats such as OMR co-founder Christian Byza, who presented his startup Learn.xyz to us at the “House of AI” in San Francisco, showed the strength of the local network. The visits from tech giants LinkedIn and Microsoft were less about the (undoubtedly impressive) campus facilities than about the culture behind them. High-level representatives gave us valuable insights into leadership in fast-growing environments and the concept of “intelligent risk taking.” Understanding how calculated risks are actively promoted there as innovation drivers was also highly relevant for us as a startup. The visit to SAP in Silicon Valley also showed how a German heavyweight is successfully operating in the epicenter of the tech world. The program was rounded off by talks with representatives of the German Chamber of Commerce (AHK) San Francisco and the German Consulate, who brought us closer to local support structures.

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Impulses & confirmation for NoSCAI

For us as a startup, this trip was an important source of inspiration. It was about understanding how people think and work in the Valley: the high energy and speed, the strong focus on implementation (“execution”), the acceptance of failure as a learning process and the self-evident nature of pursuing ambitious goals (“Think Big”). We were particularly pleased that we found much of our own NoscAi mentality there: accelerate, work focused and consistently bring things to an end. The week not only inspired us, but also encouraged us on our journey with ClinicOS®. A big thank you to the Transnational Innovation team for the excellent organization of this intensive and insightful week!