What’s Your Hour in ‘Silicon Valley Time’?

[Commentary] A company’s narrative moves like a clock: it starts at midnight, ticking off the hours. The tone and sentiment about how a business is doing move from positive (sunrise, midday) to negative (dusk, darkness). And often the story returns to midnight, rebirth and a new day.

Over the years, I developed the idea by filling in the times on the clock. It has helped to be in tech; startups in particular, always begin with a “founding story,” and follow a typical path through Silicon Valley Time (SVT). It’s not perfect, of course. Companies can skip an hour  --  or in some cases several. Others get stuck along the way, and with a stalled narrative (and broken clock) cease to be relevant. Knowing the general time of a company has made it easier for me to see around corners and better do my job.

[Aaron Zamost is currently head of communications at Square]