The Road To Silicon Valley, a Blog by Ernest W. Semerda

Silicon Valley and this Blog

Back in 2010 I started this blog as a way to keep notes of my new journey in Silicon Valley. Instead of burying those notes in a notepad where only I would have access to, I decided to make them public. And so here we are few years later. A blog full of stuff that may help you when you get to Silicon Valley. I also share thoughts & interesting articles on Twitter, follow me or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Who is Ernest Semerda

I am an Aussie currently based in Silicon Valley, Mountain View to be precise. Originally from Wollstonecraft in Sydney, I arrived in Silicon Valley back in March 2009. I think my thirst for high tech lead me here and here’s how it all started (the story).

Ernest W. Semerda doing a baby freeze in Silicon Valley, SF

While studying undergrad B.CompSci in Sydney, I started my 1st company (Purpleblue Pty Ltd) building websites for small businesses when Netscape 1 was the browser of choice. Later to help with sales & to better understand the customer, I built & sold to corporates a web analytics product (way back before google analytics existed).After graduating, I did an enterprise stint at AMP Ltd in Australia & NZ getting corporate experience and an MBA to better understand business dynamics. Later shifting gears back into the startup space as CTO of Couponstar growing & opening offices in London & Sydney with a mission to help people save money. The success of this landed me in Silicon Valley (March 2009) when Coupons.com acquired Couponstar. In 2012 with a burning desire for disruption I shifted gears and partnered with David E for a new chapter in my life; a new mission, to help save lives at Medlert.

Popular Articles I’ve posted here

Moving to Silicon Valley	Stuff to do in Silicon Valley
Comparing Sydney to Silicon Valley Aussie Occupational Therapy Accreditation in the USA Place to live: apartment hunting in Silicon Valley My Green Card Journey: E3 to H1B to GC Stuff to do before you leave Australia for Silicon Valley The Road to Silicon Valley Begins	Things to do in Silicon Valley Farmers Markets: bay area fresh organic produce suppliers Hacker Dojo – a community center for hackers and thinkers G’day mate – Aussie & American vocabulary comparison Mountain View, the heart of Silicon Valley Find a Great co-founder and start a business
Software Engineering	GTD/Productivity
Startup School 2010 – the recap, highlights & lessons Linux security paranoid check-list – Top 10 How to setup Django + mod_wsgi on Apache & Ubuntu Building an Ubuntu LAMP Web Server JavaScript: made better using the Module Pattern PHP: coding horrors & poor excuses Gentle Introduction to Python	Infinity save: move even faster with this feature iPhone Calendar Sync of your Stuff How to Focus using GSDTimer, a Pomodoro Technique The Psychology of Tools in Getting Stuff Done How do you focus? A systematic approach to how I focus Sensory Lifestyle – Helping your child start on the right foot.