With the tragic news of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade’s recent deaths by suicide, the spotlight is on suicide this month. The latest trends are chilling: The suicide rate in the United States has grown by over 25% since 1999, according to the CDC. Alison van Diggelen’s latest report for the BBC’s Health Check couldn’t be more timely. She was asked to explore the role that barbershops can play as a conduit to getting vulnerable men the help they need. Alison found that the potential for reaching vulnerable people is enormous. This hopeful story could equally apply to hair salons, sports clubs, bars, cafes, places of worship… even sidewalks. Wherever two people have a chance to talk, there’s an opportunity to help save a life.
[Photo credit: Elizabeth Brockway, The Daily Beast]
“It’s not just a cut, it’s more of a confessional…their sanctuary to unload a lot of their intimate feelings. We hold those relationships in high regard. These individuals can trust us that it’s not going to go any further than the chair.” Dan Dixon, owner of Crewners Barber Shop in Silicon Valley, California
Here’s a transcript of the original report (edited for length and clarity):
BBC Health Check host, Claudia Hammond: In many parts of the world, men feel reluctant to seek help for their mental health. So in Silicon Valley, California, there’s a barbershop that’s become a safe space for men to talk about more private things in life, while they have a haircut. For Health Check, Alison van Diggelen has been to a barbershop to see how it’s done…
Alison van Diggelen:Here in downtown San Jose, Crewners Barber Shop is a popular place for men to shed some hair, as well as some of their troubles. The owner, Dan Dixon, is dapperly dressed in burgundy shirt, black waistcoat and white tie. He’s a warm and friendly chap who sees his regulars about once a month. Over the years, he’s built a lot of trust. Dixon and his barbers have become confidantes to many men. Their clients tell them when they’re planning to leave their spouses, when there’s a death in the family and more…
Dan Dixon: There are people who’ve felt this is their place, their sanctuary to unload a lot of their intimate feelings… A gentleman who’d not yet come out to his family…he wanted to go through a sex change. He confided that in me prior to mentioning it to his family. We hold those relationships in high regard. These individuals can trust us that it’s not going to go any further than the chair.
Alison van Diggelen: His barbershop is a safe place to talk, for anyone at all.
Dan Dixon: It’s not just a cut, it’s more of a confessional. What’s funny right now is Alex is cutting the hair of one of our Catholic priests here in downtown San Jose. So Alex is currently giving his confessional to his priest. (laughter) It’s a great environment…I try to lend a bit of my background…I’m older, I’m 49. I try to be the open ear and the soft spoken one and lend what I’ve gone through…
Alison van Diggelen: I talk to James Ursin, one of Dixon’s long time clients. James, have you shared intimate stuff about you, your family?
James Ursin: Of course! And he has too. When you live in such a competitive atmosphere of Silicon Valley: high cost of living, job opportunities…I like to run things by him. He’ll sometimes open up…you have a relationship you see once a month. You have to be honest with them, they’re holding scissors next to your neck! (laughter) Part of that goes back to trust.
James Ursin: Sometimes just talking out my problems to him he doesn’t even need to respond. I can usually answer them myself. Maybe I bring up questions I wouldn’t bring up with my wife, or my business partner. An ear to listen to…It’s important – barbers is a lost art, an amazing profession. It’s not just about cutting hair…
Alison van Diggelen: This intimate bond between barbers and their clients is something that doctors sought to leverage in a recent six-month study of 52 barber shops across Los Angeles. Cardiologist Ron Victor and his team discovered that barbers could act as a conduit to getting men the healthcare interventions they need. The study’s focus was blood pressure and by bringing pharmacists into barber shops, they helped reduce the blood pressure of 300 men by a significant percentage. Independent experts called the study “a home run in high-touch medicine.”
Does Victor believe this method could be used for other healthcare issues? It’s possible he says, but he points out that blood pressure tests involve a simple cuff around the arm and are quick and easy to administer. Mental health screening is a sensitive issue, he says, and would require more time and expertise. Victor mentions however, that black barber shops – the focus of his study – would be a good place to address mental health issues as most have a back room where a mental health worker could meet privately with customers.
A British charity, the Lions Barber Collective is focused on suicide prevention. Its barber shop members encourage customers to talk openly and are trained to identify signs of depression. They connect customers with the Samaritans, a volunteer group that offers a 24-hour helpline and free counseling for people in distress.
Mego Lien: The barbershop collaboration is a fantastic idea! Middle aged men have a much lower chance of reaching out to mental health professionals. It’s really about going to where men are at and relying on existing relationships…
Alison van Diggelen: In Silicon Valley, the suicide rate rises in men over 45 years-old. Lien’s team aims to help vulnerable groups, including teenage men. They’ve reached middle-aged men via targeted public service announcements on sports radio; and they reach teenagers at school.
Mego Lien: It’s not just the mental health professionals in schools, the teachers, the coaches, the bus drivers and the janitors ideally would all be trained in recognizing the warning signs and speaking to someone who might be thinking of suicide. It’s about: Who are the individuals in the community who’re interacting with the people you’re trying to reach?
Alison van Diggelen: Lien recommends talking directly to people you’re concerned about; and using the word “suicide” and not vague phrases like “harming yourself.”
Mego Lien: Research shows that if you’re able to breach the topic of suicide genuinely and empathetically that lowers people’s anxiety around the topic. There’s a lot of stigma…more likely to open up to you and talk about what’s going on with them.
Alison van Diggelen: She points out that warning signs aren’t always verbal…
Mego Lien: …they might be behavioral, like stockpiling pills or dangerous weapons…they could be physical like stomach aches, headaches or chronic pain that can’t be explained. The starting point is to look out for these warning signs…start having rapport building conversations, list a few of the signs you’re noticing…
Alison van Diggelen: What’s the best way to get help for a loved one?
Mego Lien: We recommend…taking them to a therapist who can help them…or sit with a loved one and dialing the number for the suicide prevention hotline and supporting them while they make the call and have that conversation. Provide mental health resources and get their good faith commitment that they’re going to seek help.
Alison van Diggelen: Lien points out that easy access to guns is a big issue in the United States. Her wish list for effective suicide prevention has three components:
Mego Lien: A lot of community members trained who can recognize warning signs. Strong mental health systems that can take people who need treatment; and less access to deadly means like firearms. [CDC reports confirm that about half of U.S. suicides use guns]
Alison van Diggelen: She emphasizes that the media has an important role to play to avoid sensationalizing suicide and to help to lift its stigma…
Mego Lien: Research has shown media can contribute to contagion …In terms of do’s and don’ts: the word “Commit” makes people think about committing a crime or a sin. We prefer the language someone “died by suicide.” It’s more neutral and less stigmatizing.
Fade in: Atmos of barber shop
Alison van Diggelen: Back in the barbershop, I ask Dan Dixon if he’d embrace a suicide awareness and prevention program like the Lions Barber Collective in Britain…
Dan Dixon: I know it would work for me and my staff. Barber shops in the U.S. are more along lines of pub…a clubhouse type setting where it’s more about the masculine camaraderie…my staff, we would be open to that.
LinkedIn Cofounder and tech investor extraordinaire, Reid Hoffman delivered some compelling entrepreneurial insights to an intimate group in Silicon Valley last week. It earned him a few more stars for his “visionary” reputation; however his insights on the drive to get more women in tech fell far short of expectations. See below…
The gathering was an elegant SVForum affair, led by CEO Adiba Barney.
Here’s some of Hoffman’s valuable wisdom for entrepreneurs:
1. Don’t keep your big idea a secret
According to Hoffman, if you don’t share your startup idea with people who can help you, it’s “a massive recipe for failure.”
2. Mine your network
As Hoffman emphasizes in his latest book The Alliance, “An externally networked workforce is critical to an innovative company.” What he means by this is:
a. nurture your wider network (give and take advice) and be active on social media
b. encourage your employees to do likewise
c. seek wisdom from the smartest people you know outside your company
Hoffman underlined that IPOs aren’t the holy grail they once were, thanks to late stage investors with large cash infusions. IPOs must make sense strategically for your startup.
“The key question for any company is how an IPO can help you build your company into something that may be around for decades or hundreds of years and help to transform the industry they are in,” says Hoffman.
This fits with what Elon Musk told me when I asked him about a SpaceX IPO. He pointed out that there are major disadvantages to going public, especially if your business has very long term goals (like going to Mars!)
Since Hoffman prides himself as a public intellectual, I asked him what LinkedIn is doing to increase the number of women in tech; and what the academic case is for doing so. Frankly, I thought he’d cite one of the many studies which show the positive correlation between the number of women executives and company success.
Here’s his response:
“Women on average are much more diligent than men and much more capable of learning a set of different things, so having them deeply engaged in technology, creating the future is important. And then there’s obviously the full ramp of sensibilities for how products should work…how those human ecosystems should work. So I think it behooves…the world is much better off… with having an industry that isn’t – as it’s historically been – very balanced on the male side, but to be trending toward a more evenly balanced industry. There are various initiatives – the Lean In one is just the most recent.” Reid Hoffman
That’s it.
He’s referring to the announcement on February 8th that LeanIn.org, Facebook, LinkedIn and the Anita Borg Institute have created a partnership to expand Lean In Circles on college campuses. Reid Hoffman and the LinkedIn team deserve some praise for their involvement, but that’s it? I didn’t get the feeling that this topic is high on Hoffman’s agenda, or that he cares that much about it.
Here’s my vision: I’d like to see Mr Hoffman use his profound intellect and growing visionary platform to inspire more action and help get more women into the tech field.
Kiva cofounder, Jessica Jackley received a Visionary Award at SVForum in Silicon Valley this month. She joined an impressive roster of former award winners that includes Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Padmasree Warrior.
Jackley took a few moments with me to share tips for aspiring entrepreneurs and some clues about her latest startup, launching this Fall.
She enthuses about Silicon Valley being “an incredibly special pocket of the world” where “people have a great capacity to imagine new futures.”
“So many people here have the resources and skills to make these new stories unfold, become real,” she adds.
Here are some highlights of our conversation.
Tips for aspiring entrepreneurs:
1. Be passionate
Do something you are passionate about and have a vision for.
2. Start small
Remember Kiva began with seven entrepreneurs and a little over $3000. It recently surpassed the $500,000,000 mark in microloans to entrepreneurs around the world, serving almost 2 million Kiva users in 76 countries. The average loan amount is $10.
3. Be excellent
Serve one person, or one community well and build from there. Be thoughtful, intentional and think about the details. Study and absorb what’s unfolding in front of you, and be present.
On her new startup
1. Focus
I’m excited to focus on serving working parents…I’m in the trenches right now and that’s the people I want to serve.
2. The Problem
I hope to consult with companies on their policies, culture that supports or doesn’t support working parents. There’s a lot of room for improvement in existing companies.
3. The Solution
My goal is to make it easier and provide options for working parents to prioritize and design their own work and lives around that. Parenting is one of the most entrepreneurial things that I’ll ever do. There’s so much that maps from my experience into motherhood that I want to share with other people. I want to work at the company level and with individuals to demand what they want.
4. The Context
In Europe, it’s top down, (working parents) are taken care of by institutions. I don’t want to wait for that (policy change) to happen here. It’s the better and faster way to go here, in this (US) culture.
Find out more about other SVForum visionary award winners and check back soon for interviews with Stanford’s Tina Seilig, VC Tim Draper and Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code for America.
Will GM experts share their wisdom with Tesla to make the Model S less prone to fires? That’s the question I put to GM’s Chief of Electrified Vehicles, Pam Fletcher last week at the Churchill Club in Silicon Valley.
You’ve no doubt heard that three fires have been reported in Tesla Model S in the last five weeks. As we all know, three’s a trend. Granted, they weren’t episodes of random spontaneous combustion. Instead they were ignited by one high-impact crash and two high-speed encounters with metal debris which acted like a “pole vault” to puncture the undercarriage of the car and hence the battery. Although Tesla’s Elon Musk has declared, there won’t be a recall, it’s almost certain the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will investigate. What needs to be done to make Teslas more impervious to battery puncturing road debris?
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As you’ll see in the video, Pam Fletcher confirms that GM has sold 58,000 Chevy Volts since its launch in 2010 and after 300 million miles on the road, not one has had a similar fate to Tesla’s Model S. She acknowledges that there were fire issues in 2011 at the crash-testing phase, but emphasises no real-world incidents similar to the Model S have occurred.
Fires, Electric Cars and Achilles Heels
First some background. In 2011, safety regulators investigated Chevy Volt crash tests resulting in one battery pack catching fire and one smoking and emitting sparks. The troubling issue was the week-long delay between the crash test and the battery pack catching fire.
During our interview, Fletcher confirms that after the investigation, GM made no change to the battery cells, but did put “some additional reinforcement on the outside of the battery.”
It also implemented a process with first responders that includes depowering of the battery after a severe crash.
Ironically, Tesla got the highest safety ranking from regulators and has a first responders guide in place, however all parties seemed oblivious to the vehicle’s Achilles’ Heel. It obviously needs more durable undercarriage protection to prevent any more fiery “pole vaulting” episodes. To date, Elon Musk has been strongly resistant to such an approach. A recall will taint not only Tesla’s award winning brand, but entail extra costs and manufacturing delays for this relatively small auto company. To make matters worse, extra reinforcement will increase the weight of the Model S, and the extra pounds will have a knock-on effect on the vehicle’s range.
But it looks like Tesla’s Elon Musk may have to get some tips from GM on adequate car underbelly protection or find his own solutions.
It’s unlikely Tesla will change the configuration of its batteries. According to Reuters, Tesla’s battery pack stretches across the base of the vehicle and is made up of small lithium-ion battery cells, like those used in laptops. By contrast, GM uses large-format battery cells in a T-shape in the center of the Chevy Volt.
Fletcher was eager to move past fiery discussions and talk about adoption rates and “getting to scale.” She described the newly unveiled Cadillac ELR (a luxury electric hybrid based on the Chevy Volt) which will be available for test drives this week at the LA Auto Show. We also discussed autonomous cars, why EV adoption rates are so high in Silicon Valley; what to expect from the next generation Chevy Volt; and what surprised her about the thousands of Volt drivers on the road today.
This month, I moderated a panel of green jobs experts for the Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley. Experts included: Parag Chokshi, Clean Energy Public Affairs Manager, Google; Josh Green, General Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures; Linda Keala, Vice President Human Resources, SolarCity and Nanci Klein, Deputy Director, Office of Economic Development, City of San Jose.
The panel shared insights about the green economy, as well as tips for finding and securing green investments and green jobs. Here are highlights of our conversation (edited for space and clarity).
What are hot sectors in the green economy?
Josh Green, Mohr Davidow Ventures: “In the current environment, we’re looking for less capital intensive deals (energy efficiency, LED lighting and building management systems), so that means we’re on the side of energy demand much more than energy production. People call this cleantech IT – Information Technology. I’m an investor in Xicato, an LED module company. The LED convergence will happen…the payback is less than two years and (it’s) equivalent to halogen light. You don’t have to replace them for ten years or more and especially in a commercial settings, you end up lowering your maintenance costs.”
On cleantech growth sectors in Silicon Valley
Nanci Klein, Office of Economic Development, City of San Jose: “People say manufacturing has left the US…but manufacturing is very exciting here. When you talk about innovation and commercialization, Silicon Valley is a hub around new product introduction. Contract manufacturers will take a low volume, high mix of products. …the ten largest in the world – Tier One contract manufacturers – are all here in Silicon Valley, six of them in San Jose. They’re like a secret weapon resource. We try to link baby investors to these companies. You take someone with a hot idea and you put them with all of the accelerated services…if the product is good you can have a rocket in terms of acceleration.”
Josh Green, Mohr Davidow Ventures: “The loan guarantee program is operating well within the loan loss reserves. Certain loans are going to fail…The Solyndra mess became a big political football…the good news is that we’ve passed the half life…Congress officially stopped all its hearings. There will be continued efforts to end the loan guarantee program…but Solyndra itself: it’s over in terms of an issue. As investors, it never was an issue, it was a company that was not successful…I’ve got a portfolio with lots of companies that are not successful. Out of 100 investments, if you have 10 that meet your investment objectives (10x your money or better) then you’re ‘wildly’ successful, that makes you a top venture capitalists. That means you have a 90% – under your expectations success – rate.”
Tips on getting a green job
Linda Keala, Director of HR, SolarCity:
1. “A background in cleantech is not a prerequisite.”
2. “Differentiate yourself – what about the job (post) got you inspired? What resonated about the company?”
3. “I love getting handwritten letters. A personalized message tells me this is who I am, this is what I can bring to the company. Sometimes I get them in little pink envelopes…”
4. “Touch a spot in our hearts and we’ll take a close look at that resume.”
Josh Green, Mohr Davidow Ventures: “Have passion to change the world.”
How to get a job in Google’s Green Team (there are currently seven openings in the sustainability/green team areas)
Parag Chokshi, Clean Energy Public Affairs Manager at Google:
Here are the qualities Google looks for:
1. “Be a self starter, work independently and drive forward a project.”
2. “Think about creative solutions. We value innovation and creativity.”
3. “Show passion and new ways of thinking about things…that is very valuable.”
How is the City of San Jose helping entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and beyond?
Nanci Klein, Office of Economic Development, City of San Jose: Here are some of the resources available – The Entrepreneur Center in downtown San Jose; Business Owner Space; Opportunity Fund. Check out SJEconomy.com. She also recommends the Cleantech Open competition and SolarTech an association for those in solar and financing sectors. The City of San Jose is working in partnership with Lawrence Berkeley Lab and others to create Prospect Silicon Valley, a demonstration and commrecialization center for cleantech startups.
On storage and battery technology
Josh Green, Mohr Davidow Ventures: “Storage is the most important development that could happen for our grid at the utility scale storage level as well as the emerging EV market to encourage the widespread adoption of EVs. ON the grid side, there is NO storage…the second you produce an electron it has to be consumed…this results in the creation of “Peaker Plants” used for 5-15 hours a year (especially in August). Storage has the greatest potential to unlock value.
In the transportation sector, lithium ion batteries are the lightest batteries and they still weigh about 1400 lbs in the new Tesla Model S. To the extent that you can get these to be a smaller battery pack you can unlock incredible advantages.
For the next 10 years, lithuim ion technologies are going to be where batteires and storage are focused. There are about 50-60 venture backed companies in the Bay Area, working on advanced battery technology. Mohr Davidow has invested in extracting lithium from geothermal brine at goethermal plants in Southern California. Its the lowest cost producer in the world with the best environmental footprint. We believe that lithium will help fuel the storage revolution.“
Dan Dixon: There are people who’ve felt this is their place, their sanctuary to unload a lot of their intimate feelings… A gentleman who’d not yet come out to his family…he wanted to go through a sex change. He confided that in me prior to mentioning it to his family. We hold those relationships in high regard. These individuals can trust us that it’s not going to go any further than the chair.
2. Mine your network
And now on to the subject of the dismally 
On Solyndra
