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Dan8267
2015 Jun 14, 11:31am
Why is Silicon Valley better at innovating than most of the world?
Birds of a feather flock together and make a self-fulfilling prophecy. Since the world expects tech to be developed in Silicon Valley, any tech developed outside of that place is at a marketing disadvantage. So you get a P.O. Box that hides the fact that it's a P.O. Box and put that address on your website. You then have all the advantages of a Silicon Valley company with none of the disadvantages.
indigenous
2015 Jun 14, 11:34am
It is called comparative advantage or when ideas have sex:
http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_ridley_when_ideas_have_sex?language=en
indigenous
2015 Jun 14, 2:30pm
This is what we were talking about the other day regarding human capital and how it affected countries after WW 2
I think Detroit's human capital got replaced, that and the local government sucked it dry which is a possibility in Calif, I wouldn't bet against it in time.
MisdemeanorRebel
2015 Jun 14, 2:35pm
The problem is dumb leadership. People who took over US companies in the 70s and 80s were interns and junior executives in easy times. They were too soft to comprehend or envision change.
Just like the people in charge today were gathering coffee and acting as junior staffers back when it was a post-Cold War, Unilateral World, and can't react properly to the fact the World has changed, and bluster and threats don't work the way they used to in the 90s and 2000s. Because their foundational experience was all in times of unopposed power.
MisdemeanorRebel
2015 Jun 14, 2:43pm
I still want to hear from indigenous on this one concerning Detroit in the 50 and 60s...
I'm curious to hear his answer too, just that your post reminded me of that thought I had in shower yesterday.
Indigenous?
lostand confused
2015 Jun 14, 2:49pm
San Francisco has weather, culture and beautiful scenery. Even native Midwesterners move out if they can. Who wants to shovel snow and mow your lawn in your 80s? Even if you can pay for all of that, you can't walk outside or even drive freely for about 4-5 months. No wonder Phoenix and FL have been growing. if there was a nice , cheap destination in CA, millions of retirees would swoop in there. I bought my house from native Midwesterners who couldn't deal with the cold anymore after retirement. After retirement, it amplifies the affect, as you are not going to jobs anymore and if kids have moved out too-then you are really alone.
Back on topic, tech is a fluid industry. I haven't been in the bay area a while. How bad is the drought-Marin/Sonoma/Mendocino counties always had a ton of rain-are they affected too? I think it is only scal and the eastern portion-or the whole state.
But the job market is really good all around. With property prices rising all around, even I am thinking of moving to Phoenix or OR. I am talking to a few people , but am sitting tight in my salary-the market is pretty good. I can't believe I bought a house in the Midwest and prices have surged up even here-even rents!!! I might actually make a decent profit if I sell-which here is almost unheard of, some folks properties are sitting at 1999 levels or just a little higher! Haven't decided as my current company offers a superb package, but now that we are planning a family, just thinking if a less cold and less expensive place. MY fiancé's family is also moving out and so not much to keep us here.
Strategist
2015 Jun 14, 2:50pm
Why is Silicon Valley better at innovating than most of the world?
Why are the number of successful startups so high there?
Capitalism works.
indigenous
2015 Jun 14, 3:07pm
Growing up in Michigan during the 50s and 60s I would like to hear your reasoning - just curious.
I think after the 70s Japan Inc started to rise in large part due to the legacy of Edwards Deming. GM could not change their culture in spite of the clear superiority of TPS in the NUMMI experiment.
Also Rodger Smith did not do GM any favors.
That and their union contracts killed them.
The city itself was simply living beyond its means once the manufacturing left.
Ford OTOH adapted.
lostand confused
2015 Jun 14, 3:21pm
Quick diversion off topic. Try Phoenix for a summer and Oregon for a winter, west of the Cascades, you might not be so enthusiastic...also check out taxes and especially utilities....I had a superb package as well in 1995 when I transferred to the Bay Area but that has since been slashed to non-existent so not sure what your concept of superb is - maybe something for a different thread
Well, I am used to the heat-grew up in Phoenix like conditions. I can be out at 110 and be just fine-above that, just go out at night.I don't think an OR winter is any worse than an upper Midwestern winter? It is dull, dreary and rainy-that I think is what you are meaning? Where I am winter can get to -10 or -15 on some days and then with windchill it is -40 or higher. Now that I bought a house, shoveling snow is an interesting concept. But even the walk from the office parking lot to the office can be a chore with on days when the temp go back above freezing and then freeze again.
By package, meant the current one. Yeah in CA, they have whittled down heavily. I am slowly moving to management and away from down in the trenches tech. So here where I am the package is superb, in terms of salary, benefits, stock options etc. For this location it is good. But my industry is going through a wave of consolidation anyways and it depends if we end up buying somebody or end up being bought. There is not that much "talent" here or competition, but since looking at things-I really don't want to move to high housing state. But I am an outdoorsy person and not a gym person. I need nature and long hikes and such. it is nice now, the greenery, the flowers, but in about 4-5 months, will be trapped inside and get cabin fever. I think even in Portland, you can go out-the averages I have seen seem to be in the low 20s at night and then 40s/50s in the evening. Rain I can deal with, but the inability to just walk and breath fresh air-I am sure will get to me in a few years.
indigenous
2015 Jun 14, 3:59pm
IMO they are on borrowed time, IIRC their sales in China are quite good but still it is a when question.
hanera
2015 Jun 14, 6:12pm
Today's San Francisco is tomorrow's Detroit.
Won't happen because tech is not a single industry, it is multi-industry. Detroit depends mainly on auto industry. SF is also an international tourist spot.
Strategist
2015 Jun 14, 6:32pm
GM would be gone if not for the bailout.
I think parts of GM can survive. Cadillac, Buick, and Chevy brands are quite popular.
Yesterday, I test drove the Chevy Volt. Great technology and beautiful design, but the dashboard and everything in it felt cheap. I was somewhat disappointed, expecting better for a car with an MSRP of $35,000+. With discounts and government rebates it's less than $20,000 :) Might be worth leasing for 3 years, so I don't have to put up with potential problems prone to American cars.
The high costs GM has to endure due to unions throws a shadow of doubt over the value of their cars.
Strategist
2015 Jun 14, 6:38pm
Detroit depends mainly on auto industry. SF is also an international tourist spot.
Never met anyone who wanted to visit Detroit. It's "highest and best use" is that of the world's largest homeless shelter.
Why is Silicon Valley better at innovating than most of the world?
Why are the number of successful startups so high there?
Where is the next Mecca of tech-startup success going to emerge?
This blog is about where and why innovation happens, and where it's going next.
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It Started in a Coffee Shop
In the 18th century, coffeehouses had an enormous impact on Enlightenment culture.
As Steven Johnson says in his book Where Good Ideas Come From, "It's no accident that the Age of Reason accompanies the rise of caffeinated beverages."
The coffeehouse became the hub for information sharing.
Suddenly commoners could interact with the royals, meet, mingle and share ideas.
In his book London Coffee Houses, Bryant Lillywhite explains it this way:
"The London coffee-houses provided a gathering place where, for a penny admission charge, any man who was reasonably dressed could smoke his long, clay pipe, sip a dish of coffee, read the newsletters of the day, or enter into conversation with other patrons.
"At the period when journalism was in its infancy and the postal system was unorganized and irregular, the coffeehouse provided a centre of communication for news and information . . . Naturally, this dissemination of news led to the dissemination of ideas, and the coffee-house served as a forum for their discussion."
Beyond the Coffee Shop
Today, researchers have recognized that the coffee-shop phenomenon is actually just a mirror of what occurs when people move from sparse rural areas to jam-packed cities.
As people begin living atop one another, so too do their ideas. And, as Matt Ridley aptly describes, innovation happens when these crowded ideas "have sex."
Geoffrey West, a physicist from Santa Fe Institute, found that when a city's population doubles, there is a 15 percent increase in income, wealth and innovation. (He measured innovation by counting the number of new patents.)
Why Silicon Valley is Getting it Right
My friend Philip Rosedale, the creator of Second Life and now CEO of High Fidelity, spent some time investigating why the Bay Area in particular has become such a hub for technology and innovation.
As Rosedale explains, "I think the magic of Silicon Valley is not in fostering risk-taking, but instead in making it safe to work on risky things. There are two things happening in Silicon Valley that are qualitatively different anywhere else."
Those things are:
The sheer density of tech "founders per capita†is 10 times greater than the norm for other cities (see figure below).
There is a far greater level of information sharing between entrepreneurs.
mage: San Francisco has about twice the density of the next-highest city (Boston), and about five times the density of New York.
Rosedale goes on, "You can't walk down the street without (almost literally) running into someone else who is starting a tech company. While tech ventures are individually risky, a sufficiently large number of them close to each other makes the experience of working in startups safe for any one individual."
"I like to visualize this as a series of lily pads in a pond, occasionally submerging as their funding runs out," he explains. "If you are a frog, and there are enough other lily pads nearby, you'll do just fine."
"Beyond simply having a lot of people near you to work with, I believe that the openness and willingness to share inherent to Silicon Valley is a big driver in this effect."
Beyond the Next Coffee House
For entrepreneurial technology innovation to occur, you need two things: a densely packed population of tech-savvy entrepreneurs and a culture of freely sharing and building on ideas.
Rosedale, who is working on the key technologies to intimately and powerfully connect people using virtual worlds, points out, "If we create a virtual world, we can expect a sudden disruption as the biggest 'city' of the tech future goes 100 percent online."
Just as the coffeehouse is a pale comparison to today's high-density city, so too will today's city be a pale comparison to the coming high fidelity, virtual online innovation communities.
Imagine a near-term future where any entrepreneur, anywhere on the planet, independent of the language they speak (think instant translation), can grab their VR headset (e.g. Oculus, Hololens, Magic Leap) and immerse themselves into an extremely high resolution and low latency VR world filled with like-minded creative, insightful and experienced entrepreneurs.
But this hyperconnected world is not happening in isolation to other changes.
As I've noted in previous blogs, the number of people connected to the Internet is exploding, going from 1.8 billion in 2010 to 2.8 billion today, and as many as 5 billion by 2020.
The opportunities for collaborative thinking are growing exponentially, and since progress is cumulative, the resulting innovations are going to grow exponentially as well.
Ultimately, these virtual worlds will create massive, global virtual coffeehouses for entrepreneurs to meet, to innovate, to create businesses and solve problems.
It's for this reason (among many others) that I believe we are living during the most exciting time ever.
The tools we are developing will bring about an age of abundance, and we will be able to meet the needs of every man, woman and child on Earth.
http://peterdiamandis.tumblr.com/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CoffeeHouse