Om Malik has already written a good response, pointing out that Skype was a Nordic creation. And he links to a piece by Vinnie Mirchandani, who rightly says that "the Valley trails other global centers when it comes to many "next-gen" areas", such as mobile and enterprise software.
Like Vinnie, I think the real value of Silicon Valley is in commercializing innovation. Indeed this is something I mentioned recently in an interview I did with a New Zealand newspaper - I said that kiwis are known for their innovation and so there's no reason innovative web startups can't be created here. But I noted that to succeed on a large global scale, kiwis will probably need to take the pilgrimage to Silicon Valley. And it's not just for the VC money - the networking is just as important.
So to this week's poll, do you think Web innovation is dependent on location?
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Seriously, speaking from my basement in NJ. No way, it does not matter, in fact, its good to be outside of the valley.
Alex
]]>for example, i know how iTunes store caches on the backend; i know what a mess bittorrent is, and the state of many other companies and their technologies.
]]>It might be easier to get funding in the Valley, as you say, but you can create a compelling product anywhere. And once you have a good product, that people want to use, the funding will come where ever you are. (There isn't a [successful] entrepreneur in the world who would say, "I think you're the next YouTube, but I'm going to pass on the investment because you're located in Miami.")
]]>re California, hope we do not see what I wrote below again
http://dealarchitect.typepad.com/deal_architect/2005/05/californization.html
]]>But it is Silicon Valley today and can be London, Shanghai or Barcelona in a few years, since most of the innovators in Silicon Valley actually moved there looking for those factors, and they will move easily anywhere else where they can succeed and be able to spend there money.
I hope it will be Barcelona, because we are already there .... best regards from http://eyeOS.org
]]>Innovation can happen anywhere, as many have said above; actually, I think serious, revolutionary stuff is more likely to come from elsewhere, because Silicon Valley is its own self-feeding ecosystem. If you're not subject to that environment, you're more likely to think with different rules.
However, the key is actually getting noticed, and then getting money. If you have something truly disruptive, and more importantly viral, like Skype was, it's not going to matter. But if you have a more slow-burn product that might require advertising, or some small-scale funding in order to bring in programmers etc, you're much more likely to get it off the ground if you bring it to the Valley.
My company sits in Oxford, England, and although we've graciously been discussed here on Read/Write Web twice, and in various other places (most notably on Marc Canter's blog recently), we're still advised by everyone involved with funding and web business we talk to to move to the San Francisco area. The traditional web 2.0 investment organisations don't generally want to give you money if they can't walk down the street to talk to you, and the investment companies elsewhere are still by and large wary because of the first bubble.
So innovators elsewhere are forced to bootstrap, possibly use programmers in places like Estonia or India where they trade in the ability to have personal oversight over their technical team for cost, and eat way more Ramen for longer than their US counterparts.
]]>I wonder how many so called Valley successes were actually invented developed elsewhere and then started up there.
I am from the UK and I would kill for an area like this in the UK.
]]>In Los Angeles, we have lots of innovation happening with a vibrant Angel community, lots of funding sources, a big media community, lots going on in wireless, social networking, healthcare, green, etc. While we definitely have challenges with geography (its too spread out for easy networking), I think its easy to underestimate what's happening in other geographies.
As a side note, I'm not sure about technology talent - I know that my company is working on lots of new, innovative start-ups that most people would love to work on and there is definitely a challenge finding good, smart technical people at all levels in Los Angeles.
]]>Major law firms compete for your business, with entire groups designed around an emerging technology practice. Multiple banks have complete practices setup around supporting seed and early stage companies – and do things that a regular bank wouldn’t dream of. And the list goes on from there.
None of this guarantees success of course, but it sure helps accelerate a company with a good idea. Significantly.
]]>I guess the point is, that people are forced to move to Silicon Valley because of these reasons too and that in no way means that its the hub as for new and original ideas.
Vikas.
http://www.technacular.com
Paul Graham's essay, linked directly above, is the best thing I've read on this subject, and he definitely scoops the Times on this one.
I highly recommend reading it, and in fact, (here's a completely unbiased endorsement) reading his book, Hackers & Painters.
Ah
]]>That being said, I don't intend for this to be a reason why I fail at starting my business (see my blog) for a chronicle of how my solo Sydney-based business building is going...
]]>As a result, US venture capital companies should get better deals by investing more in O/S ventures.
]]>Our company is based on Oslo, Norway and Krakow, Poland. We plan to go West for further growth as soon as we get out of the first Private Beta stage.
]]>Look at example of Million Dollar Homepage, a simplest technology launched by a British student.
Would the same person make a penny with the same idea if he lived in my Ukraine? No, absolutely not!!!
To prove or disprove this, I launched a better,
- BILLION(!) Dollar project Mini-News.com.
Read more at http://Mini-Billion.blogspot.com
From any start-ups that moved to receive funding or did they just keep stabbing away at getting funding in their home town, or possibly receive funding from a VC or angel in another town.
From a VC or angel that invested a company outside of their home town.
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