An Outsider’s Flawed View Of Silicon Valley

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1. tomas zeman
   

   February 15th, 2008 at 2:16 am

   I think main advantage of Silicon Valley is access to capital (mostly seed and early capital). People with good ideas are everywhere, I personally think that in the world now is inflation of ideas (for example most IT/business university students have some), but in rest of the world, nobody will give you money to build a prototype – to start. Of course you can bootstrap and build it during evenings and Sundays but you don’t have speed advantage and speed is important in today’s internet, because most of the ideas are not unique or are easy to duplicate. Yesterday in the Prague was Czech Innovation Forum conference, where people talked about what has to change to allow to “born” more European entrepreneurs (and compete with USA) and it looks like we in Europe have to do a lot of work (school system, law, etc..)

2. Michael Arrington
   

   February 15th, 2008 at 2:19 am

   tomas - the biggest problem in Europe isn’t a lack of entrepreneurial drive, its the fact that, speaking very generally, the culture doesn’t support that drive. People are actually ridiculed who leave well paying jobs to follow their dream of a startup. That’s great for silicon valley because so many great European entrepreneurs end up right here, fueling our economy.

3. Scabr
   

   February 15th, 2008 at 2:19 am

   Offer.Rename Silicon Valley to Silicon Valley 2.0

4. Robin Wauters
   

   February 15th, 2008 at 2:25 am

   Michael, somewhat agree with your comment above, but the situation is slowly but surely improving in Europe (watch Eastern Europe for the next few years).

   Besides, what’s the ratio between ‘great’ European entrepreneurs that go to Silicon Valley and the ones that stay? You may think there are ’so many’ but I find it hard to believe.

5. MVP
   

   February 15th, 2008 at 2:27 am

   I have to agree on the notion that European culture has not supported hardcore entrepreneurial drive in the past. However, I would suggest that that has been changing very rapidly.

   Of the markets that I know of, in the Northern Europe, even some of the boldest new entrepreneurial visions have started to get funding since late 90s, especially if it has anything to do with wireless tech.

   What was missing before late 90s was a track record of intl success, which discouraged intl VC money from flowing to Northern Europe.

   However, Silicon Valley is still the benchmark everyone is looking at, no doubt about that.

6. Valentin B.
   

   February 15th, 2008 at 2:39 am

   I disagree with tomas zeman that it’s impossible to raise money for a prototype in europe. me, living in the center of europe, it’s might be hard to raise money but it’s possible, even in a seed or pre-seed stage, but it needs a lot of networking and a lot of persuasion in your idea.

   i think, the general environment for entrepreneurs in tech-startups improved a lot in the last 10 years in europe, with many successful entrepreneurs and startups (like skype, joost, amiando, studivz, sweatshirt etc, cocomment (kyte tv is in switzerland too and google’s headoffice) this kind of statement helps young entrepreneurs like me and my partners / friends a lot to believe in good ideas.
   (p.s. i’ve lived in seattle for six months, working for a small startup and i did’nt found it easier than here)

7. CAR
   

   February 15th, 2008 at 2:57 am

   Idiots!

8. Tequila Al
   

   February 15th, 2008 at 3:00 am

   To say that a geographic location effects the creative mind is simply not accurate. There are so many different ways today for a entrepreneur to see his vision out. It comes with the experience of a few deadpools. Yes deadpools can be a good thing. In todays world you can educate yourself via blogs and outsource your ideas to other countries. You can communicate with the rest of the world via skype. The issue is that if you go it alone like i have in Midland, Texas, you don’t get the support that you can get in Silicon Valley. That support of money and experience can take you a long way but it can also make you close your mind to alternative ideas to get your idea off the ground. Todays Plug was my first Tech idea and it’s taken me almost a year to get it up and running (it just went up Friday) but it stemmed from this exact conversation we’re having. I wanted to give entrepreneurs another tool that wouldn’t cost them anything so that they could give their product a better chance at survival.

9. baah-baah-the-black-sheep
   

   February 15th, 2008 at 3:09 am

   Don’t know what lifestyle choice you are talking about. Come to New Zealand for that, start your business here. The package includes:
   - office space overlooking a paddock (your choice sheep or cows)
   - dogs are OK inside the building
   - free parking
   - an outdoors shop downstairs
   - B.Y.O. capital

10. Jim
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 3:18 am

    @9, yeah, I would say lifestyle ain’t all, being on a vacation on Nelson, NZ, from Europe.

    The broadband here is BS, and has hard caps on data transfer. How can you internet-innovate on such an environment?

    Farming rules here, though, 13 million sheep at the last count (according to TVNZone). Good as gold, mate.

11. Duncan Riley
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 3:18 am

    baah-baah-the-black-sheep
    NZ is just like Seattle, cold and miserable, but with more sheep, although having said that the weather in the Valley this time of year isn’t great either.

    There is one anomaly/ oxymoron though MA I will point out:

    “The truth about Silicon Valley is that ideas matter more than anything. A Stanford (or even the occasional Berkeley) student with an idea can turn it into a Yahoo.”

    it just helps an awful lot if the idea comes from a Stanford grad. Sure, there are outsiders, but the Valley can be incestuous at times, particularly in the VC community….you’ve even admitted it yourself there by saying occasional Berkely grad…because Stanford grads get favorable treatment. The idea is a lot of the time never the first consideration, the school is, and that’s one thing I’ll give about many places outside of the Valley, they’ll look at the idea first and foremost.

12. Tech For Novices
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 3:19 am

    Just our minus 2 cents worth. Wasn’t this article better suited for Crunchnotes?

13. Jo
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 3:31 am

    I see the world as ripples of what is the center for you and outward expanding circles.

    So what is the center for some is not for others. Equally, there are forms of business in the outer circles, connected to the center, that have their own interests and challenges.

    There is always a little bit of tension between the center and the periphery. The periphery feels defensive at their lack of status (hence @ baah-baah-the-black-sheep the perennial need for Kiwis to remind us they are there). The center is always disconcerted that lifestyle is quite good on the periphery. Run an alexa ranking on Auckland University and the leading business school in the UK - http://www.auckland.ac.uk and http://www.london.edu.

    Seattle is often touted as the place to get a life when you’ve had enough of Silicon Valley or its equivalent. I haven’t been to either. If you can tell me ofan American Airline that is dull enough to fly me where I ask to go, I’ll come visit!

14. Finnsense
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 3:35 am

    The Valley is obviously good because of access to capital and a lot of people working at the forefront of the industry - so the personnel are there. However, there is also a lot more competition for capital - the truth is that a very small number of Valley firms are VC funded. Plus, the competition for the staff is very fierce indeed. You have to fight other startups, plus Google, Facebook etc for good people.

    On the flip side, you pay through the nose to start a business in the Valley with inflated rents and very high salaries. It is not the place to bootstrap anymore.

    One should also distinguish between genuinely cutting edge web technology and good ideas using existing technology. Great web apps require serious talent, sites like hotornot do not. For the former you probably do want to be in the Valley to begin with. For the latter - not so much.

15. Nick Vidal
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 4:02 am

    The best place to bootstrap your startup idea is somewhere that inspires you. Some people get inspiration from competition, but the best ideas comes from reading and talking with friends (not rivals). The Internet allows you to do that wherever you might be. So you might as well be at a chalet in Switzerland or at the beach in Brazil.

    “if you aren’t willing to take advantage of every possible advantage to make your crazy startup idea work, perhaps you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur.”

    People should not take advantage of every possible advantage, but only those that will bring an advantage to everyone. This is how you change the World (for better).

16. Vishal
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 4:08 am

    ha!

    1. there’s more to the world beyond the USA. Please step out of your shell.

    2. i completely disagree with your point on the Valley being the only place where the buzz is happening and the best place to be to get funding etc. You’ve forgotten that the Net is in the party. The next Google Yahoo Bahoo or Doogle can come out of any place… India, Israel, Europe and Timbuk-2.

17. roscoe
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 4:19 am

    All it takes is 5 brilliant people with a shared dream and the proper motivation to change the world. Everything else is a distraction.

18. Paul Shafft
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 4:33 am

    Forget this Valley vs Seattle thing - what’s CRITICAL to original ideas is INSPIRATION. Surrounding yourself with clever people who work their a$$es off helps to DEVELOP an idea it doesn’t help when it comes to new ideas. In fact, the way the human mind works, you’re more likely to come up with an original idea walking in the mountains (when you’re mind is clear), than sitting with a bunch of sweaty tecchies 24/7. Solution: go to places like Seattle to get the idea, then return to the Valley to delevop it.

19. Gubatron
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 4:57 am

    My best place for ideas is the shower.

    My silicon valley exists right on my Gmail account, on my google groups, on my Gtalk, Skype, my hackish environment sits anywhere ago since I’m part of a strong multilingual, multicultural geek community.

20. mark
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:04 am

    working 20 hours a day is the perfect formula for achieving ‘no life’ but that’s about it. It is not any assurance of success. Having a life is important… that is where the great ideas come from.

21. Sunny
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:11 am

    Why is the US lousy at football (soccer in the US)?

    It is the most popular sport in the US for kids until the early teen years.

    But our national team is lousy and European teams are fantastic (as well as some teams across the globe). Why?

    Is it because Europeans are born better at it? Please.

    The reason is Mr. Arrington’s point I believe.

    Competition breeds results.

    Does that carry over to Start-Ups? Many of the above comments seem to argue : No.

    Fun reading.

22. Jo
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:19 am

    It is the other guy’s point! You have other things to do, as they do in Seattle!

23. Ronaldo
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:19 am

    @21, European teams are fantastic because of the Brazilian players… lol…
    I just wish entrepreneurship flourished as well as soccer in Brazil…

24. tomas zeman
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:20 am

    Michael Arrington:
    You are right, European system doesn’t support the drive. It’s improving a lot in last years, but still only 7% of university graduates want to be entrepreneurs. The rest get well paying jobs at (I speak from Prague, Czech Republic perspective) Monster, Sun, IBM, DHL, Skype, Opera, Microsoft (they all have offices centers here).

    Classic example is: I tried to start unix/linux administration outsourcing business in Prague (I had one client) during university. I asked my friends, if they want to start it with me and they answer was: “Return to me after you will have more clients”. I was not able to explain them that if I have more clients, I will hire them and not ‘partner” with them.

    Startups I know in Prague, which want to do international startup project and are not able to get investments have to do it other way. For the first year or two, they do paid projects for other companies, make some money and than invest that money to their own project. The project has usually start to generate revenues earlier than VC funded USA project/startup which slow the project down. But it has some advantages too

    Valentin B.: How many business angels or people willing to invest or VC’s id you meet at your country in last year? In Prague, there are not many of them.

25. Margaret Olson
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:23 am

    I’m not that familiar with the Seattle tech scene, but at least as far as Boston is concerned the funding situation has a huge impact on where startups wind up. Facebook is the most famous example - started here, funded in California, moved to Palo Alto. It happens more often than people think, partly because the startups are so small when they move.

    My take is that the root of the “silicon valley advantage” is the funding advantage.

26. Sunny
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:24 am

    One other comment about Mr. Arrington’s response above :

    just because European culture is different than American culture, and that the resulting economies and acceptance of entrepreneurial activities are different, does not mean that the difference is a ‘problem’ for Europe.

    Different is different.

    With varying results socially, politically, economically and environmentally on both sides of the pond over time.

27. Owen Byrne
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:25 am

    I have to agree with Duncan. Ideas are worth squat in the valley - it’s where you went to school and who you know.

28. Michael (Nozbe.com)
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:33 am

    Great post Michael - when I went for the Office 2.0 Conference in San Francisco last September to speak about Getting Things Done with Marc Orchant I felt just that - the drive is definitely there in the Valley. For personal reasons I have to stay where I am, although I may be coming in the future for a longer period of time.

    I’m based in Poland (Central Europe) and my web application - Nozbe - tool to help you get things done (I’d call it a Backpack on GTD steroids) launched February last year and in December was named “One of the top 11 web apps of 2007″ by Lifehack.org, along such great names as Highrise, Jott or Mint.

    So yes, we have the drive and there are a bunch of great apps from Europe - but you’re definitely right - the “climate” for startups is not here yet. People still have hard time understanding what is it that my company is doing and why I don’t have a “traditional” full time job. And I wouldn’t trade my work with Nozbe for anything else!

    The other thing is - there are great challenges when you are based in Europe - we had to develop an iPhone friendly version of Nozbe without actually owning an iPhone (I got it 2 months later when I came to SF) - so my users did the beta-testing themselves (and this was a great experience).

    All in all - being an owner of an European startup I should say things are moving here but the Silicon Valley remains… THE Valley….

29. iguide
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:39 am

    http://www.i-guide.ro/blog/Ro/en/

30. Danny
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:42 am

    The change the world stuff is always funny to me. It is hilariously self important. Right now there are maybe 3 companies in the valley changing the world. Your slideshow app or “game changing” facebook widget just don’t count.

31. Mark Hughes
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 5:51 am

    I’ve spent some time working in SF, and while it’s not quite as horrible, venal, and rotten a pile of concrete masquerading as a city as L.A., it’s close enough. It would take a preposterous amount of money to make me go back even for a short time, and nothing could persuade me to stay in that hellhole.

    Great, lasting works are no more likely to come out of SF than anywhere else; there are many innovators, but there’s a constant churn of other piranhas tearing your flesh out, making it near-impossible to survive. The investment money goes there, but nowhere near enough for everyone.

    Being miserable all the time, working all the time, that isn’t any way to live. If that means taking things a little slower, that’s okay. When you die, you’re dead forever, and so you’d better enjoy your life here while you can. If all you’ve done is make tech startups that get bought and consumed by Google, have you even lived?

    Everything is a tradeoff, but nothing’s worth trading away your life.

32. JeffC
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 6:00 am

    It’s hard to argue with Mike’s logic on this. Location, location, location, especially when the location has ‘first mover’ status’ as THE technology incubator, hub, and focus of capital.

    I knew it would be an uphill fight for attention, even with a unique, cutting edge open innovation platform, with HQ in Amsterdam and North American office in Northern VA. Yes, ideas matter. But I think of re-locating to the Valley all the time.

33. Paul Shafft
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 6:24 am

    And what’s with all this “over in Europe” nonsense ? There are huge differences to the amount of capital and quality of people amongst the different countries (as with the Seattle vs Valley argument in US). Come to Ireland and have the scenery plus the VCs…

34. Steven
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 6:36 am

    Michael,

    Your post is very insightful but I think there is one major thing missing which Kelman may have tried to convey but didnt do such a great job at. That is, an idea is terrific but unless it becomes a sustainable business, it is just an idea. The problem I believe, is that because of the culture, ideas are valued at such a premium that sometimes there is a missing element of how that idea truly converts to a business that makes money. I cover so many of these transactions regularly and sad to say, most of them wont be around in less than 2 years because they just stayed as ideas and never evolved to be a business.

    These VC’s exist because there is always the hope that the next investment will turn out to be a Google or a Yahoo but very few do and I think that is ok. In fact, most of them burn out but as long as one or a limited few actaully become a business, it becomes a sustainable market and creates excitement for the next investment, the next idea.

    I’m not one to say Seattle or the Valley is better nor does one breed more creativity than another. There have been some great ideas to come out of various parts of the country and yes, many from the Valley. However, creativity and ambition can not be taught nor acquired. It is either in you or it’s not and I dont believe geography plays a role in that accept for the fact that some areas attract great concentrations of like minds. While I accept that there is a greater concentration of ideas which stem out of Stanford as opposed to NYU, the simulus is none the less in the people who reside in certain areas.

    Venture Capital raising is like golf - you never discuss the bad shots, only discuss the good shots and all you need is one good shot to entice you to come back for more.

35. Dorian
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 6:46 am

    Techcrunch said,
    “Sure, Silicon Valley is “a heartless amnesiac.” There is no nostalgia for the old days, because we are always looking to rip the old stuff up and throw it away for something better.”

    Umm - if anything, I think everyone in the Valley is a very much a Nostalgic Amnesiac.

    Seeing as how Blog is just a different name for forum/message board. And isn’t Facebook just a new version of AOL. Stumble Upon = Etour. I could do this for hours.

    A little lipstick on that pig - and she’s a brand new beauty!

36. mark sendo
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 6:49 am

    OK, we are based in Ann Arbor, MI. Yesterday we presented our company to some 40 potential investors. The overall consensus was “brilliant idea”, but, that “we should be on the next plane to Silicon Valley, and hurry”!

    Then, what? Without proper referrals and introductiosn, our team would have very little luck finding angel investors for our seed round. Any thoughts and/or suggestions?

37. Erik Schwartz
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 6:50 am

    I’ve done start ups in the valley, I’ve done start ups in SF, and I’ve done start ups out of the valley (I got VC funded in Portland Maine). There are pros and cons of each.

    The main problem with in the valley is that it’s easy to fool yourself into thinking you’re working on something big that has appeal outside the valley. Just because all the people you hang out with at Cafe Coupa love your product does not mean John Q. Public will give a shit.

    What is it that WWW stands for again?

38. DotComGuy
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 7:07 am

    I couldn’t agree more with Michael. When I first came up with the idea of DotComGuy, a family friend advised that I do it in the Valley. I shrugged it off but have come to realize just how right he was. When I suggested expanding my “daily journal” to allow our viewers to write their own “daily journal” (aka blogging) everyone around me disagreed. Other ideas were “impossible” but in the Valley I might have found people to at least give it a shot (user posted videos and video overlays for advertisements just to name a few).

    I love Dallas but there’s something about the concentration of innovative thinkers and doers in the Valley that makes it unthinkable to utter the word “impossible.”

39. CJAM
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 7:15 am

    I think the weather \ climate is certainly a factor in Silicon Valley’s success, coupled with proximity to San Francisco - a city that has, culturally and business-wise (gold rush, Bank of America mortgages for normal people, HP \ Apple \ PARC) been legendary for risk taking for decades upon decades now. Add to that proximity to great universities, and you have a great mix for success.

    After being a bi-coastal commuter for a while now, it struck me the last time that I was in San Jose how similar the outside temperature was to an internally climate controlled building… I think that might be one of the secret ingredients, less variability in environment = even more ability to focus on being innovative (excluding the periodic tremor and those perennial January rain events, weather in Silicon Valley is very cube-dweller friendly).

40. SF
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 7:28 am

    just curious, but since when was the ideas that mattered? its execution on the idea. think there was only one person with an idea like starting theKnot? selling books on line? jewelry? are these really new ideas? or just good/great execution on an idea that quite a few people may have, but few have either ability, inclination, access to capital, drive, luck, etc. (yes, even smart ppl need a little bit of luck). google didn’t invent the idea of search, they just did it better (and okay, we could have the meta-argument about how doing it better was a result of their great ideas… so this is a bit circular perhaps, because even those great ideas require great execution… and so on. )

    the myth that SV has access to better ideas, i think, isn’t really relevant. capital, talent, motivation, and all the infrastructure to support startups (cultural and structural) is there. for that reason, when i see two startups chasing the same market, i put my money on the one that is based in SV. you win 6 or 8 out of 10 times. (again, two companies chasing same market/idea… so it must not have been the idea itself that was differentiating… but the execution on that idea).

41. Matt
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 7:35 am

    it’s actually sad the the industry is so hell bent on things springing from the valley. I live in wisconsin and have 3 kids, there is no way I’m moving to the valley… but this is America, I want to live out my dreams also. I telle-commute to a startup in NYC. (No valley members on our team, yet anyway… nothing against the valley just hasn’t happened yet)

    There are good ideas and smart people everywhere. (The truly smart people would never plant their family with kids anywhere near San Francisco, or anywhere near the californian seaboard… the san andreas fault is going to cost VC out the arse eventually… the smart investors will put their money all over… not just the valley (which will someday, possibly soon, be leveled by a record earthquake followed very shortly thereafter by a rather nasty sidekick from the ocean.) Web 2.0 is going to feel it that day, people. (this is not ufo conspiracy crap, it’s simply raw science and it IS going to happen eventually…)

    If your idea is truly a successful one it won’t matter where you live. I think, with the rapidly emerging European and Israeli scenes (combined with the tremendous outsourcing of our old jobs to India) we should just commune more around our flag than our zip codes, but that’s just me. I’m the type of american who likes to band together with other americans… not feeling the “eletist” types… “i live in the valley so my idea is more serious than yours” … lol… thats malarky and infantile and your an idiot if you believe it. Loren Feldman said it the best way possible (about success in general, not the valley per se)… the successful people are successful not because they work in the valley but because, and i quote Loren, “They work harder than you do.” but if you watch that video by Loren and replace “A-List” with “silicon valley preference” you’ll have your fix.

    final word: don’t move to san fransisco to better your odds. If your startup is solid, you will do well. If you suck, the valley will not change that. (you might raise some money being there… but that money does not buy you success, at best, if you suck, that money will buy you a bad reputation as a failure and some popularity on whatever forum has the most hoppin’ “FAIL” thread the day you go deadpool.)

42. radio
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 7:56 am

    listen to the song “palo alto” by radiohead

43. Ericson Smith
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 7:59 am

    Meh. Valley, Schammley.

    South Beach, Miami FL — rocks. We have it all here. Beaches, hot(ter) women, and yes, cool startups.

    You’re welcome for a visit anytime Mike!

44. mark sendo
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:01 am

    Matt, I too have 3 kids but the fact is, a temporary move to the Valley where both money and ideas flow like the Amazon, might make sense, at least temporarily. By that i mean, why not do whatever it takes as my kids understand short term sacrifice thus, increasing the chances for long term benefits.

45. Santosh
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:09 am

    Nice post! The author has this unique way of making all things (good and bad) look good for Silicon Valley.

    I am just glad all the idiots who crave 18 hrs a day of web and think that’s the “life to live” are quarantined in a place called “Silicon Valley”. We don’t want you nuts running around in our towns by the way. Feel free to know you aren’t welcome with that attitude.

    Although we will live the real life (with family and friends) on your expense … using up your innovative ideas and ways to kill each other to keep your innovations affordable.

    Like someone said “California is a great place to be …. if you are an orange”

46. Ben
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:22 am

    “The truth about Silicon Valley is that ideas matter more than anything.”. Interesting but I disagree. I’m a Stanford Grad and what we were always taught in class was that “Ideas don’t matter, the execution does”. And that was back in the day in 2000 when I graduated. Chances are, when you have an idea someone else has it or can clone whatever you’re doing better, because lets be honest, most of the stuff being created in web 2.0 is not technically cutting edge. If you don’t live in the bay area but you’re well-connected you have a better chance at success than being in the bay area and not being well-connected.

47. Robert Scoble
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:30 am

    Funny, I just came home from Seattle last night.

    The weather is better down here.

    The culture is better down here. It’s more diverse. My son, Patrick, when we moved to Seattle noticed that there were mostly white people there, while when you stand in a mall in Milpitas it’s frequent that you’re the only white person that you can see.

    The restaurants are better down here. Especially ethnically, although Seattle has a ton of good ones too (we ate the other night in an Afghan restaurant).

    Geek culture? Seattle is like a small Silicon Valley. Similar ethic, just a lot smaller so fewer opportunities.

    Big companies tend to dominate the landscape and it’s rare you hear about startups (I can visit a large chunk of Seattle’s startups in one day or two days while it takes a month to get to a similar chunk of San Francisco/Silicon Valley’s startups).

    There is no way I could do Fast Company.tv up in Seattle. There’s just not enough companies. That said, I’ll be a frequent visitor there and it is a nice place to live.

    Who the hell really cares, anyway? It’s two hours away. I know people who commute from Sacramento to Silicon Valley that long.

48. Tom
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:31 am

    “And if you aren’t willing to take advantage of every possible advantage to make your crazy startup idea work, perhaps you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur. ”

    Wow Mike, that seems to be a pot calling the kettle black situation here. What is it they say.. “Those who can’t do teach” well in this situation I guess those who can’t do blog, huh Mike?

    There are plenty of people all over this country and world who do whatever they can to make their companies work. Are you saying just because they live in the valley their stupid or not as good? Think before you speak next time.

    Along similar lines, not everyone who wants to blog, should.

49. Robert Scoble
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:34 am

    Some other things: there are plenty of people up in Seattle who do nothing but code all week long and never get outside. There’s plenty of overweight people in places like Microsoft, for instance. And Kirkland has a lot of video game companies that are famous for putting their employees through death marches (I have several friends in that industry up there and some even have sleeping bags under their desks for days when things go way past closing hours).

    One thing I miss? Being able to be in the snow in 45 minutes.

    Another thing? The summers. They are stunning up in Seattle. Days are longer and temperature is more moderate.

50. Vlad
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:34 am

    It’s all about access to the capital and close knit community of VCs and VC friends-of-a-friend rubbing each other.

    In a perfect world where a team would get funding judged simply on idea or ability to execute, Silicon Valley would not mean a lot anymore. Yes, it’s famous for crazy ideas like pets.com getting loads of money, but I don’t think it shows the tendency of having the smartest ideas in the world recently.

    From the information perspective everything you need is already available on the net, and you can be as bleeding age as you want anywhere with a computer and 3-4 hours a day to waste on reading the blogs / articles / downloading beta versions of software, etc. Geography no longer matters.

51. Robert Scoble
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:41 am

    Startups that have moved here (San Francisco/Silicon Valley) from other places tell me they did so for four reasons:

    1. Access to capital.
    2. Access to expertise (many companies say it’s easier to find people who’ve built large-scale Internet sites here).
    3. Access to PR and marketing. Much of the world’s tech press is here.
    4. Access to geek culture and lifestyle. Many CEOs and entrepreneurs like the more diverse culture here, and the weather here. Remember Microsoft’s San Francisco Research Lab? Why was it started here? Because Jim Gray didn’t want to move to Seattle.

52. Peter Cooper
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:49 am

    Why do people assume that everyone should tend to the mean? Just because “most” innovation happens in the Valley (arguable, but let’s assume it’s true) and the Valley is the “best” place to be doesn’t mean you’re an idiot for not being in the supposed “majority.”

    Bill Gates wasn’t in a majority, Steve Jobs wasn’t in a majority, the Skype guys weren’t in a majority, and heck, even Michael Arrington isn’t in a majority, despite living in the Bay Area. Real success doesn’t come from being a sheep and being merely successful by copying what the majority does. It comes from thinking outside of the box and taking far bigger risks, like being in Seattle, Europe, or wherever. The majority plain sucks with their suburban mediocrity.

    Let’s face it.. whose sole ambition in life is to be a big fish in the tiny, piddly puddle of “Web 2.0″ anyway? It’s an industry the average man on the street doesn’t recognize and it barely gets ay respect from even the technical sector as a whole. Think bigger, think outside the box, and think in terms of how you want your life to work out, rather than just trying to be some hot-shot to impress people like Michael Arrington.. because that’s not something you’ll be bragging about on your death bed.

    And to Mike’s point of Europeans.. sure, it’s great for the select few who can get the visas (that is, they already have the money or fame that they don’t really need to be there anyway - such as Loic Le Meur). The rest need to either get jobs (and then an H-1B, etc) or have a few hundred thousand to invest to get a temporary treaty trader visa. Hardly a great business decision when you can just run the business from Europe already.

53. stwf
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:49 am

    Well, the main problem with Silicon Valley IS its non stop computerese society. It’s why the area has so much trouble creating products that anyone outside of themselves care about.
    Take the top 10 web 2.0 companies , travel outside of Northern California and see how many people have ever heard of them. The Silicon Vallley types have no idea how the average person uses or feels about their computer.

54. Ray Burt
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:53 am

    Looks like the Valley has lots of failed entrepreneurs who start blogs — and Seattle has succcessful entrepreneurs who start more companies (and write an occasional missive that Vally failed entrepreneur-blog writers go sideways on)…

55. Robert Scoble
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:58 am

    STWF: >Take the top 10 web 2.0 companies , travel outside of Northern California and see how many people have ever heard of them.

    I travel a lot. You’d be amazed at how many people outside the valley have heard of stuff we do. Just go to http://www.twittervision.com and see how many Twitter users are inside the valley.

56. Carla Thompson
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:21 am

    An excerpt from my response to this: “What needs to be said here is that without the rest of the country Arrington dismisses so quickly, all the ideas formulated in the Valley are going exactly nowhere.”

    http://guidewiregroup.wordpres.....es-within/

57. Darren Stuart
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:23 am

    I think you are more likely to get better press and coverage of your startup if you take it to the valley. If I needed to make the next big step with some of my ideas/tech demos and I could afford it I would not hesitate to move to the valley.

    I don’t think many of us Europeans would even think of relocating to seatle unless we wanted to work for someone else.

58. Technology For The Masses
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:27 am

    I second Duncan’s sentiment about a certain amount of incestuousness in SV culture. While SV is the hopping place for innovation and startups, there are many outsider entrepreneurs that are ignored by VCs. Just like anything else in life, connections matter a great deal.

59. Ray Burt
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:27 am

    http://seattle20.sampasite.com.....efault.htm

60. Trace Johnson
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:28 am

    I think it’s interesting to compare geographies and their appetites for starting up companies. From where I sit in Chicago, I certainly have to turn West for most things that are really innovative in the web space. Clearly, the level of investment and activity out there is orders of magnitude larger than the rest of the country. See https://www.pwcmoneytree.com/MTPublic/ns/nav.jsp?page=region that shows $2.399 billion in VC money in Q4 ‘07 vs. $866 million in New England, the next closest region.

    We operate in an environment built on old business and there are few, though a growing number of web startups here in Chicago, though ecommerce activity remains somewhat paltry.

    I can not claim to be privy or insightful about the CA vs. WA animosities this post references, though.

61. Jimbo
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Michael,

    I agree that there is no other place like Silicon Valley. You can meet VCs face to face, and they feel more comfortable giving you money. And you can surround yourself with Web 2.0 geeks who are also trying to meet with VCs or work for people who are meeting with VCs.

    But, the fact is that Silicon Valley is what it is because that’s where the money is. It’s not like there’s something in the water that makes your ideas so great there.

    It’s weird because I thought the Internet was supposed to knock down borders and allow people from all parts of the world to communicate and collaborate no matter what their geography is?

    Yet, for some reason when it comes to Web Apps, everyone in Silicon Valley thinks that geography suddenly matters! Sounds like fair weather geography to me.

62. Lakersin08
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:38 am

    one word man - ecosystem. Valley is way ahead in terms of talent, VC money, precedent and infrastructure…..its not about ideas they can be born anywhere but Valley provides an easier way to bring those ideas to market…….

    I don’t think LA, Seattle are that bad…..they’ve had their share of interesting and successful start-ups, but nothing compared to the numbers that come out Silicon Valley

63. Glenn Kelman
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:41 am

    Hi this is Glenn Kelman, the author of the post that Michael disputes in this excellent essay. I *loved* what Michael wrote. And no one, least of all me, can “explain away” Silicon Valley’s massive advantages. The original reason we posted the essay when we did was to dispute a New York Times piece hailing Seattle as the next Silicon Valley. On the overwhelming evidence of all the startups that have flourished in the Valley, we would all have to agree that Silicon Valley on balance is generally much better for startups. But I was arguing that there are a few interesting, meaningful ways in which Seattle is better. We tried to clarify that point in a subsequent post, “Rambo, Meet Silicon Valley”: http://blog.redfin.com/blog/20.....alley.html

64. guyinseattle
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:41 am

    wow…this is so amazingly arrogant that it could only come from someone living in Silicon Valley. Seattle has had an amazing impact on the tech world and particularly the web. Maybe you are not thinking of these companies - Microsoft, Amazon, Expedia, Real Networks, Zillow, Jott, BlueNile. We also have Cingular, Boeing and Starbucks and tons of biotech (LOL).

    the products, services and websites of these companies have had a significant impact on most people’s lives.

    people in seattle don’t run around twittering and we’re not as addicted to the latest fads of the month but don’t mistake that for being “less than” SV in some regard.

    shame on you and your arrogance

65. Silicon Valley
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:43 am

    We have a Silicon Valley history site that illustrates WHY Silicon Valley evolved into what it is

66. Robert Scoble
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:49 am

    >people in seattle don’t run around twittering and we’re not as addicted to the latest fads of the month but don’t mistake that for being “less than” SV in some regard.

    Heh. I just got back from Seattle and all I heard was “Twitter Twitter Twitter.” Well, in between seeing cool stuff at Microsoft Research.

67. GP
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:52 am

    I think liberal college towns are the future silicon valley(s)…one great example is ann arbor,mi & austin,tx

68. Greg
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:56 am

    The thing about Silicon Valley is that it’s a lot easier to get capital, because all the VCs are there and they watch it like a hawk. The problem with that is that you need more capital because it’s expensive like whoa. Plus there are just more people to recruit, since it’s like a magnet for talent.

    I guess I wouldn’t suggest Silicon Valley based on the mystique of it, but rather for the fact that it’s been a self-fulfilling prophecy and the end result is that years of people thinking you have to be there pretty much wound up meaning that you actually DO have to be there.

    Then again, I could be way off - I haven’t been to either place, pretty much ever.

69. Noam Lovinsky
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:57 am

    For what it’s worth Michael, a couple of comments…

    First and foremost, I generally agree with your premise. Silicon Valley is the place to be. No question. Seattle, Tel Aviv, Haifa, New York, Barcelona are all awesome environments as well, but you just can’t compare these locales to Silicon Valley.

    As for the implication that Kelman fled to Seattle because he couldn’t cut it in the Valley, I call total bull shit. It’s “nice” of you to suggest that Glenn could even make it here, but I’m sorry to say that you don’t know the half of it. Now, I’ve never had the pleasure of working with you so I couldn’t comment on your ability to “make it” as an entrepreneur or your ability to inspire the masses to do something truly great. Obviously TechCrunch is a success and it is the first site I pop up every morning after Gmail so that’s clearly saying something, but I’d at least want to work with a guy before making any legitimate commentary about his abilities as an entrepreneur, but that’s just me.

    Not that you or your readers should be very interested, but coming from someone that has worked with Kelman in the past, I think it’s safe to say that Glenn could make a startup succeed on any corner of this planet. I dare you to find a single person that’s worked with the guy that would disagree with my statement.

    Having said that, I think the most important take away from this comment is that an entrepreneur like Glenn leaves behind him a sea of people like me who would lay down on the tracks for the guy and even take a moment out of their day to write a comment on a blog. Ignoring the fact that his first venture was a success and his second venture is assured to be a success as well, how many entrepreneurs, successful or not, can say that they’ve created that amount of good will. In Seattle or Silicon Valley?

70. Tequila Al
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 9:59 am

    STWF and Scoble: Both of your points are valid but here’s the difference.
    There is success within the industry which is what Scoble experiences in his travels and then there is success as a brand which is STWF’s point. When you’re checking out at Wal-Mart and you ask if she’s heard of XYZ brand and she answers yes, then you’re successful as a brand.

71. Greg from Indavest
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 10:01 am

    I live in NY and just came back from a business trip to the Valley - if you think that life is not balanced there compared to Seattle, then you should try comparing to the Financial Services world in NY. After spending 6 years working 14 high stress hours a day, commuting on subways, business attire, and often seeing no sunlight for long stretches of time (lunch at the desk) - work life in Silicon Valley seems like a day at the beach.

    Entrepreneurs in t-shirt and jeans, working in gorgeous offices in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, etc… with beautiful weather, Ping Pong tables in the office when you need a break, and more..

    So my point is that people might work many hours in the Valley - but the quality of that time spent working is rather high… The lifestyle there seems pretty balanced to me, even as a risk-taking entrepreneur.

72. steve
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 10:03 am

    Few places in the world have culturally evolved to value merit, intelligence
    and a work-ethic over pedigree (a stanford degree helps but so does an interesting open-source contribution) — this cultural advantage takes generations to duplicate (at other places) if at all possible.

73. Weak-Innovation
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 10:05 am

    I think this is a subject where everyone can be right.

74. JeffC
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 10:07 am

    For the lifestyle, atmosphere, affordability and coffee … I’d choose Seattle in a New York minute.

    Perhaps Silicon Valley should be viewed as the place where tech salmon give birth. Kills a lot of them swimming upstream to get there. But new salmon are born and they swim off to other places. Unless eaten by bear. Maybe we should look at Silicon Valley as the launchpad. Get launched, get noticed … and swim the hell out to someplace more liveable and affordable.

75. Rm
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 10:09 am

    I read your blog every single day, once in the afternoon and another at night. I have to say this is one of the best post you have posted. Im not saying it to kiss your ass, cause the majority of the time I disagree with the things you post, but I love this post maybe because thats what I believe and hope.

    22

76. DK
    

    February 15th, 2008 at 10:14 am

    To the guy in the comment section who thinks his kids will benefit from a move to SF. Take it from someone who moved a few times for Dad’s job. Yes, he achieved the dream and the wealth, but he died of a heart attack and stress at age 60. Mom is a widow