Ok, I know, I know, tech startups that aren’t in Silicon Valley get all miffed when you bring this up and love to point out all the successful tech startups outside the Valley. However, those five companies notwithstanding, there’s a very simple reason to be here: everyone else is.
I’ve read these words before, but they finally clicked for me tonight when I went to Startup2Startup. My table had a couple of successful entrepreneurs, one of the early hires from Google, an angel investor or two, and a couple of VC guys. We all sat and talked about starting tech companies for an hour. That kind of face-time is actually not uncommon here. I’ve found that it’s actually not terribly difficult to get meetings with people who have done some pretty impressive things. Incredibly busy founders take time to respond to emails. You can’t swing a dead cat in any direction without hitting a couple of entrepreneurs who are working on their second or third startup. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows what’s going on or who you should talk to. It’s overwhelming in many ways just trying to figure out where to focus your energy. I could literally attend tech meetups, mixers, and other events every single night of the week, and probably several lunches throughout the week as well.
As usual, Paul Graham said it best. The impact of a culture focused on entrepreneurship is hard to quantify, but it pays off tremendously. Most entrepreneurs are stubborn and enjoy swimming against the current, but when you’re the only one like you, it gets very hard to figure out which way you’re supposed to keep swimming (to stretch the metaphor a bit). There’s tremendous value in having like-minded people to encourage you, to learn from, and to remind you that it can be done. You know this because they’ve done it. And when you sit for an hour and talk to them, you find out that they’re not so different from you, just perhaps a few years ahead.
The danger is that because you’re surrounded by so many people just like you, you tend to get locked in to thinking a certain way. That’s a real danger, and you should try and break through the bubble as often as you can. Go visit one of the states in middle America and talk to those people. They’ll help you stay grounded and help you understand what real people out there are thinking about right now and how you can reach them. But once you gather that intel, come back. Because if you want to build the future, there’s no better place than Silicon Valley.
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Unconvincing article. Real entrepreneurs swim against the crowd AND think for themselves. They don’t need anybody else. Look at the examples.
If anything, being in the valley would get you caught in a rut with people all thinking the same – therefore how can you swim against the crowd.
Ideas and execution on those ideas is what is important.
I moved to the bay area recently. I couldn’t agree more – as a tech entrepreneur I absolutely love being in the valley.
If you already know everyone you will need to know, you don’t have to be in the valley.. but if you do need to network, you can network about 10x as efficiently in the bay area.
If you are building a business or technology where there is a lot of precedent, you don’t need to be in the Valley. But if you are doing something innovative, you need constant feedback from the cutting edge to define and position your company effectively.
Customers? Funding? both could come from anywhere in the country, but if you need to attract either a customer or an investor with a heavy tolerance for risk, the valley is the best bet. Its in the culture.
Anon,
You said:
“Unconvincing article. Real entrepreneurs swim against the crowd AND think for themselves. They don’t need anybody else. Look at the examples.”
First, I would strongly disagree that real entrepreneurs don’t need anybody else. Entrepreneurs are leaders who not only need others but rely strongly on their ability to rally others towards a common goal.
Second, I’d like to hear all the examples of tech entrepreneurs who started and grew innovative and paradigm-shifting companies outside of the Valley, or some other tech startup hub. There are a few examples, I’m sure, but the overwhelming majority of those companies are here.
I may be wrong…please feel free to post some examples.
@ anon 12:21pm
I think you tried to make a point but ended up contradicting yourself. Real entrepreneurs don’t care which way the crowd moves, they focus on doing what works. A simple example: Google decided to make a search engine even though there where tons of established players at the time, that is swimming with the crowd and being successful as entrepreneurs.
@Ryan Waggoner
“Entrepreneurs are leaders who not only need others but rely strongly on their ability to rally others towards a common goal.”
1) Sure but living in the Valley is not as big of a deal as made out here. Anybody can be reached by phone or email.
2) Lots of examples otherwise (Gates, Ellison,
@Joe the Web Developer said:
“A simple example: Google decided to make a search engine even though there where tons of established players at the time, that is swimming with the crowd and being successful as entrepreneurs.”
1) doing a search engine DESPITE there being tons of established players is going against the crowd (you could say it was already saturated).
2) they swam against the crowd in how they thought outside the box and approached the problem in a new way (backlinks)
Ok Ellison might be wrong example, how about RIM, Nokia, SAP, etc… AT&T, Nortel, Bell.
Better yet, convince me how valley networking helped companies like:
-Google – backlinks would have made this company whether they started in SF or in Tampa.
-Microsoft – signing that IBM deal Gates would have made it whether in SF or in Mexico City
In other words, I believe the companies made it big because of the entrpreneurs and the networking contacts was just a minor factor (maybe sped things up a little).
hmmm so no rebuttals or illustrations how networking helped companies like Google or Microsoft to any significant degree. Pretty clear this article has little basis in reality.