Saul Klein, the former
Skype global marketing VP who joined
VC firm Index Ventures this week, has a
great post on his blog about the European startup scene. I spoke to Saul earlier this
week and I will write up a post about that conversation next week. But for now, check out
Saul’s post – it really nails why Web innovation is happening more and more outside
Silicon Valley.
Remember that our
R/WW poll this week is on this very topic: does location matter in Web innovation? So
far nearly half of you (47%) think that location does matter, but that
several places in the world have just as high a chance of innovation as Silicon Valley
(depending on product type and other factors). A third of you (34%) think that location
doesn’t matter and that innovation can happen equally everywhere (NZ,
Timbuktoo, etc). Only 1/5 of you (20%) think that Silicon Valley has the highest chance
of innovation.
As Saul pointed out in his post, there is much more to running a startup than simply
having an idea and building a prototype. Silicon Valley definitely has a lot of
advantages in terms of networking and the density of smart Web people in the area. But
Europe is catching up:
“We’ve always had great talent (especially in academia & research institutions),
but now we also successful entrepreneurial role models, sophisticated early-stage
financing and the ability to start and test businesses at low-cost as well.”
Also Saul notes that the Internet is growing rapidly outside the US:
“The Internet outside the US is bigger than the inside and that trend is only
accelerating. Google, eBay and Yahoo all know this and the fact that YouTube is already
over 65% international in less than two years from launch shows that the US in no longer
an island.
Against many important measures — broadband penetration, % online advertising spend
and mobile phone adoption — the US is no longer the world’s most important market. This
is not for one minute to say that the US shouldn’t part a major part of every ambitious
startup’s plans but if for example you want to be in the market with the largest share of
online advertising as part of the marketing mix, you want to be in the UK.”
Web innovation truly is global these days. What’s more, reporting on Web
innovation is global (he says, tapping away at his keyboard on a Saturday morning in
Wellington, New Zealand). While a lot of my focus is on Silicon Valley, because it’s
still the nexus of Web business, I’ve also been following the Asia scene with great
interest – because it’s closer to where I am physically. I’m also involved as an advisor
to a Europe startup (Nooked) and I keep in regular
contact with many European web 2.0 folks.
Ain’t globalization grand!
Pic credit: Paul
Watson and business2blog
