This week’s poll relates to a somewhat controversial NY
Times article over the weekend, which suggested that Silicon Valley is more
likely to create innovative and successful tech products than elsewhere in the
world. Obviously Silicon Valley has a lot going for it – it’s a hub for smart
Web technologists, it’s swimming in VC money right now, the universities there
provide a steady supply of talent, and of course the history and ‘myth’ of
Silicon Valley is well known. So yes, the chances for success are higher for a
web startup living in Silicon Valley. But does that make Silicon Valley startups
inherently more innovative? This article says yes, and what’s more claims that
“where you live often trumps who you are.”
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?
