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Quite a few of these were produced out of Google and FB, so it makes sense they would be based out of MV/Meno Park. However most of the unicorns or near unicor

Quite a few of these were produced out of Google and FB, so it makes sense they would be based out of MV/Meno Park. However most of the unicorns or near unicorns since 2010 have been based in SF. Dropbox, AirBnb, Uber, Lyft, Stripe, Zenefits, SoFi, Credit Karma, CloudFlare, DocuSign, Wish, Slack, Github, Instacart, Prosper, Automattic, Eventbrite, Okta, Docker, Gusto, Nextdoor. Let list could go on and on. I stand by my statement that more talent in concentrated in a smaller area vs South Bay and they are trying out a lot more things and also faster. Dynamics of an urban area also play some role where, where you can quickly walk to, use public transport or get an Uber, vs driving to another place in South Bay. All this leads to SF being ahead of South Bay in terms of learnings and trying out things. And name calling doesn't get us anywhere!

haeffin 9y ago
That's lots of names of companies and no examples of "best technology building best practices".
Karrot_Kream 9y ago
You're naming products or companies and not technologies or processes. Moreover many of these companies are privately traded and their balance sheet is unknown. These companies could be healthy or they could be struggling and we have no idea. So what is your metric of "cutting edge"? It sounds like you're optimizing for small business strategy? Seems honestly like VC funding is the biggest indicator here.
mattgreenrocks 9y ago
I’d argue SV does so well because SV is fundamentally extractive in how it uses tech. It uses tech as a way to strip mine a particular domain, often bypassing incumbents in the process. There is nothing innovative about this process. It is not ‘high’ tech so much as applied tech. Another take on this: look at the type of people that SV idolizes by and large. Are they mostly hackers? Or business people? SV is a colony of capital B business, and they keep the makers around because they have to.
- jimmywanger 9y ago
  > It uses tech as a way to strip mine a particular domain, often bypassing incumbents in the process. The term strip mine is a loaded term. In the classical sense, it devastates the ecosystem while extracting resources that are impossible to replace. In fact, Silicon Valley does not do that. People aren't going to stop needing transportation because Uber used up all the transportation, and it won't stop needing places to stay because AirBnB lets you rent out your apartment. > SV is a colony of capital B business What is a capital B business as opposed to a lower case b business?
  - mattgreenrocks 9y ago
    Strip mining is a loaded term, and a touch unfair, perhaps. But I'd argue that tech itself is a resource of sorts, and needs periodic re-investment in order to continue to sustain high growth. I do think SV strip mines tech itself. (I got these thoughts from Alan Kay, they aren't my own, but I keep thinking about them.) Where is the Xerox PARC of 2018? Why isn't there one? We have more computing power and are economically (as a whole) better off than at any other point in history. At some point, you have to start aiming for the moon again. Edit: capital-B business to me is the ultra-aggressive dominate-everything mindset that seems to corrupt a lot of people.
    - jimmywanger 9y ago
      > I do think SV strip mines tech itself. You're talking out of both sides of your mouth now. Strip mining usually means something that destroys a natural resource. You were originally talking about how Silicon Valley "strip mines a particular domain." That implies that it's strip mining other industries, such as hire for ride, etc etc. You could almost argue that they strip mined animation and movie special effects because they took profits from manual animators and movie prop creators. I fail to see how Silicon Valley is "strip mining" tech. (Btw, something different from what you previously implied) They're grabbing low hanging fruit, but they're not ruining the resource for everybody else. Also, to address your last point, the economies of scale are such that at this point, if you don't dominate a market, at least locally, you're dogmeat.

haeffin 9y ago

That's lots of names of companies and no examples of "best technology building best practices".

Karrot_Kream 9y ago

You're naming products or companies and not technologies or processes. Moreover many of these companies are privately traded and their balance sheet is unknown. These companies could be healthy or they could be struggling and we have no idea. So what is your metric of "cutting edge"? It sounds like you're optimizing for small business strategy? Seems honestly like VC funding is the biggest indicator here.

mattgreenrocks 9y ago

I’d argue SV does so well because SV is fundamentally extractive in how it uses tech. It uses tech as a way to strip mine a particular domain, often bypassing incumbents in the process. There is nothing innovative about this process. It is not ‘high’ tech so much as applied tech. Another take on this: look at the type of people that SV idolizes by and large. Are they mostly hackers? Or business people? SV is a colony of capital B business, and they keep the makers around because they have to.

jimmywanger 9y ago
> It uses tech as a way to strip mine a particular domain, often bypassing incumbents in the process. The term strip mine is a loaded term. In the classical sense, it devastates the ecosystem while extracting resources that are impossible to replace. In fact, Silicon Valley does not do that. People aren't going to stop needing transportation because Uber used up all the transportation, and it won't stop needing places to stay because AirBnB lets you rent out your apartment. > SV is a colony of capital B business What is a capital B business as opposed to a lower case b business?
- mattgreenrocks 9y ago
  Strip mining is a loaded term, and a touch unfair, perhaps. But I'd argue that tech itself is a resource of sorts, and needs periodic re-investment in order to continue to sustain high growth. I do think SV strip mines tech itself. (I got these thoughts from Alan Kay, they aren't my own, but I keep thinking about them.) Where is the Xerox PARC of 2018? Why isn't there one? We have more computing power and are economically (as a whole) better off than at any other point in history. At some point, you have to start aiming for the moon again. Edit: capital-B business to me is the ultra-aggressive dominate-everything mindset that seems to corrupt a lot of people.
  - jimmywanger 9y ago
    > I do think SV strip mines tech itself. You're talking out of both sides of your mouth now. Strip mining usually means something that destroys a natural resource. You were originally talking about how Silicon Valley "strip mines a particular domain." That implies that it's strip mining other industries, such as hire for ride, etc etc. You could almost argue that they strip mined animation and movie special effects because they took profits from manual animators and movie prop creators. I fail to see how Silicon Valley is "strip mining" tech. (Btw, something different from what you previously implied) They're grabbing low hanging fruit, but they're not ruining the resource for everybody else. Also, to address your last point, the economies of scale are such that at this point, if you don't dominate a market, at least locally, you're dogmeat.