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> Silicon Valley tech is most a specific type of consumer tech, mostly focusing on fremium internet centric businesses. Not even close to being true. There ar

> Silicon Valley tech is most a specific type of consumer tech, mostly focusing on fremium internet centric businesses. Not even close to being true. There are a handful of big companies in that area, but there are tons of others that aren’t. Enterprise startups flourish in SV - SFDC, Workday, Palo Alto Networks, ServiceNow, Splunk... Just a handful very successful startups that are all uber-unicorns.

humanrebar 8y ago
The point wasn't to typecast SV as much as broaden what counts as tech. Defense contractors make lasers mounted on jets. It's absolutely "tech" and not something we wonder about being exclusive to Northern CA.
nostrademons 8y ago
Not to mention 23andMe, Genentech, Palantir, Apple, Cisco, Seagate, NVidia, Lockheed Martin, etc. I somewhat agree with the grandparent - tech is a lot more than just consumer Internet tech. And yet there's a useful distinction there - once tech is more than about 10-15 years old, it ceases to be considered "tech", because it either dies out or becomes big enough that it gets its own label. United Airlines (another SF company) was some fantastic technology - in the 1920s. Now, it's just an airline, because we've gotten used to the ability to fly through the air and cross the country within a few hours. And I'd say that Silicon Valley has an advantage in "tech" (i.e. innovations that are < 15 years old) in that a.) it has a culture that's open to the next new thing instead of assuming it's a threat to the natural order and b.) has a large number of service providers that are all eager to find & support that next new thing and c.) has a legal framework that prevents past employers from stopping you from going off and starting the next thing.
- realityking 8y ago
  Isn't United a Chicago company? They obviously have a major hub in San Francisco but otherwise I don't think they have any connection to the SF Bay Area.
  - nostrademons 8y ago
    Oh, you're right. They have a hub at SFO which also does a lot of aircraft maintenance (Wikipedia says it's the principal Global MRO base for United), and they're also one of the largest employers on the peninsula. But the actual corporate headquarters is in Chicago, and supposedly the actual predecessor airlines were founded in places as diverse as Seattle, Boise ID, Washington DC, etc.

humanrebar 8y ago

The point wasn't to typecast SV as much as broaden what counts as tech. Defense contractors make lasers mounted on jets. It's absolutely "tech" and not something we wonder about being exclusive to Northern CA.

nostrademons 8y ago

Not to mention 23andMe, Genentech, Palantir, Apple, Cisco, Seagate, NVidia, Lockheed Martin, etc. I somewhat agree with the grandparent - tech is a lot more than just consumer Internet tech. And yet there's a useful distinction there - once tech is more than about 10-15 years old, it ceases to be considered "tech", because it either dies out or becomes big enough that it gets its own label. United Airlines (another SF company) was some fantastic technology - in the 1920s. Now, it's just an airline, because we've gotten used to the ability to fly through the air and cross the country within a few hours. And I'd say that Silicon Valley has an advantage in "tech" (i.e. innovations that are < 15 years old) in that a.) it has a culture that's open to the next new thing instead of assuming it's a threat to the natural order and b.) has a large number of service providers that are all eager to find & support that next new thing and c.) has a legal framework that prevents past employers from stopping you from going off and starting the next thing.

realityking 8y ago
Isn't United a Chicago company? They obviously have a major hub in San Francisco but otherwise I don't think they have any connection to the SF Bay Area.
- nostrademons 8y ago
  Oh, you're right. They have a hub at SFO which also does a lot of aircraft maintenance (Wikipedia says it's the principal Global MRO base for United), and they're also one of the largest employers on the peninsula. But the actual corporate headquarters is in Chicago, and supposedly the actual predecessor airlines were founded in places as diverse as Seattle, Boise ID, Washington DC, etc.