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I know some of the answers but at what point does the cost of doing business in the Bay Area outweigh the benefits? Keep in mind when Silicon Valley began they
by dreamcompiler 7y ago
I know some of the answers but at what point does the cost of doing business in the Bay Area outweigh the benefits? Keep in mind when Silicon Valley began they were actually fabbing silicon. That doesn't happen in SV today (AFAIK). It's mostly software now, and software is much more portable than silicon.
- rficcaglia 7y agoIt happens but on a very small scale. Very niche fabs for stuff that isn’t at mass market scale.
- gumby 7y agoClearly the cost outweighs the benefits for run-of-the-mill software and hardware, as the majority of the world's code is written outside the valley, and most low end hardware is designed outside it as well. Also it's not worth it where the valley is behind the curve (e.g. engines are designed in different centers of excellence). Even for venture-backed (intended-to-be) high-growth companies, the Bay Area is only about 50% of all US venture capital investment. And there has been some spread: in my professional lifetime the "Valley" has grown to encompass SF and parts of the East Bay. When I first started working here people lived in SF and commuted to tech jobs in MP and points south. But some products are just so high margin (iPhones, Internet search, USB-powered vape tubes) that it's cheaper overall to be here and take advantage of the affordances available.