5 ms·

Trust me, there is no such thing as a European Silicon Valley, and there won't be one any time soon.

by mkl95 6y ago

skratlo 6y ago
I hope there won't be one, at the end, what good really came out of Silicon Valley anyway? The good parts can be equated to any other place where innovation takes place, be it in Europe or elsewhere. The rest is tons of crap and speculation.
- ehvatum 6y ago
  Many of the items on this list seem questionable to me, but perhaps the ideas first nucleated there. From https://www.siliconvalleyhistorical.org/silicon-valley-achievements https://www.siliconvalleyhistorical.org/silicon-valley-achie... : • Long distance high-voltage transmission • Amplifying vacuum tube • First commercial radio broadcast • Long distance continuous-wave radio transmissions • Mobile radio systems development • Klystron tube and microwave • Radar • Electronic measuring devices • Nuclear induction applications • X-ray microscope • Traveling-wave tube development • Silicon crystal-growing • Programmable hand-held calculators • Videotape and VCRs • Development of the junction transmitter • Linear accelerators for particle physics research and cancer treatment • Swept-back aircraft wings • Nuclear magnetic resonance • Random access computer storage • Disk drives • Integrated circuits • Planar processes • Lasers • Semiconductor large-scale integrated memory • Silicon gate arrays • Microprocessors • Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) • Personal computers • Open-heart surgery • Ink-jet printing • High resolution aerial photography • Spacecraft heat shields • Batch processing of micro-machined devices • Gene-cloning and gene-splicing • Video games • Silicon compilers • Automated semiconductor manufacturing equipment • Field programmable gate arrays • Prodigious advances in artificial limbs and sensory aids • Robotics • Genetic engineering • Satellite technology • 3-D computing
  - amelius 6y ago
    Isn't most of the good stuff from the previous century, before the first tech bubble?
  - rjsw 6y ago
    I realize you copied the list but I would argue that radar was not invented in Silicon Valley.
Gwypaas 6y ago
I wonder if Stockholm is the closest? At least in VC per capita. Also really easy to start a company.
- mkl95 6y ago
  My Swedish friend swears by Norway's job market, but then again Norwegian people may do the opposite.
  - Gwypaas 6y ago
    Better wages in Norway, though a more traditional low tech market focused around resources. They've been trying to diversify for ages but can't comment on the results of that. Haven't heard of any Norwegian Spotify, Mojang, Kings or Klarnas though.
    - mkl95 6y ago
      Better wages sums up most of what I've heard from people living in Sweden. They must be staying in Sweden rather than moving to Norway for a good reason though.
      - outside1234 6y ago
        Norway is extremely expensive. I would be surprised if the wage increase is not moot.
- durnygbur 6y ago
  The problem with Stockholm is that you'll have to rent a place to stay, which is a nightmare.
eternalban 6y ago
The French have a shot at this, if there is political will in Paris. Closest thing to SV in France is Toulouse: a major university; defense and related tech industries; lots of competent world class engineers; and an attractive locale.
- jakub_g 6y ago
  Also Sophia Antipolis [1] used to be described as "European SV" but mostly in historical + quality of life contexts. The biggest employer being fat and slow corporate-y Amadeus, it's nowhere near to the startup scene of real SV. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Antipolis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Antipolis
- AlexTDS1 6y ago
  As someone that studied and lives in Toulouse this I disagree. We have good universities, but the best one is in economics. The whole city works around Airbus. When they aren't doing well the whole city is doing terribly. Most software engineers here work for subcontracting companies that are heavily linked to the aerospace business. Finding different lines of work recently have been really hard due to those subcontracting companies looking for new contracts outside of the space. Unless there's a solid political decision to implement more research facilities outside of the aerospace industry then other companies will start coming. But for now compared to places in the region such as Montpellier I find we're really behind other cities.

Trust me, there is no such thing as a European Silicon Valley, and there won't be one any time soon.

by mkl95 6y ago

Trust me, there is no such thing as a European Silicon Valley, and there won't be one any time soon.

I hope there won't be one, at the end, what good really came out of Silicon Valley anyway? The good parts can be equated to any other place where innovation takes place, be it in Europe or elsewhere. The rest is tons of crap and speculation.

ehvatum 6y ago
Many of the items on this list seem questionable to me, but perhaps the ideas first nucleated there. From https://www.siliconvalleyhistorical.org/silicon-valley-achievements https://www.siliconvalleyhistorical.org/silicon-valley-achie... : • Long distance high-voltage transmission • Amplifying vacuum tube • First commercial radio broadcast • Long distance continuous-wave radio transmissions • Mobile radio systems development • Klystron tube and microwave • Radar • Electronic measuring devices • Nuclear induction applications • X-ray microscope • Traveling-wave tube development • Silicon crystal-growing • Programmable hand-held calculators • Videotape and VCRs • Development of the junction transmitter • Linear accelerators for particle physics research and cancer treatment • Swept-back aircraft wings • Nuclear magnetic resonance • Random access computer storage • Disk drives • Integrated circuits • Planar processes • Lasers • Semiconductor large-scale integrated memory • Silicon gate arrays • Microprocessors • Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) • Personal computers • Open-heart surgery • Ink-jet printing • High resolution aerial photography • Spacecraft heat shields • Batch processing of micro-machined devices • Gene-cloning and gene-splicing • Video games • Silicon compilers • Automated semiconductor manufacturing equipment • Field programmable gate arrays • Prodigious advances in artificial limbs and sensory aids • Robotics • Genetic engineering • Satellite technology • 3-D computing
- amelius 6y ago
  Isn't most of the good stuff from the previous century, before the first tech bubble?
- rjsw 6y ago
  I realize you copied the list but I would argue that radar was not invented in Silicon Valley.

Gwypaas 6y ago

I wonder if Stockholm is the closest? At least in VC per capita. Also really easy to start a company.

mkl95 6y ago
My Swedish friend swears by Norway's job market, but then again Norwegian people may do the opposite.
- Gwypaas 6y ago
  Better wages in Norway, though a more traditional low tech market focused around resources. They've been trying to diversify for ages but can't comment on the results of that. Haven't heard of any Norwegian Spotify, Mojang, Kings or Klarnas though.
  - mkl95 6y ago
    Better wages sums up most of what I've heard from people living in Sweden. They must be staying in Sweden rather than moving to Norway for a good reason though.
    - outside1234 6y ago
      Norway is extremely expensive. I would be surprised if the wage increase is not moot.
durnygbur 6y ago
The problem with Stockholm is that you'll have to rent a place to stay, which is a nightmare.

eternalban 6y ago

The French have a shot at this, if there is political will in Paris. Closest thing to SV in France is Toulouse: a major university; defense and related tech industries; lots of competent world class engineers; and an attractive locale.

jakub_g 6y ago
Also Sophia Antipolis [1] used to be described as "European SV" but mostly in historical + quality of life contexts. The biggest employer being fat and slow corporate-y Amadeus, it's nowhere near to the startup scene of real SV. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Antipolis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Antipolis
AlexTDS1 6y ago
As someone that studied and lives in Toulouse this I disagree. We have good universities, but the best one is in economics. The whole city works around Airbus. When they aren't doing well the whole city is doing terribly. Most software engineers here work for subcontracting companies that are heavily linked to the aerospace business. Finding different lines of work recently have been really hard due to those subcontracting companies looking for new contracts outside of the space. Unless there's a solid political decision to implement more research facilities outside of the aerospace industry then other companies will start coming. But for now compared to places in the region such as Montpellier I find we're really behind other cities.