5 ms·

Isn't another growing/bigger centre for technology innovation now in China/Taiwan? Are we just pretending that Silicon Valley is still Mecca?

no_wizard 6y ago
I think its fair to say that they're growing for sure, as the government and corporations have been investing there. What I feel makes Silicon Valley unique (backed by the history as I understand it) is the proximity of things - The foundational organizations and proximity to an intense congregation of early innovation orgs, many of which started in Silicon Valley, or always had a large presence from the early days - Proximity to a delta of good universities (large hiring pool, of ready to work post grads helps a lot) - The incubation of VCs that despite many attempts to lure them, are still largely located in Silicon Valley I think these over arching factors are the biggest reason Silicon Valley is unique. They're also not often talked about in this way very often in the 'mythos' of SV, but are very much the bedrock It also doesn't make SV unique, per say (I think for medical device startups, states like Minnesota would be a good fit for your company, since they have a lot of investment in this area by multiple entities, as well as the same university graph so the pool of students you can hire is pretty good, and I feel this is pretty key to a lot of it)
- onethought 6y ago
  I’m guessing you haven’t been to Shenzhen. Where everything you mentioned is, and growing.
  - throwaway2037 6y ago
    > Proximity to a delta of good universities What good unis are in Guangdong (GD) province? The most famous ones I know are in Shanghai and Beijing. From my limited experience with hiring in Shenzhen, almost no one was from GD, nor went to uni in GD. Most went to uni in Shanghai or Beijing. > The foundational organizations I think the OP is referring to big gov't research (DARPA, etc.) that is the backbone of technologies behind the Internet and integrated circuits. Do similar orgs (and history) exist in Shenzhen? Again, my impression is that most of those orgs exist in Shanghai and Beijing.
    - onethought 6y ago
      DARPA was based in Virginia... so not sure what SV history you are referring to. Yes Guangdong is the technology zone for China, it receives both state funding, state run incubators and special economic status. But in essence they have both highly skilled hardware engineers and software engineers which is like SV of old. Where as current day SV is dominated by software, where they ship the manufacture of things to Shenzhen or Taiwan. As far as universities, you have Sun Yat Sen University in GZ one of the top tier universities in China. And yes a whole lot of internal migration from the north to the south. Shenzhen growing from 70k to 10mil in 40 years is an insane population movement
rapsey 6y ago
For software it sure is Mecca and nothing else comes close.
- ulfw 6y ago
  Well good to know there's a ton of other holy places besides Mecca
- onethought 6y ago
  Except in China. Which is my point. For every Uber there is a Didi. Microsoft there is a Tencent... Etc. but they don’t play at US scale, they play at China scale.
  - rapsey 6y ago
    You are listing giants who are generaly state supported and largely copies of western tech. The thing is about having a rich ecosystem of small players innovating. That is what makes SV.
    - onethought 6y ago
      I’m trying to say that the “good old days” of SV are the current days in Shenzhen. Yes, heaps of little startups doing cool stuff with easy access to software and hardware talent. Copies of western tech? This is just propaganda the US tells itself. There is a lot of original tech in China. Where did they copy 5G from? Or their vaunted “social credit” system from?
baby 6y ago
I was in both BJ and Taipei and I didn’t see that. BJ has Chinese players for sure, but that’s it, while Taipei still feels like a small player that’s comparable to berlin / chiangmai
- onethought 6y ago
  Taiwan home to TMSC (amoung others) currently (with apples help admittedly) putting intel to shame. Edit: Looking for Tech in PK is like looking for tech in D.C China’s “bay area” is in Guangdong in the GZ, SZ, DS triangle.
  - baby 6y ago
    It’s still going to be Chinese heavy (assuming you said ShenZhen and not SuZhou)

no_wizard 6y ago

I think its fair to say that they're growing for sure, as the government and corporations have been investing there. What I feel makes Silicon Valley unique (backed by the history as I understand it) is the proximity of things - The foundational organizations and proximity to an intense congregation of early innovation orgs, many of which started in Silicon Valley, or always had a large presence from the early days - Proximity to a delta of good universities (large hiring pool, of ready to work post grads helps a lot) - The incubation of VCs that despite many attempts to lure them, are still largely located in Silicon Valley I think these over arching factors are the biggest reason Silicon Valley is unique. They're also not often talked about in this way very often in the 'mythos' of SV, but are very much the bedrock It also doesn't make SV unique, per say (I think for medical device startups, states like Minnesota would be a good fit for your company, since they have a lot of investment in this area by multiple entities, as well as the same university graph so the pool of students you can hire is pretty good, and I feel this is pretty key to a lot of it)

onethought 6y ago
I’m guessing you haven’t been to Shenzhen. Where everything you mentioned is, and growing.
- throwaway2037 6y ago
  > Proximity to a delta of good universities What good unis are in Guangdong (GD) province? The most famous ones I know are in Shanghai and Beijing. From my limited experience with hiring in Shenzhen, almost no one was from GD, nor went to uni in GD. Most went to uni in Shanghai or Beijing. > The foundational organizations I think the OP is referring to big gov't research (DARPA, etc.) that is the backbone of technologies behind the Internet and integrated circuits. Do similar orgs (and history) exist in Shenzhen? Again, my impression is that most of those orgs exist in Shanghai and Beijing.
  - onethought 6y ago
    DARPA was based in Virginia... so not sure what SV history you are referring to. Yes Guangdong is the technology zone for China, it receives both state funding, state run incubators and special economic status. But in essence they have both highly skilled hardware engineers and software engineers which is like SV of old. Where as current day SV is dominated by software, where they ship the manufacture of things to Shenzhen or Taiwan. As far as universities, you have Sun Yat Sen University in GZ one of the top tier universities in China. And yes a whole lot of internal migration from the north to the south. Shenzhen growing from 70k to 10mil in 40 years is an insane population movement

rapsey 6y ago

For software it sure is Mecca and nothing else comes close.

ulfw 6y ago
Well good to know there's a ton of other holy places besides Mecca
onethought 6y ago
Except in China. Which is my point. For every Uber there is a Didi. Microsoft there is a Tencent... Etc. but they don’t play at US scale, they play at China scale.
- rapsey 6y ago
  You are listing giants who are generaly state supported and largely copies of western tech. The thing is about having a rich ecosystem of small players innovating. That is what makes SV.
  - onethought 6y ago
    I’m trying to say that the “good old days” of SV are the current days in Shenzhen. Yes, heaps of little startups doing cool stuff with easy access to software and hardware talent. Copies of western tech? This is just propaganda the US tells itself. There is a lot of original tech in China. Where did they copy 5G from? Or their vaunted “social credit” system from?

baby 6y ago

I was in both BJ and Taipei and I didn’t see that. BJ has Chinese players for sure, but that’s it, while Taipei still feels like a small player that’s comparable to berlin / chiangmai

onethought 6y ago
Taiwan home to TMSC (amoung others) currently (with apples help admittedly) putting intel to shame. Edit: Looking for Tech in PK is like looking for tech in D.C China’s “bay area” is in Guangdong in the GZ, SZ, DS triangle.
- baby 6y ago
  It’s still going to be Chinese heavy (assuming you said ShenZhen and not SuZhou)