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US startups seem to have it so easy compared to companies in other parts of the world. It seems they may have been getting a little extra help from government a
by jongjong 4y ago
US startups seem to have it so easy compared to companies in other parts of the world. It seems they may have been getting a little extra help from government agencies.
I'm starting to realize how difficult it is to compete in the tech sector without government assistance. I thought it was a free market, but it's looking increasingly like a giant clusterfuck of government intervention. It looks nothing like a free market, it looks more like a battlefield and everyone is competing for who can get the most free weapons and ammo from their respective governments (in the form of grants, contracts and beneficial regulations). That would explain why smaller companies cannot compete against the big ones in many sectors; the big players are flush with free government money; how can any small startup compete against that.
- CyanBird 4y agoNot just "a little"... A LOT A good primer on the topic for the interested https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-cia-made-google-e836451a959e https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-cia-made-goo...
- jongjong 4y agoI sometimes wondered if the whole 'big data' craze was a symptom of too much government intervention... A projection of the needs of governments (not the needs of people). How valuable is people's data, really? I understand why people who work for the CIA are thirsty for data and believe that data is the most valuable resource in the universe... But why is the industry interested in it to that extent? It's difficult to dispute the value of people's attention and trust, but their data... Common. Data seems more like a bonus; a way to monetize people's attention more efficiently (e.g. targeted ads). The main thing of value here (from a free market perspective) seems to be capturing people's attention in the first place.
- dontknowwhyihn 4y agoThe book “Surveillance Valley” makes a compelling case that the Internet was created with surveillance as its goal from the beginning.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- judge2020 4y agoGoogle didn't collect that much 'data' (outside of strictly required website data for finding things via their search engine) before they saw the profit implications of a B2B targeted ads solution, which was realized with their purchase of doubleclick.
- afarrell 4y agoUS federal government putting the thumb on the scale is not new. It has been happening ever since the officers who survived being under-supplied in valley forge got access to power. https://www.nps.gov/pagr/learn/historyculture/the-birthplace-of-the-american-industrial-revolution.htm https://www.nps.gov/pagr/learn/historyculture/the-birthplace...
- itronitron 4y agoIf your startup's mission is at all related to data science, data collection, et al. then the presence of larger companies in the space will not be a barrier to finding a government sponsor. There is so much going on in the space, empires being built and bridges burned that there will always be opportunity for new entrants.
- akira2501 4y agoMonopolies are pretty effective at rigging regulations in their favor and creating funding sources that directly flow into their pockets. This sector just happens to be heavily monopolized.
- astrange 4y ago> US startups seem to have it so easy compared to companies in other parts of the world. It seems they may have been getting a little extra help from government agencies. That's called industrial policy, and the US does less of it than other countries. A model example for industrial policy is South Korea.