7 ms·

Is Silicon Valley’s golden era coming to an end?

32 points by elsewhen 4y ago

metadat 4y ago
Snapchat doesn't even have a Bay Area office. Also, since when is bracing for economic realities a sign that the entire organism is dying? It doesn't, this article is simply capitalizing on FUD. As long as Sandhill road remains fully occupied by VCs, the gravy train will continue.
- rz30221 4y ago
  Snapchat may not, but many of these companies have Bay Area Headquarters. I didn't bother to count but it's a lot. https://companiesmarketcap.com/software/largest-software-companies-by-market-cap/ https://companiesmarketcap.com/software/largest-software-com... That doesn't mean the good years are going to last forever but I think we've got a bit of time before the end.
- reducesuffering 4y ago
  Snapchat has had a Mountain View office for almost 5 years.
junofan 4y ago
Anecdotally the risktakers have mostly left for NYC or moved overseas. The region’s best days may be behind it.
- thfuran 4y ago
  Where's the new SV, or do you mean there's been something of a global diaspora?
- jonathanyc 4y ago
  Anecdotally, many people have moved to NYC. But I haven't seen the correlation with risk-taking you describe. I'd say the unifying theme is pretty obvious. It's that NYC is a nicer place to live than the SF Bay Area for many affluent young people. Now that it's less bad for their career to work remotely or at a peripheral office, why wouldn't they move to NYC?
  - rmk 4y ago
    New York City being a 'nice' place is a laughable idea. Freezing weather with rude people is the very antithesis of nice. Contrast that with weather that rarely goes lower than 45F in the daytime, relatively easygoing people and unrivaled access to natural beauty. Affluent or not, New York City does not even begin to approach 'nice'.
    - iancmceachern 4y ago
      Yeah, we've lived in both NYC and SF and SF is way better. Don't get me wrong, NYC is an amazing city but those winters, and those summers, and the airports are so far away.
aplummer 4y ago
Dramatic valuation drop at Apple? How much research goes into an article that leads with that.
- throaway222 4y ago
  The Guardian is generally garbage but AAPL share price fell 17% today so the real question is how much research has gone into your comment?
  - IMcD23 4y ago
    It's a Saturday, so the market isn't even open. Not sure where you're seeing a 17% drop. Regardless, It's trading at $150, and was trading at $130 on 6/15/22.
  - whitepoplar 4y ago
    But AAPL didn't fall 17%. It fell 1.1%, yesterday, as markets are closed today.
Apocryphon 4y ago
In the end, it all comes down to interest rates, but news on that front seems to have gone quiet for the past month.
- adammarples 4y ago
  The FT today says recent inflation reports point towards a 1% rise next, with economists predicting rates of over 4% throughout 2023
defart 4y ago
“Americans don’t really like big things – people get worried about concentrated power,” O’Mara said. Hmmm....Okay? (not American)
- mahmoudhossam 4y ago
  Yes, America has fought with the concept of a central bank for a while so it got more than a dozen of them to create the federal reserve system exactly because it doesn't like concentrated power.
- rmk 4y ago
  America has consciously busted monopolies in the past. Not so much nowadays, so some skepticism is definitely warranted. It seems that huge swathes of the economy are dominated by outright monopolies or comfortable oligopolies.
enviclash 4y ago
Now, what about all big cities investing in SV-like start-up landscapes? Some took 30 years to build.
huijzer 4y ago
Every time a newspaper puts a question in the title, the answer is usually "no".
- milchek 4y ago
  For those not aware, this is referred to as “Betteridge’s law of headlines”, you can read more about it here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headli...
- mikymoothrowa 4y ago
  the answer being no could also mean it has already ended. quite frankly I can’t think of one great thing that came out of silicon valley since 2014
ksec 4y ago
I actually agree the "Golden Era" is coming to an end. But it doesn't mean it is dying which is sometimes how it is interpreted. I am just wondering if Tech are moving out of California, or if they are only moving out of Silicon Valley. And if there can be another Silicon Valley outside of California, or even US.
- frozencell 4y ago
  SV forks are hard because they need excellent weather, universities, immigrants, and a historic local tech industry.
  - iancmceachern 4y ago
    And California labor laws including the lack of non compete agreements, etc.
jollybean 4y ago
Golden age was Silicon i.e. Intel, Silver age was Internet i.e. Google, Bronze age was Social Media / Mobile Apps / SaaS. We're now into some kind of 'common age' which I think will be different than before because we're likely going to be more distributed. Tech is the new 'Banking' where all the kids to go to get guaranteed payouts so you'll see the culture change. It already has. No place for hippies and surfers anymore.
tanking 4y ago

32 points by elsewhen 4y ago

Snapchat doesn't even have a Bay Area office. Also, since when is bracing for economic realities a sign that the entire organism is dying? It doesn't, this article is simply capitalizing on FUD. As long as Sandhill road remains fully occupied by VCs, the gravy train will continue.

rz30221 4y ago
Snapchat may not, but many of these companies have Bay Area Headquarters. I didn't bother to count but it's a lot. https://companiesmarketcap.com/software/largest-software-companies-by-market-cap/ https://companiesmarketcap.com/software/largest-software-com... That doesn't mean the good years are going to last forever but I think we've got a bit of time before the end.
reducesuffering 4y ago
Snapchat has had a Mountain View office for almost 5 years.

junofan 4y ago

Anecdotally the risktakers have mostly left for NYC or moved overseas. The region’s best days may be behind it.

thfuran 4y ago
Where's the new SV, or do you mean there's been something of a global diaspora?
jonathanyc 4y ago
Anecdotally, many people have moved to NYC. But I haven't seen the correlation with risk-taking you describe. I'd say the unifying theme is pretty obvious. It's that NYC is a nicer place to live than the SF Bay Area for many affluent young people. Now that it's less bad for their career to work remotely or at a peripheral office, why wouldn't they move to NYC?
- rmk 4y ago
  New York City being a 'nice' place is a laughable idea. Freezing weather with rude people is the very antithesis of nice. Contrast that with weather that rarely goes lower than 45F in the daytime, relatively easygoing people and unrivaled access to natural beauty. Affluent or not, New York City does not even begin to approach 'nice'.
  - iancmceachern 4y ago
    Yeah, we've lived in both NYC and SF and SF is way better. Don't get me wrong, NYC is an amazing city but those winters, and those summers, and the airports are so far away.

aplummer 4y ago

Dramatic valuation drop at Apple? How much research goes into an article that leads with that.

throaway222 4y ago
The Guardian is generally garbage but AAPL share price fell 17% today so the real question is how much research has gone into your comment?
- IMcD23 4y ago
  It's a Saturday, so the market isn't even open. Not sure where you're seeing a 17% drop. Regardless, It's trading at $150, and was trading at $130 on 6/15/22.
- whitepoplar 4y ago
  But AAPL didn't fall 17%. It fell 1.1%, yesterday, as markets are closed today.

Apocryphon 4y ago

In the end, it all comes down to interest rates, but news on that front seems to have gone quiet for the past month.

adammarples 4y ago
The FT today says recent inflation reports point towards a 1% rise next, with economists predicting rates of over 4% throughout 2023

defart 4y ago

“Americans don’t really like big things – people get worried about concentrated power,” O’Mara said. Hmmm....Okay? (not American)

mahmoudhossam 4y ago
Yes, America has fought with the concept of a central bank for a while so it got more than a dozen of them to create the federal reserve system exactly because it doesn't like concentrated power.
rmk 4y ago
America has consciously busted monopolies in the past. Not so much nowadays, so some skepticism is definitely warranted. It seems that huge swathes of the economy are dominated by outright monopolies or comfortable oligopolies.

enviclash 4y ago

Now, what about all big cities investing in SV-like start-up landscapes? Some took 30 years to build.

huijzer 4y ago

Every time a newspaper puts a question in the title, the answer is usually "no".

milchek 4y ago
For those not aware, this is referred to as “Betteridge’s law of headlines”, you can read more about it here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headli...
mikymoothrowa 4y ago
the answer being no could also mean it has already ended. quite frankly I can’t think of one great thing that came out of silicon valley since 2014

ksec 4y ago

I actually agree the "Golden Era" is coming to an end. But it doesn't mean it is dying which is sometimes how it is interpreted. I am just wondering if Tech are moving out of California, or if they are only moving out of Silicon Valley. And if there can be another Silicon Valley outside of California, or even US.

frozencell 4y ago
SV forks are hard because they need excellent weather, universities, immigrants, and a historic local tech industry.
- iancmceachern 4y ago
  And California labor laws including the lack of non compete agreements, etc.

jollybean 4y ago

Golden age was Silicon i.e. Intel, Silver age was Internet i.e. Google, Bronze age was Social Media / Mobile Apps / SaaS. We're now into some kind of 'common age' which I think will be different than before because we're likely going to be more distributed. Tech is the new 'Banking' where all the kids to go to get guaranteed payouts so you'll see the culture change. It already has. No place for hippies and surfers anymore.

tanking 4y ago