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> A highly competent government in America has been a massive contributor to our success. I doubt this. Do you really think the government is the reason Silico

> A highly competent government in America has been a massive contributor to our success. I doubt this. Do you really think the government is the reason Silicon Valley has been so successful? Sure the government created the internet, but after that many tech companies flourished in Silicon Valley with very little regulation. I think that's why America has been so successful. If you look at anything the government gets its hands in, costs sky rocket (education, healthcare, etc).

bdcravens 2y ago
Many of those SV success stories received funding from VC firms and eventually IPO'ed, systems that are SEC-regulated.
- filoeleven 2y ago
  Not to mention NSF, DARPA, and other grants from federal agencies. That’s how we got Google.
hn_throwaway_99 2y ago
The whole point is a highly competent government is one the does have an appropriate level of regulation. Regulation like disallowing non-competes. I think that there is plenty of good evidence that the whole reason Silicon Valley is in California is their long (and historically unusual stance among US states) history of disallowing non-competes. This is why all this DOGE shit is so frustrating to a lot of people. I don't disagree that there is government waste, or that there are regulations that should be scrapped. But people don't realize how much success in this country is due to having largely fair and functioning institutions. That's all getting chucked out the window now.
edmundsauto 2y ago
SV has very deep military origins... Steve Blank has some great posts on this... and modern SV has been the beneficiary of a ton of Superfund money to keep big areas livable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_Cal...
digitaltrees 2y ago
Yes, why is it called Silicon Valley? Are you aware it’s because the federal government set up a nasa program in the Bay Area that concentrated engineering talent and kick started the first set of companies? Are you aware government contracts provided much of the initial demand that got those companies revenue? Are you aware of the massive public investment to establish the internet? Or the GPS network? I could go on and on. The government pays for the basic research and infrastructure that isn’t commercially viable, companies then take up the mantle of commercialization from a significantly derisked reality.

bdcravens 2y ago

Many of those SV success stories received funding from VC firms and eventually IPO'ed, systems that are SEC-regulated.

filoeleven 2y ago
Not to mention NSF, DARPA, and other grants from federal agencies. That’s how we got Google.

hn_throwaway_99 2y ago

The whole point is a highly competent government is one the does have an appropriate level of regulation. Regulation like disallowing non-competes. I think that there is plenty of good evidence that the whole reason Silicon Valley is in California is their long (and historically unusual stance among US states) history of disallowing non-competes. This is why all this DOGE shit is so frustrating to a lot of people. I don't disagree that there is government waste, or that there are regulations that should be scrapped. But people don't realize how much success in this country is due to having largely fair and functioning institutions. That's all getting chucked out the window now.

edmundsauto 2y ago

SV has very deep military origins... Steve Blank has some great posts on this... and modern SV has been the beneficiary of a ton of Superfund money to keep big areas livable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_Cal...

digitaltrees 2y ago

Yes, why is it called Silicon Valley? Are you aware it’s because the federal government set up a nasa program in the Bay Area that concentrated engineering talent and kick started the first set of companies? Are you aware government contracts provided much of the initial demand that got those companies revenue? Are you aware of the massive public investment to establish the internet? Or the GPS network? I could go on and on. The government pays for the basic research and infrastructure that isn’t commercially viable, companies then take up the mantle of commercialization from a significantly derisked reality.