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Silicon Valley is not a place. Its a figment of your imagination. San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Santa Clara, San Jose are places. But no

by physcab 14y ago

Silicon Valley is not a place. Its a figment of your imagination. San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Santa Clara, San Jose are places. But no one wants to read articles and watch crappy TV shows called "The Real San Jose". To me, what people do in "Silicon Valley", they can do anywhere else. Start-ups, Self-employment, Big Companies exist in many other parts of the world. All it is is regular people making a living. And for some of these people, work defines who they are. For others though, work supports the life they live outside the office and nothing more.

alaxic 14y ago
Of course you can do all of these things anywhere else, but I've found Silicon Valley is the best environment to do them. The resources (funding, events, writers, incubators, etc) and the people really make the valley what it is.
deleted 14y ago
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general_failure 14y ago
> To me, what people do in "Silicon Valley", they can do anywhere else. While this is true, you are missing the point of the valley. It's a place where like minded people accumulate. People who think they can change the world by creating the next big think. All these people could all be delusional and totally wrong for all we know, but the point is they all think that way. It's like a party. Can you just jack up the radio and dance away in the solitude of your room? Sure, you can. But it's better to go to a real discotheque and dance away with others. The chances you meet someone interesting are higher, the chances that your amazing disco steps get noticed are higher etc etc. Continuing the stupid analogy, in the valley there are these page 3 reporters (techcrunch, cough) reporting all sorts of things. These things make you famous and get you $$. See, how things are different when you are hacking away in your room in cape town? Want more developers? There are tons of people who will code for you. "Passionately". It's all in one place! Do not underestimate the "energy" of the valley. Having like minded people in one place makes all the difference (just like anything else).

by physcab 14y ago

alaxic 14y ago

Of course you can do all of these things anywhere else, but I've found Silicon Valley is the best environment to do them. The resources (funding, events, writers, incubators, etc) and the people really make the valley what it is.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

general_failure 14y ago

> To me, what people do in "Silicon Valley", they can do anywhere else. While this is true, you are missing the point of the valley. It's a place where like minded people accumulate. People who think they can change the world by creating the next big think. All these people could all be delusional and totally wrong for all we know, but the point is they all think that way. It's like a party. Can you just jack up the radio and dance away in the solitude of your room? Sure, you can. But it's better to go to a real discotheque and dance away with others. The chances you meet someone interesting are higher, the chances that your amazing disco steps get noticed are higher etc etc. Continuing the stupid analogy, in the valley there are these page 3 reporters (techcrunch, cough) reporting all sorts of things. These things make you famous and get you $$. See, how things are different when you are hacking away in your room in cape town? Want more developers? There are tons of people who will code for you. "Passionately". It's all in one place! Do not underestimate the "energy" of the valley. Having like minded people in one place makes all the difference (just like anything else).