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"Silicon Valley loves to talk big about innovation; it's just not as good at following through." BS. Computing, Networking, Biotech, Internet, and more. Sili

by andyl 14y ago

"Silicon Valley loves to talk big about innovation; it's just not as good at following through." BS. Computing, Networking, Biotech, Internet, and more. Silicon Valley has delivered, and there is more to come. Not every new investment is going to change the world. But collectively, the track record is very strong.

trotsky 14y ago
do you really believe those things were created in or by silicon valley? Even beyond their public pasts, their early private champions like Bell Labs, BBN and IBM weren't from california nor private equity backed.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- rayiner 14y ago
  Well Xerox PARC was in Palo Alto, though Xerox itself is based on Rochester, NY. And Xerox was of course not a VC-backed company. Intel, however, was founded in Santa Clara and was VC-backed. Though your point is well-taken. I think big corporate R&D labs are responsible for far more of the innovation we see in the internet sector than VC-backed Silicon Valley companies. If we're talking about narratives, indeed, the narrative that seems more prevalent is actually a big company that has a cash cow (e.g. Xerox with copiers, AT&T with the telephone network) having money to throw around at R&D activity.
  - joonix 14y ago
    IBM Watson is IMO a huge embarrassment for SV.
jw_ 14y ago
You are aware that all the technology you mention was initially produced by government-funded research or research labs in monopolies (Bell), no?
- andyl 14y ago
  Yes very aware, and applaud the role of government in fostering innovation. IMHO we need more govt investment and industrial policy not less.
jrmenon 14y ago
Almost all the ones you listed have had a large role of the Government in play (ARPANET, DOD etc.. not to mention indirectly via research grants to universities). To claim that is all free-markets, and entirely done by 'innovative' private companies is at best a myopic view. Just fyi, I truly believe in free-markets but I am willing to ack. that it rests on strong foundations in a 'common infrastructure', and with few exceptions, innovations entirely from private entities are limited.
- return0 14y ago
  And it's not limited to the US government.
potatolicious 14y ago
"Very strong" and "more to come"? Pray tell, what in the following lists qualify as the sort of "big innovations" we're talking about? [1] http://a16z.com/portfolio/ http://a16z.com/portfolio/ [2] http://firstround.com/companies/ http://firstround.com/companies/ [3] http://www.kpcb.com/companies http://www.kpcb.com/companies Don't get me wrong, these lists contain a lot of great products that I'm happy exist - but big and world-changing they are not. The fact that the typical SV VC scene funds one or two truly disruptive, technologically groundbreaking firms in a sea of other investments doesn't seem like a "strong track record".
- pbiggar 14y ago
  Big innovations from those lists (which I call things that are - or are intended to be - life-changing for a reasonably large number of people): airbnb, asana, box, facebook, github, meteor, picloud, pinterest, skype, stripe, twitter, uber, yourmechanic, discourse, fundersclub, hoteltonight, mint, onekingslane, simple, square, taskrabbit, coursera, groupon, nest, spotify,
  - jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago
    For many many people github introduced them to GIT and many of them would still don't know about it if it wasn't for it. Twitter is a more accessible version of RSS feed allowing way easier access to subjects of interest for non-tech-savvy people.
    - pbiggar 14y ago
      I think you're underselling twitter: its a completely new communication mechanism by which people can communicate short thoughts directly to their followers. It can be used as a better RSS, but that doesn't account for all the other ways it can be used, everything from celebrity gossip, to starting and managing violent revolutions.
      - eurleif 14y ago
        Huh? RSS couldn't be used to spread celebrity gossip, or news about a violent revolution?
anigbrowl 14y ago
I agree, and think big innovation can result from simple goals - adjusting my lights or heating via a smartphone app is a 'small problem' but an 'internet of things', ie an ecosystem of tiny and cheap embedded computing, will be important in multiple ways, from energy efficiency to AI. that said, there is an awful lot of wank about. I console myself with the thought that it was probably always like that; for every invention like the telegraph there were three people flogging 'galvanick spirit communicators,' questionable beauty treatments, or silly toys. For every Atari there's also a Chuck E. Cheese :-)

by andyl 14y ago

trotsky 14y ago

do you really believe those things were created in or by silicon valley? Even beyond their public pasts, their early private champions like Bell Labs, BBN and IBM weren't from california nor private equity backed.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
rayiner 14y ago
Well Xerox PARC was in Palo Alto, though Xerox itself is based on Rochester, NY. And Xerox was of course not a VC-backed company. Intel, however, was founded in Santa Clara and was VC-backed. Though your point is well-taken. I think big corporate R&D labs are responsible for far more of the innovation we see in the internet sector than VC-backed Silicon Valley companies. If we're talking about narratives, indeed, the narrative that seems more prevalent is actually a big company that has a cash cow (e.g. Xerox with copiers, AT&T with the telephone network) having money to throw around at R&D activity.
- joonix 14y ago
  IBM Watson is IMO a huge embarrassment for SV.

jw_ 14y ago

You are aware that all the technology you mention was initially produced by government-funded research or research labs in monopolies (Bell), no?

andyl 14y ago
Yes very aware, and applaud the role of government in fostering innovation. IMHO we need more govt investment and industrial policy not less.

jrmenon 14y ago

Almost all the ones you listed have had a large role of the Government in play (ARPANET, DOD etc.. not to mention indirectly via research grants to universities). To claim that is all free-markets, and entirely done by 'innovative' private companies is at best a myopic view. Just fyi, I truly believe in free-markets but I am willing to ack. that it rests on strong foundations in a 'common infrastructure', and with few exceptions, innovations entirely from private entities are limited.

return0 14y ago
And it's not limited to the US government.

potatolicious 14y ago

"Very strong" and "more to come"? Pray tell, what in the following lists qualify as the sort of "big innovations" we're talking about? [1] http://a16z.com/portfolio/ http://a16z.com/portfolio/ [2] http://firstround.com/companies/ http://firstround.com/companies/ [3] http://www.kpcb.com/companies http://www.kpcb.com/companies Don't get me wrong, these lists contain a lot of great products that I'm happy exist - but big and world-changing they are not. The fact that the typical SV VC scene funds one or two truly disruptive, technologically groundbreaking firms in a sea of other investments doesn't seem like a "strong track record".

pbiggar 14y ago
Big innovations from those lists (which I call things that are - or are intended to be - life-changing for a reasonably large number of people): airbnb, asana, box, facebook, github, meteor, picloud, pinterest, skype, stripe, twitter, uber, yourmechanic, discourse, fundersclub, hoteltonight, mint, onekingslane, simple, square, taskrabbit, coursera, groupon, nest, spotify,
- jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago
  For many many people github introduced them to GIT and many of them would still don't know about it if it wasn't for it. Twitter is a more accessible version of RSS feed allowing way easier access to subjects of interest for non-tech-savvy people.
  - pbiggar 14y ago
    I think you're underselling twitter: its a completely new communication mechanism by which people can communicate short thoughts directly to their followers. It can be used as a better RSS, but that doesn't account for all the other ways it can be used, everything from celebrity gossip, to starting and managing violent revolutions.
    - eurleif 14y ago
      Huh? RSS couldn't be used to spread celebrity gossip, or news about a violent revolution?

anigbrowl 14y ago

I agree, and think big innovation can result from simple goals - adjusting my lights or heating via a smartphone app is a 'small problem' but an 'internet of things', ie an ecosystem of tiny and cheap embedded computing, will be important in multiple ways, from energy efficiency to AI. that said, there is an awful lot of wank about. I console myself with the thought that it was probably always like that; for every invention like the telegraph there were three people flogging 'galvanick spirit communicators,' questionable beauty treatments, or silly toys. For every Atari there's also a Chuck E. Cheese :-)