Many have wondered why Silicon Valley culture has never been truly duplicated anywhere in the world?

[Daniel Nenni]

Many have wondered why Silicon Valley culture has never been truly duplicated anywhere in the world ?

We believe gold rush culture had a significant impact on the development of Silicon Valley. In the mid-19th century, many people flocked to California to strike it rich in the gold mines. Although most did not find gold, the boom in population and wealth created a demand for infrastructure, such as railroads, housing, and communication systems.

After the gold rush subsided, the infrastructure and skilled labor that were developed remained in California.

Another left over of the gold rush culture was risk taking of highest order.
People left their home, friends, families and other assets behind to pursue the dream.

This foundation, along with the establishment of Stanford University, created a fertile environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.

In the 20th century, Silicon Valley emerged as a hub of technological innovation, largely due to the confluence of talent, capital, and supportive public policies. Another factor was the booming defense industry after the WWII, which provided many opportunities for cutting edge products.

The region's proximity to the global market and centers of research and innovation also contributed to its growth.

Thus, the gold rush culture indirectly helped to create the conditions that led to the emergence of Silicon Valley as a global center of technological innovation.

Naveed Sherwani

 

[blueone]

I don't buy this reasoning. I think it's because nowhere else attracts the best and the brightest from around the world to emigrate, few other places allow people who dream of getting rich to get that way and stay that way, and there are world-class local and national university systems to provide educational and research incubators. Add in a large population of VCs and the supporting financial infrastructure, and IMO you get a nearly untouchable combination of advantages. Only Israel seems to be in the same class, but minus the diverse emigration and scale.

 

[tooLongInEDA]

I don't buy this reasoning. I think it's because nowhere else attracts the best and the brightest from around the world to emigrate, few other places allow people who dream of getting rich to get that way and stay that way, and there are world-class local and national university systems to provide educational and research incubators. Add in a large population of VCs and the supporting financial infrastructure, and IMO you get a nearly untouchable combination of advantages. Only Israel seems to be in the same class, but minus the diverse emigration and scale.

I don't buy it either.

There were gold rushes in several other countries at around the same time. Australia and New Zealand being two more or less comparable examples in terms of culture and education. That photo could equally be from Aus or NZ.

I'm not aware that gold prospecting is a particularly technically demanding activity that demands great innovation, creativity or teamwork. My son introduced me to a program called "Aussie Gold Hunters" which covers the activities of Australians prospecting for gold today at various levels of automation and sophistication. There's not a lot of obvious overlap with high tech.

It's also far from clear that the original gold rush needed that much capital (VC type) investment or new technology. At that time, wasn't it mainly manpower rather than machines ?

I'm also dubious about the claim that silicon valley type culture - or something sufficiently similar - doesn't exist in other technology clusters. In fact, it's been incredibly successful in spreading across the world. You only need to look at how much work culture has changed in the UK over the past 40 years - much of this change coming from US companies and predominantly the tech ones. When I started work, you'd never go to a job interview without a suit and tie. You might never go with those these days for some jobs.

 

[blueone]

When I started work, you'd never go to a job interview without a suit and tie. You might never go with those these days for some jobs.

In the 1980s in the US three-piece suits were commonplace for sure. By the 1990s it was business casual in the office day-to-day (slacks and shirts), but meetings with senior executives or customers were usually suit and tie affairs, especially in Asia. I don't miss those days at all.

The most informal work environment I've ever experienced was in Israel, especially Haifa. I was wearing one of my typical black polo shirts and khaki slacks one day, and one of the hardware engineers asked me why I wore dress shirts all the time. I asked, "Why do you think this is a dress shirt?" The response was, "It has a collar."

 

[hist78]

In the 1980s in the US three-piece suits were commonplace for sure. By the 1990s it was business casual in the office day-to-day (slacks and shirts), but meetings with senior executives or customers were usually suit and tie affairs, especially in Asia. I don't miss those days at all.

The most informal work environment I've ever experienced was in Israel, especially Haifa. I was wearing one of my typical black polo shirts and khaki slacks one day, and one of the hardware engineers asked me why I wore dress shirts all the time. I asked, "Why do you think this is a dress shirt?" The response was, "It has a collar."

You did your best!

 

[hist78]

I don't buy it either.

There were gold rushes in several other countries at around the same time. Australia and New Zealand being two more or less comparable examples in terms of culture and education. That photo could equally be from Aus or NZ.

I'm not aware that gold prospecting is a particularly technically demanding activity that demands great innovation, creativity or teamwork. My son introduced me to a program called "Aussie Gold Hunters" which covers the activities of Australians prospecting for gold today at various levels of automation and sophistication. There's not a lot of obvious overlap with high tech.

It's also far from clear that the original gold rush needed that much capital (VC type) investment or new technology. At that time, wasn't it mainly manpower rather than machines ?

I'm also dubious about the claim that silicon valley type culture - or something sufficiently similar - doesn't exist in other technology clusters. In fact, it's been incredibly successful in spreading across the world. You only need to look at how much work culture has changed in the UK over the past 40 years - much of this change coming from US companies and predominantly the tech ones. When I started work, you'd never go to a job interview without a suit and tie. You might never go with those these days for some jobs.

One of the reasons that it's impossible to create another Silicon Valley is because there is no need to do so anymore. Global sourcing and collaboration, efficient information and capital exchange globally, and educated and talented people live in many countries all make this highly concentrated and high cost "Silicon Valley" unnecessary.