Paul Graham writes on the future of web startups:
If the seed funding business turns out to be international, that could make it hard to start new silicon valleys. If startups are mobile, the best local talent will go to the real Silicon Valley, and all they’ll get at the local one will be the people who didn’t have the energy to move.
Silicon Valley is like Holywood. The cafés are filled with possible-maybe-future CEOs of aspiring web starups. But as Paul Graham says in his essay, competition for the market is going to get hotter and hotter and unlike his assertion that customer desires are infinite, there will aways be winners and losers in this market. Like Holywood, there will be some who become superstars and some who won’t.
His view is a very US-centric view. Why does everything have to be in Silicon Valley? If seed funding is indeed international then why do we have to travel half a world away to avail of it? Why is there this need to have the Silicon Valley hallmark?
He’s right about colleges having to change. This won’t be due to some senior college administrators with a burst of foresight. This will be entirely due to undergrads choosing some courses over others. When they find that there are more people applying for Business-Information-Technology than straight Information Technology or straight Business, then they’ll start to tailor their course offerings to suit. As it is the colleges still have to find out some way to provide courses that are not hamstrung by the need to start in September and end in June. When that happens, welcome to the 21st Century.
Colleges will remain important. But more as meeting places for like-minded students who to want to take the opportunity to learn. Colleges in the UK have a lot more to change to provide a modern learning experience.
I’ve had the opportunity to move to the US a couple of times. Once, sponsored by Nortel, was a chance to move to California to learn the whole Bay Networks product range. Another time was during the time I was setting up my first business. I’ve politely declined both times and my reasons remain the same.
It’s not about the energy, Paul, it’s about knowing what you want. I want to run my businesses in my home country. I only want to live here in Northern Ireland. Faced with the coppery tang of Silicon Valley air compared to the rural views of Ireland? Not a hard decision.
The point about web startups is that you don’t NEED to be in Silicon Valley. You can be there if you want to.