

Paul Graham and Wikimedia - drm237
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/10/wikimedia_startup_centers.html
There's an interesting corollary to Paul's argument that all startups (at least all web startups) ought to move to Silicon Valley. That is, if you're an investor, you're better off looking AWAY from Silicon Valley, since where the action is today is a) much more expensive and b) much more driven by today's fashion than tomorrow's innovation.
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fauigerzigerk
I don't agree with Tim O'Reilly on everything he says, but he does have a
point. Now, I'll admit I'm envious of silicon valley startups. They get so
much more public attention, they have more sources of funding, they are better
connected, etc. But I think there is a danger to what happens there beyond
personal envy.

It's not only easy to start a startup in SV (which is a good thing), it's also
apparently easy to get funding for stuff that is mediocre and "solves
problems" that look distinctly faddish (I know I should back this up with
examples...). In fact, much of it doesn't solve existing problems at all but
creates new kinds of activities for people. In a positive sense, new markets
are being created. But I get wary when the proportion of startups creating new
markets compared to those solving existing problems is so unusually high. Or
maybe I'm simply missing the point of some of the social web because I'm not a
teen any longer?

Even if much of what's happening in SV is a fad, that might not necessarily be
a problem for startup founders, and moving to SV might still be the right
thing to do. If someone is successfully riding a faddish wave they might still
have fun and make money, which they can later use to do something else.

What troubles me more than what is happening is what is not happening. People
with real problems and keen startup founders rarely get together. If they did,
the energy of so many smart people could be directed at hard problems. These
problems do exist in every industry. I don't believe in the "scratching your
own itch" mandate. I'm sure, startup founders would be very interested in
solving hard problems of others, if they only knew enough about them.

And that brings me to the point where I think O'Reilly is right. If startups
were working on hard industry problems, they would not all converge on silicon
valley. I believe there is a lot of potential in trying to bring startup
founders and industry people together.

