06-12-2006, 03:35 PM
Interesting article on why clusters of startups tend to form in certain areas/countries:
full article: http://www.paulgraham.com/america.html
Quote:Startups happen in clusters. There are a lot of them in Silicon Valley and Boston, and few in Chicago or Miami. A country that wants startups will probably also have to reproduce whatever makes these clusters form.
I've claimed that the recipe is a great university near a town smart people like. If you set up those conditions within the US, startups will form as inevitably as water droplets condense on a cold piece of metal. But when I consider what it would take to reproduce Silicon Valley in another country, it's clear the US is a particularly humid environment. Startups condense more easily here.
It is by no means a lost cause to try to create a silicon valley in another country...
full article: http://www.paulgraham.com/america.html