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Here is a #THREAD summarizing a great book I recently read: The Code by @margaretomara, telling the history of #SiliconValley w/ great analysis & tons of insights on the key success factors and the dynamics at play @noiret_victor @Nicolas_Colin @Cvllr https://amzn.to/2Znqq5c ">https://amzn.to/2Znqq5c&q...
"No single thing is responsible for the economic phenomenon of #SiliconValley [...] It is neither a big-government story nor a free market one, it came from a perfect storm of luck and circumstance, geopolitics and macroeconomics, talent and leadership." /1
"The high-tech game works like a horse race. The horse is the technology. The race is the market. The entrepreneur is the jockey. And the fourth and last ingredient is the owner and trainer—the high-tech investor." /2
California has a long history with technology, from the first (large) electronic computers developed to decrypt German codes during WWII to today& #39;s search, social media, mobile computing and cloud behemoths, with many ups and downs in between /3
@Stanford has played a key role, beginning as an outsider but visionary university & becoming hotbed of the best startup founders, thanks to state-of-the-art tech curricula, strong integration with private companies, constant encouragement of tech transfer & startup creation /4
Government has largely financed #SiliconValley, with #DoD’s contracts booming during WWIII & Cold War, @NASA’s largess to reach America’s spatial goals, @DARPA, @NSF, @dodsbir & others outsourcing tons of R&D contracts to universities, research labs, companies competitively /5
#SiliconValley’s relation to politics has changed over time, with ups and downs in understanding & collaboration on regulation, tax, industrial strategy. At first tech companies didn’t spend much efforts lobbying for their interests, but they have increasingly done so. /6
The rivalry between #SiliconValley and other tech hubs in the US has always been fierce, in particular Boston’s #Route128 which progressively got outpaced, with Texas ( @Dell...), and with Seattle ( @Microsoft, @amazon...) /7
Other long-lasting trends include the #gender imbalance, the strong role of #immigrants, the very different management style, closed social circles, workaholism, tech founders& #39; naivety on the fact that their products would get exploited by bad actors /8
