From time to time I need an inspirational boost and I turn to this book, which I’m slowly cranking through on the kindle. I recently finished the chapter on Steve Wozniak (the real Thomas Edison of the pair of Steves IMO), which I’m thinking back to a fair bit today.
I think that the most powerful determinant of each man’s future was not himself, but actually Hewlett-Packard, where each worked at one point and which basically sparked culture we know today as Silicon Valley.
Apple, Inc. does not exist if these two kids didn’t meet and, I’d say, also doesn’t exist if they grew up in ANY other city in the world.
The problem is not that most towns kill startups. It’s that death is the default for startups, and most towns don’t save them. Instead of thinking of most places as being sprayed with startupicide, it’s more accurate to think of startups as all being poisoned, and a few places being sprayed with the antidote.
Startups in other places are just doing what startups naturally do: fail. The real question is, what’s saving startups in places like Silicon Valley? [2]
On the mark.
Culture mattes more than anything.
Not Unreasonable 