A more equal pie for innovation: A new future of work

By Theodora Lau and Bradley Leimer of Unconventional Ventures 

For decades, Silicon Valley has flourished as the center of global tech innovation. It is home to some of the world’s most valuable high tech companies, including Adobe, Apple, Alphabet/Google, AMD, Cisco, Facebook, and Intel among others. Along with it, Sand Hill Road became the Main Street of venture capital and synonymous with startup incubation.  

As we always seem to hear in financial services, follow the money. 

Yet, in an era where anyone with a mobile phone can access the internet and be part of countless digital ecosystems, isn’t it odd that we are still somehow bound to a physical location? Isn’t it surprising still that 74% of all venture funding goes to California, Massachusetts, and New York? 

Maybe it’s finally time that proximity and prosperity were finally decoupled. Maybe it’s time to recognize that good ideas can originate from anyone, at any age, of any race, at any time, and at any place. 

If you can be anywhere in the world, where would you be right now?

The experience of the pandemic over the past year, along with the need to social distance and work remotely, has demonstrated the power of distributed working and a distributed workforce. It has also seen rise to the rapid development of new tools, networks, and norms to help us better cope with this new normal. Long heralded as the future of work, this future is now very much here — and impacting our lives in significant ways. 

Another part of this new normal — for a privileged portion of our technology-fueled workforce — has meant a change in scenery as well. Given this new flexibility, some have chosen to leave crowded urban centers for more suburban or rural environments, with some relocating back to their hometowns. But, rather than a short-lived sojourn to another landscape to place as your virtual meeting background, it seems like these once-thought-to-be-temporary relocations are being established with some permanence.   

While the long term impact of the pandemic on migration isn’t yet clear, early data has suggested that cities such as Austin, Phoenix, and Nashville have gained the most newcomers between April and October 2020. These aren’t small migratory numbers either; the impact of this workforce diaspora will be felt for decades to come. 

As more and more of our tech-driven workforce, founders, and startups migrate into more areas of both the U.S. and abroad, what will the impact be on innovation and the often-unequal benefit of sprinkles of venture capital funding? 

For one, more areas will become startup hubs, drawn to more affordable cost of living and new areas of innovation. This dissemination of talent and ideas will continue the trend of venture teams looking outside the coasts for ideas big and small, of which they can fund, but also which they can learn from. 

This will open up more opportunities for job-reskilling and entrepreneurship, empowering local communities focused on innovative ideas that work in this new reality, transforming economic development, and uplifting local economies. Imagine the power of local governments, businesses, and educators collaborating — to reimagine a stronger, more inclusive future for everyone, not just the privileged few.

Shifting the creation of startups, the development of digital businesses and support systems, and the redistribution of where capital flows is just the beginning of important systemic changes in a more inclusive and connected global economy. 

Where we fund, build, and incubate ideas matters. 

Now is the chance to forge a different path —  a road less traveled — so we can seed more cities and regions with what made Silicon Valley the heart of innovation. 

At the heart of every idea, every connection, and every community, there is a path toward a more inclusive society. These bridges to a better future start with you. 

Will you join us in building something better, building something new?

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Don’t miss this week’s episode of #OneVision, where Theodora and Bradley talk with Wayne Miller, Executive Director of the Venture Center, on their efforts to drive corporate innovation and startup ecosystem development in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Listen in to this special episode on Apple Podcast, on Spotify, or on other players. Please consider subscribing, and please let us know what you think in the comments. Sponsorship opportunities for #OneVision are now available. 

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Unconventional Ventures helps drive innovation to improve systematic financial wellness. We connect founders to funders, provide mentorship to entrepreneurs, strategic advisory services to a broad set of corporates, and broaden opportunities for diversity within the ecosystem. Our belief is that anyone with great ideas should have a chance to succeed and every voice should be heard. Visit unconventionalventures.com to learn how you can partner with us.

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Our new book, Beyond Good, is now available for pre-order at Kogan Page. 

Beyond Good is a call to arms for business leaders to recognize how they can do well by doing good. Business for good, which is the philosophy that you can pursue profits while delivering on sustainable and societal development goals, is already delivering big changes. With exclusive interviews with experts from the B-Corp world, policy makers and executives, this book also showcases how companies like Microsoft, Flourish Ventures, Ant Financial, Sunrise Bank and Paypal are doing their bit to make our world better — and you can too. 

Also available at Bookshop.org (supports local, independent bookstores), Waterstones, WHSmith, and Amazon.