The next Silicon Valley is likely in China, Amazon HQ2 won’t be a jobs miracle, and more top insights

During the week, the Daily Rundown brings you the day’s trending professional news. On the weekend, we try to keep you current on the big ideas that can help you see what’s coming. Read on and join the conversation.

The next Silicon Valley will probably be in China. The San Francisco Bay Area is still the reigning king of venture capital investment, accounting for $140 billion in startup funding since 2012, according to a report from CB Insights. But when it comes to VC growth, a lot of the action is outside the United States. Cities in Europe and Asia are gaining steam. And, according to CB Insights, the next global VC hub will likely be in China, with Beijing and Shanghai strong contenders. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Forget Amazon HQ2: To create jobs, cities should focus on what they already have. State and local governments spend around $45 billion a year wooing companies to move within their borders. But such moves only account for 3% to 14% of newly created jobs in the victorious states, writes Brookings’ Amy Liu. Instead of throwing money at giants like Amazon, Liu points to research that shows governments are better off nurturing their startup communities, helping small businesses become larger ones and making their cities nicer places to live. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Beth Comstock on...

LinkedIn invited former GE vice chair and author Beth Comstock to share her thoughts on this week’s headlines and trends. Here are the highlights:

• On Sonos’ clever opening IPO bell: “Living their brand by reminding us about creative ways to think about sound. This is a good example of bringing your company’s story to life.”
• On WeWork’s move into office design: “I believe we're in the early stages of rethinking how we work together in shared office space and beyond. WeWork will be smart to test a range of work scenarios, bring in outside experts on work dynamics & design and instill flexibility for workers.”
• On hiring for ability over experience: “Companies have long over-indexed on job specs that focus only on specific skills and expertise above all else. What's required is more creativity in matching someone's capabilities with a company's needs.”

Our plan for galactic domination starts with 3D-printing robots: Before we can live on other planets (assuming we decide it’s a good idea), we need to figure out how to do construction away from Earth. Transporting materials and contractors to a planet like Mars would be expensive and inefficient. So, NASA is turning to 3D-printing robots, Fast Company reports. Using native rock and other materials on site, robots will print buildings that can survive the extreme weather and radiation of other planets. NASA says it could be ready to start building on Mars in 10 years. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Making sugar sweeter, and cake healthier: Tel Aviv-based startup DouxMatok has developed a way to help sugar deliver its sweet goodness to our taste buds more efficiently. It comes down to silica, a mineral in green beans that excels at finding our taste receptors. On its own, only 20% of sugar in food hits our taste buds. But when embedded in silica, food makers can use 40% less sugar to get the same taste. For now, the method only works for solids — so soda giants will need to look elsewhere. ? Here’s what people are saying.

One last idea: It’s easy to get caught up in the quest to achieve, earn and, of course, consume more. But Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer reminds us of the importance of taking a step back and reflecting on our wants and needs.

“You can always have more, sure. But it's really useful to know what ‘enough’ is, and to always keep that in perspective.”

Want to get ahead at work? Looking for advice from the pros? Share your burning career questions in the comments with #YouAsked and we’ll get experts to weigh in.

— Scott Olster