Why the rise of Silicon Beach is good news for tech in Europe

Why the rise of Silicon Beach is good news for tech in Europe

Silicon Valley seems to have lost some of its shine among entrepreneurs recently – too expensive, too arrogant, and not diverse enough. They are starting to look elsewhere, in the United States of course, but not only. So are we seeing the end of a myth? The idea that there is only one "Promised Land" for innovation and entrepreneurship, outside of which nothing or almost nothing is possible, has run its time. And that is good news.

I was fortunate enough to be able to talk about these things with Aurélie Jean, whose experience and career are particularly enlightening. Aurélie has a doctorate in material sciences and computational mechanics, plus over 10 years’ experience in applied mathematics and computer coding in both France and the United States. She has worked as a researcher, engineer and entrepreneur in medicine, engineering, education, economics and finance in a number of American cities, including Boston, New York and Los Angeles. And she was happy to share her experiences with me, as well as her take on the different locations where entrepreneurship can flourish.

The success of Snapchat has done much to shine the spotlight on Los Angeles as the new best place for entrepreneurs. Tinder is there too, and the headquarters of Hyperloop, Elon Musk’s high-speed rail venture. All the tech majors, from Google and Yahoo! to YouTube, BuzzFeed, Facebook and MySpace, have opened offices there. But the giants aside, people are less aware that the LA metropolitan area is now home to over 500 startups, as well as many incubators and accelerators.

Richer ecosystems with more diversity

What lies behind this success? The answers are to be found in still-affordable property, vibrant city life, excellent quality of life, great weather, and an entrepreneurial community that is both more cohesive and more diverse than in Silicon Valley. Aurélie Jean is the first to agree: “I wouldn’t have gone to Silicon Valley because I wouldn’t have felt welcome there as a woman. There is more diversity in LA, and in New York and Boston too. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is richer and more open.”

The emergence of regions other than Silicon Valley that are proving attractive to entrepreneurs is not limited to Los Angeles. The Boston-Connecticut-New York corridor is also becoming one of the world’s most sought-after locations. New York in particular is once again becoming a city of inventors and entrepreneurs, just as it was in the 19th century. “There’s a quip about that going around in financial circles in New York,” says Aurélie Jean: “Fire traders to hire doctors”. The 2008 crisis opened the city’s eyes to the danger of over-dependence on the financial sector. In any case, finance itself is becoming more and more high-tech, and digital. There are now over 350,000 tech jobs in New York City and state. The opening in September of the Cornell Tech campus, a magnet for all kinds of talent, is just one sign among others of this new direction.

Promising news for Europe

Diversity, accessibility and roots in a dynamic metropolitan area are the factors that lie behind the success of these new hubs, which are still underestimated by investors. One conclusion that can be drawn from this shift is that there is no magic place for innovation and entrepreneurship. It has sometimes been thought that setting up in Silicon Valley could guarantee success, anywhere else being regarded as less promising. But that was to overlook a fundamental truth expressed by Emile Durkheim, the father of sociology, in 1899: “It is not the place that explains the people, but the people who explain the place”. In other words, places become what people make of them.

That is why the tech-industry success of Silicon Beach and New York is such good news for Europe. Aurélie Jean, turning her eyes towards France for the future, is convinced: “France and other European countries have immense potential. Facebook did not choose to set up its artificial intelligence research lab in Paris by chance. It is because France has the best mathematicians.” And as Germany has the best engineers, there is no doubt that the Paris-Berlin axis can become a European hub of the highest importance, especially for AI.

The election of Donald Trump has also changed the rules of the game. The number of visas has been cut, including for entrepreneurs. Some young Europeans will not be able to go to the US. Others are already thinking about coming back. More than ever, now is the time to spell out loud and clear that the magic places for entrepreneurship are those where talented and motivated people are to be found – in the United States, in Europe or wherever! 

Christian Vincent

Director | Entrepreneur | Investor | Advisor

6 年

Paola Neopmann, veja como a Rolland Berger pega carona nas buzzwords para promover o bom conteúdo deles . Já fizeram com Elon Musk, Apple x Windows , silicon valley, etc. vamos nesse caminho também?

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Anthony Davis

A Coveted Brands Company

6 年

#interesting

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ron stewart

Student at Washington State University

6 年

silicone sand on the beach ?

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Shakil Ahmed

Managing Director at uzmacreation

6 年

Lovely

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