Re:An Open Challenge to Silicon Valley
by menloparkbum on Tuesday April 29, 2008 @01:50PM
(#176771)
This is a great observation. In regards to point 2, a former coworker put it slightly differently: "I don't think trying to solve a problem is the best way to win big. You want to build something that CREATES problems nobody ever had before."
On the contrary, there are quite a few medical device companies in Silicon Valley -- the other day, I was talking to a VC whose sole focus is on investing in medical devices, and he is located in the Valley for a reason. More broadly, there are also a lot of biotech startups in the Valley.
Silicon Valley is good at two things: 1) Solving small problems 2) Solving big, lingering problems that most people don't even realize are problems.
I work for a medical device startup that is hard at work trying to solve big, immediate and obvious problems (heart failure, hypertension) that kill millions of people a year. We're in Atlanta, not SV. Other medical device companies are in Boston, L.A., or even Minneapolis. None of them are in SV. I wonder why.
SV really only does three startup industries well: Software, Computer Hardware, and Green tech. And even the third is pushing it. If you're looking for innovation outside of those three areas, you should look outside of Silicon Valley.