Ask HN: Is it possible for a third world country to have a Silicon Valley?

Re:Ask HN: Is it possible for a third world country to have ... by notahacker on Monday November 22, 2010 @07:16PM (#1931833)

Niche self-service SaaS, Phone/Facebook apps and games, affiliate-driven product/price comparison/finding/recommending services...basically anything with a medium term strategy to generate profit rather than aggressive growth to attract buyers/investors... provided it doesn't need a US-based sales team, rare engineering skills or high non-people costs like up-front marketing, licensing or datacentres.

The fact that medium-returns internationally would make you rich in the Philippines is part of the appeal.

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Re:Ask HN: Is it possible for a third world country to have ... by marv_in on Tuesday November 23, 2010 @11:18AM (#1934151)

Thanks for further clarifying. Unfortunately I feel these are very isolation-friendly types of concepts and indeed we have a growing culture of this but this tends to create "isolated" businesses not the type of culture that would need a tech hub. (It is also high-risk in this country)

Maybe I am mistaken since I haven't personally participated in a start-up but the appeal just often leads to our major businesses eating up the smaller businesses. If there are small businesses that do indeed grow from this without being bought, it becomes such a brand-centric concept that promotes copycats rather than idea inventors.

I hope I am able to convey myself clearly. It's not that I disagree with your idea, it's just that I feel we already have this already. It certainly could be faster or more aggressive but nothing that would develop an idea culture. Even in the money culture - I fear it would end up morphing too much like an online MLM type of educational/culture development - a concept who's offline variety is already very popular among the poor and even middle classes in this country.

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