Quit trying to make the next Silicon Valley
Dear Reader,
I saw another story this morning. This time it was London trying to be the next Silicon Valley. They always have a new variation on the name those, this one was Silicon Roundabout. I know you’ve seen these articles, they explain why [INSERT CITY HERE] is prime to be the next technology hotbed and repeat the success of San Francisco – San Jose.
Stop! We don’t need another Silicon Valley. What we need is something new. If all you can do is mimic what others are doing then are you really adding anything to the world? We don’t need another Silicon Valley, we don’t need another Facebook, what we need is for someone to create something totally new.
Nashville is a focal point for creative people. We have a strong Music and Publishing industry here and each year more and more creative people make Nashville their home. We’ve also got a burgeoning technology startup community. it’s not huge yet but a lot of people in and outside of Nashville see potential. Our goal should not, however, be to create the next Silicon Valley. (Or the next Austin or god forbid, the next Atlanta) We are unique in the world and we need to nurture and grow our special community. Here in Nashville, we combine technology, content and creativity. Let’s find our own identity.
Let’s let other cities try to create the next Nashville!
Until next time,
I <3 |<
=C=
Tags: community, creativity, Nashville, rant, startup, Technology
I couldn’t disagree more with you. The name here is irrelevant. Having a concentration of technologists, creatives whether it’s developers, designers and just generally techy people is great for our industry. It’s the media that give it a name not the business and people in the area. This very concentration of people is what we need to get that something new that something different. Everyone here meets up on regular basis and when you put all these like minded people in the same room this is where the best new ideas come from. New great ideas sometimes equals new
business which means more jobs which the economy needs. You then start talking about Nashville and you finish off by saying lets let other cities try create the next Nashville pretty much contradicting yourself. Silicon Roundabout is making a difference already regardless of the name. I detect a bit of sourness in your post. Take a look at this map and think again if the name matters. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217668049960128762801.0004b033f0d7a27fd7492&msa=0&ll=51.527382,-0.085444&spn=0.021306,0.055747
Hi Jeremy!
It’s not a matter of the name – although I do find it funny that everyone wants to build the Silicon * – it’s trying to recreate something that cannot be recreated. If you read the history of The Valley it’s easy to understand that it was a lot of “the right people at the right time in the right place with the right resources.” It wasn’t a matter of concentration, it was a matter of fostering.
I’m happy that London is trying to recreate that atmosphere but in my opinion, they are destine to fail.
My call was for Nashville’s creative community – including our tech community – to come together and build something new. The “new” could be a new tech community, it could be a new environment for fostering innovation and startups that does not cater to VCs, or it could be something totally beyond my imagination that creates the next great ecosystem. Whatever that next is, I want it to be Nashville, instead of Nashville trying to follow in someone else footsteps.
I am not down on The Valley, London or anyone trying to better their community. I just want Nashville to strike out on it’s own. Like our sister city Athens did so many years ago.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
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What’s wrong about Atlanta? :-)