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Forget "Silicon Gulch"

This post is based on a response I sent to a Bootstrap Austin messages that pointed to "Silicon What?" - an article Bijoy had written for Austin Business District. Bijoy's article explains why Austin shouldn't consider following a Silicon Valley model. My response, slightly improved from the original:

What I see among Silicon Valley and Bay Area tech entrepreneurs is a willingness to collaborate, and there seems to be more support for collaboration within the ideation infrastructure there than we see here. It also appears to me that there's a high degree of business creativity in the area, probably more than we have here.  While I agree that comparison is unproductive, it may be worthwhile to examine the SV mechanisms for innovation, which still seem to be effective. Consider how much of what's real about "web 2.0" originated there.

I've continued to work with the Digital Convergence Initiative partly because its vision is to create an infrastructure for effective collaboration. As you know, DCI understands and appreciates bootstrapping and considers the Bootstrap organization a vital part of local economic development. While reps from Austin's Chamber of Commerce are scurrying around the country trying to find businesses that will create presences here without contributing 100% to the economy of this region, we're looking for ways to support business development and growth that begins here, stays here, and creates something more than the local "farm" we see for some key convergent industries ( e.g. film, games, music).  A strength of SV is that there are so many companies that have their headquarters, if not all of their operations, in the region.

jon posted this at 11:04 AM
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