WEBVTT - Is Silicon Valley Dead? 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:05.520 Get in touch with technology with tech stuff from how 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:14.360 stuff dot com by their kids, and welcome to tech stuff. 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:16.079 My name is Chris Poulette, and I am an editor 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:18.560 at how stuff works dot com. But you may have 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:22.120 known that already sitting across me, as usual is senior 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.080 writer Jonathan Stricklin. Hey there, you might have also known 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:29.720 that already. So, um, Chris, tell me if you recognize 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:32.559 this quote. Okay, Jonathan, you may not. You may not. 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.599 It's a it's it's it's one that I've seen bandied 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:39.480 about a bit since uh we started talking about this topic. 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:44.080 But endy inventions reach their limit long ago, and I 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:49.760 see no hope for further development. Um. It is not 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:54.520 the patent office, which is the other famous one. Yeah. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.680 That that is a funny, funny quote. This is Julius 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:03.400 Frontinus of the first century a d. A Roman engineer 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:07.959 who worked in the water. Uh the management essentially back 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:10.200 in the back in the day, which was a Thursday. 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:17.679 Um he uh sorry, I almost a he uh so Yeah, 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:20.520 he said back then like inventions had to reach their limit, 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.240 and then that's it. We are. We have gone about 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:26.840 as fur as we could go. As people in Oklahoma 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:30.440 would say, and I'm talking about Oklahoma, the musical, not 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:35.840 the state. But it's okay. Uh the he Yeah, he 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:39.160 said that that they, we humans had reached the peak 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.800 of ingenuity. He's not the first person to say that. 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:44.120 He's not the last person to say that. Another very 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:49.200 famous quote that's been bandied about recently, again more bandying, 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:53.560 was from Charles H. Dwell, who was the Commissioner of 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.080 the U. S Office of Patents in eight so just 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:02.080 before the turn of the century. He said famously, everything 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.800 that can be invented has been invented. Yeah, he submitted. 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:09.000 That was in his resignation. Yeah, I'm resigning his head 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.359 of the Patent Office because it's all it's all been done. Yeah, 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:14.639 we're done. Yeah, it's just a barnicked lady song. Now 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:19.200 we're done. And like to hand him. I don't know, Um, 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.640 let's let's think of something obsolete already, like uh, you know, 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:27.160 eight track tapes, right, and take a look at this 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.160 and this this is something that this is something we 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:33.800 don't use anymore. Um unless here you can have it, 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.079 unless you're in my dad's car. So yeah, they I'm 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:41.600 just kidding, just kidding. Yeah, that player hasn't worked for years. So, yeah, 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:47.040 the two quotes of people famously saying that we have 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:50.800 reached the level of of ingenuity that we are capable 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.920 of reaching, and nothing beyond that is within our grasp 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.160 and we should just settle down and and make ourselves 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.560 at home. The reason why I bring those up is 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:03.639 because the topic we're talking about today is the whole 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:05.959 reason we're talking about is because of a discussion that 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:11.760 happened online on Facebook, of all places, on Facebook, on Facebook, 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:16.120 and it was started by a guy named David Sachs 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:20.959 who was a founder of Yammer Yammer. Uh is this 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:25.520 Uh it's an enterprise social network, so social network meant 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:30.880 for businesses and here a popular business social network. He 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.200 founded it and then sold it in June of two 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:38.480 thousand and twelve to Microsoft for one point to billion 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:43.400 with a B dollars. It's a princely some princely some. Indeed, 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:46.960 you could buy a lot of pie with that princely 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:54.720 some pie. And uh so, yeah, he created this company, 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.520 sold it off to Microsoft. Well, the reason why we're 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.280 talking about this is on Facebook he posted and I'm 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:04.320 gonna read the full quote. I think Silicon Valley as 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:06.960 we know it may be coming to an end. In 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.680 order to create a successful new company, you have to 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.680 find an idea that one has escaped the attention of 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:15.680 the major Internet companies, which are better run than ever before. 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:19.440 Two is capable of being launched and proven out for 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:24.159 around five million dollars the typical seed plus Series A investment, 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:27.920 and three is protectable from the onslaught of those big 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.920 companies once they figure out what you're onto. How many 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:35.039 ideas like that are left? So he's essentially saying the 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:40.960 environment that we now all live in is not conducive 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:46.320 to a small, nimble startup coming out and challenging these 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:50.760 big goliath companies that are in the text space. Um 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.360 and so saying that it's it's getting increasingly difficult, if 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:59.960 not impossible, to make a successful company. However, his question 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.680 and how many ideas like that are left? How many? 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.760 How many people can come up with an idea that's effective, 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:11.880 that is going to capture people's imaginations to get support 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:14.440 and it has not already been thought of by one 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.720 of these big companies. Uh Well, a fellow by the 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:22.040 name of Mark and Reason answered that question and said, yeah, 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.640 I know that name. Yeah, I'm sure it an escaped you. Um, 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:30.440 he's so, and reason said an infinite number human creativity 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:33.600 is limitless, which doesn't make it easy, but does mean 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:38.080 the opportunity is an ending. So andreeson saying you can't 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:42.440 put a cap on human ingenuity. Every time we've done that, 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:46.960 people have proven that it was a premature statement and 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.120 that there are always going to be people out there 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:52.320 who come up with these great ideas and uh, and 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:58.120 to say otherwise is not really being honest with yourself. Uh. 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.800 And then there became this big dicussion through lots with 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.440 lots and lots of people, Andresa bombarded the Facebook page 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.960 with about seven or eight comments in a row where 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.599 he was making his points and refuting the points that 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:16.000 sax had made, and it became a discussion between the two. 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:21.200 So today we wanted to talk about Silicon Valley. Are 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:24.560 it's days numbered? Does it even make sense to refer 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:29.680 to the industry in general as Silicon Valley now? Um? 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:34.760 And and maybe or are we all just arguing over semantics? 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:38.680 Could we just agree that Silicon Valley kind of encapsulates 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.440 the idea of the tech industry and it doesn't really 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:45.200 refer to a geographic region anymore. And once we get 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:51.919 past that is everything cool. Well yeah, so let I 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.560 guess first we need to talk about what Silicon Valley is. 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:59.719 It's it's a place, so it's Silicon Valley refers to 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.280 a region in California where a lot of tech companies 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:07.839 first got their start, big big name tech companies. Yeah, 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:12.520 yeah there. Uh, as it turns out, there's a university 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:16.040 out there called Stanford. Yeah. A lot of a lot 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:18.840 of smarty pants were there in Stanford. Yeah, we've we've 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:22.400 mentioned that many, many, many many times. Uh, just simply 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:26.640 because uh, it's it's one of the places where technology 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:31.040 folks um ended up going to school in the first place. 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:35.760 And then um, they didn't really go far physically to 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:39.600 start their companies. They went you know, I like it here. 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:43.080 So yeah, apart from the earth place that's not really 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:48.360 whether um not here. The geologic formation is nice apart 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:50.880 from the earthquakes. Um, but yeah, I mean it's a 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:52.920 it's a nice place to be around a lot of 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:55.840 other smart people, and um, you know, even people who 0:07:56.360 --> 0:08:02.120 didn't necessarily go to Stanford, Uh, like Cooper Tino. You know, 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:05.840 they're garages, right, there are a lot of garages out there. Actually, 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:07.800 that that's something we should talk about, is that, you know, 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.520 it is something of a trope to talk about Silicon 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.000 Valley and getting your start in a garage, but several 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:15.360 of them actually did. If you've been listening to tech 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.200 stuff or any like the time, you've actually heard us 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:21.000 talk about some of these HP started in a garage. 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:24.360 Google started in a garage. Apple started in a garage. 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:29.280 Origin Systems, Origin Games, I should say Origin Games started 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:31.680 in a garage Richard Garriad. Of course that was not 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:36.040 in California, that was in Texas. But the garage thing, Yeah, 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.920 the garage thing was this, you know, this idea that 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:43.120 there was a time and perhaps that time is now over, 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:47.800 but there was a time where and enterprising and innovative 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.600 person or group of people could get together in a 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:57.520 space like a garage, build a a concept, turn it 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.120 into reality, and make a viable business out of it. 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:04.040 Not just a viable business, but potentially an empire. I mean, 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:06.640 it's hard to describe Google as anything other than an 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:08.960 empire at this point, at least as far as you know, 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:12.800 Web advertising goes and and Internet search as well, and 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.880 and making big roads into things like smartphone adoption and 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:21.240 and other areas of technology. Uh that all started in 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:25.280 you know, building a few servers in a person's garage, 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.440 and then it took off from there. Yeah, and that 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.400 isn't that isn't really too um to put down the 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.079 rest of the technology world, of course, Um, they're famous. 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:40.839 Other areas where lots of tech companies have gathered, of course, 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:45.440 Uh the Seattle area in Washington where Microsoft and and 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:51.280 Nintendo famously have headquarters. Places in Texas around Austin and Dallas, 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:53.680 you know, t I and and Dell and all those 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:57.040 guys are down there. Uh you know there. There's lots 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.800 of tech innovation going on in other places, uh around 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:04.000 m I T in Massachusetts and Harvard they're together, um 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.040 places down here in Atlanta where Georgia Tech is the 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.040 Georgia Institute of Technology. So and other other countries in 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:12.880 the world too. I mean there are company examples in 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:16.439 Japan and in Germany and and really any country you 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:19.439 can you can almost all of the countries have some 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:22.559 sort of tech presence. Not all of them all, obviously, 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.640 but many of them do. Israel has a strong tech community, 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.319 so that it's it's not that that Silicon Valley is 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:31.240 the be all and end all, it is not the 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.440 Omega and the alpha or the alpha and the omega. Right. However, 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:39.440 it did have uh a nifty name. Somebody decided to 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:41.920 call it Silicon Valley because in the valley right there, 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.680 there are lots of tech companies, and I think that 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:49.200 at frankly it's it's inadvertently a marketing thing. So we 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:53.600 we think of tech coming from Silicon Valley. So if 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:56.959 you think of it as Silicon Valley, the region, uh, 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.960 the actual region, you could you could argue that, yeah, 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:04.080 the era of Silicon Valley, like new companies coming out 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:10.040 of Silicon Valley is if not over, uh slowed to 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:14.960 a crawl because you've got so many established companies there already. 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:19.160 And frankly, something as practical as the amount of money 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:22.640 it would take to rent a garage has increased to 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.959 the point where it is prohibitively expensive for a new 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:29.640 company that doesn't have any money. So if you, if 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:32.520 you permit me an analogy, sure, um, it sort of 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.000 reminds me of a a want a an up and 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:41.199 coming actor moving to Los Angeles or New York City. 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:43.959 I was going to say, to break into movies or TV, 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.200 um to New York City or Broadway at your you 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:49.959 know what, I'm gonna go up there and I'm gonna 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.280 get a job if I can make it there, and 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.880 I'm gonna, you know, stake out a famous director's house, 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.880 or I'm gonna be on the corner half a because 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:04.160 I know so and so was discovered there really um 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.680 and you know, Okay, So I'm going to move to 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:09.559 Silicon Valley and I'm gonna start a brand new tech 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:13.360 company with this idea I've got, and doesn't it doesn't 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:15.920 always work like that, yea. So if we if we 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:18.800 think of Silicon Valley as like that, that physical place, 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.760 then I guess you could argue maybe that, yeah, maybe 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:25.800 maybe that era is over. But if you look you 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.679 at Silicon Valley more as a general term for the 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:34.520 technology industry and the idea of small, nimble companies starting 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.160 up and really making a go at it and and 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:41.240 becoming these big companies later on, like like the Google's 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:43.200 and the Amazons and the Apples out there and the 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:47.920 hps UM. I think it might be a little premature 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:51.280 to call that now, To be fair to Sacks, he 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:56.360 did later go and and elaborate upon his point. Because 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.320 this was a Facebook status that he posted, and it 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:02.400 wasn't It was in an article for a magazine or 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.560 newspaper um and I think it was more of a 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:08.439 thing he was mulling over in his head, and maybe 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:10.960 we should also be fair, all right, So let's let's 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:13.800 think about this for a second. His company had just 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.840 earlier than in the summer, been bought by Microsoft, right, 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:22.120 so he had the experience of building a company up 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:26.719 and seeing him seeing that company go up against some 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:32.800 really established, big companies, and he saw that the the 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:37.360 opportunities for his company to succeed on its own were limited, 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.520 and that it was going to be a very difficult 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:44.920 road if he chose to keep his company his own 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.960 and not to sell to anyone, it would be really 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.440 hard to make a success story out of it because 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:55.160 of the competition he faced against these monolithic companies. And 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.120 he has a point. If you come up with an 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:03.000 idea that's really really uh innovative and is uh is popular, 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:05.400 that it's only a matter of time before one of 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.640 these other big companies makes a go at that same space. 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.000 You know, they might not be copying your idea, you 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.880 know exactly, but they may be aiming for the same 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:18.440 general target that you're aiming for, and then they these 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:22.080 companies have way more resources than you do, so it 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:25.280 may just be a matter of time before they end up, 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:30.680 you know, wiping you out. And so his point is saying, uh, yeah, 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.760 you don't, you know, look at my experience, like I 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:37.200 I sold to Microsoft. So there's some critics who have 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.880 said that he he's taking too narrow a view because 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:43.480 of his own personal experience with this situation. And in fact, 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:47.920 I would argue that there are success stories, relative success 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.720 stories out there that contradict what he said. Uh, in 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:56.760 the sense of think about Twitter. Twitter is the the 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:02.840 short messaging version of social networks that is popular. Well 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:04.880 it's not the only one that was out there, and 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.560 and some of them were backed by big companies. Google 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:11.920 had Jaiku, which was very similar to Twitter. Yeah, they 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.880 acquired Jaiku. They bought Jaiku and you but you there 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:18.160 you go, You've got Jaiku that was again a smaller 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.880 competitor first and then bought by Google. They suddenly had 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:26.320 the the power of Google behind them. But that that 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:30.280 went away. Twitter became the place everyone went to. So 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:35.200 you know, it is possible, I think, for a company 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:37.800 to do this because if they do it well. There's 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:39.720 no guarantee that a giant company is going to do 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:41.000 it well. They might be able to throw a lot 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.720 of money in it, but doesn't mean that their product 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.640 is going to be compelling enough to convince people to 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:52.240 use it versus some startups company uh startup product. Well, yeah, 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:55.440 I mean, why bother starting something like Facebook when you've 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:58.480 already got friends too? Yeah? Yeah, I mean that those 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:01.680 are good arguments though. I mean, granted, Facebook's at a 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:05.520 level that Frinster never was. But but the point but 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:10.240 my Space, my Space was was dominating for the longest time, 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.720 and people couldn't even imagine someone dethroning my Space from 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.240 the social uh network scene. And then Facebook did it 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:24.280 and handily as it turns out. So the I can 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:28.600 see what what Sacks's point is here. I don't entirely 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.120 agree with it. Now. He did come out and say 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:36.040 later that he wanted to clarify he thought that if 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:38.360 if you were to create a startup, you should aim 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:42.840 for the fringe of what is already out there because 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:46.000 the big companies he he likened those two redwood trees. 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:50.720 He's enormous redwoods, right, Yeah, it does. There might be 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.480 especially since he was his company was bought by Microsoft, right, 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:59.200 so he yeah, but close enough. Um, he's got these 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:03.880 giant so these giant redwood trees that are casting lots 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.080 of shade on the ground. So to plant a startup 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:09.840 in the shade, you don't have a lot of chance 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.399 of having it grow. It's not gonna get the sunlight 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.439 it needs. So he says the better thing to do 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.320 is go to the edge of the forest and plant 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:19.440 your start up there. And what he means by that is, 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:24.600 don't look to provide a service that one of these 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:29.359 giant companies already is providing. So we'll use maps as 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:31.720 an example. Let's say that there's a startup where they 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:37.159 feel like we've got the killer approach to providing online maps. 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.800 Problem is, you've already got companies that are doing that. 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:42.960 You've got Apple and you've got Google, both doing it 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:47.120 in the mobile space and on desktops. So what and 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.120 and there are others as well. Those aren't the only two. 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:51.280 It's just those are two I just grabbed right at 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:57.359 the top. So the barrier you have is huge. But 0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:59.440 but if you come up with a service that none 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.480 of these come these are doing yet none of them 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:05.359 have figured out how to do or they none of 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.480 them have even thought of doing this particular thing. And 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:10.399 you start a company, then you have a much greater 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:14.520 chance of success. Um. And I think a lot of 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:18.679 the people who are initially criticized Sax's point, which again 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.159 you know was probably the first thing he had thought of, 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:26.439 he hadn't made necessarily, really debated it heavily by the 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:28.880 time he posted on Facebook. Um, I think they would 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.200 agree with that. I think Andreason would agree with that 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:36.159 because and Reason's point is that, Yeah, for for a 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:39.520 large company to go up against a small company, uh, 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:43.960 it needs to not just be big, but competent. And 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:47.000 that's a that's a big point because these like I said, 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.120 these big companies might be able to do certain things 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:52.879 really well, but when it comes to adopting something new, 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.560 that's hard for a big company to do, and they 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.879 may not be as agile exactly and making changes no 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:05.040 pun intended well. And that that's a natural evolution for 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:08.440 most companies. Right when when you're a startup, your nimble, 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:11.400 you can try lots of things and you are, uh, 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.760 you're very quick to act on those things and to 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.560 build your business that way, and you take lots of risks. 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.000 Once you get established, well, then you're looking at stability. 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:23.600 You're not necessarily looking to continue taking these crazy risks 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.640 because you've got a lot more at stake now. So 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:29.280 you're looking at how do I sustain what I have 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:33.400 and build on it without going crazy and running all 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:35.120 over the place like I did when I was when 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:39.320 the company was tiny. And so you know, they don't 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.879 have that luxury that the smaller companies have. And so 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:44.480 they may have the money, and they may have a 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.320 lot of resources, but they might not have the um 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.760 the flexibility to do that. So and that's a good 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:55.439 point as well. Yeah, I was. I was hardened to 0:19:55.560 --> 0:20:00.800 see that the conversation that they were having was civil 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:05.520 and productive, you know, unlike some I mean, it was 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:07.679 primarily the two of them. They did. They did make 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:09.960 it public. Know, there were there were lots and lots 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:12.919 of comments. It was a really good discussion. Was not 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:19.000 a YouTube, which was nice, no, no, um. But you know, 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:21.200 I was also reading this is one of the reasons 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:24.800 I was interested in looking at this, UM was I 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.080 was reading recently that about some of the other areas 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:33.040 in the world that uh, you might not necessarily think 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:38.119 of as being UH tech stars are sort of coming on, 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:40.640 you know, making a name for themselves in the tech 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:45.879 world to UM. Apparently, UH Mexico actually has quite a 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:50.760 few tech startups UM that have been launching recently. UM, 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:54.040 and there's a lot of American investment. UH. You know, 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:57.359 you'd think of the venture capitalists out in Silicon Valley 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:02.200 and other places looking for startups here, but they also 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:05.280 look abroad and they have been taking notice of a 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:08.960 lot of the places in Mexico and also in UM 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:13.800 UH places like Chile, UM where there are venture capital 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:18.080 funds and in some cases UM like for example, a 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:22.840 startup Weekend UM, which is a founded or you know, 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:26.000 gets its money from the Coffin Foundation now has UH 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:29.080 thirteen chapters in Mexico and that second only to the 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:33.720 United States. UM and UH there are other governments around 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:38.840 the world that are are encouraging UH tech innovation. So 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.240 it is very possible that UM, in addition to our 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:45.280 own literal Silicon Valley, there will be others like it 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:49.240 UM in other countries all over the world. UM, and 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:53.920 there will be innovations coming UM for those markets specifically, 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:58.000 and things that that you know may become global sensations 0:21:58.000 --> 0:22:00.840 in their own right in the years to come. And 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:05.840 so it's funny because well, uh, he's looking at you know, 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:09.960 we're talking about the possibility of um silicon valley here 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:12.720 in the United States sort of waning in its ability 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:18.000 to generate new products, UM other places uh that maybe 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:20.280 you know are on the edge of the forest in 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:25.800 that in that analogy, you know, might be taking off. Yeah, 0:22:25.800 --> 0:22:30.399 And I read an article on inc I n C 0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:35.359 Business magazine written by Eric Sherman which was titled and 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:39.679 into Silicon Valley not even close. And Sherman also was 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:44.639 obviously refuting Sex's points, but there was one thing that 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:49.680 he said that I don't think was I don't think 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:51.760 that was sex. He's refuting something that I don't think 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:56.360 Sex was establishing. And his statement was about how, uh 0:22:56.400 --> 0:23:00.159 the idea about protecting your idea from big companies. And 0:23:00.200 --> 0:23:03.440 one of the problems is that that a small business 0:23:03.480 --> 0:23:07.000 might find itself in is running into patent issues where 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:10.600 big companies own thousands and thousands of patents and it 0:23:10.720 --> 0:23:15.360 may be that some aspect of that small companies business 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:17.719 model could infringe upon a patent, and then where did 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:20.280 they go if they can't license it, then they're out 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:25.520 of luck. So um, But Sherman says that the big 0:23:25.520 --> 0:23:28.800 companies often buy these smaller companies, Like, how how can 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:31.800 you say that these aren't viable, because, like you were 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:34.439 saying with with Jaiku, Google bought them, and you know, 0:23:34.480 --> 0:23:36.879 Google bought the company that designed Android and all that 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:39.680 kind of stuff. But I think Sax's point was that 0:23:40.080 --> 0:23:43.800 he was talking about the company being successful as its 0:23:43.880 --> 0:23:48.120 own entity, not as something that gets bought by another company. 0:23:48.600 --> 0:23:51.879 And so that that's one point that Sherman makes that 0:23:52.119 --> 0:23:56.480 I don't think addresses what Sex was actually saying. Um. 0:23:56.960 --> 0:24:01.399 I think you know, it's it's access. Idea of success 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:05.640 means that you are making it based upon the the 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:08.480 viability of your company and how it can compete in 0:24:08.480 --> 0:24:11.399 the market, not whether or not you're attractive enough to 0:24:11.440 --> 0:24:15.359 get bought. But I think we will definitely sometime in 0:24:15.359 --> 0:24:19.159 the future have to have an episode about companies that 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:24.440 were designed or seemingly designed from the ground up specifically 0:24:24.480 --> 0:24:27.560 so they would be purchased by another company. Yeah. Yeah, 0:24:27.600 --> 0:24:31.399 and there have been many of those. Yeah, or at 0:24:31.440 --> 0:24:33.960 least that's what it appears to be, you know, because 0:24:34.000 --> 0:24:36.560 sometimes it's hard to tell and Sometimes you see a 0:24:36.560 --> 0:24:39.000 company that gets brought up by another company and you're thinking, 0:24:39.480 --> 0:24:41.919 was that their plan the whole time? Uh? And then 0:24:41.920 --> 0:24:44.000 there's some companies that you would think, well, if that 0:24:44.160 --> 0:24:46.359 was their plan, why haven't they done it yet? Twitter? 0:24:47.720 --> 0:24:50.200