These are my thoughts about where the next generation of entrepreneurs will come from and my beliefs on how we should approach these in the future.
As the world is set out today, we have a strong and unique center of tech entrepreneurship in the world that is concentrated in one place, Silicon Valley.
Last few years we have seen a remarkable transformation in the entrepreneurship community not only in the US but around the world. On the US we have seen places like New York, Boulder and Seattle come to life and become huge hubs for innovation. They are still far from the success and the strong ecosystem that Silicon Valley has but its exciting to see them up and raising.
In the rest of the world we have seen Israel, Chile and Germany as the most successful examples and also plenty of new places in China, India and Brazil that are building companies at a fast speed.
All this makes me ask myself a question: Where would the next generation of entrepreneurs come from? And, how can we set the system so everyone on the planet benefits from innovation and technology?
Today Silicon Valley acts as a huge magnet that attracts the best talent around the world. Engineers, mathematicians and scientist fly to Silicon Valley attracted by the innovation and the ecosystem. With a more connected world and easier transportation, relocation of entrepreneurs and startups is becoming a common trend.
Questions
Is this actually the right thing to do? Is it ethical to steal the best talent from developing countries? Are we playing a zero-sum game? Are we thinking long-term as a society?
When I mentioned the right thing to do I'm not questioning as if its bad or good in itself. Each entrepreneur is free to build their company wherever they want and wherever they believe would be the best place to do so. If she would like to build it in Israel and deal with the pros and cons of it I would say: “Go for it!”. If you can't find what you need and you have to move to Silicon Valley I would advice you to move.
As many investors and entrepreneurs know, the Silicon Valley has created a very strong ecosystem and network that makes it easier for someone to build their company. This ecosystem is composed of tech companies, talented people, big wealthy investors, incredible universities and great weather. This are all linked by a tight network that complements with a culture of taking risks and helping each other.
As investors look for the best startups sometimes they find the “next big thing” outside of the Valley and they encourage the startups to move. We should ask ourselves if it's ethical to steal the talent from developing countries. Is this just more convenient to us or are we using the “ecosystem magnet” to attract the talent and pull founders out of their homes.
We need to understand that people are defined not only by who they are but by who they are surrounded by and where they are. Culture, family and friends are very important for our personal and professional development.
When taking entrepreneurs out of their homes, we are crippling their country and affecting its future. Are we really obtaining a benefit from it? Short-term benefit maybe?
We need to understand that today there are 2.5 billion people connected to the internet but there will be 5B just 10 years from today. How are we going to help those 2.5B new people that have no idea how to use it to learn for the first time how technology works. How are we going to improve their lives if we don't even understand what kind of technology they need or what kind of problems they are facing?
When relocating the best talent, we believe we are making Silicon Valley’s ecosystem stronger and more competitive. This could be true in the short-term but what we are not seeing is that no matter how many people we bring we will still not be able to understand the needs of the 2.5B people about to come online. We shouldn't just build technology to be spread but to actually solve the needs of others. To be able to do this we need to understand the cultures and idiosyncrasies of the new wave of people coming to the internet.
We don't know them. We have no idea what they need or how they will use the internet and other technologies. The progress will occur when leaders, job creators and innovators of these countries apply or create new technology to find a way of solving their own problems.
Do we think we can just build the technology thinking about the users we serve today and apply it to the new ones that are coming? Can a small valley serve the whole world? Let us take a step forward and ask ourselves:
How can Silicon Valley be disrupted? What are our weaknesses? Our Ego? Who will disrupt us? How can we disrupt ourselves?
Helping technology get to every corner of Earth will take more than just the people in the Valley. We need to believe that the progress technology has brought to the developed countries will also find it way into societies on every valley, mountain, and town of the world. It needs to reach the entire planet.
We need to stop playing the zero-sum game. Every time we cripple a country by taking their best talent we are not just taking a few individuals but those that will create the change and progress in that society. We need to think of our future and their future.
Final thoughts
Earth is so connected today (2015) that different societies that existed for thousands of years but barely knew each other are now getting together. The causes and effects of our actions aren’t limited anymore by the physical world. Imagine how the world will look 10 years from today.
We need to think about the world as one big society. We will all share our lives together through the use of technology. We are all part of it.
“There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew members.”
As one society we need to think about what benefits us all, not only the small amount of people that are lucky enough to live in Silicon Valley.
We need to challenges our own beliefs about how the venture capital industry works, think how the technology industry will affect billions and what our actions will be as a small part of this society.
Our actions will define how our society will look 10–20 years from today. Lets think about what is the best for all of us.
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