Exponential; Global; Inclusive.
Global Silicon Valley is an idea, a vision of the possible.
It is the vision that every person in the world with a brilliant idea, intense work ethics, creative problem solving skills has the opportunity to build something impactful in the world. GSV is the idea that no matter where someone comes from, she can use exponential technologies combined with an intense amount of work to make a global impact.
Yet unlike many visions, this is an actionable one, a measurable one, and an executable one, now.
There are a few main themes within the Global Silicon Valley vision.
1. Exponential
As my friend Niv Dror (@Nivo0o0) so well articulated in his post “When Exponential Progress Becomes Reality”, we live in extraordinary times of incredible technological progress.
Our progress with computing technology has seen over a century of exponential improvements. For a century, our computing power has doubled every two years or so. That has transformed the tools we use and the way we live.
But exponential technologies alone is not enough. Technology is an amplifier but it does not know how to aim; it does not know how to deploy itself to better the human condition, that still requires human judgment. The background of founders still impacts which direction we take our exponential technologies.
We need to make technology innovation less of a Silicon Valley-only activity and more of a global activity to source the best ideas and to understand global challenges that can be solved using technology.
2. Global
With the help of the Internet and the layers of applications built on top of it, a new generation of global citizens is being empowered. These citizens approach the world with a planetary mentality, thinking on an unprecedented scale.
The globalization of Silicon Valley is showing up in the data too. Of the 83 startups named in Fortune’s January 2015 article about unicorns — private startups that have achieved a $1 billion valuation—more than half, 57% to be precise, are based outside of the physical Silicon Valley area (Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Jose, and every town in between).
This is merely the signs of things to come. As more of the planet literally comes online, we’ll benefit from more brains than ever taking technology and applying it to solving problems from their perspective.
3. Inclusive
Finally, the Global Silicon Valley is an inclusive world where diversity is actively celebrated. To surface the best ideas and best talent, we need to build an inclusive technology community, an inclusive global community.
Traditionally, technology innovation has been the privilege of a few. The recent published data from the large technology leaders confirms this.
We can do better in accelerating minorities, particularly those historically excluded from technology innovation, and get all the best brains working on solutions. We can do much better in creating a more inclusive technology community because frankly we can’t do much worse from where we are today.
In order for our world to truly address the problems facing global citizens, we have to do more to let those who viscerally experience the problems to be the founders who tackle them.
Massively Transformative Purpose
For me, the vision of Global Silicon Valley is also a purpose that we are actively pursuing. We can build this future; we must build this future.
For almost all of human history, the ability to create massive change (and massive value) has been the privilege of a few. Now, we can cultivate a global and inclusive community to access exponential technologies and build our future, whether that’s in areas of energy, transportation, food, water, robotics, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, global digital currency, etc.
Building the Global Silicon Valley will take us from a world where a small fraction of people are “playing checkers” — making incremental changes — to a world where all 7+ billion people are “playing 3D chess” — thinking outside of conventional wisdom and creating transformative changes via exponential tools and a global mentality.
That is a Massively Transformative Purpose that we are excited to devote ourselves to building.
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I would love to hear from you @gsvpioneers.
