Why to Move to a Startup Hub

October 2007

After the last
talk I gave, one of the organizers
got up on the
stage to deliver an impromptu rebuttal. That never happened before.
I only heard the first few sentences, but that was enough to tell
what I said that upset him: that startups would do better if they
moved to Silicon Valley.

This conference was in London, and most of the audience seemed to
be from the UK. So saying startups should move to Silicon Valley
seemed like a nationalistic remark: an obnoxious American telling
them that if they wanted to do things right they should all just
move to America.

Actually I'm less American than I seem. I didn't say so, but I'm
British by birth. And just as Jews are ex officio allowed to tell
Jewish jokes, I don't feel like I have to bother being diplomatic
with a British audience.

The idea that startups would do better to move to Silicon Valley
is not even a nationalistic one.
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