This is a great thread... I think we're all proud of the guys who go for it in Silicon Valley, however, I would side with Simran, Kim, and Mick in cautioning young start-ups about viewing Silicon Valley as the only "get rich" Mecca.
The good bits are that there is a level of sophistication particularly amongst investors and big companies like Google. The negatives are that you will be a very small fish in a large pond, and may struggle for access and traction against a wealth of domestic competitors. In contrast, Australia is a very good place to start-up, build your proof of concept, and secure your first clients - it's a highly urbanised country, with over 90% of the population living in major urban areas, access to the big guys in your ecosystem is relatively easy (as they are clustered in Sydney and Melbourne), there's a reasonably sized talent pool available, the NBN is coming, and it's a nice place to live. Taking this one step further - we're at the beginning of the "Asian Century". Silicon Valley may be a Mecca for software, but the mass market customers of the future are in Asia. Both China and India have a bigger middle class than the USA has people - and far more millionaires. Technologically, they are skipping straight to the iPhone generation; and in leisure and business, they are becoming more outward focussed. Being in Australia gives a huge step up to servicing these markets (particularly vs being in the US). As an example; Chinese tourism in Australia is significant and growing fast. This is largely invisible to us local residents, but on a recent visit to McGuigan's in the Hunter Valley, there were bus loads of Chinese tourists, and McGuigans have developed a suite of sweet (predominantly) red wines - probably over their wine makers dead bodies - just for them. They don't sell these wines in the shop - but they were flying out the cellar door (and probably over the internet) by the caseload. So when an Aussie business is looking to expand globally, although there is a sense of "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere" about the Silicon Valley experience, there may be far sweeter, low hanging fruit in Asia - where Australian goods and brands (including software) are highly valued, and the market reach is potentially significant. As an example of scale, I pitched to the Indian State railway in the late 90's - they estimated that they had almost 4 million employees !! The US is an interesting market, but from an Australian perspective, they are barely in our top 10 trading partners. Although this is skewed by minerals and agriculture - when was the last time you bought a US product that wasn't made by Apple or Microsoft... The Asian markets are actually well developed in other industries with well trodden paths - there are huge opportunities for Aussie start-ups if they focus on them. M Bardia Housman wrote: > There are clearly 2 views here and they are both valid, although the > discussion is becoming somewhat academic. > > For me personally there's another element, and that's the personal > angel. I believe most entrepreneurs carve a path for themselves, they > visualize a future that they'd like to have or create. > > Although many of the elements already discussed, e.g. larger customer > base, greater valuations, higher chance of partnerships/acquisitions > were half the reasons why I moved to the Valley, ultimately I'm on a > life journey and being in the Valley is one step in that journey. And > this was the other half for moving here. > > My journey will end back in Oz in the next few years and that's where > I plan to base myself permanently. It's then about giving as much to > Australia and Australian technology entrepreneurs as possible. > > So just like some mountaineer head to Nepal to climb Mount Everest, > many technology entrepreneurs are driven by the same goals, we have > mountains to climb all over the world, one of the big ones is here in > North California. > > Bardia > > On Nov 22, 4:38 am, Kim Heras <gee...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Big props to Simran for pushing the point here. > > > > Agree or disagree, the discussion is the most important bit. > > > > My thoughts: > > > > 1. The idea that you HAVE to move to the Valley to be successful is > > ridiculous. > > > > 2. The idea that it's unlikely that we'll build anything like Silicon > > Valley in Australia so we should stop trying to create an ecosystem > > that creates internationally relevant startups that maintain a strong > > local presence, is equally ridiculous. > > > > 3. As Simran rightly points out "success" is contextual. The idea > > that success is only measured by the valuation of a business or, as > > Elias speaks about in his blog post about Snake Oil and Ponzi schemes, > > the mere fact that your startup was acquired, is flawed. > > > > In other words, there's nothing "un-successful" about creating a > > profitable startup in Australia that doesn't take any money and > > therefore doesn't have an investment figure generated valuation, or > > not being acquired. I know many startups like this locally and their > > founders should be recognised as successful entrepreneurs too. > > > > 4. The idea that we should do our best to create the free flow of > > capital and resources between Australia and other startup hubs, in > > particular the Valley, is a valid one. Free flow as in 2-way. It's > > very 1-way at the moment but I know there are good people trying to > > change this. > > > > 5. The support for entrepreneurs that is a key part of american > > society and culture, and the way that's amplified in the Valley, is > > probably the biggest competitive advantage it has over any other > > startup hub in the world. Tall Poppy Syndrome (as Patrick rightly > > points out) is the biggest competitive disadvantage we have here. > > #unhate > > > > All the above having been said, my belief is that every Aussie startup > > entrepreneur should spend some time in the Valley. The amount of time > > will depend on your personal situation and the nature of your startup > > and the market(s) it wants to operate in. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. 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