London vs. Silicon Valley
The power and noise of London; the optimism and buzz of the Valley.
I recently returned home to the Bay Area, California. I am not going to claim to be super-connected in Silicon Valley and I am not going to claim to be a tech guru in London. But I wanted to share my musings on my two homes.
What I do know is that after living in London for 7 years, I walk faster than anyone in San Francisco. Time moves faster for me now. For better or for worse.
San Francisco seems sleepy to me. Silicon Valley is a far quieter place than Silicon Roundabout in London's Shoreditch. Silicon Valley itself is a bunch of office parks with strip malls surrounding them. Silicon Roundabout sits in one of the coolest parts of town.
But then, there is the Californian sunshine; there is the optimistic buzz that anything is possible, that anything can be done. People from all over head west to the edge of the USA, to the home of Google, Oracle, Salesforce.com and the Internet giants of old. They are on the edge and they are changing the world. And they know it.
In the meantime though, cloudy, grey London explodes with noise and power, built on hundreds of years of being an international hub. Its timezone sits between Asia, Europe and the USA perfectly. Google is building a landscraper at Kings Cross. Tech City is expanding. Shoreditch is bustling.
Going home to San Francisco I saw less explosive change. Less bustle. The new bridge, the fourth tunnel are incremental improvements that were 25 years late. The only thing I saw was an explosion in were house prices and rent
So can Silicon Valley compete with London as the future start-up hub of the world?
Well, Silicon Valley is number 1 and I expect will remain there for some time to come. But I do think London is going to rise to much higher than number 7 on this index.
And does location even matter anyway now that we in tech work anywhere and everywhere? What do you think?
4 Comments
And I'll be watching, Charles! Thanks for sharing your insights and experiences.
Very interesting Charles, thank you. Most of us native Londoners tend to view London as a backwater relative to New-York and Silicone Valley so it is great to have the balance redressed. I tend to walk more slowly these days, so perhaps I should be heading out west.. :-)
As far as I can tell London is the center of the universe. At least the timezone says that!
If the attitude of "anything is possible" can filter into that center I think that London will be the most exciting innovation spot in the world. But that being said, if Silicon Valley and London combine forces (which they are doing) the next 5 years will certainly be exciting.
London no longer has Charles Thiede though.....I'm glad I can still experience your insights.