The Valley advantage

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: Kamla Bhatt, is a researcher and a technology trend watcher. She is also the host of a popular Internet radio show: http://kamlabhattshow.com

We have all heard or read that Silicon Valley is different and this is the place to be in if you want to set up a startup in technology, bio-engineering or cleantech or whatever the latest tech trend is. I did not realise how many people within the Valley were oblivious to the eco-system and the enormous advantages they have over other entrepreneurs until recently.

A couple of months ago I met an American entrepreneur, who grew up and went to school in the San Francisco Bay area. During his downtime he came up with an idea for a startup and decided to pursue that idea and started building a prototype of his concept in his living room. So that is what he wanted to talk about and show me when we met. So, there we were sitting in the unlikeliest of places — Costco, which is a huge retail chain that resembles a warehouse. He mentioned how a couple of days earlier he got references to an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist from a parent in his little girl’s school. Now, that is something that is unlikely to happen in any other part of the world I told him and he was surprised to hear that.

Since I had just returned after a four month stint in Bangalore I had a pretty good idea of how entrepreneurs were bootstrapping and struggling to find mentors and right people to use as sounding boards for their ideas.

After my conversation with the American entrepreneur I decided to poll a few of Indian origin and find out what they had to say about Silicon Valley and what makes it a unique place to live in and work and create products. The basic ingredients to build an eco-system are people, money and knowledge. “Silicon Valley magic is a key ingredient. It allows us to think on a bigger scale, ready and mature eco-system expedites execution,” points out Brij Singh co-founder of Message Dance, a social media company. I ask Brij what else is there about Silicon Valley that is different. He replies, “Elsewhere you need to struggle to overcome eco-system hurdles. Difficulty in getting a lawyer who can work on equity basis in Bangalore is just one such example.”