The thing here is that big, immediate and obvious problems are almost never solved in Silicon Valley.
Silicon Valley is good at two things:
1) Solving small problems
2) Solving big, lingering problems that most people don't even realize are problems.
I work for a medical device startup that is hard at work trying to solve big, immediate and obvious problems (heart failure, hypertension) that kill millions of people a year. We're in Atlanta, not SV. Other medical device companies are in Boston, L.A., or even Minneapolis. None of them are in SV. I wonder why.
SV really only does three startup industries well: Software, Computer Hardware, and Green tech. And even the third is pushing it. If you're looking for innovation outside of those three areas, you should look outside of Silicon Valley.
This is a great observation. In regards to point 2, a former coworker put it slightly differently: "I don't think trying to solve a problem is the best way to win big. You want to build something that CREATES problems nobody ever had before."
On the contrary, there are quite a few medical device companies in Silicon Valley -- the other day, I was talking to a VC whose sole focus is on investing in medical devices, and he is located in the Valley for a reason. More broadly, there are also a lot of biotech startups in the Valley.
Comments
The thing here is that big, immediate and obvious problems are almost never solved in Silicon Valley.
Silicon Valley is good at two things: 1) Solving small problems 2) Solving big, lingering problems that most people don't even realize are problems.
I work for a medical device startup that is hard at work trying to solve big, immediate and obvious problems (heart failure, hypertension) that kill millions of people a year. We're in Atlanta, not SV. Other medical device companies are in Boston, L.A., or even Minneapolis. None of them are in SV. I wonder why.
SV really only does three startup industries well: Software, Computer Hardware, and Green tech. And even the third is pushing it. If you're looking for innovation outside of those three areas, you should look outside of Silicon Valley.
This is a great observation. In regards to point 2, a former coworker put it slightly differently: "I don't think trying to solve a problem is the best way to win big. You want to build something that CREATES problems nobody ever had before."
On the contrary, there are quite a few medical device companies in Silicon Valley -- the other day, I was talking to a VC whose sole focus is on investing in medical devices, and he is located in the Valley for a reason. More broadly, there are also a lot of biotech startups in the Valley.