Ask HN: Why is the US the center of the tech industry?

Post by est31 » Thu, May 30, 2019, 4:48 AM UTC

creato wrote: post #18

est31 wrote: post #16

First of all, the technology industry itself is not just exclusive to the US. Samsung is south Korean, Nintendo is from Japan, Siemens is from Germany, ASML is from the Netherlands. All of these are highly technological companies, with Nintendo having been at the frontiers of technology since decades. But of course, Silicon Valley is unique with its high concentration of hightech companies. This has multiple reasons:…

> The US federal government maintains a large spying apparatus which has been increased massively after the 2001 terror attacks. They don't just use it for evil terrorists. It has been confirmed multiple times that they perform industrial espionage against companies in western countries, supposed to be allies of the US. The US government then gives the results of the espionage to industrial partners. Specifically whi…

Post by holdenc » Thu, May 30, 2019, 4:50 AM UTC

tomnipotent wrote: post #9

Since the big Intel cash out, it's been venture capital. Europe & Asia is private equity territory, which is a fundamentally different attitude and approach to high-risk, high-growth business (as in they rarely do it). VC firms expect to make their money on IPOs & exits which encourages innovation and experimentation, while PE firms expect to make money from operations and interests on obliged loans which favors smar…

Post by [deleted] » Thu, May 30, 2019, 4:54 AM UTC

tlb wrote: post #2

Such broad questions don't usually lead to high-quality discussions. It's better to submit articles presenting a point of view on the topic.

Post by coryrc » Thu, May 30, 2019, 4:58 AM UTC

mateo411 wrote: post #21

toasterlovin wrote: post #13

Lots of human capital because A) we have a large population, B) we have the highest level of economic development in the world, and C) we've done a great job of importing talent. We were the main beneficiaries of the Europeans driving out their Jewish population. As a group, European Jews are responsible for something like 25% of our intellectual output over the last century, but only make up 2% of our population. La…

How do you measure 25% of the world's intellectual output? I'm a fan of Judea Pearl and Woody Allen, but I think that's a pretty strong statement to make

Post by TACIXAT » Thu, May 30, 2019, 5:02 AM UTC

donatj wrote: post #5

My 2¢ in taking to people from other countries, it's the American attitude. Americans for better or worse think we can do anything, and they will try incessantly. They will start a business with far less experience and qualifications than others, pull themselves up by the bootstraps and potentially fail spectacularly - just to get right back up and do it again. I do not get this sense taking to people from other coun…