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Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

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Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#21

Post by lacker »

jhancock wrote: post #16
lacker wrote: post #5

One big problem with starting businesses in the South is racism and intolerance of outsiders. A key part of Silicon Valley is attracting the best talent from anywhere in the world, and it's going to be hard to do that in Atlanta. For example (from Wikipedia), Atlanta is 2% Asian. San Francisco is 33% Asian. In fact 36% of San Franciscans were born outside the US. edit: I do not mean to say that southern == racist. Fa…

I lived in Atlanta for 10 years (went to school at Georgia Tech). I moved there when the population just hit 2MM; now its 5.5MM!!...back in the day when you would expect it to be _more_ racist. I am now married to a Chinese lady. I've lived in Shanghai the last 9 years. I wouldn't worry at all abut moving my wife and 4-year-old "hybrid" son to Atlanta. Neither would I worry about moving them to my very small home tow…

It makes sense that someone who has lived in Georgia wouldn't mind moving back there. What about the Chinese people you have met in Shanghai? Would they move to Atlanta? Those are the people that must be convinced in order to make Atlanta into the next Silicon Valley.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#22

Post by Zev »

patrickg-zill wrote: post #8
lacker wrote: post #5

One big problem with starting businesses in the South is racism and intolerance of outsiders. A key part of Silicon Valley is attracting the best talent from anywhere in the world, and it's going to be hard to do that in Atlanta. For example (from Wikipedia), Atlanta is 2% Asian. San Francisco is 33% Asian. In fact 36% of San Franciscans were born outside the US. edit: I do not mean to say that southern == racist. Fa…

Are you speaking from experience, or your own prejudice? How about this - many Asians settle in CA because it means they are only a plane trip away from relatives in Asia. As an example: JFK to Manila means a travel time of 24 hours due to 1 or 2 stops; LAX or SFO to Manila if going direct is 12 hours. Nothing to do whatsoever with "racism and intolerance".

Its only 6-8 hours from JFK to LAX. Wheres the extra 4-6 hours come from?

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#23

Post by charlesju »

lanceweatherby wrote: post #14

I don't know how in the heck an article answering the questions that PG posed turned into a string of comments about racism and calling people meatheads. But since someone opened the door and let the big elephant in the room, I am going to go ahead and admit that it's standing there. The sub-culture of technology startups is dominated by white males. Minorities are not represented at the same proportion of their gene…

I am an Asian American, doing a startup in Silicon Valley, and I have not experienced discrimination because of the color of my skin. There are plenty of Asian American CEOs, Angels, and VCs everywhere. Perhaps, if anything, a little disproportionate to the true percentage of Asian Americans in California.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#24

Post by martianpenguin »

sachinag wrote: post #12

There's a bizarre concentration of supply chain management software companies in Alpharetta. Those guys could be the angel investor base I harp on.

How is it bizarre to have a high concentration of supply chain management software companies next to the best school in the country for ISYE?

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#25

Post by martianpenguin »

patrickg-zill wrote: post #8
lacker wrote: post #5

One big problem with starting businesses in the South is racism and intolerance of outsiders. A key part of Silicon Valley is attracting the best talent from anywhere in the world, and it's going to be hard to do that in Atlanta. For example (from Wikipedia), Atlanta is 2% Asian. San Francisco is 33% Asian. In fact 36% of San Franciscans were born outside the US. edit: I do not mean to say that southern == racist. Fa…

Are you speaking from experience, or your own prejudice? How about this - many Asians settle in CA because it means they are only a plane trip away from relatives in Asia. As an example: JFK to Manila means a travel time of 24 hours due to 1 or 2 stops; LAX or SFO to Manila if going direct is 12 hours. Nothing to do whatsoever with "racism and intolerance".

There are direct flights from ATL to Beijing and Mumbai now. That could definitely help.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#26

Post by sachinag »

martianpenguin wrote: post #24
sachinag wrote: post #12

There's a bizarre concentration of supply chain management software companies in Alpharetta. Those guys could be the angel investor base I harp on.

How is it bizarre to have a high concentration of supply chain management software companies next to the best school in the country for ISYE?

Wait, what's ISYE? There's actually a logical reason? I figured it was just a happy accident. That's awesome.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#27

Post by jackowayed »

charlesju wrote: post #23
lanceweatherby wrote: post #14

I don't know how in the heck an article answering the questions that PG posed turned into a string of comments about racism and calling people meatheads. But since someone opened the door and let the big elephant in the room, I am going to go ahead and admit that it's standing there. The sub-culture of technology startups is dominated by white males. Minorities are not represented at the same proportion of their gene…

I am an Asian American, doing a startup in Silicon Valley, and I have not experienced discrimination because of the color of my skin. There are plenty of Asian American CEOs, Angels, and VCs everywhere. Perhaps, if anything, a little disproportionate to the true percentage of Asian Americans in California.

I think Asian is the one main exception to that rule, just as it's the exception when it comes to minorities in elite colleges.

Asian Americans don't have as much of a history of economic and political oppression (There was some, obviously, especially during WWII.), and the culture strongly encourages working hard to excel at school, helping them then get good educations and break out of the initial poverty cycles that formed when Asians first came over and were exploited by railroad companies and the like.

But if you look at startups for other minorities--Hispanics, African Americans--I think it is pretty true that they are not well-represented.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#28

Post by lacker »

lanceweatherby wrote: post #14

I don't know how in the heck an article answering the questions that PG posed turned into a string of comments about racism and calling people meatheads. But since someone opened the door and let the big elephant in the room, I am going to go ahead and admit that it's standing there. The sub-culture of technology startups is dominated by white males. Minorities are not represented at the same proportion of their gene…

The sub-culture of technology startups is dominated by white males. Minorities are not represented at the same proportion of their general population percentages anywhere in the country.

I think this misses the point. In Silicon Valley, several minority populations are well-represented in the startup community. In particular, many startups are started by Asians and by people born outside the U.S. These groups are much less represented in Atlanta, and it's a catch-22 but this makes it tough for Atlanta to attract those startups.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#29

Post by martianpenguin »

sachinag wrote: post #26
martianpenguin wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it bizarre to have a high concentration of supply chain management software companies next to the best school in the country for ISYE?

Wait, what's ISYE? There's actually a logical reason? I figured it was just a happy accident. That's awesome.

http://www.isye.gatech.edu/

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#30

Post by rms »

sachinag wrote: post #26
martianpenguin wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it bizarre to have a high concentration of supply chain management software companies next to the best school in the country for ISYE?

Wait, what's ISYE? There's actually a logical reason? I figured it was just a happy accident. That's awesome.

Industrial and Systems Engineering -- Industrial engineering is the degree program that generally encompasses supply chain management, though it is also covered by technical MBA programs, particularly those at universities without degree programs in industrial engineering.
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