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Why Silicon Valley Works

blog.samaltman.com

91–100 of 252 posts

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#91

No. The reason why Silicon Valley works is because of the intense greed that it provokes amongst everyone that comes here. Maybe "greed" is too strong of a word, because people aren't necessarily selfish, maybe "money-focused" is probably more accurate. And because anyone can come here and become a millionaire/billionaire, it draws in an immense number of hard-working people which just generally increase the level of…

All this is part of the reason why I've strongly been thinking of going back to school to become a doctor. What follows is mostly a rant, just to be upfront about it.

It's a really radical transition, but I really, really dislike the city-centric focus of software engineering. I hate the idea of being a contractor (I just want stable, life-long work), and I can't tell you how tired I am of crippling traffic causing me not to even want to drop by the grocery store until it's almost time for it to close. I'm not in the Bay Area, but am in one of the five largest cities in the US. I went to college not giving a shit about money or how much of it I would make, and now I find myself thinking about it most days because I have to confront the fact that I can't afford any housing near where I work. I wouldn't be so upset about it if it weren't for the traffic which makes commuting from far out an absolute nightmare.

In terms of raw numbers, it's a transition that doesn't really make sense, not for a relatively skilled developer anyway. The salaries aren't that much higher outside of surgery and a few ultra-competitive specialties, and the time and debt involved in the training are immense. Depending on any number of factors, it could be better or worse than a life in technology. The two things that are for sure are that you're not going to have financial difficulties and you're not going to be subjected to ageism (quite the opposite). If you want to be rich, medicine's probably a pretty bad choice; but if you want stable, well-paid, life-long, rewarding employment wherever you want in the country, it's among the very best options.

The most amazing part of it is that you get to directly help people every day (so you don't have to wonder if your crazy ass startup is actually "changing the world" or not), there's more demand for doctors in rural areas (not less), and most non-surgical specialties can easily work comfortably into their mid-60s (or even later, health permitting). You're also surrounded by people who, at least in the beginning, were motivated out of passion and not money- and status-seeking. (Of course, some people will change as they age and grow more successful, but not all.)

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#92
post #86
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the living part: My folks live in Concord and their next door neighbor just moved into assisted living at 95. Her house sold within a week for 700k to a young couple. It's a 3 bed 1 bath single story in Concord with drainage problems, mind you. Lets do the math here shall we: What is the mortgage and taxes(thanks prop13) on a place like? Well, at 4.05%, good credit, and 15% down, it's 2857.80/month just on the loa…

If it's so bad, why aren't people moving out of the valley?

They are, but there is a near bottomless pool of people ready to take their seat.

If there is any constant to the Valley over the decades it's the old fashioned American pioneer success story; strike it rich and take the money home.

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SV is like the 1849 California gold rush. A few people got rich and everyone else just got dirty.

Which why the clever entrepreneur sell tools for the gold-diggers.

This explains so many start-ups. Especially the ones with .io domains.

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#94
post #89

No. The reason why Silicon Valley works is because of the intense greed that it provokes amongst everyone that comes here. Maybe "greed" is too strong of a word, because people aren't necessarily selfish, maybe "money-focused" is probably more accurate. And because anyone can come here and become a millionaire/billionaire, it draws in an immense number of hard-working people which just generally increase the level of…

The article talks about long term compensation for entrepreneurs. You're in it for the big payout, to change the world, to build something better. He's not talking about SV working for your everyday salary men/women who wants cheap housing and high quality of living or work life balance.

You can't build a large company with only the founders, or first couple dozen employees, to grow beyond a certain point, you are going to need those "salary men/women."

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#95
post #91

No. The reason why Silicon Valley works is because of the intense greed that it provokes amongst everyone that comes here. Maybe "greed" is too strong of a word, because people aren't necessarily selfish, maybe "money-focused" is probably more accurate. And because anyone can come here and become a millionaire/billionaire, it draws in an immense number of hard-working people which just generally increase the level of…

All this is part of the reason why I've strongly been thinking of going back to school to become a doctor. What follows is mostly a rant, just to be upfront about it. It's a really radical transition, but I really, really dislike the city-centric focus of software engineering. I hate the idea of being a contractor (I just want stable, life-long work), and I can't tell you how tired I am of crippling traffic causing m…

[deleted]

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#96
post #9

Good article. It provoked a thought: In an increasingly digital world, how long will physical proximity be an advantage? The notion that a region could somehow have its own brand of patriotism centered around startup success merely due to density is somewhat difficult to rationalize. You can't deny SV's success relative to other technology hubs, but I'm wondering how far in the future physical proximity will continue…

> how long will physical proximity be an advantage

There is a number of articles and research papers on the subject. In short, distance matters even within the same building.

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#97
post #80

The premise here is that Silicon Valley "works". What do you mean by "works"? If you mean creating artificial wealth for a small group of already-rich folk, yes, it works. If you mean transforming one of the most naturally advantaged landscapes on earth into a traffic-choked sea of concrete where people do little more than work at creating new ways to buy and sell stuff, yes, it works. If you mean polluting what was…

>truly improve humanity, the Valley extremely inefficient I think Intel, Google and Facebook have improved humanity though your tastes may vary and I enjoy Apple's shiny stuff. Those have a market cap of $1.4 tr and it's hard to think of anywhere else with similar output. Maybe like democracy it's the worse possible system apart from all the other ones?

Two of those, Google and Facebook, have made it their core business to prime humanity for a lifetime of exploitation of their privacy in exchange for so relatively very little. How the f is that "improving humanity"?

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#98
post #86
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the living part: My folks live in Concord and their next door neighbor just moved into assisted living at 95. Her house sold within a week for 700k to a young couple. It's a 3 bed 1 bath single story in Concord with drainage problems, mind you. Lets do the math here shall we: What is the mortgage and taxes(thanks prop13) on a place like? Well, at 4.05%, good credit, and 15% down, it's 2857.80/month just on the loa…

If it's so bad, why aren't people moving out of the valley?

I think they are.

I've worked here in SF as a Rails consultant for the past four years. It's quite obvious that the work force skews younger. My best friend just became a CTO and his bosses are both 20. He's 41. :-0

When you look to start a family, the pressures of working in the valley are going to bubble to the surface. You can either endure a 60 minute drive (that should really only be 20 based on distance) to a child's dr. appt for which you endure wall-to-wall traffic with a screaming child, you try to ride bart with a child in stroller and packed cars, or you shuttle a car seat to and from an Uber.

Or, you pay 30-60K for a nanny and let them handle those headaches.

It's hard to live in SF with a family. Really hard.

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#99
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you are talking about is a new phenomenon. Silicon Valley in 2008 was different - rents were lower, and $120K with 2 kids and one income was OK. There has been a dramatic increase in rent/real estate prices in the last 6 years that has completely schewed the system and the culture. Silicon Valley has thrived in years when rents were OK, people were not greedy and yet great Companies were built. I remember going…

It isn't a new thing, it was rampant in 1998, some say it was rampant in 1982 as well. Having lived through the dot com crash of the late 90's I have thought a lot about what went into that event. It is easy to be dismissive and "blame the suits" or the "bankers" but the reality is much more nuanced than that. I have come to conclude that it depends on what goal is driving the bulk of the community. During a 'non-boo…

This is human nature. You have these guys in NYC, in DC, in LA, in Connecticut - everywhere where there is money. Even among investors at second or third tier firms, you have folks with a lot of money but nothing to show for it. This is a sad face of capitalism, and something you have to come to terms with. But this is not Silicon Valley - this is a byproduct of Silicon Valley.

Re: Why Silicon Valley Works

#100
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you are talking about is a new phenomenon. Silicon Valley in 2008 was different - rents were lower, and $120K with 2 kids and one income was OK. There has been a dramatic increase in rent/real estate prices in the last 6 years that has completely schewed the system and the culture. Silicon Valley has thrived in years when rents were OK, people were not greedy and yet great Companies were built. I remember going…

It isn't a new thing, it was rampant in 1998, some say it was rampant in 1982 as well. Having lived through the dot com crash of the late 90's I have thought a lot about what went into that event. It is easy to be dismissive and "blame the suits" or the "bankers" but the reality is much more nuanced than that. I have come to conclude that it depends on what goal is driving the bulk of the community. During a 'non-boo…

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