(2006-05-28) Graham Growing Silicon Valley

Paul Graham on how to make a Silicon Valley. Start Up, Urban Development, Creative Class, Venture Capital. Cities mentioned: Buffalo Ny, Miami Fl, Pittsburgh Pa, NYC (his complaints: people aren't happy/smiling, mainly because their Real Estate and other expenses are so high (is San Francisco/Silicon Valley any cheaper?); also he thinks its style is too mainstream/touristy), Boston Ma, Seattle Wa, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin Tx, Ithaca Ny, Boulder Co, Portland Or.

• Fred Wilson responds to Paul's anti-NYC bits.

• Tim OReilly generates some graphs. NYC comes in 4th, way behind Silicon Valley, Boston Ma, and Seattle Wa (each step involves a factor of 2!). Nyc Challenges.

  • Fred Wilson provides his own numbers, which show NYC just slightly behind Boston Ma.

He has a follow-up piece on advice for non-US cities. Including side-mention of Home Based Business rules. So if you want to encourage startups you should have a low rate on Capital Gains... Oddly enough, the leaders now are European (EU) countries like Belgium, which has a capital gains tax rate of zero.