The Silicon Valley Edge

by Lee, Chong-Moon

• ISBN13: 9780804740630
• ISBN10: 0804740631
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-10-01
• Publisher: Stanford Business Books

Summary

The enormous and sustained success of Silicon Valley has excited interest around the globe. Startup companies the world over are attempting to emulate its high tech businesses, and many governments are changing their institutions in order to foster Silicon Valleys of their own. What accounts for the Valley's leading edge in innovation and entrepreneurship? This book gives an answer by insiders, by prominent business leaders and academics from the heart of the Valley. They argue that what distinguishes the Valley is not its scientific advances or technological breakthroughs. Instead, its edge derives from a "habitat" or environment that is tuned to turn ideas into products and take them rapidly to market by creating new firms. This habitat includes supportive government regulations for new firm formation, leading research universities that interact with industry, an exceptionally talented and highly mobile work force, and experienced support services in such areas as finance, law, accounting, headhunting, and marketing, all specializing in helping new companies form and grow. Not least is a spirit of adventure and a willingness to take risks. The elements of this habitat are packed into a small geographic area. In it, networks of specialists form communities of practice within which ideas develop and circulate and from which new products and new firms emerge. Feedback processes are strongly at work: the successes of Valley firms strengthen the habitat, and the stronger it becomes, the more new, successful firms are created. Among industries, electronics came into the Valley first, followed by semiconductors, computers, software, and, in the 1990s, biotechnology, networking, and the Internet. This extraordinary ability to keep adding new industrial sectors itself affects the prospect for the Silicon Valley's future. What lies ahead? From within, the Valley faces serious challenges in defining a new generation of entrepreneurs, addressing a growing digital divide, and maintaining quality of life. At the same time, the Valley must redefine its global role with respect to other rising innovative regions worldwide. Nevertheless, the proven ability of its highly effective habitat suggests that in both innovation and entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley will maintain its edge.

Author Biography

Chong-Moon Lee is Chairman and CEO of AmBex Venture Group and Consulting Professor of the Asia/Pacific Research Center, Stanford University. William F. Miller is Herbert Hoover Professor of Public and Private Management Emeritus at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Marguerite Gong Hancock is Project Manager of the Silicon Valley Networks Project at Stanford University. Henry S. Rowen is Professor of Public Policy and Management Emeritus at the Graduate School of Business and Director of the Asia/Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.

Table of Contents

Contributor Biographies	xv
The Silicon Valley Habitat	1	(15)
Chong-Moon Lee
William F. Miller
Marguerite Gong Hancock
Henry S. Rowen
Mysteries of the Region: Knowledge Dynamics in Silicon Valley	16	(30)
John Seely Brown
Paul Duguid
PART I Silicon Valley Today: A View from the Inside
A Profile of the Valley's Evolving Structure	46	(13)
Doug Henton
Life in Silicon Valley: A First-Hand View of the Region's Growth	59	(22)
E. Floyd Kvamme
Innovation in Business Models	81	(13)
T. Michael Nevens
Four Styles of Valley Entrepreneurship	94	(30)
Chong-Moon Lee
Changing Everything: The Internet Revolution and Silicon Valley	124	(34)
Steve Jurvetson
PART II The Evolution of Silicon Valley
Fairchild Semiconductor and Its Influence	158	(26)
Christophe Lecuyer
Serendipity or Strategy: How Technology and Markets Came to Favor Silicon Valley	184	(16)
Henry S. Rowen
The Role of Stanford University: A Dean's Reflections	200	(18)
James F. Gibbons
Social Networks in Silicon Valley	218	(30)
Emilio J. Castilla
Hokyu Hwang
Ellen Granovetter
Mark Granovetter
Networks of Immigrant Entrepreneurs	248	(28)
Annalee Saxenian
PART III A Clustered Community
Venture Capitalists: The Coaches of Silicon Valley	276	(19)
Thomas F. Hellmann
The Valley of Deals: How Venture Capital Helped Shape the Region	295	(19)
Dado P. Banatao
Kevin A. Fong
Fueling the Revolution: Commercial Bank Financing	314	(11)
John C. Dean
Advising the New Economy: The Role of Lawyers	325	(17)
Craig W. Johnson
Shepherding the Faithful: The Influence of Executive Search Firms	342	(13)
Thomas J. Friel
Guiding the Innovators: Why Accountants are Valued	355	(15)
James D. Atwell
Free Advice: Consulting the Silicon Valley Way	370	(10)
Regis Mckenna
Afterword: Sustaining the Edge	380	(5)
Chong-Moon Lee
William F. Miller
Marguerite Gong Hancock
Henry S. Rowen
Notes	385	(14)
References	399	(10)
Index	409