There is a saying I’m fond of: “Do not follow in the footsteps of the masters — seek what they sought.” I like it because trying to duplicate other people’s success is the surest way to fail. Thankfully, in terms of building a robust environment for businesses to thrive, Seattle seems to be on a path of creating its own success, and on its own terms.

A clear illustration of where simply trying to copy someone else doesn’t work was the brief mania years ago when cities across the country were all vying to become the next Silicon _____: Silicon Alley, Silicon Bayou, Silicon Shire (sadly lacking in any Hobbits). The problem with many of these wannabes was that they were trying to be just like the Valley.

It was a mercenary money grab attempt that paid no attention to what made the Valley, “the Valley” (which, for the sake of this piece, we’ll use to mean the entire Bay Area). They ignored the confluence of events that helped make the Valley explode: Continue reading →