Silicon Valley refers to the Santa Clara Valley, where high-tech companies in northern California are gathered, and was originally known for its research and production of semiconductor chips, and is the pioneer of the information technology industry in the United States and even the world today. Silicon Valley currently has more than 1 million scientific and technological personnel, with an annual output value of more than 700 billion US dollars, which has bred a large number of well-known high-tech companies including Apple, Google, Intel, HP, Cisco, Oracle, IBM, etc., and has formed industrial clusters such as microelectronics industry, information technology industry, new energy industry, biomedical industry and so on.
First, the historical development of Silicon Valley in the United States Silicon Valley has experienced four major stages of development: incubation, growth, development and maturity.
(1) Gestation period
At the end of the 19th century, the electronics industry began to sprout in the United States, and industrial enterprises began to appear in the Santa Clara Valley of California. In 1891, Stanford University was established, which further gave birth to the development of related technology research and development enterprises. In 1909, Elville, a stanford graduate, founded the Federal Telegraph Company, which trained a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and fostered Silicon Valley's unique culture of innovation. Hewlett-Packard was founded in Silicon Valley in 1939 and was a huge success, emulated by many start-ups in Silicon Valley. The establishment of Stanford University and the formation of early electronics companies such as federal telegraph and Hewlett-Packard became the incubation period of Silicon Valley in the United States.
(2) Growth period
In 1942, the United States intervened in World War II, and the urgent need for military electronic technology brought new development opportunities to Silicon Valley. Military projects such as the "Apollo Program" and the "Militia" missile enabled Silicon Valley's start-ups at that time to receive a lot of financial support. Driven by the sharp increase in US military spending, Silicon Valley electronics companies have developed rapidly. In addition, the establishment of the Stanford University Industrial Park in 1951 attracted a large number of technology research and development enterprises to gather here, and a network of high-tech companies in the Silicon Valley area gradually formed. This stage is generally seen as the growth period of Silicon Valley.
(3) Development period
In the mid-1950s, a group of semiconductor physicists came to Silicon Valley, changed the path of Industrial Development in Silicon Valley, and quickly spawned a large number of semiconductor companies, venture capital firms and law firms, including the famous Intel Corporation. During this period, enterprise derivation and restructuring became the trend of Silicon Valley, cultivating a wide range of connections and open atmosphere of enterprises in Silicon Valley, and creating a wave of innovation in Silicon Valley.
(4) Maturity period
On the basis of the development of semiconductor technology, in 1971 Intel invented the world's first microprocessor, opening the era of personal computer development. Computer companies, led by Apple, have expanded Silicon Valley's reach around the world. At this stage, the extensive involvement of venture capital has promoted the explosive growth of Silicon Valley enterprises and output. In addition, the emergence and rapid development of the Internet, Silicon Valley has further emerged a number of internationally renowned Internet companies, such as Google, Facebook and other companies, becoming a high-tech enterprise gathering area with international influence.
Second, tolerating failure is encouraging innovation
There are many factors to silicon valley's success. When it comes to Silicon Valley, it is impossible not to mention Stanford University, which was founded at the end of the 19th century and has the second largest campus area in the United States. It was an inadvertent "innovation" that connected Silicon Valley to Stanford University. In 1959, Stanford University leased its 1,000-acre campus to the business community or graduating alumni for a long time at a very low price, which not only became a turning point for Stanford University, but also gradually formed a "Silicon Valley" with cutting-edge technology and elites. The success of Silicon Valley is not only indispensable to Stanford University, but also related to the fact that dozens of universities in California have created new blood for Silicon Valley in competition with each other.
American films such as "Legends of Silicon Valley" are keen to tell the story of the rise and success of companies such as Apple and Microsoft. But many people may not have noticed that it is the failure of countless people that has made the whole of Silicon Valley famous. The BBC has reported that "failure is the key to success in Silicon Valley". The well-known American technology blog site "Risk Beat" also said that "for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, failure is an option"; even the American technology news website "Wired" described it as "in Silicon Valley, failure is a compulsory course". Baidu President Robin Li summed up the successful experience of the Silicon Valley model in his book "Silicon Valley War": in addition to emphasizing the local "democratic management structure, high-quality human resources, close company-to-company relations, extremely rapid adaptability and bold work style of the artist", it also "allows failure" and "to tolerate creative chaos". Robin Li, who has worked in Silicon Valley for many years, said, "We must reward those who dare to take risks, and we cannot punish those who dare to take risks but fail."
From Apple to Hewlett-Packard, oracle to Yahoo, many successful Silicon Valley companies have experienced all kinds of hardships and failures. To highlight the important link between failure and innovation, the first Silicon Valley "Failure Conference" was held in October 2009, and the keynote speakers were successful people who were willing to tell how they learned the lessons of failure. Max Ravchen, one of the founders of ———, the most used Internet payment tool in the United States, PayPal, spoke about his bumpy road to success at the meeting. Before coming to Silicon Valley, Lavchen had many failed startups. His first company in Silicon Valley would have had leading core technology, but just as he launched his flagship product, another company called Double Tap launched a very similar service. Lavchin's company failed in the competition, and he himself was heavily in debt. Lavchen is not complaining about the world, but seriously summing up the lessons. He found that he failed because there were no collaborators in the startup team who could help him adjust the direction of the company in a timely manner. Undeterred, he finally co-founded PayPal. The American Reference, sponsored by the State Department's Bureau of International Information, commented that Silicon Valley people learn to accept that "failure is the mother of success", not to be ashamed of a series of failed innovations, but to treat the experience as a badge of honor and know that they will not give up until they achieve their goals.
Some Chinese engineers in Silicon Valley say that in most companies in Silicon Valley, as long as a person is technically strong enough and good at innovation, he can win a job and respect. In addition to daring to take risks, diligence is also a basic requirement for the success of Silicon Valley people. Ten years ago, a professor of computer science at Humboldt University in Germany said after conducting a follow-up survey of Silicon Valley that a secret of Silicon Valley's success lies in the hard work and even crazy work of Silicon Valley people, many of whom can work 12 to 18 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Third, is it possible to replicate the Silicon Valley model?
In the past few decades, Silicon Valley has not only been the place of employment that American youth aspire to, but also the arena and gold rush for talent from all over the world. According to the Russian Merchants Union of Silicon Valley in California, about 60,000 Russian-speaking people are employed in Silicon Valley. According to German media reports, Silicon Valley has poached more than 5,000 German elite talents over the years. In Silicon Valley, there were more than 2,000 Chinese-controlled companies, accounting for 1/5 of the total number of companies.
Just as some like to compare Zhongguancun to "China's Silicon Valley," Indians refer to Bangalore, where their country's high-tech companies congregate, as "India's Silicon Valley." In addition, Countries such as Russia are also actively building their own "Silicon Valley". Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's first stop during his visit to the United States in June this year was Silicon Valley. Medvedev sees Silicon Valley as a model russia can follow and expects to create a Russian version of "Silicon Valley" in the small Moscow suburb of Skolkovo. In a speech at Stanford University, he stressed that "Russia must transform from a resource exporter to a high-tech innovator" and that "we have money, but we don't have Silicon Valley, and the money must be used to the right place." According to his vision, the "Russian Silicon Valley" will be built in 3 to 7 years. As for the idea of "Russian Silicon Valley", some people in Russia questioned that "the government is trying to tie some engineers and scientists to a so-called innovation city" and that "Russia does not have the ability and conditions to copy the Silicon Valley of the United States". Two years ago, American Reference said in "More Than Just Semiconductors: Silicon Valley and the Culture of Innovation," "Anyone who understands the weird and complex history of Silicon Valley knows that it's almost impossible to replicate Silicon Valley's success elsewhere in the United States or abroad."
He Maochun, director of the Center for Economic Diplomacy Research of Tsinghua University, visited Silicon Valley three times in 1998, 2004 and 2005, and his feeling is that innovation in Silicon Valley is a product of the innovation of the American cultural and technological system, so it is not easy for other countries to copy the Silicon Valley model. For example, in terms of intellectual property protection, the United States has laws to follow, and laws must be followed, which is incomparable to many countries at present. He Maochun said: The key to building a "Silicon Valley" or an "Optical Valley" today lies in creating a legal system and an economic democratic environment, so as to ensure the development of scientific and technological innovation.
He Weiwen, deputy director of the China Institute of Open Economy at the University of International Business and Economics, believes that Although Silicon Valley is a product of the free market economy, the emergence of Silicon Valley is inseparable from the role played by the original government. In the 1980s, under the guidance of Reagan's "Star Wars" program, the U.S. government carried out a series of major projects: space, life sciences, the Internet and information, new materials and technologies, and so on. Many projects have spread to the private sector on this basis and are closely linked to university research. He Weiwen also said that the success of Silicon Valley is also inseparable from successful financing, and the main source of financing is not from the government but from the private sector. He believes that Silicon Valley is no stranger to Both Chinese government officials and scientific and technological personnel, but everyone knows that the experience of Silicon Valley cannot be completely copied by China, the key is to appreciate its essence and take our own path of innovation. Silicon Valley is tempered by the market, not cared for by the government, so that it has vitality.
Chen Ruchang, a senior software development engineer in Silicon Valley, said in an interview with the Global Times reporter that although it is difficult, it is still possible to develop the Silicon Valley model in other countries. The key is to be clear about the dynamics and environment that Silicon Valley generates, not just how good the hardware provided by the government is, but the software. Let companies focus on innovation, rather than dealing with a lot of unnecessary trouble. When it comes to focusing on innovation, Chen Ruchang said that unlike the greedy bankers on Wall Street, Silicon Valley engineers prefer to solve problems and even share their own innovative "ideas" with each other. For example, Apple founder Steve Jobs said, "Design computers for the masses," and eBay founders said, "Help people with common interests communicate and do business." He believes that it is this dream and enthusiasm that enables those companies to overcome difficulties and eventually succeed. It is understood that house prices in the Silicon Valley area are quite high in the United States, but Silicon Valley companies will not rush to engage in real estate, because they regard innovation as the core of the company's development, and believe that only high technology can bring high economic growth. Not only do Silicon Valley high-tech companies rarely invest in commercial real estate as some chinese companies do, but many even buy or rent their own office space.
What does the future hold for Silicon Valley?
In the 1980s, american scholar Anna Lee Saxenian wanted to write a book about whether Silicon Valley would decline. According to her thinking at the time, silicon valley was bound to decline as local labor prices and production costs became more expensive. However, the in-depth study allowed her to completely change her initial judgment. In 1994, she published Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and the 128 Region, which used comparative research methods to reveal the unique vitality that innovation culture gives to Silicon Valley.
But under the impact of the financial crisis, the Silicon Valley region is not a safe haven. Whether Silicon Valley can always stand in an invincible position is still a topic that many people care about. Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on March 5 this year under the headline "Silicon Valley is afraid of fighting" that venture capital firms are reluctant to invest in newly formed companies, the number of immigrants is 34% lower than last year, and the rising unemployment rate all indicate that Silicon Valley has entered a "new era of uncertainty". According to the American Reference, there is no doubt that Silicon Valley is also facing competitive pressure. Many parts of the world, including China and India, have a large number of talents, sufficient capital and the determination to develop cutting-edge technology. But an indisputable fact is that the Silicon Valley region remains the most influential high-tech industrial zone in North America. Moreover, As early as 2000, Silicon Valley began to develop from "main" computer networks to fields such as biotechnology, nanotechnology and clean energy. William Miller, a tenured professor at Stanford University, said Silicon Valley may be renamed "Nano Valley" or "Green Valley," but no matter how the name changes, it will still be active at the forefront of global industrial innovation.