Silicon Valley: Why has Silicon Valley proved difficult to copy? – Quora

Victor chimes in on a Quora question on the difficulty of replicating Silicon Valley. Check out the full response here.

To understand Silicon Valley, we need to change our normal viewing perspective. Ordinarily, we think of economics in either macro terms inputs of land, labor, capital, and maybe technology or micro terms how individual companies are built. But there is a third perspective – the behavior of economic systems. How systems work has been a big mystery, because it requires bridging the macro and the micro. This is particularly hard because few macroeconomists want to build companies, and few entrepreneurs want to be macroeconomists.

via 6 Victor Hwang’s answer to Silicon Valley: Why has Silicon Valley proved difficult to copy? – Quora.

Why do you think that Silicon Valley has proved difficult to copy?

ANNOUNCING THE GLOBAL INNOVATION SUMMIT

WORLD GATHERING ON BUILDING INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS,

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MAJOR DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS

April 16, 2012

Dear Friends:

We are extremely pleased and honored to announce the Global Innovation Summit!

This invitation-only event is a gathering of hundreds of “thoughtful, iconoclastic doers” from around the world who share a common interest in practical solutions for sustainable development through global innovation.  We will focus exclusively on one of the biggest development challenges of our time: how do we create innovation ecosystems worldwide?  Our vision is ambitious, which is nothing less than to reshape the entire way we think about economic development and growth.  The event will take place in the heart of Silicon Valley on July 16-18.  You can read more at www.innosummit.com.

The Global Innovation Summit will be the first major event in Silicon Valley produced in collaboration with the world’s leading development institutions.  Our partners include the World Bank, the OECD, the African Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and many other organizations.  We expect several hundred people from emerging markets to participate, including ministers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and other innovators.  Additionally, the event will feature leading companies, venture capital firms, academic institutions, NGOs, and startups from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the OECD.

Participation is by invitation only, but prospective attendees may apply for an invitation.  Here is what attendees should expect at the Summit:

• Active participation.  Attendees will be actively engaged as full participants throughout the entire event.  Unlike typical events where most attendees are passive listeners, each individual’s active participation at the GIS actually matters to the overall outcome.
• Join a family.  All invitees to the GIS are like-minded individuals with similar goals, who believe that dynamic innovation ecosystems are the key to generating jobs, income, and economic development sustainably around the world.  Each attendee will be assigned to a House of 12-15 people at the GIS.  The House becomes a close working group throughout the course of the Summit.  Each House will be assigned a student Guide, who will facilitate the event experience for attendees.
• Open new vistas.  Expand networks, meet partners, open markets, and learn from people with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.  Attendees will learn about more effective programs to cultivate dynamic innovation ecosystems, based on real-life examples of how others have succeeded and/or failed in other places.
• Solve real problems.  Attendees will participate in hands-on, interactive case study sessions to design real-world solutions to real-world innovation and entrepreneurship challenges in sectors, such as food, health, water, energy, and information technologies.  Attendees will gain insights into why traditional innovation programs usually fail to achieve their desired results and how to design more effective programs to foster systemic innovation.
• Have fun.  Attendees will participate in the world’s first Ecosystem Pitch Contest, where selected Summit attendees will present their proposed ecosystem solutions to the entire audience, with a live feedback panel comprised of leading global development funders.  Plus, there will be numerous surprises during the event.

Please visit our website as soon as possible at www.innosummit.com/register to apply for an invitation and/or register your attendance.  Event capacity is limited, so sign up soon.

Please register early, as early bird pricing provides a 50% discount by May 15.  This means that general registration is available for $995 instead of the normal registration rate of $1990. Students, small nonprofits, and small startups can register for $250 instead of the normal registration rate of $500.

We are delighted to welcome everyone to this community of doers.  We look forward to seeing you in Silicon Valley in July!

Alfred Watkins

Executive Chair, Global Innovation Summit

Victor W. Hwang

Executive Director, Global Innovation Summit

Greg Horowitt

Managing Director, T2 Venture Capital

How to Create the Next Silicon Valley – Forbes

Forbes just featured Victor and T2VC in a special report on How to Create the Next Silicon Valley. Check out the full article to see what Pixar and a kibbutz have in common, and what lessons we can learn from their success…

People everywhere keep trying to ­duplicate the success of Silicon Valley as an incubator for innovation and wealth. Victor W. Hwang, a Los Altos Hills, Calif., venture capitalist, has been studying what makes the Valley succeed and so many of its imitators fail, and he’s convinced he has found the answer. Not only that, but he’s putting his ideas to the test, trying to foster new versions of the place around the world. How? It’s about how people work together.

via How to Create the Next Silicon Valley – Forbes.