The arrogance… sheesh.
From Tech Dirt:
If Washington Wants To Create Jobs, It Should Get Out Of The Way In Silicon Valley.
Really? Are we talking about the Silicon Valley of 25 years ago or the Silicon Valley of today? I hope not today, because pretending that Silicon Valley today leads anything is akin to saying that US carmakers lead their global peers in market share. They used to, now they don’t; they simply don’t.
Something must be in the air.
From CNBC:
Ray Lane’s got a bone to pick with Detroit and Washington: quit your whining, partner up with innovators here in Silicon Valley, and consumers, investors, auto industry workers, politicians, executives and America will be better off for it.
I spent some time talking to Lane, formerly the president of Oracle, and now a general partner at the vaunted Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, overseeing a $1 billion green investment fund with a heavy emphasis on green transportation. Everything from new vehicles, like the super-slick Fisker Karma, to biofuels and battery technology.
Don’t get me wrong: Ray Lane is a superstar, Oracle is a corporate legend and Kleiner needs no introduction, but pretending that VCs still have the Midas touch is as ridiculous as arguing that US carmakers are global leaders.
Here’s a memo to Silicon Valley: you are today as arrogant as the carmakers were in the 1950-2000s era… and since Silicon Valley is all about speed, as quickly as Ford, Chrysler and GM found themselves redundant, so will you… drop the holier-than-thou attitude, stop pretending that you’re the center of the universe and get back to creating things that matter instead of the crap that you’ve been backing of late. Yes, this last comment pertains mainly the consumer web space investments… but even in clean tech and energy, I ask: with oil at $35, will you stay the course or will you jump the next great fad?
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