We must build bridges between countries and these international people visiting Barcelona are a powerful one. Contacts, networks, long trips, international friends, understandings of culture, companies with a foot on each side… all of these are different shapes a bridge can take, and we need to extend as many as we can to bring the spirit of the Valley around the world.
Jerry Engel in this article talks about the differences in mentality that make Silicon Valley unique:
Small companies thinking big: It’s not about who you are but about what you’re capable of doing. What applies to people also applies to companies. And the way you see yourself is going to determine how others are also going to see you.- You’ll be paid for your success, not for your work: it makes sense, the service-providers surrounding startups (lawyers, consultants, public relations companies…) are paid with stock, not cash, and this stock will be of any value if the company succeeds. People don’t measure their work by the number of hours they spend on it because results, not time, is what will be rewarded.
- Environment built from the ground: it’s the innovative spirit from people, universities and companies that has created this wonderful environment, not the government. Innovation works when someone believes on it and is willing to risk everything to create, transform and make money out of it. Having an “innovation budget” from the European Union is not going to create Silicon Valleys around the world.
Luckily we’ve been born in a time when traveling is easy, learning other languages is felt as important and internet enables us to communicate instantly with anyone around the world. Steve Jobs didn’t have it so easy in his time.
I’m from Barcelona, but I know I can come to the Valley to start a company, plus I know how things work in Europe, I’ve lived in Africa and Latin America… And, like me, many people that speak several languages and have traveled the world will be able to innovate with a global perspective taking the good part from each continent: the spirit from the Valley, the quality of life from Europe and the challenges of the developing world…
Any thoughts?
Recent Comments