Ask HN: How would you build the next Silicon Valley? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How would you build the next Silicon Valley?

2 pointsinodeman2 comments

I am from Mexico, I have promoted technology for the last 20 years and I intend to do it for the next 20 or so. I want to know in your opinion what are the steps

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You first need to understand what made Silicon Valley. First step is creating a government enforced investment trap; multiple options here but you as an individual cant create this. The US government was smart to capture foreign investment into silicon valley and retain it. Essentially this was negative net taxation.

So following the capital: Heavy investment from government, typically military, especially during cold war era. Which also forced investment from the "enemies"

Into culture golden age where going from records to 8-tracks to cassettes to cds to dvds to digital. The same product was able to sell multiple times creating large wealth that would need to be invested.

Next, you need high education, with a tapped talent pipeline so that the talent doesnt leave. Then also a culture that's against the typical; no stability, constantly looking for a new job.

The theory here though was distilled. Hong Kong experiment compounded with their 8 free trade zones and the neighboring ones like Shenzhen. Followed by many African ones, loads in UAE. Several across europe. Canada even has several now. Whereas the USA has only the virgin islands.

Mexico? Nothing at all. You have none of these milestones ready so you're decades away from ever getting your valley.

Step 1. Port Vallarta becomes a tech free trade zone.

Step 2. A major electrical investment that makes electricity in that region essentially free to everyone and highly reliable.

Step 3. Tooling for automated tech is subsidized, but restricted from leaving the region.

Silicon Valley as in the early tech industry was created out of necessity and funding from the analysis of World War 2. [1] So I suppose the next steps would be to learn about World War 2 and repeat the learning process before, during and after World War 3 with some adaptations of course to fill the tech gaps.

While this has already been done a bunch of times one would also want to put together a think tank consisting of people form the Department of Defense, the defense industry, intelligence community, academia specifically Stanford SRI and Harvard, financial analysts from In-Q-Tel, existing think tanks. I am intentionally leaving out some groups and commissions.

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Xxi0b9trY [video][44 mins][documentary]

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