Why Startups Condense in America

May 2006 (This essay is derived from a keynote at Xtech.) Startups happen in clusters.

2006 年 5 月（本文摘自 Xtech 的一次主题演讲。）初创公司以集群形式出现。

There are a lot of them in Silicon Valley and Boston, and few in Chicago or Miami.

其中在硅谷和波士顿有很多，而在芝加哥或迈阿密则很少。

A country that wants startups will probably also have to reproduce whatever makes these clusters form.

一个想要初创企业的国家可能还必须复制使这些集群形成的一切。

I've claimed that the recipe is a great university near a town smart people like.

我声称食谱是一所伟大的大学，靠近聪明人喜欢的城镇。

If you set up those conditions within the US, startups

如果你在美国设定这些条件，初创公司

will form as inevitably as water droplets condense on a cold piece of metal.

就像水滴在冰冷的金属上凝结一样不可避免。

But when I consider what it would take to reproduce Silicon Valley in another country, it's clear the US is a particularly humid environment.

但当我考虑如何在另一个国家重现硅谷时，很明显美国是一个特别潮湿的环境。

Startups condense more easily here.

初创企业更容易聚集在这里。

It is by no means a lost cause to try to create a silicon valley in another country.

试图在另一个国家创建硅谷绝不是一个失败的事业。

There's room not merely to equal Silicon Valley, but to surpass it.

不仅有赶上硅谷的空间，而且还有超越硅谷的空间。

But if you want to do that, you have to

但如果你想这样做，你必须

understand the advantages startups get from being in America.

了解初创企业在美国获得的优势。

1.

1.

The US Allows Immigration.

美国允许移民。

For example, I doubt it would be possible to reproduce Silicon Valley in Japan, because one of Silicon Valley's most distinctive features is immigration.

例如，我怀疑是否有可能在日本复制硅谷，因为硅谷最显着的特征之一就是移民。

Half the people there speak with accents.

那里一半的人说话都带口音。

And the Japanese don't like immigration.

日本人不喜欢移民。

When they think about how to make a Japanese silicon valley, I suspect they unconsciously

当他们思考如何打造日本硅谷时，我怀疑他们无意识地

frame it as how to make one consisting only of Japanese people.

将其框架为如何制作仅由日本人组成的一个。

This way of framing the question probably guarantees failure.

这种提出问题的方式可能注定会失败。

A silicon valley has to be a mecca for the smart and the ambitious, and you can't have a mecca if you don't let people into it.

硅谷必须成为聪明人和雄心勃勃的人的圣地，如果你不让人们进入，你就不可能拥有圣地。

Of course, it's not saying much that America is more open to immigration than Japan.

当然，这并不能说明美国比日本对移民更加开放。

Immigration policy is one area where a competitor could do better.

移民政策是竞争对手可以做得更好的领域之一。

2.

2.

The US Is a Rich Country.

美国是一个富裕的国家。

I could see India one day producing a rival to Silicon Valley.

我可以看到印度有一天会产生一个与硅谷竞争的对手。

Obviously they have the right people: you can tell that by the number of Indians in the current Silicon Valley.

显然他们拥有合适的人才：从目前硅谷的印度人数量就可以看出这一点。

The problem with India itself is that it's still so poor.

印度本身的问题是它仍然很穷。

In poor countries, things we take for granted are missing.

在贫穷国家，我们认为理所当然的事情却缺失了。

A friend of mine visiting India sprained her ankle falling down the steps in a railway station.

我的一位朋友去印度旅游，从火车站的台阶上摔下来扭伤了脚踝。

When she turned to see what had happened,

当她转过头去看发生了什么事时，

she found the steps were all different heights.

她发现台阶的高度都不同。

In industrialized countries we walk down steps our whole lives and never think about this, because there's an infrastructure that prevents such a staircase from being built.

在工业化国家，我们一生都走下楼梯，却从来没有想过这个问题，因为基础设施不允许建造这样的楼梯。

The US has never been so poor as some countries are now.

美国从来没有像一些国家现在这么穷。

There have never been swarms of beggars in the streets of American cities.

美国城市的街道上从来没有出现过成群结队的乞丐。

So we have no data about what it takes to get from the swarms-of-beggars

所以我们没有关于从成群的乞丐那里得到什么的数据

stage to the silicon-valley stage.

阶段到硅谷阶段。

Could you have both at once, or does there have to be some baseline prosperity before you get a silicon valley?

你能同时拥有这两者吗？或者在你获得硅谷之前是否必须有一些基线繁荣？

I suspect there is some speed limit to the evolution of an economy.

我怀疑经济的发展有一定的速度限制。

Economies are made out of people, and attitudes can only change a certain amount per generation.

经济是由人构成的，每一代人的态度只能改变一定程度。

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