It’s been a while since my last post on The Valley, but during the last couple of months, I’ve been swamped.
Life in Palo Alto (where I am today) is getting back to normal, and people start meeting and having dinner again. This place didn’t change a lot, even in 2020. House leases went a little bit down (and that’s good), but not significantly. It looks like those who took a break from San Francisco moved once again to the very center of Silicon Valley. Actually, house prices n the area increased by 10.6% in the last year, according to Zillow:
Being in the Valley is definitely harder today, mostly because traveling is challenging. Nevertheless, for those who can move and stay here, the opportunities are bigger than ever.
Today I want to share a short video from Jason Lamkin from the IN3 2020 summit about why the Bay Area still matters (maybe more than ever). San Francisco unicorns became decacorns during COVID, so great VPs won’t easily leave their companies now.
I believe that, more and more, there will be a separation between the top levels of companies and the rest of the team. The first will stay in SV; the team will decentralize. Most likely, some of them will aggregate in some specific locations. There, it is very likely that new companies will grow. Will those founders move to SV to start their business or start from where they are? We are quite sure that for a couple of "company's generations," Silicon Valley will remain the center. After, I think that the situation will change a lot. In part, also because the Asian economy is going to outclass the West economy very soon. The virus has boosted the process since Asia has managed the pandemic quite well and is already restarting, while the West is still in the middle of it. Finally, the USA avoiding to face its systemic problems (poverty, criminality and mass incarceration, racial discrimination, etc.) will bring the nation to the edge of a revolution, sooner or later.
I believe that, more and more, there will be a separation between the top levels of companies and the rest of the team. The first will stay in SV; the team will decentralize. Most likely, some of them will aggregate in some specific locations. There, it is very likely that new companies will grow. Will those founders move to SV to start their business or start from where they are? We are quite sure that for a couple of "company's generations," Silicon Valley will remain the center. After, I think that the situation will change a lot. In part, also because the Asian economy is going to outclass the West economy very soon. The virus has boosted the process since Asia has managed the pandemic quite well and is already restarting, while the West is still in the middle of it. Finally, the USA avoiding to face its systemic problems (poverty, criminality and mass incarceration, racial discrimination, etc.) will bring the nation to the edge of a revolution, sooner or later.