If you’re a visiting dignitary whose country has a Gross National Product equal to or greater than the State of California, your visit to Silicon Valley consists of a lunch/dinner with some combination of the founders of Google, Facebook, Apple, and Twitter and several brand name venture capitalists. If you have time, the president of Stanford will throw in a tour, and then you can drive by Intel or some cleantech firm for a photo op standing in front of an impressive looking piece of equipment.
The “official dignitary” tour of Silicon Valley is like taking the jungle cruise at Disneyland and saying you’ve been to Africa. Because you and your entourage don’t know the difference between large innovative companies who once were startups (Google, Facebook, et al.) and a real startup, you never really get to see what makes the valley tick.
To read the full, original article click on this link: A Visitor’s Guide to Silicon Valley | Xconomy
Author: Steve Blank
