Here is a book that provides a rich insight on start-ups and their eco-systems in the USA and in Europe. The author Hervé Lebret provides a very interesting synthesis of many sources of information, looking at the history of start-up successes in Silicon Valley and the more or less successful attempts at stimulating entrepreneurship in Europe.
Beyond the detailed and precise information, the purpose is to make us think about the ingredients of significant and repeated (high tech) entrepreneurial success. The rich eco-system of Silicon Valley has not (yet) been replicated to the same extent in Europe, mainly due to cultural reasons in my opinion. Yet other models are being tried in Asia and India with convincing results.
In our new borderless world of Internet and extended networking, it will be interesting to see if many of the cultural obstacles to start-up creations are finally removed and an even-playing field develops. Yet for a long time to come, the Silicon Valley phenomenon will remain THE reference model.
A very stimulating book indeed! Here is the teaser:
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Is the world of start-ups misunderstood? This economic phenomenon of major importance, which appeared fifty years ago in Silicon Valley near San Francisco, seems to face scepticism and even suspicion. It may still suffer from the consequences of the excesses of the Internet bubble in the late nineties.
However Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Yahoo and Google were all start-ups and they prove that the emergence of start-ups is not mere speculation. Neither is it limited to these famous success stories.
The book tells the exceptional story of start-ups which have created, in Silicon Valley, a true ecosystem. It explores why this model has relatively failed in Europe. And the author concludes by stating that the Old Continent and any region interested in high tech should draw inspiration more efficiently from the successes of Silicon Valley. Successes created by individuals driven by passion, desire and dreams.
For this reason, it should be read by a large public, not only by specialists of innovation or by high-tech entrepreneurs, but also by anyone puzzled by the thrilling world of start-ups.
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