What makes Silicon Valley so successful and unique?
Silicon Valley is a magnet to which numerous talented engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs from overseas flock in search of fame and fast money and to participate enthusiastically in a technological revolution whose impact on mankind will surely surpass the epoch-making European Renaissance and Industrial Revolution of the bygone age.
With the rapid spread of the Internet and the relentless technological innovations generated through it, the information era is truly upon us, profoundly influencing and changing not only our lifestyle, but also the way we work, do business, think and communicate with others.
硅谷成功的原因何在?硅谷為什么如此卓爾不群呢?
硅谷猶如一塊磁鐵，把許許多多天資聰穎的工程師、科學(xué)家、企業(yè)家從世界各地吸引到這里。他們來此尋求功名,希望快速致富,積極投身于技術(shù)革命,而這場革命給人類帶來的影響必將超過昔日具有劃時代意義的歐洲文藝復(fù)興運(yùn)動和產(chǎn)業(yè)革命。
因特網(wǎng)的急速普及,因特網(wǎng)引來的勢不可擋的技術(shù)創(chuàng)新,使我們真正進(jìn)入了信息時代,因特網(wǎng)深刻地影響并改變著我們的生活、工作、商務(wù)、思維、溝通等方式。
It is noteworthy that close to 50% of its skilled manpower, including engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs, come from Asia. Prominent among them are Indians, Chinese and Singaporeans. They include such illustrious names as Vinod Khosla who co-founded Sun Microsystems, Jerry Yang of Yahoo fame and Singaporean Sim Wong Hoo, to name just a few.
Many countries have, or are in the process of creating, their own "Silicon Valley". So far, none has as yet threatened the preeminence of the U.S. prototype. What makes Silicon Valley such a unique entity? I think there are several crucial factors.
First and foremost, it has the largest concentration of brilliant computer professionals and the best supporting services in the world, and easy access to world-class research institutions, like Stanford University, which continually nurture would-be geniuses which the industry needs in order to move forward. Without these advantages, the Valley would be a different place.
值得注意的是,包括工程師、科學(xué)家和企業(yè)家在內(nèi)的硅谷地區(qū)的技術(shù)人員近一半來自亞洲,表現(xiàn)尤為突出的是印度人、中國人和新加坡人，他們中間有聲名卓著的升陽微系統(tǒng)創(chuàng)始人之一文諾?考斯拉、雅虎帝國的創(chuàng)始人楊致遠(yuǎn)以及新加坡的沈望博。
有些國家已有自己的“硅谷”,有些國家正在創(chuàng)建自己的“硅谷”,但是美國正統(tǒng)硅谷的龍頭地位并未受到威脅。那么美國硅谷為何如此與眾不同呢?我認(rèn)為有這么幾個至關(guān)重要的因素。
首先,硅谷擁有全球最密集的優(yōu)秀電腦專業(yè)人才群體和最優(yōu)秀的支持服務(wù)體系，毗鄰斯坦福大學(xué)這類世界一流的研究機(jī)構(gòu),這些研究機(jī)構(gòu)源源不斷地培養(yǎng)著電腦業(yè)賴以發(fā)展的明日奇才。若無這些優(yōu)勢,硅谷將面目皆非。
Secondly, it actively encourages, or even exalts, risk-taking. Hence, failure holds no terror and there is no stigma attached to a failed effort. On the contrary, they will try even harder next time round. Such never-say-die approach is the sine qua non for the ultimate triumph in entrepreneurship and technological breakthrough.
A third decisive factor is the vital role of venture capitalists who willingly support promising start-ups with urgently needed initial capital to get them started. Some would even give failed entrepreneurs a second chance if convinced that a fresh concept might lead to eventual success.
It is a common practice for start-ups to offer generous share options to employees in order to attract the right talent into their folds. This is a powerful incentive to motivate the staff to do their utmost and to share in the company's prosperity if it reaches its goal. Many regard this as the foundation of a successful enterprise.
其次,硅谷積極提倡甚至極力贊頌冒險精神,失敗并不可怕;出師不捷無人恥笑,失敗反而使人再接再厲,加倍奮斗。這種永不言敗的作風(fēng)是企業(yè)成功和技術(shù)創(chuàng)新必不可缺的條件。
第三,風(fēng)險投資公司起了重要的作用,風(fēng)險投資者愿意支持那些前途看好的創(chuàng)業(yè)者,給予他們急需的啟動資金,幫助他們起步。對于曾遭遇過失敗的企業(yè),有些風(fēng)險投資者甚至只要確認(rèn)企業(yè)的新觀念能帶來最終的成功,也會給予二次投資。
創(chuàng)業(yè)公司為了將合適的人才收入自己的麾下,通常向企業(yè)員工轉(zhuǎn)讓數(shù)量可觀的股票。這一有力的激勵措施旨在鼓勵員工為公司盡心盡職，共同分享公司成功的成果。許多人認(rèn)為參股的做法是企業(yè)成功的基礎(chǔ)。
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