It\u2019s all about the location <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
As the popular\nadage goes, \u2018Location is Everything.\u2019 The Silicon Valley has been THE location\nto be in the past few years. Ever since the large boom of major corporations in\nthe area, more and more people have flocked to the Valley in hopes of being the\nnext Steve Jobs. Here we will take a look at the location of Silicon Valley,\nthe people living in to and how it all just work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. HP created\nSilicon Valley in 1938 in a garage: <\/strong>Bill Hewlett\nand David Packard were the founders of the famous tech company HP. They were\nthe first people to innovate in Silicon Valley when they created their audio\noscillator in 1938. It was created in true Silicon Valley fashion, in their\ngarage! This led to the founding of HP and the beginning of the Silicon Valley,\ndominating the tech world for the next century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Silicon Valley Guide)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Silicon\nValley is not just in one city. Its 30 cities and five universities: <\/strong>Upon hearing the name, one might easily assume that Silicon Valley\nis just one localized plot of land between two mountains. That is very far away\nfrom the truth. They are under Silicon Valley consists of 12 major cities, 18\nsmaller cities, and five huge universities, including the world-renowned\nStanford University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Visit Silicon Valley)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. It was\nonce nicknamed \u2018The Valley of Death\u2019 and also \u2018The Valley of Heart\u2019s Desire\u2019: <\/strong>Silicon Valley wasn\u2019t always called that. It has had many names\nsince it was founded in the early 1800s. It began as being called \u2018The Valley\nof Heart\u2019s Desire.\u2019 This was mainly due to the prevalence of fruit orchards in\nthe valley. These orchards were placed alongside massive fields of flowers and\nwere paired with a mild pleasant climate almost year-round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the tech revolution, and the\ngrowing prominence of the Silicon Valley in the country, it was given a much\nmore sinister nickname. It began being known as \u2018The Valley of Death.\u2019 This was\nbecause the people working in the various factories around the country believed\nthat the computers and automation that was coming out of this valley would lead\nto all of them losing their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Britannica)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. The USA\nDepartment of Defense has a facility in The Silicon Valley: <\/strong>The USA Department of Defense is the government\u2019s department to\nresearch new technology to aid the armed forces in various ways. Their newest\nfacility, called the \u2018Defense Innovation Unit,\u2019 is based in Silicon Valley,\nright next to all the giant tech companies. This department was created to\ninvent high tech communication devices for the US Armed forces, and as a\nresult, benefits from being stationed in the heart of the world\u2019s tech center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Defense Innovation Unit)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Silicon\nValley was originally a US Naval Base: <\/strong>The US Navy\nhad a long-standing base, called Moffet Field, situated in Silicon Valley long\nbefore HP was founded. In fact, the audio oscillator that was HP\u2019s first\nproduct was created for the naval forces. The naval base financed the early\ngrowth of a lot of the Silicon Valley companies to benefit from their\ninnovation that much quicker. This continued until around 1990 when the Navy\ndecided that the impending exploding growth of the area was making it unsuitable\nto operate a military base. The base lay unused till 2014 when the US Navy\nleased the giant swathe of land to Google for 60 years. Google has announced\nits new expansion on the naval land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Military Museum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. The term\n\u2018Silicon\u2019 has been appended to multiple locations around the world:<\/strong> Silicon Valley has become a model for tech centers around the\nworld. So, a lot of these hubs have started to take the name of \u2018Silicon\u2019 for\nthemselves. Some of these examples are India\u2019s \u2018Silicon City,\u2019 i.e., Bangalore,\nIsrael has \u2018Silicon Wadi,\u2019 Japan has \u2018Silicon Islands,\u2019 i.e., Kyushu, etc.\nThere are literally hundreds more locations with the name \u2018Silicon\u2019 around the\nworld, with over 100 in the USA alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: State Tech Magazine)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Silicon\nValley has one of the most diverse workforces in the world: <\/strong>Silicon Valley is a place for talented and skilled individuals to\nsucceed. A lot of these individuals are not white males, and that is a very\ngood thing. Silicon Valle has some of the most diverse workforces in the world.\nOnly around 35% of the people working in this area are white males, the rest\nbeing divided into different ethnicities and races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Reveal News)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. Silicon\nValley families tend to have fewer children, later in life: <\/strong>Whether it is due to the large cost of living or the nature of the\njob culture in the Valley, families tend to have a smaller number of children.\nThe average age of the women having a child is 30 in the valley. There are also\nonly 1.88 children in each family, as compared to 2.12 in the rest of the\ncountry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Joint Venture)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. Silicon\nValley is currently looking into immortality: <\/strong>Thinking\nof Silicon Valley, one pictures giant tech campuses with gleaming machines,\npumping out extremely high tech equipment for every which purpose. However, one\noutlandish emerging field of interest for the tech-hub is the research into\nimmortality. Yes, you read that right, the engineers and scientists in Silicon\nValley are trying to achieve the same thing that Voldemort wanted. There are\ncurrently three major paths to immortality that are being researched. The first\none is gene therapy to reduce the length of telomeres on human DNA, the second\none is to upload a human brain into an artificial body using quantum computers,\nand the final one involves trying to slow down the aging process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: The Guardian)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10. 52.5% of\nthe immigrants are from Asian countries, with a majority of them from China: <\/strong>The largest chunk of the immigrants living in Silicon Valley come\nfrom Asian countries, especially the southeastern side. China leads the pack\nwith 17% of the immigrants, India comes in second with 14%. Vietnam makes up\n10.5%, and the other 11% of Asian immigrants are from a variety of countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Silicon Valley Indicators)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11. Indian\nand Chinese individuals run one-quarter of all tech firms in Silicon Valley: <\/strong>The image of Asian people as being the smart kind, only focusing on\nwork and success holds true when it comes to the Silicon Valley. Indian or\nChinese individuals run more than 25% of the companies in the Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Silicon Valley Indicators)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12. The\nnumber of Indian engineers in Silicon Valley is 1.5 times more than American\nengineers: <\/strong>The figures of the companies being led\nby Indians and Chinese are also mirrored in the number of people working in\nthese companies. As many as 27% of all tech-based workers in Silicon Valley are\nIndians, while the number of USA citizens working in Silicon Valley is 16%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Joint Venture)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Making a profit\nis arguably the goal of every company in the world. Almost no one else\nunderstands that as much as the multitudes of companies in the Silicon Valley.\nThe Valley is one of the highest-earning areas in the world, with the cost of\nliving to match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some\nfascinating monetary statistics about the Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13. Pao Alto is one of the richest cities in the\nUSA due to the Silicon Valley: <\/strong>Pao Alto used to be\na small cannery and farming town before HP was founded. Since then, a whole\nhost of major tech companies have made the city and the surrounding area their\nheadquarters. This has led to Pao Alto being the fourth richest city (by per\ncapita wealth) in the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Patch)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 14. 2nd<\/sup> Highest Per Capita income in the world as a nation<\/strong>: If Silicone Valley becomes an independent nation, it can be a second richest country in the world by per capita income. The per capita income beats that of Singapore, Luxumberg or Brunei. Only Qatar has higher per capita income that Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Fox News)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15. Among top 45 countries by Nominal GDP<\/strong>: According to BEA(Bureau of Economic Analysis) numbers, Silicon Valley\u2019s annual GDP is $275 billion, which is higher than that of Finland. Finland ranks among top 45 countries by nominal GDP. So, if Silicon Valley is a nation, it would rank among top 45 nations by total GDP! Obviously, High revenues don’t always translate into a high income due to the operating costs of a company. However, owing to the fact that a significant chunk of the Fortune 1000 resides in Silicon Valley, this small area of the world contributes nearly $250 billion in GDP every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: MSN, The Guardian)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 16. Owing to\nSilicon Valley, San Francisco has the highest average salary in the world: <\/strong>The executives working in Silicon Valley are ostensibly leading the\nworld into a new era of technology, using their skills and hard work. They are\nhandsomely compensated for their work, with San Francisco having the highest\naverage salary in the world. An average individual working as an engineer in a\ntech company gets paid a salary of $112,390 per annum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: CNBC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17. An empty\ndirt lot in Silicon Valley costs more than $110 million: <\/strong>The real estate prices in Silicon Valley are among the highest in\nthe world. This is, of course, because of the higher rate of income for the\npeople living in the area. Nothing demonstrates this fact better than the\nrecent purchase of a 10.5-acre plot by Google. This small plot of dirt was\nbought by the tech giant for a jaw-dropping amount of $110 million! They plan\non developing a small extension to their campus on this land, reportedly having\ncontracted a construction company for nearly $1 billion for doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Biz Journal)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 18. The most\nexpensive house in Silicon Valley costs over $100 million: <\/strong>While the previous fact showcased how expensive it is to buy a piece\nof land in the Silicon Valley, the sky-high real estate prices are also\nreflected in the cost of the houses in the surrounding area. The most expensive\nhouse in this area belongs to Sun Microsystem\u2019s co-founder, Scott McNealy. He\npurchased the land in the mid-80s and built the gargantuan 20 bedroom house\nupon it. The house is now on sale for a sum of $100 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Business Insider)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 19. Silicon\nValley has a population of over three million: <\/strong>Silicon\nValley, representing up to 30 cities, has a population of 3.1 million people.\nThis places it firmly in the upper side of the middle of the most populous\ncities in the world. This is also one of the most diverse places in the world,\nwith even distributing between Asian, Americans, and African-American\npopulations. The Silicon Valley gets one international immigrant every 26\nminutes, and loses a domestic migrant every 24 minutes, further increasing the\ndiversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Silicon Valley Indicators)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 20. Silicon\nValley and the San Francisco Bay count for 13.5% of all startups in the world: <\/strong>While the formation of new startups has slowed down considerably in\nthe Silicon Valley area, it still counts for almost 13.5% of new startups\nglobally. Many other tech centers around the world are climbing the pack to\ncompete with the Silicon Valley, including Shenzhen, China (counting for 11% of\nglobal startups) and Tokyo, Japan (counting for 8.7% of global startups).<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Center for American Entrepreneurship)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 21. Silicon\nValley has one of the highest percentages of households with over $200,000\nincome in the country: <\/strong>According to the data\ncollected by the national census, about 6.9% of all the households in the USA\nearn more than $@00,000 in a year. This percentage is much higher for Silicon\nValley since it is the highest earning locale in the entire world.\nApproximately 26.1% of the households in Silicon Valley earn more than $200,000\nannually, which is the highest percentage according to a location in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: US Government Census Bureau)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 22. $81.81\nbillion were invested in the Silicon Valley in 2015 \u2013 2017: <\/strong>Readily available venture capital has played a huge role in the\nsuccess of the Silicon Valley. While this venture capital may be very slowly\nmoving to other locations, Silicon Valley is still a very lucrative location\nfor venture capitalists. In the financial year of 2016, the Valley received\nnearly $81.81 billion in Venture Capital being invested into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Center for American Entrepreneurship)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 23. The\ngrowth of the venture capital invested in Silicon Valley rises at an average\nrate of 16% per year: <\/strong>As we saw, the amount of\ncapital that flows into the valley is very high. This is mirrored in the\npercentage that the venture capital rises at. In the past four years, it has\nrisen at an average rate of 16%. This figure may be falling over the years, but\nstill represents a positive image for the growth of the Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: startupsusa.org) <\/p>\n\n\n\n 24. The USA\nis the global leader in the amount of venture capital invested per capita due\nto the Silicon Valley and its contemporaries: <\/strong>Silicon\nValley brings in a large amount of money in the form of investment to the USA.\nA lot of venture capitalists want to invest in the location, along with other\ncities in the country that are following Silicon Valley\u2019s success. This puts\nthe USA ahead of every other country when it comes to the money being invested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: startupsusa.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n While life in\nSilicon Valley may sound perfectly ideal, this is far from the truth. Having a\nlarge amount of money flowing into the area has brought with it a unique set of\nproblems. There are some major issues with The Silicon Valley, some of which\nare listed here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 25. Silicon\nValley is no longer the leader in filing new patents: <\/strong>For the longest time in its history, Silicon Valley led the pack\nwhen it came to filing patents for new and innovative technologies. This trend\nhas shifted slowly but surely towards the East Asian countries. Silicon Valley\nhas fallen to the third position on the list for the highest number of patent\nfilings. Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is the current world leader, followed\nclosely by Shenzhen, China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Tech.co) <\/p>\n\n\n\n 26. The\nwealth disparity in Silicon Valley is getting higher, like the rest of the\ncountry: <\/strong>As the money being invested into the area\nkeeps increasing, so does the income gap between the different members of\nsociety. The number of wealthy individuals (with an income above $150,000)\nkeeps increasing from year to year, as does the amount of people living below\nthe poverty line. This is exasperated by the cities in the valley, not charging\nthe companies sufficient taxes to maintain the status of their cities as being\nbusiness-friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 27. Silicon\nValley has some of the highest gender-based wage gap: <\/strong>While the poverty and wealth disparity in Silicon Valley is increasing,\none aspect of the wage gap that is increasing the fastest is the gender-based\nwage gap. Silicon Valley has one of the highest wage gaps, with some women\nearning as little as 70% of what their male colleagues earn. The one company\nthat is an exception to this is Google, who found out in an internal study that\nthey were actually paying their male workers less, possibly due to a conscious\neffort to prevent paying women less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: US Government Census Bureau)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 28. They\u2019re\njust playing a large game of Monopoly: <\/strong>The game of\nmonopoly was created to be a critique of capitalism and consumer policies of\nthe time. Soon in a grand twist of irony, it was turned into praising\ncapitalism. Hence, it also the name for the top five companies of Silicon\nValley. These companies have managed to create a virtual monopoly in terms of\nglobal business. This is mainly down the state of California not having and\nstrong and enforceable anti-trust laws to break up the monopoly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: CNN)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 29. The cost\nof living makes starting a family almost impossible: <\/strong>Due to the rapidly rising cost of living in the Silicon Valley, it\nis slowly becoming a place to shun for people looking to start a family. The\naverage cost of a two-bedroom house in Silicon Valley is nearly $1 million. The\nschools are among the most expensive in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Business Insider)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 30. There is\na growing divide in the wealthy and the poor on the issue of community\ndevelopment in the area: <\/strong>Even as the valley\u2019s big\nbusinesses get larger and larger, the poorest members of the valley get even\nmore destitute. The homeless rates in the area are among the highest in the\ncountry, with the numbers growing. The city of San Francisco has tried to pass\nlaws to aid the homeless but has met with heavy resistance from the big\ncorporations based there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: The Financial Times)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 31. The\nSilicon Valley has an obesity rate of 58% in their residents, mainly due to\nstress: <\/strong>Stress is a huge side effect of the high\npaced life in the Silicon Valley. As many as 78% of the residents of the Valley\nreport being \u2018stressed.\u2019 This high amount of stress has caused a large rate of\nobesity in the population of the Valley. As many as 1.025 in 2 people in the\nValley are obese, with 37% of them being morbidly obese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Joint Venture)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 32. The\npopulation of the Valley is aging rapidly: <\/strong>The\npercentage of adults above the age of 65 has increased to an all time high of\n33.7%. This is at a time when the number of people under the age of 18 has\nactually decreased. This presents a worrying prospect as this means that the\nworkforce is due for shrinking soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Joint Venture)<\/p>\n\n\n\nMoney, the final goal of every\ncompany <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not all good<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Data Source & References <\/h3>\n\n\n\n