The Truth About Silicon Valley Innovation

Throughout the duration of this course, we have spent a great deal of time discussing innovation, specifically in the tech sector. In Mariana Mazzucato's piece, The Entrepreneurial State, she spends a lot of time discussing this misconception of where financing for innovative ventures comes from. In this article by Biz Carson on Business Insider, she discusses a misconception of what innovation actually is.

In this article, Carson states that innovation, especially in Silicon Valley, is typically associated with copycat ideas. She states that many innovations and new ventures are generated based on the ideas of other people. An example of this that Carson refers to is Instagram's CEO Kevin Systrom, who admitted that he had taken an idea from Snapchat and put his own spin on it, with TechCrunch later calling him "the one honest person in tech."

What does everyone else think about this notion of innovation that Carson declares? Do you also think that most innovations are, at least to some extent, copies of previous ones?

I would love to hear everyones thoughts, and thanks for reading!

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-truth-about-silicon-valley-innovation-2016-9

Comments

  1. Alexandria Deer30 March 2018 at 13:43

    I do think that in some instances, businesses can be copycats of existing businesses, but I don't think that makes them any less innovative. For example, in the article you shared, Carson writes about copycat ideas: "While it's simple to dismiss the idea as belonging to another company, it's harder to appreciate why it might work in a different country or different sector as a new successful business." She has a point. I think part of what makes an idea or business innovative is how it caters to different sectors.

    For example, since Uber, there have been a few similar services popping up, like Lyft and Lokal. Although they might seem like the exact same service, I think that with each new idea, there are usually changes made that improve the service, making it more innovative. Carson quotes Instagram's Systrom as stating:

    "Gmail was not the first email client. Google Maps was certainly not the first map. The iPhone was definitely not the first phone... The question is what do you do with that format? What do you do with that idea? Do you build on it? Do you add new things? Are you trying to bring it in a new direction?"

    I agree with Systrom - part of being innovative is coming up with new ways of doing things that add value, and ultimately, bring it in a new direction.

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