Silicon Valley - Entrepreneur Haven?
The US Small Business Administration (SBA) released a study that showed while entrepreneurship is high in Silicon Valley, it is not unique. The rest of California and several other major Metropolitan Areas had higher rates of entrepreneurship.
The study does indicate that there are several factors that contibute to the high rate of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.
- Entrepreneurship rates in Silicon Valley are higher now, after the dot com bust, than during it. This is most likely due to higher unemployment rates after the dot com bust. People created their own companies in order to continue working.
- Demographically, a person in Silicon Valley is more likely to be an immigrant. During the dot com boom, companies needed to import workers from other country because there were not enough locally to fill the positions.
- Demographically, a person in Silicon Valley is college educated. Technology companies, concentrated in Silicon Valley, require specialized workers with engineering, management, math and computer science degrees.
Source: “Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley during Boom and Bust,” (Adobe PDF) by Robert Fairlie, US Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, March 2007.