24 Jul 2006, Posted by Matthew Reinbold in Thought & Theory,UT, 2 Comments

Utah's Dolphins vs. the Silicon Valley Sharks

While at last week’s Adobe Community summit I had the privilege of pinging a bunch of really intelligent thinkers and software community leaders. Given that we were being wined and dined in the heart of Silicon Valley it was inevitable that the conversation returned to observations of the area.

In Vol. 2 discussion recap I mentioned that we can’t abstract away the importance of personal presence. Current geographical zones that dominate –whether economically, technically, or culturally – will continue to dominate. As Dan Dodge, a member of Microsoft’s Emerging Business Team says, “success attracts more success”. Silicon Valley has this in spades. We can’t deny that any software development denizen envies the wealth of opportunities and the energy of the community (if not the property values). How do we create the same for Utah? How do we create the ‘Info Interior’?

There are several things that are necessary for a geographical cluster to take root. The first is an International Airport that provides a conduit for talent and talking heads – check. There needs to be numerous schools of higher learning churning out cheap entry level cubical fodder ambitious and energetic graduates – while the U of U, BYU, UVSC, etc. may not be the level of Berkley I think its safe to say that this is a check. Of course we must not forget about money. Given the efforts of organization like MountainWest Capital Network and the Funding Utah angels things are looking up in that area. Check.

However, there is a glaring difference. As Dan says:

“Silicon Valley has the highest concentration of ‘Type A’ personalities I have ever seen in my life. They compete at everything…all the time. This competitive atmosphere pushes you beyond what you thought was possible. It inspires innovative thinking that you didn't think you were capable of. I call it a ‘force field’ of competitive energy. It is amazing, invigorating, stimulating, and rewarding.”

I’m guessing it’s not a ‘force field’ of competitive energy that is responsible for this summer’s inversion. Numerous examples of the stereotypical Valley entrepreneur exist: the young, unmarried, 80-hour a week work-a-holic who sets out to remake the world (and a lot of money along the way). Work is the priority; things like family, travel, and even spirituality are placed on the back burner. We call safely call these individuals sharks; they've got a bloodlust to win bordering on animal instinct.

Contrast this with the stereotypical image of a newly graduated BYU entrepreneur. They are already married, might have children, and place church and family firmly at the top of the priority heap. They desire to make a comfortable living as long as it remains between 9-5. For comparison I'll call these highly intelligent, squeaky-clean individuals dolphins.

One doesn’t have to catch many National Geographic specials to know that if a dolphin tries to swim with the sharks a commercial is cut to quickly. A dolphin’s set of Sea World tricks are a poor foil for the tenacity of a shark’s appetite. Of course, there is nothing wrong with dolphins swimming with other dolphins to some success: examples include the recently emergent Mormon cinema scene to Ancestry and MyFamily .com’s.

The trick to a vibrant and success-attracting Info Interior, however, is to be able to swim with the sharks and win. I think most people in this area don’t want to abandon our family friendliness and work-life balance just to have a little more green after an 80-hour week. So how do we compete?