ABSTRACT

The initial development of Silicon Valley and its indigenous start-ups relied on various endowments, including abundant resources and a set of institutions and know-how inherited from previous industrial activity. This article identifies the entrepreneurial ecosystem that supported key tech start-ups on the San Francisco Peninsula prior to the 1960s, shows how the ecosystem developed and how it evolved. By 1940, a far-flung ecosystem—from Santa Clara County to San Francisco to Washington, DC – was in place, well before the arrival of the Valley’s first venture capitalists in 1959 and the establishment of the region’s first high-tech law firm in 1961. Federal agencies and laws provided revenue and risk reduction. Local universities provided brainpower. San Francisco-based banks and their Peninsula branches provided financing. San Francisco law firms drafted organizational agreements and protected intellectual property. Without such institutional support, there would be no Silicon Valley as we know it. Silicon Valley’s early high-tech start-ups were supported by an ecosystem that was developed for the agriculture, extractive, and transportation industries. That ecosystem was repurposed for defence-based electronics and telecommunications, and then transformed for the consumer world of calculators, video games and personal computers. The “master cluster” benefitted from being in the right place at the right time, and by inheriting the right ecosystem.

摘要

硅谷及其本土初创企业的最初发展依赖于各种end赋，包括丰富的资源以及从先前的工业活动中继承下来的一系列机构和专门知识。本文确定了支持1960年代之前旧金山半岛上的关键技术初创企业的创业生态系统，展示了该生态系统如何发展以及如何发展。到1940年，从圣克拉拉县到旧金山再到华盛顿特区，建立了一个遥远的生态系统，早在1959年硅谷的第一批风险投资家到来并在该地区成立第一家高科技律师事务所之前1961年。联邦机构和法律降低了收入，降低了风险。当地大学提供了人才。旧金山的银行及其半岛分行提供了融资。旧金山的律师事务所起草了组织协议并保护了知识产权。没有这种体制上的支持，就不会有我们所知道的硅谷。硅谷的早期高科技初创企业得到了为农业，采掘业和运输业开发的生态系统的支持。该生态系统被重新用于基于国防的电子和电信，然后转变为计算器，视频游戏和个人计算机的消费世界。“主集群”得益于在正确的时间放置在正确的位置，并继承了正确的生态系统。硅谷的早期高科技初创企业得到了为农业，采掘业和运输业开发的生态系统的支持。该生态系统被重新用于基于国防的电子和电信，然后转变为计算器，视频游戏和个人计算机的消费世界。“主集群”得益于在正确的时间放置在正确的位置，并继承了正确的生态系统。硅谷的早期高科技初创企业得到了为农业，采掘业和运输业开发的生态系统的支持。该生态系统被重新用于基于国防的电子和电信，然后转变为计算器，视频游戏和个人计算机的消费世界。“主集群”得益于在正确的时间放置在正确的位置，并继承了正确的生态系统。