Screw the Valley by Timothy Sprinkle.
Screw the Valley demystifies the magic that characterizes Northern California’s Silicon Valley, a place known as a hotbed of technological innovation, competition, and success. For years, America has thought of the valley as the birthplace of all things great with companies such as Apple, Google, and Facebook producing some of the most used products across the world. Computer scientists and software engineers alike are told to pack their bags and move west, as Silicon Valley is the only place where they can maintain successful careers. Timothy Sprinkle serves to shed light on the subject and change readers’ notions about where success can be achieved in the technology industry.
Sprinkle sets the stage for the book’s examination of technology startups in American cities outside the valley by focusing on one central theme: entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is at the heart of the current technology boom in the United States, having become evermore significant after the 2008-2009 economic crisis. The crisis, which essentially destroyed America’s prominent automotive industry, left a gap for new kinds of industry to rebuild many of the nation’s cities. In 2011, the Obama Administration in its second term emphasized that entrepreneurship would be a key component in revitalizing the nation’s economy, job market, and industrial success. Sprinkle refers to this endeavor as Startup America, and notes how it has presented an opportunity for Americans to venture into new forms of business. Entrepreneurs, especially those in technology, are spreading out across the country to see exactly where innovation can be taken to the next level.
Silicon Valley seems to be facing competition in some of the most unlikely places across the United States. Detroit, a city once known as an automotive manufacturing hub, has reshaped itself around technology startups. Detroit has many advantages for startup companies such as low living costs and ample office space. Like Silicon Valley, Detroit is able to attract its engineering talent from nearby university campuses like University of Michigan and Michigan State. Startups in the area face less challenges staffing their firms, as they might in the valley. They worry less about employee poaching and quick turnover, as they are able to offer their developers fair pay in line with living costs. Seemingly, the development of the startup market has helped spark supporting industries in surrounding areas. Living spaces, restaurants, and recreational services are co-locating with businesses to provide for the supplemental needs of their employees.
In line with Detroit, Sprinkle also writes about the merits of New York City, Las Vegas, Austin, Kansas City, Raleigh-Durham, and Boulder for technological innovation, many of which are focus cities for GEW USA’s Startup Cities campaign. Each location offers something unique for startups, their employees, and by extension consumers of their products. Overall, Sprinkle serves to demonstrate that Silicon Valley is not the end all be all of technological innovation. America’s startup culture is a nationwide endeavor with hundreds of opportunities for those looking to get involved.
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