News Stop: Tech Start-Ups Don’t Grow on Trees Outside USA

The title of this news article caught my eye as it popped up on my google mailbox. The article is about technology clusters outside the US, and relates the growth with examples from China, Israel, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.

From USA Today and republished in blackenterprise.com, an article entitled “Tech Start-Ups Don’t Grow on Trees Outside USA” dated 28 June 2006 by Kevin Maney, talks about the evolution of the technology clusters outside Silicon Valley 10 years ago. As usual, Singapore is also part of the discussion, and here are some of the excerpts from the article on Singapore:

Similar problems get in the way in much of Asia. Singapore’s citizens have key ingredients for tech entrepreneurs: top science and math scores, a prosperous economy, access to capital and a high broadband penetration rate thanks to Singapore One. But the nation has seen little entrepreneurship.

“Singaporeans are good at taking orders, but they don’t think outside the box,” says Usha Haley, a professor at the University of New Haven and author of five books on Asian business. She blames the exam-based, rigid education system and an authoritarian regime that tells its people to think creatively but not about government or the nation’s way of life. “It’s like saying, ‘We want you to develop a sense of humor between 2 and 4 in the afternoon,’” Haley says. “It doesn’t work that way.”

Thought it might be something to spark some discussion over a listless and boring Friday.

Editor’s Note: For further thoughts on this issue, please read:
[1] Justin Lee, Location Doesn’t Matter: Stop Thinking You Have to be in Silicon Valley to Succeed
[2] Cobalt Paladin, Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

Comments