A Taste of Silicon Valley in the Philippines?

I appreciate the very big topic that building a Silicon Valley-like hub in the Philippines is. Right now, I’d just like to see what’s out there and what’s been said. In academe, an ever-more-brief review of related literature.

In a 2006 article by Paul Graham, the two key elements in reproducing Silicon Valley are:

1. rich people
2. nerds

Will from OutsidetheValley succinctly gives two key components for execution:

1. Create a city with a tech-creative class culture.
   We have nerds, sure. The entrepreneurial techies gravitate toward Makati and Alabang and still a few scattered nationwide. These gifted tech-creative have to be nurtured with art galleries and coffee shops. (We’re pretty lucky, the nearest our office is a 20-minute trike ride.)
2. Create a city with a world-class university.
   

   To spawn startups, your university has to be in a town that has attractions other than the university. It has to be a place where investors want to live, and students want to stay after they graduate. (Paul Graham)

   Top of mind cities are Makati (though overexposed), Filinvest, and Fort Bonifacio. About what or which university, that requires more thought. Schools (and parents) generally orient students with the employee life, even those with Entrepreneurship courses. Getting big name professors (and finding out exactly who those are) requires a lot of moolah – who might those educators might be?
   A place to get some educators might be GoNegosyo, an informational site by the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, spearheaded by Selecta’s Joey Conception. They have a list of ICT mentors: Myla Villanueva, Federico Gonzalez, Mike Jurado, Yu Ming Chin, Mary Anne Tolentino, Wilson Ng, and Paco Sandejas. (Sadly, the site doesn’t contain profiles of the mentors, they seem to expect you to just click on their photo and IM them??)

Apparently those two components still aren’t ripe in Metro Manila.

Bill of InstigatorBlog points out what else is wanting in Montreal, CA. (They at least have the 2 components going for them).

1. Successful entrepreneurs have to give back.
2. Angel investors need to raise their profiles.
3. Governments should get out of the way.
4. Existing startups have to get involved. So list up here at Pinoy Web Startup!
5. More cheerleading.
6. More startups.

Can we make some progress in 2008?

Hey, you can also read some stimulating thoughts by Migs on the future of web startups.