Failure does not power Silicon Valley. Failure is only a byproduct of a rich entrepreneurial culture whose overriding goal is success. That culture understands that startups inevitably will have a non-trivial failure rate and factors this into such things as equity structures, company valuations, decisions to fund or not to fund particular ventures, decisions to leave secure employment situations in favor of joining startups and the like. But failure is never the goal. It is only a byproduct. To me, therefore, it is not accurate to say that failure "powers" Silicon Valley.
Apart from some overstatement about the concept of failure (e.g., its being regarded as a "badge of honor" in the Valley), this piece makes some good observations about how the Valley has grown and prospered through continued flexibility and experimentation in contrast to the relative rigidity that has hampered Japan's startups.
Silicon Valley is beautifully set up to encourage risk taking but the goal of all risk takers is success, not failure. The United States, like Japan, once had a mindset by which the goal of every responsible working adult was to have a "steady job" and there have been cultural factors aplenty that have discouraged people from leaving such jobs to take a whirl with a startup. The move from that mindset to that of the risk-taking entrepreneur is driven by the hope of an extraordinary return for one's efforts. In Silicon Valley, it has been proven over and over again that such extraordinary returns are possible for those who are smart and enterprising and that historically has been the main draw for joining a startup. Today, with the low barriers to entry, the reasons for taking the leap into startups can be more complex (personal growth, etc. can now factor in). But the overriding goal is still money. Silicon Valley provides a fertile ground for those who are driven by that desire and provides all that is needed for success with a startup (as do other centers of startup activity).
What drives the Valley, then, is not failure as such but rather the large number of smart, disciplined, talented people who want to do something special in hopes of getting large rewards. Those people are not afraid to fail but their very essence is to try to avoid it at all costs while chasing after the prize of success.
A better premise for the article would be that tolerance of failure is an enabler in Silicon Vally and that intolerance of failure is debilitating elsewhere.
Apart from some overstatement about the concept of failure (e.g., its being regarded as a "badge of honor" in the Valley), this piece makes some good observations about how the Valley has grown and prospered through continued flexibility and experimentation in contrast to the relative rigidity that has hampered Japan's startups.
Silicon Valley is beautifully set up to encourage risk taking but the goal of all risk takers is success, not failure. The United States, like Japan, once had a mindset by which the goal of every responsible working adult was to have a "steady job" and there have been cultural factors aplenty that have discouraged people from leaving such jobs to take a whirl with a startup. The move from that mindset to that of the risk-taking entrepreneur is driven by the hope of an extraordinary return for one's efforts. In Silicon Valley, it has been proven over and over again that such extraordinary returns are possible for those who are smart and enterprising and that historically has been the main draw for joining a startup. Today, with the low barriers to entry, the reasons for taking the leap into startups can be more complex (personal growth, etc. can now factor in). But the overriding goal is still money. Silicon Valley provides a fertile ground for those who are driven by that desire and provides all that is needed for success with a startup (as do other centers of startup activity).
What drives the Valley, then, is not failure as such but rather the large number of smart, disciplined, talented people who want to do something special in hopes of getting large rewards. Those people are not afraid to fail but their very essence is to try to avoid it at all costs while chasing after the prize of success.