From the NY Times:
“The U.S. is sucking up all the talent from all across the world,” Mr. Collison said. “Look at all the leading technology companies globally, and look at how overrepresented the United States is. That’s not a normal state of affairs. That’s because we have managed to create this engine where the best and the brightest from around the world are coming to Silicon Valley.”
“Last year, researchers at the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, studied the 87 privately held American start-ups that were then valued at $1 billion or more. They discovered something amazing: More than half of them were founded by one or more people from outside the United States. And 71 percent of them employed immigrants in crucial executive roles.”
From the 2016 Silicon Valley Index
“Silicon Valley has an extraordinarily large share of residents who are foreign born (37.4%, compared to California, 27.1%, or the United States, 13.3%). This population share increases to 50% for the employed, core working age population (ages 25-44), and even higher for certain occupational groups. For instance, nearly 74% of all Silicon Valley employed Computer and Mathematical workers ages 25-44 in 2014 were foreign-born. Correspondingly, the region also has an incredibly large share of foreign-language speakers, with 51% of Silicon Valley’s population over age five speaking a language other than exclusively English at home (compared to 43% in San Francisco, 44% in California, and 21% in the United States as a whole). This majority share in 2014 was up from 49% in 2011.”
San Jose where Silicon Valley is just listed as a 3rd best city to live in. Jobs and weather definitely helped.
Having lived in Silicon Valley since early 80s, I see many great things about Silicon Valley, but most notable from my personal observation is that by and large many of us coming from different countries work well side by side trying to make the world better using technology, innovation. These people has incredible aspiration and motivation to help each other and has respect to each other in doing so.
I hope there is a more and better way to share this experience with people outside of this area.
Thanks, Eunhee!