Silicon Valley is known for both unicorns and blackswans. What political, social and economic ideas shape the culture of Silicon Valley today?
By: Carol Hu, Kristine Ye, Yidan Luo
Political
Silicon Valley as a hotspot for unicorn startups where the majority of United States-based company firms. The openness and networking effects of the Web2.0, enable explosive growth
placing implications to its operations on an international scale.
Limitations as to its interactions specifically policy discourses, disparency between each geopolitics to the adaptation of different approaches accordingly to the country’s setting.
In pratice to the differentiations between Silicon Valley’s open internet, Brussel’s Bourgeois Internet, Beijing’s authoritarian Internet, DC’s Commerical Internet as per mentioned in the paper by O’Hara and Hall (O’Hara & Hall, 2018)
Economics
A unicorn is an unlisted startup worth more than $1 billion. The term “unicorn” is easier to catch on in the tech world because the creature is part of the “heroic fantasy” universe, a literary subgenre often appreciated by geeky, famous Silicon Valley protagonists.
Many unicorns were created through buyouts from large public companies. Large companies would rather bolster their businesses by buying out the tech and business model rather than creating themselves.
Social
Sharing eco- new business model: To support sharing eco
E-commerce: replaced physical locations of store
Social responsibility:
Canva that are doubling down on corporate social responsibility, including a net-zero commitment and its founders putting much of their personal wealth towards Charity purposes.
Uber is also coming under increased scrutiny for its dubious record on workers ’ rights and its failure to meet expectations to reduce pollution and congestion, all while still unable to turn a profit.
Reference:
O’Hara, & Hall, W. (2018). Four Internets: The Geopolitics of Digital Governance (No. 206). Centre for International Governance Innovation. https://www.cigionline.org/publications/four-internets-geopolitics-digital-governance
Howe, N. (Neil Howe,2015.). What’s Feeding The Growth Of The Billion-Dollar “Unicorn” Startups? Forbes. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2015/03/18/whats-feeding-the-growth-of-the-billion-dollar-unicorn-startups/