Every copy of Silicon Valley will fail – good

What it’s about

Every week, German delegations travel to Silicon Valley. State premiers, corporate boards, industry-association heads. Everyone wants to feel innovation, breathe it in, take it home. After five years in Beijing and two and a half years in San Francisco, I am leaving the Valley behind. And I can now say: every German copy of this place will fail. There are good reasons for that, and it isn’t a problem at all. Because Germany doesn’t need a knock-off – it needs its own path.

Five myths that persist

“From rags to billionaire” is the first of these myths. Tech billionaires in Patagonia vests deliberately distancing themselves from the financial industry. The reality: the Valley is now dominated by capital, not garage start-ups. Other myths: failure is celebrated. Universities make the difference. State support has nothing to do with it. The culture is open and egalitarian. Most of this is no longer true, or never quite was.

What actually makes the Valley strong

Three things. First, decades of defence and space research that pumped public money into the region. Second, a critical mass of venture capital that stands ready in billions for every new trend. Third, an immigration policy that, until recently, attracted the brightest minds in the world. None of these three pillars can be quickly exported to North Rhine-Westphalia or Bavaria.

What Germany should do instead

The question isn’t how Germany copies the Valley but which of its own strengths it plays. Industrial depth in mechanical engineering, chemistry, automotive, medical technology. A strong Mittelstand that finds applications for AI, robotics and energy that wouldn’t occur to anyone in California. And a vocational-training system that, in international comparison, still works. That is the alternative. Not Silicon Valley reloaded, but Germany 2035 reimagined.

I wrote the full piece for Handelsblatt.