Leadership
William F. Miller (Director) - Stanford University
Henry S. Rowen (Director) - Stanford University
Marguerite Gong Hancock (Associate Director) - Stanford University

Mission

The Silicon Valley Project of SPRIE at Stanford University focuses on the dynamics, transformation and sustainability of Silicon Valley. From semiconductors to social media, Silicon Valley has evolved through many changes in core technologies, industry structure, leading companies, modes of finance, business models, and global relationships. And not just in informational technologies but also in biotech and more recently green tech. The Valley has persisted (and some would argue increased) in its ability to create and re-create its leading edge. Yet, serious challenges now plague the Valley, such as dysfunctional California politics and rapidly rising regions around the globe that are vying for talent and capital. What are the features that enable Silicon Valley to be a world center for creating growth and value over time?

The purpose of the Silicon Valley Project is to conduct research and to convene leading experts to advance the understanding and practice of how Silicon Valley and successful high tech regions form, evolve and advance over time in the rapidly changing global economy.

Key Questions

• What are the fundamentals that enable Silicon Valley’s adaptability?
• What lessons, if any, can be adjusted and applied to other places that are pursuing innovation and entrepreneurship? What insights can be gained to explain why some regions have failed, despite massive investments and seemingly similar features?
• Are the Valley’s institutions, strategies, and practices effective in the past appropriate for today’s growth in social media, clean energy, etc.?
• What are current vulnerabilities for the Valley? How well is it adjusting to face challenges to sustain its leadership?
• How are other regions defining new models for regional development?
• How must Silicon Valley—and other leading regions--transform in the face of growing global competition and collaboration?

Each of these (and other) questions leads to important areas of deeper inquiry.  For example, why has US venture capital investment become increasingly concentrated in Silicon Valley? With the rise of other entrepreneurial regions in the US and beyond, one would expect that venture capital investments would be more dispersed. Instead we see that over the past fifteen years the proportion of US venture capital invested in Silicon Valley has increased. Why? What are the implications?

The project will address questions on venture financing, talent and leadership, institutions (e.g. universities), roles of governments and global linkages.

Focus for 2012: Venture Financing

In Silicon Valley, the venture capital industry has been a central part of the ecosystem for helping entrepreneurs turn innovative ideas and scientific advances.  VCs have provided the funding and guidance—and assumed risks—necessary for building high-growth companies to bring innovations to market.  During recent years, venture financing is changed in significant ways.  What are the drivers and implications for the entrepreneurial ecosystems in Silicon Valley and around the world which have adopted a Silicon Valley-style of risk finance?

Important questions which merit further research include:

• How are the structure, strategies, models and practices of venture financing evolving in Silicon Valley? Why? What are the implications?
• What if any features are distinct to Silicon Valley’s venture financing landscape? For example, why is there an increasing concentration of venture capital invested in Silicon Valley?
• How is Silicon Valley’s venture financing arena changing to face the challenges and opportunities of new venture financing around the world? For example, how are firms distributing activities for venture financing in Silicon Valley and the US as well as in rising high tech regions around the world? How are the flows of capital or know-how changing in emerging markets or new global networks?

Activities and Outcomes

SPRIE and its affiliates will conduct interdisciplinary and international research, including collection and analysis of new data, interviews, and case studies. Mobilizing existing and new collaborations with leading faculty across Stanford and other universities, policymakers, business executives and thought leaders, SPRIE will organize a series of seminars and symposia at Stanford University. Roundtables will convene experts in relevant areas such as innovation, venture capital, entrepreneurship, university-industry collaboration, political economy, etc.

This project will lead to refinement of an analytical framework, new data collection and analysis, creation of case studies, and publication of a series of White Papers as well as a new book. Meetings will also facilitate peer-to-peer sharing of best practices. Through publications, workshops, and forums, project findings, implications and recommendations will be shared with leaders from government, business, and academia not only in the Valley but also across the US, Europe, and Asia.

An Invitation to New Partners

Beginning in 2012, SPRIE is launching a new phase of the Silicon Valley Project at Stanford University. SPRIE is actively seeking to build a circle of leading experts and organizations to join as affiliates, with a select group to serve on an Advisory Board. Board members will be thought leaders who possess a deep understanding of Silicon Valley, play a central role in the region, and are committed to impacting its future vitality. Affiliates will consist of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, academic experts and others who are astute observers and players in the development and changes in Silicon Valley and its global partners and/or competitors.

About SPRIE and its Leadership

The directors and academic leaders of the project will be SPRIE Co-directors William F. Miller and Henry S. Rowen and Associate Director Marguerite Gong Hancock. Drawing on years of combined experience both as academics and leaders in the public and private sectors, this trio of SPRIE directors serve as educators at Stanford for international policy and business leaders as well as advisors to government leaders on both regional and national levels in the US, Europe, and Asia.

For more than a decade, SPRIE at Stanford University has been dedicated to the advancement of the understanding and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley and leading high tech regions, especially in Asia. SPRIE books include The Silicon Valley Edge (Stanford University Press, 2000), Making IT: The Rise of Asia in High Tech (2006) and Greater China’s Quest for Innovation (2008). SPRIE publications have affected people in many countries through editions published in English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Through international and interdisciplinary research, publications, executive education, and conferences, SPRIE impacts the arenas of academia, policy, and business.