'Geography Is Destiny': Naval Ravikant On Why San Francisco Bay Area Is The Tech Capital Of The World

Naval Ravikant, a prominent entrepreneur and co-founder of AngelList, has explained a question that many people have – why is the San Francisco Bay Area the world’s tech capital?

What Happened: Ravikant shed light on the factors that led to the emergence of Silicon Valley as the tech capital, attracting bright talent from all corners of the world.

Ravikant outlined his logic in a podcast, underscoring the fact that when tech-minded entrepreneurs were trying to set up shop, they figured that prominent cities like New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and others are dominated by a major industry each.

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"I don’t think that Silicon Valley is Silicon Valley because a set of magic events happened in Silicon Valley at a particular place in a particular time. Rather, I think it’s driven by geography. Believe it or not, geography is destiny," Ravikant said.

He adds that the tech workforce is driven by creativity, and they are amongst the only people who can work remotely, which has been highlighted quite well during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They can earn from anywhere, even though remote work is a more recent thing. They also can work in smaller teams, so they are more mobile. And these are very creative, very intelligent people. The best engineers in the world, you would hire them no matter where they choose to live," he added.

The Lure Of Napa, Yosemite And More

Ravikant says that the beauty of the Bay Area and the fact that any other industry did not dominate it made it the perfect place for tech minds to converge and establish it as the world's tech capital.

Being able to access Napa, Yosemite, Los Angeles, Big Sur, and other beautiful places, along with the coastline and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, makes for a perfect blend to set up shop.

"My thesis is that the reason why the tech industry is in the Bay Area is because at the time the tech industry was forming, the key people who were forming it were wealthy, creative, capable, worked in small teams, and were remote," he said.

Once enough people began moving to the Bay Area, the flow of others simply followed and turned Silicon Valley into what it is today.

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