You either go to New York or you go to Silicon Valey"
So goes the quote by Peter Thiel at a speech at Roosevelt University in Chicago recently. This has lead to a flurry of opinion pieces in the Chicago and national press both for and against his statement.
For:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20160919/OPINION/160919839/sorry-chicago-but-peter-thiel-is-mostly-right
The bottom line is that the ambition level in Silicon Valley and New York is simply off the charts. That kind of ambition is not what you find in Chicago (or pretty much anywhere else). If you are someone who is dreaming big—really big—it helps to be in an environment where other people are dreaming big. That means New York City or San Francisco.
Against:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johncarpenter1/2016/09/15/if-youre-still-in-chicago-peter-thiel-doesnt-think-youre-very-talented-why-thats-a-problem/#3ea1d5426e06
But what Thiel clearly believes is that the coasts have the monopoly on smart ideas. He and others like him have become so enamored with themselves that they fail to listen to the occasionally very smart people who aren’t invited to their meetings. All ‘fly-over country’ has to offer is to occasionally splurt out a few really smart people so they can move to New York or San Francisco and take up residence in a three-square-foot, three-grand-a-month studio. With roommates.
Given that this is the season for many high stats kids to decide which part of the country to spend the next four years, is Thiel right?
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