R.I.P. Silicon Valley (1956 – 2022)

By Wayne Mulligan, on Thursday, September 29, 2022

Ever since 1956, when Shockley Transistor Corporation set up shop in Mountain View, California, Silicon Valley has been the epicenter of early-stage tech startups…

And in turn, the epicenter for ultra-profitable tech startup investments.

Thousands of companies have launched in this tiny corner of the U.S. — and many of them have delivered enormous returns to their earliest investors.

But that won’t be the case for much longer…

As I’ll show you today, that version of Silicon Valley is dead.

And while that’s bad news for some people, it’s great news for investors like you.

Let me explain…

The Most Profitable Asset Class of All Time

Many Silicon Valley startups have made their earliest investors fabulously wealthy.

For example, Silicon Valley-based Facebook’s first investor turned every $1,000 he invested into $2 million when the company went public.

But more generally, a recent study showed that, over the past 25 years, early-stage startup investments have returned an average of 55% per year.

That’s nearly 10x higher than the stock-market average.

So it’s no surprise that investors have flocked to this asset class — and it’s no surprise that most of that money has flowed into Silicon Valley.

It’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy:

New entrepreneurs flock to Silicon Valley because that’s where the investors are…

And new investors flock to Silicon Valley because that’s where the entrepreneurs are.

But here’s the thing: that’s all begun to change…

Why Silicon Valley is “Dead” to Savvy Investors

You see, institutional investors now look outside of Silicon Valley for their startup investments.

For instance, private equity giant KKR announced in 2019 that it was looking for “opportunities in geographies that haven't historically been the most obvious tech hubs.”

And just a few days ago, America Online founder, Steve Case, released his much-anticipated book, The Rise of the Rest.

For the past few years, Case has been traveling around the country documenting the rise of entrepreneurship in cities outside of Silicon Valley. Furthermore, he’s been putting his money where his mouth is by investing in startups he meets along the way.

As he’s come to learn, startups in these “mini tech hubs” are not only surviving, but thriving.

In fact, according to a recent TechCrunch interview, Case says he’s invested in roughly 200 companies from 100 different cities…

And seven of those companies are now worth over $1 billion!

Three Reasons to Look Outside of Silicon Valley

There are three main reasons investors like Case and KKR are looking for deals outside of Silicon Valley — and three reasons you should look elsewhere, too.

First and foremost, deals in tech hubs have become too expensive. And if you’re paying too much to get into a deal, your potential profits will be severely limited.

Secondly, more startups exist today outside of these hubs. You see, cities like San Francisco have become extraordinarily expensive. Living in an apartment the size of a closet is fine when you get out of college. But as entrepreneurs get older, they’re moving to areas with less expensive (and more spacious) housing to raise their families.

And third, thanks to the pandemic and the rise of remote work, there’s less need to be locked into a specific geographic location.

This presents opportunities for startups to set up shop anywhere, and to hire talent that lives anywhere.

This shift is giving entrepreneurs from across the country tremendous opportunities…

And it’s giving investors like you tremendous opportunities, too. Let me explain…

Show me the Money!

If you’re a longtime Crowdability reader, you know we focus on a type of startup investing called “equity crowdfunding.”

Equity crowdfunding allows investors like you to put small amounts of money into fast-growing startups via special websites known as “funding platforms.”

In other words, as long as you have an Internet connection, now you can invest in startups that are setting up shop all across the country — and give yourself a shot at extraordinary profits.

In order to stay on top of all these new deals, you can either:

  1. Check out our “Deals” page on the Crowdability website — This is where we feature investment opportunities from many of the highest-quality crowdfunding platforms.
  2. Check your email inbox every Monday morning at 11:00 AM — That’s when we send our readers a weekly digest of new startup investment opportunities.

In other words, Crowdability readers don’t need to spend hours scouring the web for new startup deals. New deals are delivered to you weekly.

And as you learned today, this could give you the chance to earn big returns — no matter where the startup is located.

Happy investing.

Best Regards,


Founder
Crowdability.com

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