Israel Venture Capital 2.0

Butte, Montana

I am currently traveling with my family around the US, sort of a goodbye trip before we return back to Israel. Today we stopped for lunch in Butte, Montana. I never heard of this place, and I was quite surprised to find so many restaurants. A quick conversation with our waitress revealed a bit of the local history: Turns out Butte was the largest copper mine back in the early 20th century. At some point it was the largest city between Seattle and Minneapolis, with 100K+ people. Here is a direct quote from Wikipedia:

“Butte began as a mining town in the late 19th century in the Silver Bow Creek Valley, a natural bowl sitting high in the Rockies straddling the Continental Divide. At first only gold and silver were mined in the area, but the advent of electricity caused a soaring demand for copper, which was abundant in the area. The small town soon became one of the most prosperous cities in the country, especially during World War I, and was often called "the Richest Hill on Earth". It was the largest city for many hundreds of miles in all directions. The city attracted workers from Ireland, Wales, England, Lebanon, Canada, Finland, Austria, Serbia, Italy, China, Syria, Croatia, Mexico and all areas of the USA.”

But after World War I, the place began to wind down it’s copper production, and right now there are about 30K people only, and according to our waitress, about 50% of them are retired. And I must say the place really felt like a Ghost town. Beautiful but run-down buildings, empty streets. As you drove around town you can only think about the history and imagine how the streets and Saloons looked like 100 years ago.

Personally, it made me think about Silicon Valley. Isn’t the same quote above relevant to Silicon Valley today? The place attracts workers from all over the world. We won’t be around to see what happens in 100 years, but not sure technology will not move on to somewhere else (How about Israel? The Copper mining industry moved to Chile…). Also, Butte tells an interesting story of the US 2009. Amazing amazing past, but a lot of declining industries, and a real need to for reinvention. I guess that’s what Obama is all about.

 

Farewell Silicon Valley

Well, it’s official. What was done is done, and what I did not manage to do, well, there will be a next time. We are on the road, and although we will be landing in Israel only in May, I am officially done with my 3rd Silicon Valley Chapter. 1982-1983, 2000-2001, and 2006-2009.

Will there be a 4th time. Probably not, but who knows…

Attached is a small farewell video. I was looking for the right song, and after passing obvious selections (Homeward Bound or Two of us) to not-so obvious selections (All Apologies, All together now, or Pink Floyd’s Money) I finally landed on my favorite Mashina song (Yes, in Hebrew): Come Back, Come Back.

See you all in Israel.