The Motor City takes detour away from Silicon Valley orthodoxy

Many regional developers have tried and failed to emulate Silicon Valley’s VC-driven model for innovation. Jerry Davis explores how Detroit, the birthplace of Ford, is following an alternative route – with promising results

The economic vibrancy of Silicon Valley has inspired generations of local economic developers seeking to copy its recipe for success. The once-sleepy suburban “valley of heart’s delight” was transformed into the center of the global tech economy, with perhaps the highest concentration of wealth in human history. Any geographic feature can be drafted into this effort to replicate this transformation: Silicon Slopes (Utah), Glen (Scotland), Prairie (across the US), Gulch (California), and more. All are premised on the idea that clustered, high-growth entrepreneurship, typically funded by venture capital, is the shining path to a richer future and a more secure tax base. These efforts almost inevitably fail. Few have attracted vast pools of venture capital, and none have matched the Silicon Valley model's exuberant success: the San Francisco Bay area…

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I by IMD (Digital) - 1 Issue, 17. March 2025

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