NY vs SF. Is that the right question?

ech reporters love to follow the news of a New York startup closing their latest funding round with the very predictable comparison of the New York vs Silicon Valley startup landscape.

How do the two regions stack up?

Is New York catching up with Silicon Valley?

How far apart are they?

I’m always left wondering why this is a topic of so much interest. What makes comparing them so appealing? Why are we interested in knowing who is in the lead and how far the gap is?

I’m going go out on a limb and say that New York will never have its identity wedded to the technology industry in the way that Silicon Valley does. I’ll even go further out on that limb and say that it’s not important for it to have such an identity and the lack of one in no way diminishes the prospects of New York growth companies.

This is by no means a bearish bet on New York’s tech scene. The city has has produced many great companies across a number industries, Warby Parker, Rent the Runway, of course Etsy, and countless others.

The fact is, New York has a lot going on. In just a few square miles you have an intense concentration of investment funds, financial and legal services firms, fashion and media outlets, and the performing arts. New York isn’t defined by any one of these industries in the all encompassing way that Northern California is with technology companies.

So why bother comparing these two regions? What are these two markets supposed to be in competition for?

- Capital?
- Talent?
- The time and attention of the consuming public?

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