Sleepy Hollow or Silicon Valley?
Key Takeaways
The Myth of the "Next Silicon Valley": Mimicking Silicon Valley's unique, historically evolved ecosystem is largely unsuccessful; regions should instead focus on becoming the best version of themselves.
Leveraging Local Assets: Cities like the Sunshine Coast can drive economic growth by building upon unique strengths, such as universities, specialized health precincts, and advanced digital infrastructure.
Supporting Scaleups and Established Firms: Beyond early-stage startups, regions must identify and support high-potential established businesses and scaleups that drive the majority of net new jobs.
Culture and Collaboration Over Mimicry: Cultivating a supportive, open-network culture combined with regional lifestyle advantages creates a far more sustainable foundation for a modern, dynamic economy.
A few months ago, I caught up with a commercial lawyer in Brisbane, someone I have known for over 20 years and who has been very active in the SE Queensland Tech scene, including the Sunshine Coast.
I asked him if he was doing much business on the Sunshine Coast these days, and his response was: ‘The Sunshine Coast? Sleepy Hollow! I don't go there anymore.’
His perception of the Sunshine Coast certainly did not match the Silicon Valley aspiration that we may sometimes try to promote. I realised it can be difficult to shake off outdated perceptions of up-and-coming cities and regions.
I later found that Geelong in Victoria had also been tagged with the ‘Sleepy Hollow’ nickname from the Gold Rush days. Melbourne – a rival gold rush city - had mischievously promoted the Sleepy Hollow tag for Geelong to win more of the gold trade spoils. The nickname took a long while to shake and made a comeback in the 1980s and ‘90s when Geelong was experiencing an industrial decline.
It was not until the turn of the millennium that a derelict wasteland in Geelong transformed into a waterfront precinct with major projects like Deakin University and Cunningham Pier. The 11-hectare Pivot City development now spans 50,000m² of workspaces across three innovation precincts, featuring 1 Gbps fibre internet and hosting over 50 organisations with 1,000 employees. As one of Australia's fastest-growing centres, Geelong has put its 'Sleepy Hollow' nickname to rest.
The Sleepy Hollow tag is not valid for Geelong, the Sunshine Coast or many other areas working hard to diversify and update their economies.
Silicon Valley is unlikely to be the best model
I would also suggest that - at the other end of the economic spectrum - the ‘Silicon Valley’ tag - is also not a very useful or helpful comparison or aspiration for most regions.
Almost every week, I read about a city or region that says it wants to be – or will be - the Next Silicon Valley. I also see LinkedIn posts with photos of smiling businesspeople, students or community leaders heading to Silicon Valley to see what they can learn and find opportunities for themselves, their business, city or region. That is a good thing, Silicon Valley is the global epicentre for innovation, but it is not the only - or even the best - place to visit or learn from if you are trying to build a better future for your city or region.
Everywhere wants to be the next Silicon Valley
A quick Google search on the ‘Next Silicon Valley’ generates a long list of places all aspiring to be the Next Silicon Valley - just a few examples are Vietnam, Cuba and almost everywhere in Australia - including Melbourne, Western Sydney, Central/Eveleigh and Manly in Sydney, Adelaide, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Cairns and Brisbane. Almost everywhere is in the race to be the Next Silicon Valley. But is this the right race to be in and even if it was, is it winnable?
Many of these places may not really mean that they are going to be the ‘Next Silicon Valley.’ They may simply be saying they want to be innovative high-tech hotspots and are using the Silicon Valley terminology loosely or to help generate media coverage.
Aiming to be an innovation hotspot is a great idea for many cities and regions but naively trying to mimic the Silicon Valley model is unlikely to succeed and can have unintended consequences and underplay the city or region’s natural advantages.
“Hundreds of regions all over the world collectively spent tens of billions of dollars trying to build their versions of Silicon Valley. I don’t know of a single success.”
Across the world, there is no shortage of Silicon Somethings – and we even have a group called Silicon Coast here on the Sunshine Coast, which is a great asset.
Asking ‘Which city will be the next Silicon Valley?’ is not useful as it implies that the Silicon Valley model can be replicated and is the best model for many of these up-and-coming cities worldwide to emulate.
Silicon Valley evolved many decades as a complex system influenced by history and culture, geography, climate, government spending on defence research, the contribution of key individuals, random events and meetings, key businesses, and their spinouts, the impact of Stanford University and other education institutes, networks, growth of investors, etc. – it was not master planned by government or anyone else.
“…. what made Silicon Valley was behaviour, mindset, and seeding the environment for an innovative system to emerge—(most) everything else came later, and there was no central plan to make it all happen.”
Be the best or next version of your city
Rather than asking how we can be the ‘Next Silicon Valley?’ it might be better to ask how we can be the best or next version of our city and how do we work in todays’s global economy.
‘Show me a community that understands today’s world and is working together to thrive within it, and I’ll show you a community on the rise — coastal or interior, urban or rural.’
Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, May 2017
Key questions:
· How we can be a relevant, dynamic, connected, 21st-century economy?’
· What assets, strengths and advantages does this city have to build upon?
· How to be inclusive and involve ambitious people and businesses of all ages and stages?
· How do we develop skills to help businesses grow?
We also need to look beyond just startups and acknowledge the importance of scaleups - businesses with at least 10 employees at the start of the recording period with an average annualised return of at least 20% in the past 3 years (OECD, 2007) - which is a neglected sector. Cities and regions would benefit from identifying these businesses, understanding their needs and supporting their growth.
The Sunshine Coast in Australia has many assets to build upon including:
The University of the Sunshine Coast, celebrating its 30th Anniversary in 2026 with around 20,000 students.
Digital infrastructure - including two submarine cables and the NextDC $200m Data Centre currently under construction.
Maroochydore CBD - developing a brand new city centre on a green field site, with $2.5 billion private sector invetsment.
Sunshine Coast Airport expansion - $334m with new runway ready for international flights.
Health Precinct - a $5 billion investment with public and private hospitals and the Sunshine Coast Health Institute.
As well as these physical assets, the coast has natural attractions and a lifestyle which act as a magnet to new residents and a strong and innovative networks with a ‘pay it forward’ culture.
There is a lot to learn from Silicon Valley, but I don’t think we should try to mimic it. Instead, cities and regions need to understand what is going on in the world, find their own thing to build upon and be great at.
Colin Graham is the founder of Causeway Innovation and has coached 300+ startups and innovative SMEs and advised 12 regions in the UK and Australia on economic development and innovation projects.