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Okay, I get it.

Fred Oliveira on September 16, 2005

So now that I’m in the bay area and finally used to the timezone (which was easier than I had expected), I am seeing what’s special about it that makes it so enticing to start businesses here. Basically, everyone’s around. I had wondered about this a couple of times (okay, maybe three) up until I got here but now it’s sunk in. It’s all about the ecosystem of people that live in or around the bay area, and those that drop by all the time.

How should I put this. The ease with which you can call up a few people to talk about some great ideas and get them listening or using your products is so tremendous, that it blows anywhere else on the planet out of the map. Yesterday I had the perfect example of that. We set up an informal barbecue with some of Mike’s and my own friends (most that I was meeting for the first time in real life, so to say) and it was great. We had some extremely interesting discussions about Web 2.0, politics, business and everybody had a good time. But apart from the conversation, it is the flow of ideas that both impresses and inspires.

With all the conversations we had and all the notes I took, I now know exactly what to do with my personal projects, and got some really good insight on how to actually get them up and running. So, answering my own question, is it understandable that there’s so much innovation in the bay area? Yes. Whether that means that there won’t be any new poles for innovation or not, I’m not sure - and I hope it doesn’t, because I’d like to see this whole attitude spread across other places. But we’ll see. Web 2.0 is changing a lot of peoples minds, and people are on the lookout for the next big thing.

And I’ve never believed there would need to be a specific place or time for the next big thing to emerge. Even an obviously good time for innovation like what we’re experiencing now.


Comments on this post

Tim Case

Dude, you haven’t seen nothing yet outside the tech world is the city of San Francisco which wait until you go to an SF underground party, you’ll find has to be part of the weird energy that wraps the bay like fog.

Makes you think in different ways!

Actually I think love parade might be coming up, don’t miss it!

kayvaan

yeah - SF rules. I’m from San Francisco but I’m in Austin right now getting an MBA.

So hey - I would LOVE to be able to find some people interested in web 2.0 stuff in Austin, TX. Know anyone?

I’m trying to get someone to come speak at the business school about web 2.0 and the new business opportunities that are coming up. There are a lot of bright, talented people here and I feel that if I can get some interest, I could get some cool things going.

Fred

Kayvaan, there’s a few people in Texas that are dealing with Web 2.0. One of the guys I know is Alexander Muse, who runs the Texas VC blog. He’s probably the best person to ask about web 2.0 in Texas, but from a couple of posts I’ve read, he’s making a conscious effort to get some more of the 2.0 goodness in the state you’re at.

Get in touch with him, he may be able to help you out.

Pete Cashmore

Fred,

SF must be great. I’m over in the UK and the time difference, plus the physical distance, makes it a bit harder to connect to web 2.0 folks.

You’ve designed some really clean web interfaces. I’m going to need some web 2.0 sites designed in the next few months, so I’ll bear you in mind! In the meantime, have you got Skype so I can add you to my contacts?

Pete.

Fred

Hey Pete. My skype username is fboliv, so you can add me up whenever you wish. Keep dropping by, either here or on techcrunch. Stay and touch, and lets see where that takes us.

Kristian Nilsson

Good to see that you actually took the leap to the centre of the world!

Hiten Shah

Glad to see you like it in California. I went to school in the Bay Area, and cannot deny the energy that the area has to produce great things!

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