High concentration of ethnic groups

What do you speak at home

I was told recently that 50% of kids entering kindergarten in the Mountain View school district (think Google headquarters) do not speak English as the first language. It is not news that Silicon Valley draws in diverse ethnic groups from around the globe. As a matter of fact, it often seems easier to meet somebody from the other side of the world than a person who was born and raised locally.

With fewer native-born American receiving science graduate degrees in recent years, technical conversations tend to have a confluence of Indian, Chinese, or Russian accents. Even for mainly business conversations, rumors about FIFA World Cup usually goes further than gossip on the latest major league baseball slugger.

Ethnic Groupings

Historically, ethnic ties are one of the key ways that helps merchants work across long distance. With high concentration of ethnic groups in Silicon Valley, the same practice holds. For example, Prof. William R. Kerr of Harvard Business School has documented the interplay between innovation and technology diffusion along ethnic lines.

Here is a sampling of some ethnic-oriented groups that are well established in the region.

• Silicon Vikings http://www.siliconvikings.com/
• The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) http://www.tie.org/
• Monte Jade Science & Technology Association http://www.montejade.org/

How it works

The fact that one is from Sweden, does not guarantee that members of Silicon Vikings will let you coast. Scandanavian too they may be, but they are smart money first and foremost.

There is nothing particularly unique with a given ethnic affiliation at Silicon Valley. Through common language, cultural, and academic ties, ethic groups allow members to minimize friction and overhead in information exchange and resource sharing. And, if you are lucky, you might find a mentor who have already looked through the same lenses that you are using right now. The primary benefit of this type of relationship is that you can focus on what you are good at to get things moving instead of improving deficiencies in be on mere parity with the mainstream.

Taken as a whole, however, what makes the ethnic groups stand out at Silicon Valley is the depth and breadth they usually cover. As mini-ecosystems in their own right, it is possible to assemble a core team with engineers, business people, and initial funding before striking out onto the larger stage. Therefore, as informal incubators that funnel ideas into the market place, unlike traditional ethnic-oriented organizations that provide "shelter" against the mainstream, ethnic affiliations are an informal but integral part of the Silicon Valley vitality.