我的矽谷90天／台灣人在矽谷曾輝煌，不過已成過去式
在矽谷，大陸人與台灣人從90年代的1：9，變成今日的99：1。當創業女孩遇見「稀有」動物，她寫下……
- 2015-01-27 Web only 文/丁筱晶
傍晚6:30，聖荷西的天空已經全暗，輕軌站旁的遼闊的科技園區，在過了下班時間後悄無人聲。我們兩個個子單薄的亞洲女生下了車後，看著手機上的Google Map左彎右拐，一路上靠手電筒照亮前方黑漆漆的道路前進，陪伴我們的只有落葉雖風摩擦地面所發出的沙沙聲。
我們的目的地，是由居住在舊金山灣區的一群台灣年輕人自發舉辦的聚會，地點就在工研院(ITRI)在聖荷西設置的辦事處裡。
雖說離市中心不會很遠，但在此情此景的襯托下，我霎那間湧起一股熱血，宛如羅馬帝國時的基督徒前往秘密聖壇朝聖，一群少數族群為了共同目標而群聚起來的聚會。
台灣人在當今的矽谷絕對是少數民族。然而在90年代初期，並不是如此的情景。
一位定居矽谷近20年的前輩回憶，90年代初期時，在矽谷9個台灣人，才只有1個中國人。而到今天，是99個中國人，才只有1個台灣人。
勢力的此消彼長，固然跟這20年間的中國改革開放、經濟發展到快速向外擴張有關。但不可諱言的，也跟台灣人才在矽谷出現斷層有關：
目前60-70歲的這代矽谷台灣人，生長在台灣外交動盪飄搖的1970年代，許多到了美國之後就落地紮根，創造了早年台灣人在矽谷的輝煌成就。許多知名的台灣企業家在美國連續成功創立好幾間公司並且成功上市，而後轉型成為創投。這群企業家再以多年創業與投資經驗的眼光，拉拔台灣後進企業家。
這一輩台灣人在矽谷最具代表性的，就是橡子園創投（Acorn Campus）。
橡子園創投成立於2000年，核心創始人涵蓋了陳五福、王大成、林富元...等台灣出身的知名創業家，他們多已經定居矽谷30~40年，從1980年代，還只是20、30歲小伙子時代就開始創業，挑戰的多是以技術為導向的高科技公司，現在轉為創投。
關於橡子園創辦成員年輕時代的故事、豐功偉業，歡迎參考《矽谷天使林富元的投資告白》 ，這本書不僅教你如何從天使投資人的角度，如何判斷新創公司的潛力（你要怎麼在Google只有2個人就看出Google可以長到今日的規模？我認為精通這門學問的人跟半仙沒有兩樣），最珍貴的是，作者將他在矽谷40年，從年輕起一路跌跌撞撞、遇人不淑（是的，投資就像結婚一樣，最怕遇人不淑）的投資故事，鉅細靡遺的在書中詳述。讀者也就跟著作者的回憶，看到早年台灣人在矽谷的發展軌跡，一路看他如何放下惠普（HP）實驗室的安穩工作（當年的惠普地位等同今日的Google啊！）關關難過關關過，成為一代天使投資人。這本書，我把他暱稱叫企業家與天使投資人版的《大長今》，老少咸宜。
台灣人在矽谷絕對輝煌過，絕對。不過，已經變成過去式。
這些年來，出國留學不再是台灣人過上優渥生活與翻轉人生的保證，反而變成了昂貴而不保證效益的昂貴投資。留在美國，工作難找（資工領域除外）、簽證不好申請；選擇回台，很可能起薪不但沒有增加，反而因為已砸了數百萬在出國留學上，在工作的選擇上被迫高不成低不就。這樣的思維反應在台灣年輕人出國留學比重明顯下滑。以往台大畢業生出國留學的是主流，現在反而逆轉。
即便到了國外念書，真正留下來在美國定居、開枝散葉的，也不如早期的多。許多人因為台灣生活環境改善、在美國沒有歸屬感，而工作數年後拿到居留權後，選擇回去台灣。中生代與年輕一代成了矽谷的過客，讓台灣人在矽谷的世代傳承出現了一個斷層。
一整個世代在矽谷的集體缺席，對台灣造成深遠的影響。
沒能持續在矽谷與世界上最先進的點子為伍、持續傳承交接，我們忽略了世界走的已經比台灣前面；沒能深入融入美國環境、熟悉東西方文化的不同，並且在其中發展出世界性通用的產品服務，我們耽溺於台灣2,300萬人的小市場，而忘了真正的島國經濟應該是「世界是我家」；沒能在矽谷延續上一被台灣人如樹根盤根錯結的人脈網絡，讓新生代台灣人的奮鬥容易變得勢單力薄，抵不上中國企業家日益強大的勢力；沒能在矽谷的舞台上看到各國青年的野心與企圖心，我們忘了，數十年前的台灣人也是狼犬，而不是今日的拉布拉多犬（就是《再見吧！可魯》裡面那種狗。在維基百科里裡面的介紹是「天生個性溫和、活潑、沒有攻擊性和智能高」，我覺得拿來形容當今的台灣人再適合不過了）。
台灣人遺忘了世界，而世界也就遺忘了台灣人。
晚上7點一到，一個約莫20坪大的空間裡，擠滿了60幾位在舊金山灣區生活台灣人。多數是20-30歲的年輕面孔，有很多是使用者體驗設計師（User Experience Designer)，對於設計網頁或手機端的流程設計有獨到的研究；也有許多在灣區大公司工作的，不乏在Google、Apple、Tesla、Intel、LinkedIn、Paypal工作的軟體工程師及行銷研究人員；也有許多已經開啟自己新創事業的創業家，涵蓋網絡、App、軟硬整合以及生醫產業。這場聚會也顛覆在矽谷極度陽盛陰衰的刻板印象，在場的女性至少有四分之一。
在場超過1/2的人，儘管有份正職工作，手中卻都有另一份專案或創業想法，利用下班時間把他發揚光大。這個不大的空間裏，反應了矽谷與台灣截然不同的文化：如果你沒有在創業，或是在創新科技領域工作，你才是少數。在台灣創業圈又重新燃起一股熱潮之際，我在美國也看到了斷層多年的台灣人在矽谷重新群聚、讓世界記得的決心。
不管是環境造就了創業家精神，還是創業家精神造就了環境，我只知道在這橫跨太平洋的兩岸，是台灣人都明白，這是個不進則退、退無可退的時代了。
【作者簡介】
1987年盛夏出生的正宗高雄女孩。大學主修財務金融，畢業後從財經記者做起，從諸多受訪者身上學到宏觀看事情的方法。24歲開始創業，3 年創業經歷，上山下海拜訪過台灣許多民宿、深入了解各地民情風俗，Long stay過的地方涵蓋台灣西岸與東岸主要城市，在創業人生裡學會了捲起袖子做事的執行力，以及體會了「魔鬼總在細節裡」。2015年1月起long stay的場景轉換到了矽谷，期待將自身的台灣創業文化與矽谷氛圍交流出更多的火花。
- See more at: http://m.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=5064157#sthash.7U9eCsix.dpuf******
這是本專欄比較深點的文章，它探討舊金山/矽谷的科技新貴的事業，給當地城鎮帶
來的抗議.....
The wolves of the web
Booming technology firms are now at the centre of worries about inequality
But for many people in San Francisco this is a distinction without a difference. For months now protesters have been blockading the fleets of private buses that Google and other technology giants use to ferry their employees to and from Silicon Valley 40 miles to the south. They are particularly incensed that the buses pay almost nothing to use public stops, often blocking city buses. Protesters are also angry that an influx of well-paid geeks has pushed up property prices and rents.
This resentment turned a recent awards ceremony—the Crunchies, sponsored by a website called TechCrunch—into a festival of tech-bashing. Outside, protesters held their own mock ceremony, the Crappies, with a golden toilet brush for “tax-evader of the year” to Twitter’s boss, Dick Costolo (a reference to a legal but controversial tax break it got from City Hall). Inside, John Oliver, the comedian hosting the official awards, gave the assembled billionaires a dressing-down. “You already have almost all the money in the world,” he said. “Why do you need awards as well?” He suggested that the next iteration of Martin Scorsese’s new film, “The Wolf of Wall Street”, should be set on the West Coast with “all the money, all the opulence and about 10% of the sex”.
Last month Tom Perkins, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, compared critics of the tech elite to Nazi stormtroopers on Kristallnacht—thereby handing ammunition to those who accuse that elite, of which he is a member, of being arrogant and out of touch. Nevertheless, much of the criticism is nonsense. San Francisco has more than its fair share of professional protesters—including those who think they have a right to live in one of the world’s most desirable places even if they can’t rub two pennies together. The much-maligned private buses are providing workers with an energy- and time-efficient alternative to private cars. The much-abused tech money-tree is scattering riches on lower-paid industries too. During the gold rush, Levi Strauss made a fortune by providing the “forty-niners” with jeans. Modern-day equivalents will undoubtedly make fortunes providing geeks with organic food, “dress-pants sweat pants” (a cross between pyjamas and jeans, apparently), and, if one Kickstarter-funded venture pays off, “ten-year hoodies”, made to last a decade.
Tech titans have also suffered from backlashes before: Bill Gates was once vilified as a modern robber baron before he transformed himself into the world’s greatest philanthropist. Most people outside San Francisco still look on its tech firms with admiration, not disgust. But it would be a mistake to ignore the backlash by the bay entirely. It is being driven by two developments which will eventually reshape attitudes across the world.
The first is the end of tech-exceptionalism. Silicon Valley’s elite has always cherished its roots in the counter-culture—in the world of home-brew computer clubs, Utopian cyber-gurus and damn-the-establishment hackers. But it also had a conventional side: Hewlett-Packard may have been started in a garage but soon became a corporate behemoth; tech firms’ links to the military establishment were highlighted when Dave Packard became deputy secretary of defence in the Nixon administration. The current protests symbolise a growing recognition that tech is an industry like all others: mostly run by corporate stiffs—square pegs in square holes in Jobs’s language—and driven by the need to maximise profits. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, has become a billionaire despite not having founded the company. Apple’s success has created huge numbers of manufacturing jobs, almost all in cheaper places than the United States.
Some of the most savage criticisms of the tech industry are inspired by the contrast between its self-image as a haven of hooded nonconformists and the reality of ruthless capitalism. Valleywag, a website, pokes fun at its affection for ostentatiously wacky corporate titles: AOL has a digital prophet, Tumblr has a fashion evangelist and LinkedIn a hacker-in-residence. It also exposes the Valley’s addiction to politically correct consumption and frictionless capitalism. Tesla electric cars start at $62,000. Google Glass lets its wearers, “Glassholes”, consult the internet as they walk down the street. TaskRabbit, a website, lets geeks contract out domestic chores to the lowest bidder.
The second development is the triumph of the meritocracy. This is not to say that tech is entirely merit-based: women and non-Asian minorities are clearly under-represented. But its logic is nevertheless meritocratic: you can’t program a computer or develop an app without a high IQ and a specialised education. So the tech industry is heightening the relationship between IQ, education and reward: young tech geniuses earn many multiples of the service workers who reply to their ads on TaskRabbit.
Succeed, then secede
Robert Reich, Bill Clinton’s labour secretary and now an
academic at Berkeley, once complained about the “secession of the
successful”, as the monied elite moved into gated suburbs. But today’s
money-gorged young techies want to enjoy the perks of city life. Thus
they buy up, occupy and gentrify whole urban districts: they are
seceding in plain sight. This inevitably creates tensions as the service
class sees a parallel world being constructed before their eyes. San
Francisco has a history of anticipating cultural earthquakes, from the
hippies of the 1960s to the greenies of the 1980s. The wolves of the
world wide web should beware.
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