Tech Jumpstart for New Mexico

[John Hellier]

What is wrong with this picture: The New Mexico tech
economy?

Why is it so hard to jumpstart the tech economy? The
interest in the investment community seems to be
there. There seem to be plenty of smart people around.
So why isn't it happening.

Having worked and gone to school in Silicon Valley and
RTP and lived and worked in Seattle and Route 128, the
main strengths were strong academic institutions
coupled with significant tech anchor companies. (The
shopping mall concept)

Seattle was certainly the quickest to rise and that
took the presence of Microsoft for more than ten years
before things really took off. Having Boeing there for
decades did not foster anywhere near the kind of
growth and stability that Microsoft did. Did anyone
live in Seattle in the early 80s with the Boeing
layoffs and see the billboard, "Last one out please
turn out the lights". Could any less of a company than
Microsoft have stimulated the Seattle economy? The
examples for Silicon Valley, Route 128 and RTP to a
lesser extent, are obvious. Unfortunately, the New
Mexico labs are much more like Boeing than Microsoft.

For New Mexico, we have two huge challenges: the lack
of an anchor company(s) and a strong academic
institution.
New Mexico needs to find a company that can offer
knowledge worker positions not manufacturing
positions. Intel has already shown how automated it
can become. I believe that real growth comes from a
critical mass of knowledge workers.

I would have thought the state labs would have filled
the role of the large company but after working in a
company like Cisco and comparing it to what I see here
in the New Mexico labs, the mindset is totally
different.

Not everyone has an entrepreneur mindset at Cisco but
a lot do as is the case with many tech companies.
Working in Silicon Valley, it was truly phenomenal how
many people would leave a company like Cisco or Sun to
start their own company. The labs don't attract those
kinds of people. So relying on the labs to generate
the critical mass of knowledge workers won't work.

Throwing more money at it won't solve the problem. It
is a perception problem that New Mexico dodoesn have
the resources. A significant company like a Cisco, HP
or Microsoft needs to take a risk and open an R&D or
IT office here. One that would employ at least 1000
people. Unfortunately, the state universities couldn't
support that.

It is a classic catch-22. The large company will not
locate here because the knowledge worker base is not
sufficient and the average knowledge worker won't
relocate here until a large company has committed to
the area. Can the state convince a large company to
locate here and convince the knowledge worker that New
Mexico would be a good place to live. I hope so.

How do we jumpstart the New Mexico tech economy? We
can continue to create niche startups. But for the
tech economy to really boom, we need to heavily
support and expand the programs at UNM. Computer
Science students don't go to Stanford just because of
the academics. The action going on in the valley is
the real attraction. We need to offer creative
packages to attract knowledge workers from other
states both at the academic level and at the
employment level. We need to be ready to fund
activities that will not have a direct financial
payoff but will grow a tech environment over the long
run. We need to believe that it can happen. Silicon
Valley was all about working hard and believing it can
happen. If you add a little patience, this will work
in New Mexico too.

Thanks

John HeHellier

[Gus Koehler]

Here are some suggestions for Santa Fe:

-- National Labs need the state to force them to do technology transfer.
The policy is there, the watchdog isn't.  It takes local organizing by
local businesses demanding their local legislative member to do
something.  It doesn't hert to get a Congress person involved either. It
means jobs and increased income which equals votes.
-- An anchor company is helpful but not necessary.  The global economy
requires that local fit into global information and production networks
be they services or products.  You have services which are experotable.
Engineering and software services are a large but unmeasured portion of
the export economy. Basically, you need links to multinationals who can
use your services and a way to maintain negotiations with them.
-- High speed transportation systems are a must. Lacking an airport you
have a problem.
-- Rapid developing and funding of start-ups is critical.  This is one
of the things that give silicon valley the edge. Establish and Angel
network with a reliable start-up vetting, legal support, and other
related services organization that is linked to venture capital outside
of the state (Boston, SF, etc).
-- Use the Santa Fe Institute's global links and corporate doners to
network.
-- Establish a presence in the state capital so that you can compete for
bucks.
-- You have a core of expert knowledge workers organized into a flexible
network.  Imitate the Italian and Danish clothing and other
manufacturing industries by pulling together a central core office to
market the expertise and the products nationally, internationally, and
to the state.  It doesn't have to have a big office only a highly
motivated, dedicated entreprenure.

Gus

Gus Koehler, Ph.D.
Principal
Time Structures
1545 University Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95826
916-564-8683
Fax: [phone]
www.timestructures.com


-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On
Behalf Of John Hellier
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 10:53 AM
To: The Friday Morning Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: [FRIAM] Tech Jumpstart for New Mexico

What is wrong with this picture: The New Mexico tech
economy?

Why is it so hard to jumpstart the tech economy? The
interest in the investment community seems to be
there. There seem to be plenty of smart people around.
So why isn't it happening.

Having worked and gone to school in Silicon Valley and
RTP and lived and worked in Seattle and Route 128, the
main strengths were strong academic institutions
coupled with significant tech anchor companies. (The
shopping mall concept)

Seattle was certainly the quickest to rise and that
took the presence of Microsoft for more than ten years
before things really took off. Having Boeing there for
decades did not foster anywhere near the kind of
growth and stability that Microsoft did. Did anyone
live in Seattle in the early 80s with the Boeing
layoffs and see the billboard, "Last one out please
turn out the lights". Could any less of a company than
Microsoft have stimulated the Seattle economy? The
examples for Silicon Valley, Route 128 and RTP to a
lesser extent, are obvious. Unfortunately, the New
Mexico labs are much more like Boeing than Microsoft.

For New Mexico, we have two huge challenges: the lack
of an anchor company(s) and a strong academic
institution.
New Mexico needs to find a company that can offer
knowledge worker positions not manufacturing
positions. Intel has already shown how automated it
can become. I believe that real growth comes from a
critical mass of knowledge workers.

I would have thought the state labs would have filled
the role of the large company but after working in a
company like Cisco and comparing it to what I see here
in the New Mexico labs, the mindset is totally
different.

Not everyone has an entrepreneur mindset at Cisco but
a lot do as is the case with many tech companies.
Working in Silicon Valley, it was truly phenomenal how
many people would leave a company like Cisco or Sun to
start their own company. The labs don't attract those
kinds of people. So relying on the labs to generate
the critical mass of knowledge workers won't work.

Throwing more money at it won't solve the problem. It
is a perception problem that New Mexico dodoesn have
the resources. A significant company like a Cisco, HP
or Microsoft needs to take a risk and open an R&D or
IT office here. One that would employ at least 1000
people. Unfortunately, the state universities couldn't
support that.

It is a classic catch-22. The large company will not
locate here because the knowledge worker base is not
sufficient and the average knowledge worker won't
relocate here until a large company has committed to
the area. Can the state convince a large company to
locate here and convince the knowledge worker that New
Mexico would be a good place to live. I hope so.

How do we jumpstart the New Mexico tech economy? We
can continue to create niche startups. But for the
tech economy to really boom, we need to heavily
support and expand the programs at UNM. Computer
Science students don't go to Stanford just because of
the academics. The action going on in the valley is
the real attraction. We need to offer creative
packages to attract knowledge workers from other
states both at the academic level and at the
employment level. We need to be ready to fund
activities that will not have a direct financial
payoff but will grow a tech environment over the long
run. We need to believe that it can happen. Silicon
Valley was all about working hard and believing it can
happen. If you add a little patience, this will work
in New Mexico too.

Thanks

John HeHellier

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