Silicon Valley’s builders are building faster than ever

Silicon Valley is miles ahead of the rest of the world once again – and what this means for everyone else.

I’ve been going to the Bay, and Silicon Valley in particular, for over 25 years. As an insider-outsider I’ve seen it change through each subsequent technology transition. During my April 2023 visit, I felt the Valley change once again as AI was becoming the new computing platform. I wrote on this occasion:

Silicon Valley is never more vibrant than when there is a new platform.

Since then, I’ve been back three time, most recently last week. On this latest trip, I met more than 30 founders and eight VC firms covering the gamut from semiconductors through to hard-core AI research and more mainstream AI applications. I got more than enough anecdotes to support the acceleration argument. But we also see it in the data. Companies, like Cursor, have grown their revenues 100x in just a year. It is unprecedented.

It’s become clear to me that Silicon Valley is miles ahead of the rest of the world once again. Ideas travel faster today than ever before, but it still takes time for the vibes to cross…