John Boudreau
HONG KONG - Four years ago, Chuck Cheng left Palo Alto to launch a computer chip design company in this city known more for financial acumen than tech prowess.
He was lured by the Hong Kong government’s generous incentives, such as subsidized rent in a new science and technology park, and strong intellectual-property laws. Then there were dream logistics: His company is a day trip from mainland China’s Pearl River Delta, the world’s factory for everything from iPods to personal computers.
But for all its advantages Hong Kong, like much of the rest of the world, is Silicon Valley 1.0. The city lacks the Bay Area’s secret sauce - which includes an abundance of high-end engineers, quick access to world-class universities, vast networks of tech and market visionaries, and high-rolling venture capitalists.
“When you talk with the local venture capitalists in Hong Kong and China, all they care about is making a lot of money in a short period. But how can you innovate, how can you take risks?” said Cheng, who in the end launched his 10-employee start-up, AppoTech, with $1 million of his own money.
Nonetheless, Hong Kong and many other corners of Asia are betting billions of dollars to become incubators of innovation.
China has 56 official - and countless unofficial - technology parks, and President Hu Jintao regularly calls for “independent innovation.”
