An entrepreneur whose business operated out of cities such as London and New York has revealed the best place in the world to start a new firm is Silicon Valley.
In 2016, Amber Atherton, 33, launched her startup, Zyper, in London, where she spent a year raising seed money and building up a base of customers.
During this time, Atherton and her colleagues were also designing software that helped brands connect with loyal fans.
While the UK was a great place for recruiting smart talent, it proved a difficult environment in which to scale a company ‘that isn’t fintech or rooted in academia.’
Amber Atherton, 33, said that the best place in the world to start a new business is Silicon Valley, calling it ‘unparalleled as a place to focus.’
‘I feel truly at home in California,’ Atherton said. ‘While I’ve loved living in London and NYC, the Bay Area has something special. The Valley is unparalleled as a place to focus, build, and invest in the future.’
Atherton, who grew up splitting her time between Hong Kong and England, said that the UK’s market size wasn’t large enough.
‘The VC and funding ecosystem is bigger in the US, particularly in Silicon Valley’ she told Business Insider.
‘Plus there’s a large exceptional talent pool, so there’s a quicker trajectory from raising a pre-seed round to hiring the people you need to reach milestones.’
Atherton also observed that there’s more of a penchant for risky undertakings in the US.
‘There’s…a cultural appetite for risk in the US that isn’t as strong in the UK. The very DNA of America is the American dream,’ she said, before again emphasizing the unique charm of Silicon Valley.
‘Particularly in the Valley, there’s a propensity for very quickly backing ‘zero-to-one ideas’ and creating something entirely new,’ she explained to Business Insider.
Atherton, who grew up splitting her time between Hong Kong and England, said that the UK’s market size wasn’t large enough
While the UK was a great place for recruiting smart talent, it proved a difficult environment in which to scale a company ‘that isn’t fintech or rooted in academia.’
In 2017, Atherton uprooted Zyper after being accepted into Y Combinator, a famed accelerator program for startup founders.
She settled in Palo Alto with a few colleagues from her company and was struck by ‘how suburban Palo Alto was.’
At the Y Combinator, the entrepreneur said she found a ‘supportive and competitive environment,’ which featured ‘regular coaching, office hours with partners…and inspiring guest speakers.’
Michael Seibel, the managing director of the accelerator, urged members to remain in the Bay Area after the program was over, drawing attention to its ‘ecosystem and talent.’
Although Atherton considered his advice, in 2018, she decided to move her company to New York, where she could be ‘closer in time zone to the UK.’
‘It was tough going from Palo Alto, a hyper-focused environment, to a 24/7 city with a hundred million things to do,’ she admitted to Business Insider.
In 2018, Atherton decided to move her company to New York, where she could be ‘closer in time zone to the UK.’
In New York, the young entrepreneur found herself confronted with myriad distractions.
‘There’s so much stimulation in the city- theatre, art, museums. I remember being distracted by the endless opportunities to attend parties and dinners,’ she said.
This marked a sharp contrast with San Francisco, ‘where everyone’s always talking about building businesses, and it’s easier to meet investors and potential hires.’
Atherton conceded that New York offers a ‘great founder talent pool and ecosystem, particularly in crypto and AI.’
‘If you want to be laser-focused without distractions, you can’t beat the Bay Area,’ the young entrepreneur said
She further noted that she ‘knows founders in New York who have no problem dealing with the pace and distractions,’ and that ‘after the Bay Area, New York is the next-best market to invest in.’
‘But if you want to be laser-focused without distractions, you can’t beat the Bay Area. About a year into my time in New York, I realized we should probably move back,’ she told Business Insider.
At the end of 2019, right before the pandemic, Zyper closed its New York and London offices and relocated to San Francisco.
‘I feel truly at home in California,’ Atherton said. ‘While I’ve loved living in London and NYC, the Bay Area has something special. The Valley is unparalleled as a place to focus, build, and invest in the future.’
For Atherton, her only concern about the area is the ‘politics getting in the way.’
‘I think there’s something very special about the ecosystem and history of Silicon Valley. The largest software companies were built here,’ Atherton said
While she recognized that it was smart to have an ‘independent body regulating AI for consumer protection,’ the Zyper founder said that ‘if politicians overregulate or overtax the way AI is working, it might slow down technological advancement.’
In 2020, Zyper was acquired by Discord, where Atherton worked for two years before joining a venture capital firm as a partner.
‘I think there’s something very special about the ecosystem and history of Silicon Valley. The largest software companies were built here,’ she said.
Atherton added: ‘The next Silicon Valley is Silicon Valley.’
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