 REPORT OUTLINES CONTRIBUTIONS OF ASIAN IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SILICON VALLEY
Chinese and Indian immigrants have founded one-quarter of the high-tech business started in Silicon Valley since 1980, according to a study by University of California-Berkeley professor Anna Lee Saxenian. The 2775 Silicon Valley companies run by immigrants had total sales of $ 16.8 billion in 1998, and employed almost 60,000 people.
Professor Saxenian cites the increasing recognition of immigrants’ managerial capabilities as one factor leading to the current success of their businesses. Whereas during the 1980s it was difficult for foreign born entrepreneurs to obtain financing from US sources, the 1990s have seen increased willingness to invest venture capital in immigrant-run business. According to Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Inc., there is today a sort of reverse discrimination, where “people almost assume that if you’re Indian or Chinese you’re smarter.”
According to the report, one definite benefit of more high-tech companies being owned by foreign-born individuals is the strengthened ties it creates with the international community. As the high-tech industry turns to international workers to fill its needs, connections between employers and foreign countries will help ensure the best available workers are employed in the US. The study is available online at http://www.ppic.org/#ppic120.
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