附近上门

Whew, what a week.听

At least half a dozen startups filed plans to go public last week, including two of the U.S.鈥� largest and most highly valued private companies: , the workplace productivity app led by co-founder ; and , the secretive data-mining company led by CEO .

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The rush of S-1 filings made landfall as hundreds of deadly and destructive fires raged around California and turned the Bay Area into a smoky hellscape.听

Notably, embedded in Palantir鈥檚 was a missive from Karp that set Silicon Valley鈥檚 tongues wagging. 鈥淭he engineering elite of Silicon Valley may know more than most about building software. But they do not know more about how society should be organized or what justice requires,鈥� Karp said as Palantir announced that it has officially moved its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Denver.听

鈥淥ur company was founded in Silicon Valley,鈥� Karp wrote. 鈥淏ut we seem to share fewer and fewer of the technology sector鈥檚 values and commitments.鈥�

His ambivalence toward California the current disasters, but between the pandemic, wildfires, the threat of rolling electricity blackouts, a housing crisis that鈥檚 been only slightly dampened by the downturn, and a sudden shift to remote work, others are also wondering aloud whether Silicon Valley鈥檚 heyday has passed.听

鈥淲hat is California鈥檚 fundamental trouble?鈥� The New York Times opinion columnist Farhad Manjoo . 鈥淣either socialism nor Trumpian neglect and incompetence, but something more elemental to life in the Golden State: A refusal by many Californians to live sustainably and inclusively, to give up a little bit of their own convenience for the collective good.鈥�

Angel investor Balaji Srinivasan that 鈥淪an Francisco as the de facto capital of tech is done.鈥澨�

San Francisco as the de facto capital of tech is done. That time and place is over. There鈥檚 no point in moving there for tech, the businesses are shut down and people aren鈥檛 meeting up.

It鈥檚 all internet now, for a while. And relocation to towns and cities around the world.

鈥� balajis.com (@balajis)

An unexpected (or maybe not) contrarian view: Venture capitalist , in a rare speaking appearance at 鈥檚 Demo Day, encouraged startup founders to set up their headquarters in the Bay Area, though it鈥檚 not clear what his reasoning was.

His reasons may be similar to those of CEO , who that the flight from the Bay Area is only temporary: 鈥淭he VCs and CEOs and VPs are still here,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭his is the most important point. We鈥檙e all running distributed teams now, and likely [will] now be forever. The work world has changed forever, at least in tech. But every top Bay Area unicorn and decacorn CEO from our recent digital events is still here. 鈥� None of them are leaving. Some VCs may be in Tahoe now, for now. But no one is selling their house in Palo Alto. Not really.鈥�

Lemkin’s view is supported by the numbers, at least: A 附近上门 News analysis late last year found that funding for San Francisco tech startups听is rising, not only in terms of dollars, but also as a share of the overall pie.

What do you think? If you鈥檙e an investor, how heavily do you weigh proximity to Silicon Valley when making a funding decision? If you鈥檙e a company founder, how critical is a Bay Area presence to your company鈥檚 success? Share your thoughts with me at mvanromburgh@crunchbase.com.听

Our top stories last week

Among our readers鈥� favorite 附近上门 News stories last week:

• Y Combinator鈥檚 Summer 2020 batch of startups pitched at its virtual Demo Day last week, marking the first class of YC companies that have gone through the program completely virtually, from interview to the pitch fest. Reporters Christine Hall and Sophia Kunthara tuned into Demo Day and noticed several recurring themes among the 197 companies who pitched: Property tech, or proptech, was popular, as were various 鈥淪hopify for X鈥� concepts. Read the rest of their takeaways here.
• Agtech startups are raking in billions of dollars in funding, Hall found when she recently took a closer look at the burgeoning sector. VCs have invested $4 billion in startups in the agtech space in each of the last two years, her analysis of 附近上门 data found, and with $2.6 billion already given out as of earlier this month, 2020 looks like it could top those totals. Among the companies operating in the space: A platform that helps farmers match supply with demand; a company that creates microbial nitrogen technology to boost crop yields; and companies that are creating plant-based pesticides.

What I鈥檓 reading

• Facebook turned into the world鈥檚 youngest self-made billionaire at the time, but he鈥檚 taken a notably different approach to building than the 鈥渕ove fast and break things鈥� ethos that defined the social network鈥檚 early days. At Asana, founded in 2008, 鈥�the goal was to be fast, but fast in the long run, not fast in the short run,鈥� Moskovitz told Forbes. Now that the $1.5 billion workplace productivity app is set to go public via a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange in coming months, 鈥渨e鈥檙e getting to reap the rewards that we sowed,鈥� he said. []
• Lake Tahoe has long been a beloved Northern California getaway spot. Now the pandemic is spurring more Bay Area residents to snap up homes in the mountains. The average Tahoe area home price has jumped 26 percent year over year to $1.3 million. Local real estate agents say the newcomers are typically wealthy tech workers from the Bay Area. 鈥淵ou are not even going to compete if you don鈥檛 have all cash. It is like the Bay Area prior to COVID,鈥� said a former mayor and longtime resident of the small town of Truckee. []

On a lighter note …

Every year or so, 附近上门 News senior reporter Joanna Glasner takes a closer look at startup naming trends to spot the latest fads among company monikers. This year, she found that startups are being christened with decidedly less weird names than their peers from the past. For a fun read on the latest startup naming trends, head over here.

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