It Started With a Jolt: How New York Became a Tech Town
One of the biggest lessons I&#x27;ve taken from New York&#x27;s approach is not to try and be the next Silicon Valley (as every community is trying to be). You can&#x27;t beat the Valley at its own game. That&#x27;s foolish.<p>Instead, look to what industries your community has long been successful in, and develop the tech to disrupt those industries before the Valley does.<p>NYC&#x27;s example was to focus tech on advertising, finance, and media -- the industries it has long dominated.<p>I&#x27;m from a small mining city in Canada (Sudbury, Ontario). I see the same desperate hope to become a tech center. But the best startups are the ones focused on areas where our community has traditionally held a significant leadership position: mining.<p>One such startup, and arguable our most successful one, is Minalytix. They develop software for analyzing mining and exploration data.<p>Another is Symboticware, which creates hardware and software to gather real-time data from machines on the ground and analyzing it back at the office.<p>Jannatec is focused on solving the challenges of getting quality wireless data in and out of complex underground mines (those many kilometers of hardrock don&#x27;t exactly make it easy).<p>TesMan is focused on mine safety. Dura21 works on better pipes. Hard-Line is tackling robotics. ClickMox does lidar. There are many others.<p>These are small but thriving startups. They&#x27;re not sexy. They&#x27;re not likely to be the next Facebook or Google. But they&#x27;re solving problems our community has long established itself as being experts at solving. It&#x27;s also transforming our economy from one being tied to a dwindling resource (easily accessible ore), to one that leads in mining operations around the world.<p>A lot of towns want to be the next SV. It&#x27;s not going to happen. Trying to be SV is to live in denial about what made SV successful in the first place.<p>But tackling a smaller niche in the wider tech space? Building on the resources, expertise, and reputation you already have? That&#x27;s a very doable approach and the field is wide open.