A new world, version 3.0

I recently took a two-week study trip to the United States, the first week being spent in the Los Angeles, CA area, more specifically in the city of Irvine. Around the local universities, several Research Parks are organized, which are nothing more than a collection of buildings housing "start-ups" or small technology companies. Many are linked to the university world, with professors from internationally renowned institutions setting up their own businesses based on innovative ideas.

It is interesting that the university there faces the same challenge as here in Brazil: how to pave the way for the industrialization of academic ideas? The answer, in fact, is similar, even on a smaller scale, than in Pernambuco, through Research Parks, structures such as CIM and Cesar, which represent the first link in the chain for commercialization and industrialization.

If the first week was already full of learning, the second was even better, in Silicon Valley, near San Francisco. You enter another world, a separate and self-sufficient ecosystem, with even cramped spaces, where technology and innovation reign. It's the informal world, where even the best lawyers in the country receive you without a tie and in jeans.

It's a closed ecosystem, therefore, and a complete ecosystem as well, where all local actors are closely interconnected. I visited all kinds of technology companies, large ones like Google, but also medium-sized ones and, logically, the famous startups. I met with funders, the Venture Capitalists, who provide the necessary funds for companies with the best development prospects. There are also the large law firms specializing in mergers and acquisitions, which not only draft contracts and structure financial agreements, but also monitor and support the various stages of negotiations and help their clients find investment opportunities.

The idea of ​​cross-functionality, of partnership, dominates Silicon Valley. An Apple doesn't produce all the parts for its products. It's more like a car manufacturer, a Volkswagen of the 21st century, outsourcing the design, the software development, the screen production, and retaining only the Intellectual Property (the intelligence) and the brand (marketing, making it known).

Just like in Brazil, these companies are experiencing a shortage of qualified labor. In Silicon Valley, the fact is even more glaring: in the old industrial world, a company's assets were its machines, while in technology and innovation companies, the assets are the IQ of the employees and their willingness to create and innovate. To retain the best and attract new talent, Google is defining a new company philosophy, with new work environments. For example, the company's internal restaurants are considered among the best in the region, and employees arrive earlier to have breakfast at the company instead of at home.

Today, there are 15.000 employees at Google. Police or security problems? They don't exist, they explained to me, because to join and stay at the company, you need to integrate into its culture: to be "Googly." And "Googly" people don't do anything that could harm the community.

Creating a particularly welcoming and exclusive community isn't enough to attract and retain talent. Google aims to double, or even triple, its workforce to keep pace with the company's growth. They're considering anchoring a cruise ship at the edge of international waters off San Francisco and housing foreign talent without requiring work visas. These employees could regularly spend three months ashore with a simple tourist visa, then return on board.

Truly, a new world is being born!

Jean-Jacques Gaudiot is an international consultant and partner at EZreport.