Less and less tech-savvy talents are dreaming of Silicon Valley anymore, as they pursue newer and more exciting technologies.
To analyze the change that is currently going on, Business Insider took it upon themselves to ask why this is happening by asking recruiters, and putting together a piece called “Silicon Valley is no longer the edgy tech frontier as workers flee Google and Amazon for crypto and Web3 startups, recruiters say.” The article indicates “that’s largely because people want to work on what is most exciting in technology, recruiters said. Right now, that’s crypto and Web3. With a scarcity of engineers focused on the space, it’ll likely also pay off to take the risk and get in early.”
As a result, the cryptocurrency industry is regarded as more interesting, with a good risk/reward ratio.
Scott Fletcher of Intersection Growth Partners is quoted in the piece, and he provides a general idea of the dynamic shifts at Silicon Valley: “we are unquestionably seeing some of the best and brightest of Silicon Valley, or tech, move over to crypto. I’ve been at this a long time, I’ve never seen a change happen this quickly.” He also tells why this is happening, by confirming that “to start at someplace that’s fresh, that is — by its ethos — trying to empower the individual as opposed to the centralized corporation is appealing.”
The CEO of HackerRank, Vivek Ravisankar said that developers are always after exciting new technologies. Taking a different approach, Alex Zakupowsky from Artisanal Talent says the following: “Coinbase, in my view, was really the first one to get some very big hires from places like Google and LinkedIn and Lyft. And now you’re seeing some very former senior people at the Ubers and Amazons and Pinterests and Atlassians and SpaceXs that have jumped into this, and they’re going to be recruiting from their networks.”
Intersection Growth Partners’ Kelsey Begin had a similar opinion, by positing that “at the beginning of the Web2 cycle, you saw a lot of the same types of people who are attracted to crypto now gravitate to these big tech companies because it was something new and innovative and really exciting.”
In a nutshell, talented tech enthusiasts are leaving Silicon Valley for crypto to get their hands on new technologies which can be self-empowering and exciting. There is a momentum of huge recruitments as crypto companies rise. Network effects and gravitation towards high-risk industries are key players in swaying the engineers to seek out new thrills on crypto and Web3.
Nowadays people go where the money goes, and risk-seeking behavior is a prerequisite in the eyes of some as far as cryptocurrencies are concerned. However, the ideological motivations are definitely the most persuasive of the bunch. This is a technology that has the potential to aid millions of people who were unable to access banking services before. It is a technology that favors the simple person, and it is quite remarkable.
Whatever the case may be, there is one undeniable fact – technology engineers are shifting industries and this movement has no intention of lagging or stopping for that matter. The question is will crypto be the gift that keeps on giving? While the wrong decision can do damage, the right one can make enthusiasts reach for the stars. Only time will tell which one prevails.