Cambridge - the Silicon Vally of Herrman Hauser

Cambridge - the Silicon Valley of Europe.

Who would have thought that this picturesque little university town in England would be home to 1450 high-tech companies? Almost unnoticed, Cambridge has developed into the high-tech metropolis of Europe with almost 40,000 employees in the high-tech sector. Since the early 1980's, when IT companies like Sinclair and Acorn introduced predecessors to today's PCs, progress in the region has been unstoppable. Although many of those early IT companies are long gone, former Acorn employees alone have started 30 new companies. One of these companies, Arm, produces more chips than Intel and is used in more than 70% of all cell phones.

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A leading digital pioneer in Europe

Like me, Hermann Haus grew up in Tyrol. After studying physics in Vienna, he did his doctorate in Cambridge, England. In 1978 he founded one of the first home computer companies Icon. The Mini was distributed by BBC and used in many schools in the UK. The company was sold to Olivetti for a reported £2 billion.

In 1990, Hauser co-founded a spinoff with colleagues and Apple, which used the computer in its Newton PDA. Today, Arn is Intel's big brother. What could you say anywhere that doesn't say Intel Insight on it is Arm inside. Almost everyone on earth has several chips from Arm in their smartphone. Without the contribution of Hermann Hauser the mobile radio revolution would not have been possible.

In 2016, arm was sold for $31 billion to Japan's Software Inc. When I asked why he is sold his favorite child, Hermann said: the price just not so good.

Visit to Cambridge

I have known Hermann Hauser since 2002, when some colleagues and I were invited to Cambridge. It was then that I first realized the potential of the startup world. If Hermann Hauser invests in 10 startups with his investment vehicle Amadeus Kapitel Partner, he expects six of them to fail. Two would be moderately successful. But only two of the investments would recoup the capital and can be reinvested.

Startups, it has become clear to me, is not just a normal company foundation. Startups only deserve this name when the risk is overwhelming, but so are the opportunities. It was ten years after this conversation that I was to have my first opportunity to found a real startup of my own, and to drive it brilliantly to the wall.

Cambridge as the Silicon Valley of Europe

Olivetti was overwhelmed with its acquisition at the time. The company failed. What remained were employees with such high qualifications and such extraordinary specialized knowledge that they would not have found employment anywhere else in the world. So they did what any self-responsible person would do in this situation: they founded their own companies.

When Hermann Hauser founded his first startup with a seed capital of £100 in a Cambridge garage, he could not have foreseen that 30 years later, half of the 1600 high-tech companies in the region would be based on him and former employees.

How can a region become so successful?

According to Hermann Hauser, two important framework conditions brought about the successful emergence of a significant number of successful high-tech companies in a region. First, first-class education and research facilities are needed as a breeding ground for ideas.

Then it depends on the fact that the young inventors on genuine market-economical know-how in the certain extent on financial means can access. Experienced entrepreneurs, so-called business recruiters, who help young companies with their own capital are much more suitable here than any well-intentioned advice and fair action by the public sector.

"How are we ever going to catch up to the lead in Cambridge drive has? " to my question, Herrmann replies, "by making the right decisions now to be there in 30 years." That was 20 years ago now. As you can see today, the right decisions have not been made.