双语阅读｜硅滩：洛杉矶成为美国创业重地
HOLLYWOOD has produced plenty of films about underdogs rising to claim the limelight. Now Los Angeles is experiencing its own real-life Cinderella story, as the area’s technology scene has been transformed from backwater to boomtown in just a few years. Hordes of venture capitalists from northern California, once long dismissive of their southern neighbour, now regularly commute in search of deals in a less heavily hunted spot than the Bay Area. In 2016 the city’s startups received around $3bn in funding, around six times more than in 2012, according to CB Insights, a research firm.
好莱坞拍摄众多失败者“逆袭”为题材的影片。如今，洛杉矶自己正上演着一场自身的现实版灰姑娘的童话故事——在短短几年间，该地区完成了从技术荒村到科技重镇的转变。如今大批来自北加利福尼亚的风险投资家们一改往日对这个南部邻居的轻视，定期穿梭于两地之间，在这个还未及旧金山湾区那样深度挖掘的地区寻求投资机会。据市场研究机构CB Insights 估算，2016年，洛杉矶初创企业共获投资约30亿美元，较2012年的总额多出近6倍。
Evan Spiegel went to Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley, but he wanted to live and work close to the sea. So he based his new company one block from the Pacific in Venice Beach, which is better known in Los Angeles for its silicone-enhanced bodies than the silicon chips that gave the Valley its name. Mr Spiegel’s firm, Snap, is best known for its ephemeral Snapchat social-media messages and is now valued at a whopping $18bn. Other successful technology firms are thriving nearby, including Dollar Shave Club, an e-commerce firm recently sold to Unilever for $1bn; Ring, a “smart” doorbell company, and Riot Games, maker of “League of Legends”, a popular online multiplayer contest.
埃文斯皮格尔（Evan Spiegel）曾就读于地处硅谷中心地带的斯坦福大学，但他想在海边生活和工作。因此，他将新公司的总部设于距太平洋仅一区之隔的威尼斯海滩。在洛杉矶，比起让硅谷得名的硅芯片，这片海滩更以硅树脂加工部件而闻名。斯皮尔格的公司Snap因其开发的“阅后即焚”社交媒体应用Snapchat而广为人知，目前估值高达180亿美元。其它一些成功的科技公司也同样活跃在这片区域附近，包括近期联合利华以10亿美元收购的男性护肤品电商Dollar Shave Club，智能门铃公司Ring以及目前流行的网游《英雄联盟》（League of Legends）制作公司Riot Games。
Los Angeles is now the third-most-prominent outpost for startups in America, after San Francisco and New York. It has several advantages, including good universities, warm weather, a relaxed culture, proximity to San Francisco and much lower costs. Michael Schneider, the boss of Service, a customer-relations startup, reckons he would need to have raised at least 40% more money if based in San Francisco, “just to pay for the same space and people”.
洛杉矶目前被评为全美第三大创业社区，仅次于旧金山和纽约。洛杉矶具备多项优势：气候温和，优质大学集聚，文化十分休闲，临近旧金山，同时成本更加低。客户关系初创企业Service的老板迈克尔·施内德（Michael Schneider）认为，如果将公司建在旧金山，同样的场地和雇员将会多耗费至少40%的费用。
Although Los Angeles has fewer experienced engineers, those that are there tend to be more loyal, not least because there are fewer firms out to poach them. Startups can convince people to move. Ophir Tanz of GumGum, an advertising startup, says he has recruited several employees looking for a more balanced life away from cities like New York and San Francisco.
虽然洛杉矶没有那么多经验丰富的工程师，但是，现有的工程师们却更显得加忠诚，一个重要原因是这里“挖墙脚”的公司较少。初创企业能够促使人们迁居。广告创业公司GumGum的Ophir Tanz称，公司目前招收了一些希望在纽约和旧金山等城市之外寻求更加平衡的生活的员工。
Los Angeles may at last be getting the attention it deserves. “The original monetisation of the internet was created here, not Silicon Valley,” says Mark Suster, a venture capitalist with Upfront Ventures, referring to pioneers such as Applied Semantics, bought by Google. But for Los Angeles to establish itself as an enduring place for startups, it needs Snapchat to continue to thrive and go public, which could happen as soon as next year.
洛杉矶最终或将得到它应得的关注。Upfront Ventures公司的风险投资人马克苏斯特（Mark Suster）认为，最初的互联网盈利模式创建于洛杉矶而并非硅谷。这里他所提及的创业先驱是指Google收购的Applied Semantics。不过，对洛杉矶来说，要想持续地吸引初创公司，就需要Snapchat继续保持兴旺且公开上市，而这最快有望于明年实现。
编译：郝小涵
审校：方垚
编辑：翻吧君
英文来源：经济学人
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