Is China building up its own Silicon Valley?
Will this new HotSpot also pull in new talent?
Silicon Valley and China continue to be the magnets for talent.
Though if you are Chinese-born, China is becoming the sexier draw.
News that China venture capital firm Northern Light Partners raised $88 million for its first fund, according to Venturewire (sub required), caught our eye because of all the entrepreneurs who once worked here in Silicon Valley but who are heading to China to work for the firm as venture capitalists.
But look at the names:
Founding managing partners Yang Ke and Feng Deng previously co-founded Internet security firm NetScreen Technologies, a local Silicon Valley success story (sold to Juniper for big bucks). Other members of the investment team include Datong Chen, founder of OmniVision and Spreadtrum Communications, both Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale) companies, and finally Victor Tsao, co-founder of Linksys, which was bought by Cisco (Tsao recently left the San Jose company). Is there anyone staying behind in Silicon Valley these days? [Update: We’ve just heard from Cisco, and they say the VentureWire story may have overplayed Tsao’s involvement. He is merely a limited partner in Northern Light, and working for Cisco in China! Update II: Northern Light has also weighed in, “Our inaugural fund’s committed capital is $120 million, not $88 million. The posting by venturewire probably only reflected their search of regulatory filings for our most recent institutional closing. Victor Tsao is a special Limited Partner, and at this point in time, Northern Light does not involve him in anything that could be a conflict for his current responsibilities at Cisco.”]