From Silicon Alley to Silicon Surf
By: Donna Nairi
Tags: Orange County, Silicon Beach, Silicon Surf, Silicon Alley, Silicon Valley

I was a wee girl in Scotland — 10 years old — when a challenger telco brand swept the country with its catchy but tantalizingly obscure slogan; “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange”. Orange was a rebranded cell-phone system, Microtel, owned by Hutchison. Orange was the color of cutting-edge optimism, better technology, innovative phones and — vital for Scots — better value. The company’s enigmatic, forward looking message captured a nation’s imagination.

Now, not such a wee girl, I live in Orange County (OC). I am the founder of a financial services company, that develops thematic investment strategies. I moved here from New York only two weeks ago, because I want to catch OC’s wave of cutting-edge financial services and technology development.

Initial impressions? OC is pilloried by envious competitors as granny and grandad land. When I told my friends from various cities around the world that I was leaving New York City for OC I met with remarks like; “That’s where people go to retire”, “Are you sure you want to move there? You’ll be back in no time”; “Yeah, most places around LA are great, but Orange County?”

Dead wrong. Orange County is dynamic, tech savvy, vibrant, and youthful. If physical youth isn’t on your side here, a youthful spirit is. How are those demographically “youthful” county neighbors doing anyway?

The gross Regional Output (GRP) per person of OC is $91,894. Los Angeles $70,727; San Diego $70,420; San Bernardino $40,295. Employment per square mile? 2,258, compared with 1,258 in LA. (Unfair to make comparisons with San Diego and San Bernardino on the square mile test!) So, why the stereotype?

My point is, Orange County may have an aging population profile, but it remains a humming engine of economic growth — and needs to shout that from the rooftops as competitor counties attempt to lure high growth technology start-ups away.

I spoke to former mayor and Newport Beach council member, Kevin Muldoon, about the subject. Muldoon said “Orange County is a natural fit for tech companies looking for a professional labor pool and a more relaxed coastal environment.”

With COVID rampant, many New Yorkers are leaving the Big Apple. I chose OC. As far back as 1976 Veteran LA Times columnist, Jack Clifford Smith, attempted to hijack the Orange brand, labelling LA “The Big Orange”; “What is Los Angeles? The Big Apple it isn’t. And to understand Los Angeles, you have to know that it doesn’t want to be the Big Apple, and never did. It only wants to be the Big Orange.”

Maybe Jack Smith had in mind a laid back, sun-kissed farming industry LA mindset. Diametric opposite for OC; dynamic, tech savvy, vibrant. Is it time to introduce a complimentary brand to capture OC’s true spirit?

I asked my partners, Walter Cruttenden and Michael Gleason — founders of some of OC’s greatest technology companies — and they agreed, OC is a technology hub of America. They pointed to other great tech companies founded here. Oculus VR, Activision Blizzard, Acorns, Disney, Broadcom, BLAST.com, ATM.com — and many more.

It is time to step up, for OC to strike back, reclaim its true identity. San Francisco has Silicon Valley, LA, Silicon Beach, Scotland, Silicon Glen and NYC Flatiron’s Silicon Alley. There’s even a Silicon Mountain in Cameroon. OC deserves its own Silicon stamp. We thought long and hard about it. OC has surfers, and they build technology companies. Silicon Surf it has to be!

Quarantine has been the best PR that areas outside of New York City — Los Angeles, and San Francisco — could have asked for. New Yorkers who had never given a second thought to moving out have been (and still are) heading either back home with mom and pop, or to hip ‘burb areas like Jackson, Wyoming — and, potentially, Silicon Surf!

Many workers have been told they are unlikely to return to their office anytime soon. Companies forced to revise fixed operating costs will result in permanent home working, soon to be the new normal. So, do we really need to live in big cities like New York?

Is OC on the up and up as a permanent new home for COVID-refugees? Ensure an elevated image and it will be. An influx of youthful talent from across the USA can help take OC’s economy to the next stage. Silicon Surf’s up!