Interesting - and slightly disheartening - outlook about Liverpool's lack of "tech startups". Do you think it's down to the lack of "startup" type people, or is it just a momentum thing? Or maybe venture capitalism, and lack of? As I understand it Liverpool has a rich history of entrepreneurialism, but I suppose in more traditional industries.

I agree about the labelling of anything to do with computers - when all techie stuff gets lumped together, it automatically reduces them to the same level of excitement as your local IT support desk - not great for generating excitement and inspiration!

So what is it that silicon valley so do so well?

"Creative & Digital" is a virus not simply restricted to the NW… it's certainly a British thing.

I forbid people around me from using the term as it conflates high-growth invention with service agencies. Generally, when people start droning on about 'digital' in the UK, they're really talking about marketing.

The UKTI's ambassador to Silicon Valley met with a bunch of Leeds officials recently and I was asked to join the discussion. She rolled her eyes at the mention of the "CDI" sector, we chuckled and I suggested we talk about startups instead, the companies she really wanted to know about :)

Paul, I think a lot of it is not realising there's a difference. The media industry has expanded into the area and there haven't been enough tech startups to offer the alternative. However, I think that's starting to change, and will do more when people like yourself get more established :-)

Imran, I'm not sure if it being a British thing is good or bad :-) It's probably not helped by London having a strong media sector who have shaped the debate. Maybe it's another instance of the US benefiting because it's too big for one city to dominate. However, Cambridge shows that it is possible to get past that in the UK, so there's hope for us yet ;-)