EMC's Tucci On Why Boston Plays 'Second Fiddle' To Silicon Valley

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The Boston metropolitan area is home to 54 colleges and universities, including juggernauts Harvard and MIT, as well as a vibrant startup and investment scene. However, Massachusetts-based EMC CEO Joseph Tucci said, Boston still loses much of its talent to Silicon Valley.

"In our field, IT, we’re at best second fiddle to Silicon Valley," Tucci said of Boston.

Tucci cited biotechnology as a bright spot for the area, but said Boston faces challenges in growing its tech scene to match that of the West Coast.

"Kids love to come to school in Boston. We’ve got, arguably, per pound, the best schools in a geographical area in the world, and kids are crying to come here and we are a talent magnet. We have the ability to develop that talent," he said.

However, Tucci said, the "more aggressive" venture capital scene in Silicon Valley takes talent away from the Northeast.

"We’re more conservative in nature. You know, on the West Coast, someone does a startup and they fail miserably, that’s kind of a badge of honor," he said.

"Whereas in Boston, you fail, and you’ve got to go in the penalty box for a long, long time. So there’s cultural differences."

Finally, there’s one aspect that Silicon Valley will always have as an advantage over the Northeast.

"And then of course they do have weather, you’ve got to give them the weather," Tucci said.

PUBLISHED NOV. 23, 2015