The risk here is that US officials will fail to appreciate that technology success almost always requires success on a global scale. The economics of information technology turn on spreading R&D and infrastructure costs over the largest number of users possible. This is what drives down prices and creates the network effects needed to turn new applications into market leaders. As LinkedIn cofounder (and Microsoft board member) Reid Hoffman has shown, the ability to “blitzscale” quickly to global leadership is fundamental to technology success.20 But it’s impossible to pursue global leadership
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