Google's Varian: Search scale is 'bogus'

I like Varian's discussion of this pair of anecdotes he thinks of in answer to a question:

"Q: Is innovation in the Valley as high as it was 10 years ago?"

"Varian: I'll tell you an angle that I think is different from 10 years ago, and that's what I call the micro-multinational.

"One day I bumped into a friend of mine, and asked what she was up to. She said, I've got a company. And I said tell me about it, and she said there are 12 people, three in New Delhi, two in Mountain View, and there's somebody in Spain.

"And then two days later I ran into another guy, and he said I've got a company, and there are four people in Italy, two people in the Czech Republic, one in Spain, and three in San Francisco. And I said, whoa, what is this? A trend! It's two of them!"

He goes on to discuss why this trend is happening and what it may mean for the Valley.