Silicon Valleyâs Meh Middle We miss out when we ignore the companies that are neither clear winners nor flat-out disasters. Credit...Sally Thurer This article is part of the to receive it weekdays. The Silicon Valley myth doesnât leave much room for companies that are neither raging successes nor spectacular flameouts. But to fully understand the tech industry and ensure that its goals donât go off the rails, we need to talk more about the companies that are in the meh middle. You probably know the myth Iâm referring to. There are wild stories of companies that started from almost nothing and grew up to become Apple, Facebook or Uber. Then there are the horror stories of start-ups that burned bright and spectacularly flopped like the first iteration of the office rental start-up WeWork and the blood testing company Theranos.