The difference is that silicon valley got billions in government grants to kickstart their industry so they bould buy licenses and pay huge teams of engineers and designers whose job it is to make something marketable. Historically speaking if you actually invented something, you got nothing but a wage or a very small payout.
That’s it. They don’t innovate, they don’t develop, they package.
We have an economy that rewards exploitation, not work. That’s not the fault of the workers, it’s the fault of the ruling class who made it that way.