Tag Archive

Why China Isn’t “The Next Silicon Valley”

Image by emms76 via Flickr

Since I got home from China last week, I’ve found myself in a lot of conversations where phrases like “the next Silicon Valley,” or “just like Silicon Valley used to be,” keep coming up. But while China is swimming in capital and littered with start-ups, I’m going to argue it’s not [...]

Customer Service? Ask a Volunteer

Image via Wikipedia

HERE’S the job description: You spend a few hours a day, up to 20 a week, at your computer, supplying answers online to customer questions about technical matters like how to set up an Internet home network or how to program a new high-definition television.
The pay: $0.
A shabby form of [...]

An Innovation Conundrum

Cover via Amazon

Entrepreneurs can build future prosperity. But we first need to fix capitalism’s systemic cultural problems.
MENLO PARK, Calif.–I met Nassim Nicholas Taleb in San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center once. Taleb is now famous for The Black Swan, a book through which he has popularized the idea that random accidents and uncertainties–he calls them Black [...]

Investors Strain to Sell Start-Up Companies

Image via Wikipedia

SAN FRANCISCO — In 2008, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists had difficulty cashing out of start-ups, underscoring just how much the financial crisis has pummeled the technology sector.
Only six venture-backed start-ups went public last year, the fewest since 1977 and down from 86 in 2007, according to data released Monday by the National Venture [...]

The Twice Shy Entrepreneur

Silicon Valley these days is made up of two kinds of entrepreneurs (I’m painting with broad strokes, bear with me). The first group is the old guard. These are people who started companies during the late nineties and up until the 2000 stock market crash. The second group was either in school during that period, [...]