Tech Start-Ups: The Economy's Best Hope

CN Portfolio:

Silicon Valley has never been a place where people throw in the towel. The dot-com crash of 2000 didn't drain the life out of the tech start-up culture -- in fact, it probably helped by injecting a dose of realism and weeding out dumb ideas and pretenders who had no business starting anything. And thank God for that, because in the years after 9/11, technology from start-ups and innovations from existing companies like Apple helped pull the country back to life.

So now, in the wake of the financial crisis, news reports say venture capital investment is falling off - which, at first, looks mighty worrisome. Is investment money going to dry up, leading to a drop in tech start-ups and a dearth of companies to help the U.S. rebound? Not necessarily.

VCs are important to Silicon Valley, but they're not the only source of money for start-ups anymore. The cost of starting a tech company has dropped precipitously, thanks to cheaper/better/faster technology. A company that five years ago cost $1 million to launch now might cost $100,000. And that makes it easier for angel investors -- wealthy individuals -- to fund companies. Marc Andreessen and his business partner Ben Horowitz have been steadily funding about a start-up a month. It's also easier than ever for a few ambitious technologists to pool their own resources and start a tech company on a shoestring.

Read the whole story: CN Portfolio

Comments

[DavidMG]

GREEN START UPS are the economy's, the environment's and our spiritual best bet.

[solarpowercars]

We need to build plants here to make wind turbines and blades and solar panels, like Obama said. These are real jobs that cannot be shipped over seas.We need to build bridges,schools,roads. we need to get our hands dirty instead of paying some to do it for us.This is AMERICA it is time to act like it

[fleaba]

Vestas already makes wind blades here in the U.S. and is building two other plants in Colorado alone.

[BlueZoo]

Support the Pickens Plan! He may not understand all of our problems but, at the very least, he's doing SOMETHING! That's more than I can say for our government on this issue!

[coweatyou]

Are you suggesting that the Chinese can't build wind turbines, blades and solar panels? They have already shown they can manufacture just about any basic good just as well as we can (and can do it for cheaper). Those jobs can easily be shipped overseas. What we need to focus on are the jobs that can't be shipped overseas: design, assembly, maintenance and repair. This country needs to focus on our comparative advantage, knowledge work, and just acknowledge that we won't have an advantage in most manufacturing jobs until our labor price becomes competitive with the rest of the world.

[Viper]

really...the Solar Panels are being made in China!

Its MFG that counts! Not paper pushers on Wallstreet or developing a [patent for a new product made elsewhere... as has been the route now since Reagan!

Regards