Dispatches from the Frontier
Musings on Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Technology Corridor Emerging in Indiana
Smaller VC Fund Trend Continues
Sweeping Out the Niche
Why the Problem Isn't China
Musings on Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Thursday, July 08, 2004Technology Corridor Emerging in Indiana
Ed Morrison notes:
One of the important aspects of economic development comes in the emergence of new technology clusters. As EDPros we like to think that we can "target" clusters and develop them.
The truth is that clusters emerge largely on their own. Here is an example from Indiana. Read more. You can read the original article here.
We are far better off identifying these emerging market patterns and facilitating the connections among companies and support organizations. Clusters are not "things", like industrial parks or spec buiildings. They are systems of innovation. We can strengthen these systems by promoting collaborations among related organizations.
One manifestation of this emerging tech corridor is the adVenture Fund managed by Karen Goldner and her colleagues in Fort Wayne.
7:18:24 PM 
Smaller VC Fund Trend Continues
From Venture Wire Alert:
In another example of a venture capital firm reluctant to accept investors' mounting enthusiasm after going through the late '90s bubble and subsequent collapse, Sevin Rosen closed its ninth fund at half the size of its previous fund despite overwhelming interest. After reducing the size of its current Fund VIII from $875 million to $600 million in early 2003, Sevin Rosen said it decided to raise $300 million for Fund IX to keep it on par with the amount of average money going into deals.
Since the bubble years, Sevin Rosen has gone from investing roughly $15 million over the life of a company to $8 million, the expected average for Fund IX. "The pace was way too fast," a Sevin Rosen general partner said of the spending by venture capitalists in the late '90s. The new fund had roughly three times the dollar interest than what it finally settled on.
The evolution of venture capital continues.
If your aim is to serve entrepreneurial companies, you have to be structurally capable of being as entrepreneurial as your constituents. The "Fund IX" designation suggests that Sevin Rosen has been able to adapt to changing market conditions for some time.
8:52:22 AM
Sweeping Out the Niche
The hardest part about gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche. As long as that niche is occupied, evidence and proof and logical demonstration get nowhere. But once the niche is emptied of the wrong idea that has been filling it - once you can honestly say, 'I don't know,' then it becomes possible to get at the truth.
Robert A. Heinlein
8:34:28 AM
Why the Problem Isn't China
Thank you, Doug Fletcher, for pointing out the following:
Nearly everything we are told about China is wrong or untrue. Posturing politicians and incompetent business and labor "leaders" use China as a scapegoat for their own failure to deal with changing world realities.
Thus begins Richard Levy's recent editorial. Click here to download a PDF copy.
8:22:40 AM