|
If you encounter problems viewing this email go to http://www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde/news/nde-news.htm |
|
|
|
|
Week of July 23 - 29, 2007 |
|
|
Global Venture Investing Trends
While American industries
are embracing globalization, venture capital remains heavily focused
here at home. That’s one key finding from a new Deloitte & Touche/National
Venture Capital Association study of global venture capital activity. US
venture capitalists (VCs) have been very cautious in their investments
in countries such as China, India, Canada, or Israel. In fact, VCs
report that, on average, less than five percent of their capital is
invested overseas. Surveys indicate that these patterns may be changing.
Fifty-four percent of surveyed VCs expect to expand international
investing over the next five years. However, the remaining VCs (46%)
expect to continue with a sole focus on US markets. Two factors seem to
account for their reluctance to invest overseas. Many investors remain
concerned about weak intellectual property protections in several
countries, especially China. In addition, most VCs prefer to have a
local presence and local expertise to oversee investments. Without this
presence, they are reluctant to support significant overseas deals. The
survey also finds similar patterns among European and Asian VCs where
large majorities plan to remain focused on home market investments. |
|
|
Angels Climbing List of Top VC Firms Every year Entrepreneur magazine identifies the top 100 venture capital firms. And while not every startup needs $1 million or more, an infusion of cash like that is enough to put some on the fast track to high growth. A total of 608 startup and early stage companies got their first round of venture capital last year, according to a special analysis prepared for Entrepreneur of the "MoneyTree Report" by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, based on data from Thomson Financial. On average, each company got $4.8 million, for a combined total of $2.9 billion. Both figures are four-year highs. The listing ranks VC firms by the number of early-stage deals made in 2006. The top five firms were: Maryland Technology Development Corporation (22 deals in 2006); Draper Fisher Jurvetson (19); Tech Coast Angels (17); New Enterprise Associates (13); and Khosla Ventures (12) tied with Sequoia Capital (12). Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel investor network in the US, came in at the top for late stage companies with seven deals in 2006. View the full list of Entrepreneur's 2007 Top 100 Venture Capital Firms. |
|
|
Technology Innovation in Rural America
Too many rural communities
believe that technological innovation is something that happens only in
major urban areas or large research universities. A new study from
Kansas City Federal Reserve researcher Jason Henderson argues that rural
communities need to focus more on technology adoption strategies.
Henderson notes that small size and remoteness may limit the ability of
some rural areas to produce new radical technology innovations. However,
these regions are well situated to spur innovations in more mature
industries, where inventions and innovations are more process-based. As
industries mature, the costs associated with new innovations drop and
this shift creates opportunities for rural communities. Henderson’s
research shows that less populated regions have higher patent activity
in more mature sectors, and that manufacturers (a more mature industrial
sector) in rural and urban regions differ little in terms of adopting
new technologies. The report also lauds public policies, such as the
work of land grant universities and the Hollings Manufacturing Extension
Partnerships, that provide support for these critical technology
adoption efforts. |
|
|
Small Business Confidence Ebbs
The latest survey from the
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) indicates that some
small business owners are discouraged about future economic prospects.
The NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index lost 1.2 points in June,
falling to 96.0 (1986=100) and continuing a series of below average
scores that has persisted for fifteen of the last sixteen months.
Several factors appear to be at play. Many small business owners are
pessimistic about future sales prospects, and thus cut back on inventory
purchases. Cuts in capital spending are also expected. Finally, small
business owners fear rising labor costs as unemployment remains low and
job openings remain high. All of these factors coalesce to create
concern about future prospects. |
|
|
It’s hard to believe
that the field of e-commerce hardly existed as recently as ten years
ago. A lot has happened in the past decade. A new report from the
Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) ranks the top ten
most significant developments in e-commerce over the past ten years.
Google, which premiered in September 1998, is the clear number one on
the list. As the SIIA puts it” “Google did more to fundamentally change
the way we use the Internet than any other event in the last 10 years.”
Others on the list include Amazon.com (1997), the Blackberry (1999),
eBay (1997), and the launch of Wi-Fi (1997). |
|
|
If you are a Silicon
Valley CEO in the global technology sector, chances are that you are
going to be speaking at the 5th annual Stanford Summit, co-hosted by
AlwaysOn and the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. The Summit, July
31 - August 2, will examine emerging trends in virtual reality, Internet
discovery, mobile, social networking 3.0 and the green data center and
other promising entrepreneurial opportunities. Hosted at Stanford
University, the Summit will be webcast by AlwaysOn – go to
http://alwayson.goingon.com
during the event. |
|
|
The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship is an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through NDE-news, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving entrepreneurship around the world. Subscribe now to receive your weekly copy. Archived issues are available online. |
|
|
|
National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
|
|
All
stories © 2007 The Public Forum Institute
|
|
