How do start-ups succeed?
[2012-06-29 14:43]The real impact of both Microsoft and Google is not on their shareholders, or even on the people that they employ directly, but on the millions of people whom they have made more productive.
Markets of magical thinking
[2012-04-26 14:28]The JOBS Act is an extreme example of Americans' belief in people's essential goodness, and everyone's right to self-fulfillment.
Intelligent urban design
[2012-03-21 17:00]Cities matter, as they always have, but now more of the world is starting to take notice of their problems and possibilities.
Peeling, meeting, and shopping
[2012-01-29 13:16]If Putin and his team were to start changing the system – genuinely fighting corruption, and perhaps releasing Khodorkovsky – the response would be positive.
The insider brain gain
[2011-12-26 14:47]Unfortunately, many new technologies and business models make money for investors without creating jobs for workers. That causes unemployment and increases what the blogger Clay Shirky calls "cognitive surplus" – unused brainpower.
Start-up soup
[2011-11-24 17:30]We need to start glorifying something other than either the stone – the idea – or the entrepreneur. We need to celebrate people who actually build companies, and all the people they organize to do it with them.
The Steve Jobs factor
[2011-10-10 17:11]Openness is great, and a strategy I normally applaud: no single vendor is likely to be the best, so openness allows a broad range of suppliers to compete and differentiate so the best can emerge. That is what Steve was.
Paying (for) attention
[2011-09-22 17:29]It is fashionable nowadays to talk about personal attention as a commodity or even a currency. But attention is neither: it can be bought and sold, to some extent, but it cannot be traded to third parties, and it is not entirely fungible.
What's in a domain name?
[2011-08-29 14:06]The Internet's governing body, ICANN, is allowing for a dramatic expansion of the namespace with a host of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs). That is likely to create money for ICANN’s primary constituents, but only added costs for companies and the public at large.
Venture mentors
[2011-07-30 12:48]No one expects venture capitalists to divert their resources to village schools, but perhaps they could focus a little more on training new employees rather than poaching them from the competition at inflated salaries.
Turning privacy "threats" into opportunities
[2011-06-23 17:09]Most companies regard online privacy warily, seeing only expensive disclosure requirements, constraints on their ability to collect information about their customers, and a potential source of legal liabilities.
Illusions of democracy
[2011-06-03 16:56]Generally, the Internet is a tool for people whose basic needs are already being met. Members of the upper middle class in any country often seem to forget that for most people, the value created on the Internet cannot feed, clothe, and house their families.
