TechCrunch50 Conference To Feature Tech Luminaries

Michael Arrington, of TechCrunch.com renown, announces the latest panel members of the TechCrunch50 Conference 2008 and the list of luminaries is sure to impress even the most jaded of startup mavens. Arrington touts: "I’m proud to announce that Ning’s Marc Andreessen, Sequoia Capital’s Roelof Botha and Google’s Marissa Mayer will join us on September 8 - 10 in San Francisco for the TechCrunch50 conference Panel of Experts. The experts will judge the fifty startups launching at the event, and then discuss each of the demos on stage as a group." These are highly-desirable guests for any tech-related function and for the lucky 50 startups who are going to pitch at the conference, the allure of being raked over the hot coals of VC judgment should bring 'em in like bees to honey. More details on TechCrunch50 here and the complete piece can be found here for your anticipatory enjoyment.

A recent BusinessWeek.com piece blows apart the boogeyman myth of off-shoring America's jobs and innovation with backup figures and facts from the National Academy's Innovation in Global Industries report. From the Academy: "[I]n sectors from software and semiconductors to biotech and logistics, America's lead in creating new products and services has remained remarkably resilient over the past decade—even as more research and development by U.S. companies is done offshore." This doesn't mean that some segments of America's innovative might haven't been moved to other locations, rather, off-shoring allows the U.S. to focus on what it does best, and remain at the top of the game. "[G]iven all the debate over offshoring, the report's central findings are interesting. The authors marshal a wealth of evidence to show that, thanks to innovation, globalization hasn't eroded U.S. leadership even in some industries where there has been a substantial offshore shift in engineering and design." More coverage of the report and its implications in Is U.S. Innovation Headed Offshore? by Pete Engardio.

Another myth is that of the ever-young entrepreneur and the idea that being older makes one unable to be a successful startup team member. However, this is not the case, according to a WSJ blog entry that David J. Miller comments on in a post at his Campus Entrepreneurship blog. From the WSJ story: "[T]he average tech entrepreneur was 39-years old when the company was founded, says a survey released Thursday by the Kauffman Foundation. The survey asked questions of 652 U.S.-born execs at tech companies started between 1995 and 2005 and with revenues of at least $1 million. Not only was the average founder pushing middle age, but also nearly five times as many founders were over 45 (24%) as were younger than 25 (5%) when their companies got off the ground. Only 8% of founders hadn’t completed a college degree, contrary to the image of the Bill-Gates-like college dropout. Forty percent had a masters degree or a PhD." Miller writes of this revelation and how it relates specifically to his particular brand of innovation: "For campus entrepreneurs that employ advanced technical skills and extensive campus resources (both human and physical) during the opportunity identification and firm development phase, we expect entrepreneurs to be older and hold or being working towards advanced degrees."

Some encouraging words about why America is one of the best places to be an entrepreneur, bar none, from Ben Casnocha: "In the United States, if you have the courage to start a business, you are celebrated and you are encouraged. You are seen as an innovator, a pioneer, a successful rebel. If you fail -- and there’s a good chance you will if you start your own business -- most Americans will shrug it off as a learning opportunity. There’s no shame in failing. Families, schools, and the media alike share this acceptance of failure." This is in stark contrast to the startup environment of some nations, say France, where failure is seen as a black mark that can never be erased and carries with it a social stigma that would forever slam the door on future attempts to do something risky and new.

In an interview with Deepak Shenoy, founder of Moneyoga.com, Kamla Bhatt learns a bit about entrepreneurship in India with some tidbits of wisdom that apply to any business and should help any innovative hopefuls make a good choice in taking the self-employment plunge. Shenoy says "I think people overrate entrepreneurship. It’s not the Holy Grail, and it definitely won’t make things happen any better than if you worked at big-name company. That disappointment tends to kill a lot of startups way early in the process." So what does self-employed entrepreneurship bring to the table in terms of positives? Check out the piece for yourself and see how one successful Indian entrepreneur navigated the way to the open seas of financial happiness.