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Something Ventured: Archive
1. Our
Technology Industry (Rants and Raves)
Our Tech Industry-(Rants and Raves)
May 2, 2008:
Making Green Going
Green?
April 18, 2008:
Above The RIM
April 4, 2008:
Thirty Six Hundred
Days of Tech
February 1, 2008: A Look Back to the Future A learned economist from Portland came to town this past week to tell us about the future and how to access the people and talent to make that future bright for BC’s technology industry. He described a person that grew up in another region, became educated and mobile before their 25th birthday and moved to Vancouver to seek their career start. He described Brent. And now Brent represents what we need in our labour pool, someone who is engaged in the industry and stuck. Read how in this week’s Something Ventured.
January 18, 2008: 2008... Oh Great 2008 is not off to a great start for business and the economy in general. So how come Brent and a few dozen other entrepreneurs and investors were smiling just this week? What do we know? Where might we all go? Get Brent’s view in this week’s Something Ventured.
December 21, 2007: Year End Fluff Piece At the end of the year, journalists are with their families and write “fluff pieces” to fill the gap between Christmas and New Years. Not to be left out, Brent lobs a few quotes and links that he found around the Internet out for you to enjoy. See you in 2008!
December 7, 2007: Happy Christmas ’Tis the season to be happy… right? It depends on your role in the technology company, says Brent. Regardless of your role and your stress levels, he tries to lend some perspective this holiday season with a powerful little video that some of you may have seen already. Check it out this week in Something Ventured.
November 9, 2007: Industry Health Check After receiving a health check himself, Brent decided to play doctor and diagnose the BC technology industry. Find out how he thinks the industry is doing against the baseline check ups from 2003 and 2005, this week in Something Ventured.
October 19, 2007:
Woe Canada
September 7, 2007:
Economy Is Less
Than Prime
June 15, 2007:
IPO Dreams A
Reality?
June 1, 2007:
Two Ideas Today
April 27, 2007:
The Next Shift
March 30, 2007:
BC's Content
Creators
March 2, 2007:
Send People and
Money
January 12, 2007:
The Year of Tech
December 8, 2006:
Requiem for
Innovation?
October 27, 2006:
Bears and Bulls in BC
August 25, 2006: A Financial History Lesson
There is a bubble afoot in the financial world in the field of private equity
(venture capital is a subset of PE). Brent asks this week in Something
Ventured, if we have learned our history lessons and understand what is likely
to happen next. June 17, 2006: BC’s Fertile Ground Brent takes a moment from the cake cutting ceremony for his 200th T-Net column posted this week to actually deliver some content. A study done in the US measured start-up activity by looking at the ratio of start-ups posting jobs to popular job boards. Brent does the analysis for BC and, guess what, we do very well as compared to many US regions.
April 3, 2006: Are The Big Hitters Still Swinging? Like any geographic technology cluster, BC has a few technology companies that account for most of the revenue and many of the employees. For the overall health of our industry, you really need to know the health of the largest companies. This week Brent looks at the recovery of some of the biggest names around town to gauge the health of our region.
January 27, 2006: Is There Anything to Harp About? Mr. Martin, we barely knew you. No space on the $10 bill for your mug, you 18 month PM, you. Mr. Harper breezes in to Ottawa with a similar fate probably awaiting him. What does his new government mean for the technology industry in BC? Anything at all? This week, Brent adds his new Liberal commercial about Stephen Harper to the fray and discusses what the change in government means for Vancouver’s technology industry.
January 13, 2006: Prediction Without Superstition Despite the fact that this column was published on Friday the 13th, dire predictions for 2006 are not what’s in store for the IT industry. In fact, the news looks pretty good as many much-hyped technologies are reaching critical mass this year. Brent synthesizes the 2006 predictions from a variety of sources this week in Something Ventured.
December 5, 2005: Tech IPO: Here We Go? With March Networks scorching hot after its IPO, VCom off to a good start, Miranda Technologies about to launch next week and Tim Horton’s going public in January, Brent asks this week if the IPO market is back for Canadian technology companies. Wait a second… Tim Horton’s a tech company? No, not really, but like a morning double-double, it’s hot too!
November 18, 2005: Interesting Vista After exposure to the new Microsoft products, Windows Vista and Office 12, Brent got to thinking (always dangerous) about how Microsoft is positioned this time around for what will be a battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of enterprise and consumers next year. Many critics believe Microsoft has missed the boat again, but Brent doesn’t want to bet against Bill G.
September 9, 2005: A House of Cards In venture capital circles, it was the equivalent of sudden celebrity break-up or a sports star busted for steroids. A shocking surprise sending tongues wagging all over the country. The Ontario government suspended tax credits for labour sponsored funds in that province, an effective stop to tax-assisted fund raising for early stage investment. But wait, there’s more. Three days later, the largest life sciences investor in Canada announces it’s for sale… immediately. How is all this going to affect BC? Is the sky falling? Check out Something Ventured this week to find out.
June 13, 2005: Top
Ten Percent Or Bust
The mantra of the new
provincial government and the BC TIA is to make
May 20, 2005: More And Less Now that the politicians are done the theatre and are back to work, Brent asks them to consider early stage company formation and some structural problems we seem to have in Canada. Read his letter to the Premier and the Prime Minister in this week’s Something Ventured.
May 6, 2005: Four More Years With Adscam and a generally good feeling about BC, you may not have noticed that an election was on. Brent reflects back on the conditions of BC and the tech community in May of 2001 and sees what has changed between then and today under the BC Liberals in this week’s Something Ventured.
April 25, 2005: BC Tech Really Puts Out This week Brent details the process and the results of an intensive study to measure output of the technology industry in BC and measure it against all other North American regions. The results are amazing for BC and will surely spur further studies and much discussion. You might have read about it in the Vancouver Sun, but the details are only here in Something Ventured.
April 1, 2005: Surely You Jest For the first time, Something Ventured’s deadline date lands on April 1st. Brent has taken this fateful day to speak on something he knows a bit about: fools in the technology industry. See who the Greatest Fool is in this week’s special column.”
December 10, 2004:
Looking Back On This Decade December 10, 2004: 2005 Arrives It’s that time of year again. Predictions, wishes and thoughtful looks back on 2004 are all the rage among column writers at the end of the year. This week, Brent will acquiesce to the status quo and dole out his look at the state of the technology industry as we head into the second half of the decade.
November 14, 2004: Bill The Great Two thousand and twenty seven years ago, one of the most amazing men ever to walk the planet died in what is today known as Baghdad. His meteoric life is celebrated in a new movie and, in Something Ventured, in a comparison to one of technology’s greatest men, Bill Gates. The comparison is very interesting.
October 1, 2004: Innovation Creation “Conventional wisdom holds that a “flood of innovation” is coming to Canada due to the increases in research and development funding. While this seems like good news for the tech industry, Brent discusses a couple of dams keeping the flood from reaching the fertile plains of global markets.”
August 13, 2004: Celsius 888.333 It’s hot and dry this summer, but the stock market (and the technology stocks in particular) seem to be cold and damp. What is going on? Is the economy grinding to a halt? Where is the fear coming from? This week Brent has his conspiracy theory ready for your perusal. Then he tells you what is really going on… he hopes.
May 7, 2004: High Tech Self Loathing Recently,
the pot has been stirred again about the “hollowing out” of
April 23, 2004: Capital Losses Without
comparing heartbreaking Game 7 hockey losses, Brent looks at how
March 5, 2004: Religious Wars A
Canadian once famously said, “Every dogma has its day”. In
the world of technology, religious wars are common as people
furiously hang on to their beliefs and try to convert others to
their point of view. This week Brent explores and explains
some of the past and current religious wars in technology.
February 6, 2004: Off-Base on Off-Shore The
off-shore out-sourcing of IT work is getting an awfully bad rap in
the
January 9, 2004: When Fear Turns to Greed The sentiment in technology has been one of fear for more than three years now. Fear of losing jobs, fear when making investment and fear of a recovery. The bulls have finally appeared to shake the bears and the enterprise looks like it will spend on IT again in 2004. Will we move too fast to the greed part of the cycle? Remember what happened last time we all got greedy…
December 22, 2003: Technology Carols In an attempt to bring Christmas cheer to the technology industry, Brent decided to sing some familiar carols to you... except that he changed the words. For a Christmas smile, see what he wrote in this week's Something Ventured.
December 5, 2003: How the Mighty Have Survived We have many organically grown, innovative, successful companies in BC. Now that the upside of the business cycle appears to be starting, how are the superstars of our industry faring? Who’s emerging? Brent gives his two cents on the success stories this week in Something Ventured.
November 7, 2003: IT Inflection Point A
trickle of positive news about an improving Information Technology
September 5, 2003: Jobs Lagging "If things are looking rosier in the technology industry and the economy in general over the next year and tech companies are profitable again, then where are the jobs? This is the concern of many people in, or wanting to get back in, BC's technology industry and Brent tries to answer the question by saying not "where" are the jobs, but "when" are the jobs coming."
August 22, 2003: California Reelin' If
you thought porn stars, bodybuilders and diminutive former child
actors running for governor weren’t bad enough, California’s
technology industry took it in the chin this week when Jim Clark,
founder of Netscape and Silicon Graphics called the Silicon Valley
“an insanely depressing place”. This week Brent looks at
the state of California and what BC’s technology industry can do
to help and to benefit.
August
8, 2003: Getting
More Productive The stereotype of the Lotusland worker, lacking in sufficient work ethic, is actually hurting us here in BC. While there is a demonstrated productivity gap between American and Canadian workers, Brent decided to delve deeper into the reasons for the gap and help to disprove the notion that we are all less keen to do hard work amidst all this natural beauty.
July
11, 2003: The
Eyes of the World Riding the current binge of civic pride in our Olympian victory, Brent looks to the obvious question of how to leverage this focus on Vancouver into more people, ideas and investment into our technology industry. If we have a global stage, why not put on a show?
May 30, 2003: What Colour Are Your Glasses? Consistently conflicting messages and data points are a sure sign of change in our technology industry's fortunes. On one hand, Crystal Decisions files its IPO and on the other hand, Alcatel shuts its doors in Vancouver. This week Brent talks out of both sides of his mouth when analyzing these and other headlines in the past week. By sending conflicting messages he hopes to avoid critical e-mails.
May 2, 2003: Send Them to the Glue Factory Now that we have a plague following a war, Brent is concerned that the four horsemen of the apocalypse have arrived. But after visiting Toronto himself and seeing some recent industry data, he is sure that the horses are on their way back to the barn and we are in for some better times.
April
17, 2003: We
All Lose A Little
March
21, 2003: Go
About Your Business As the bombs fall on Baghdad, the hand-wringing on US backlash against Canada in business has begun. Becasue we are not among the "coalition of the willing", it is feared that we will lose much of trade with our biggest economic partner. This week, Brent takes the contrarian position that the US will look past this issue and trade will not be affected.
February 7, 2003: Lies, Damn Lies and Industry Data Mark Twain said that there are “lies, damn lies and then statistics” when referring to data and the information gleaned from data. This week Brent looks for some truth in the data available to tell us how healthy our technology industry is in this terrible downturn. It was slim pickings, but the data dredged up is interesting.
January 10, 2003: The
Best Laid Plans Through some strange synchronization error with Outlook, Brent has submitted his To Do List and Calls To Make as his column on T-Net this week. With tongue firmly in cheek, read what Brent is up to in 2003 and see if it matches with your lists.
December 20, 2002: Don't Look Back Brent is looking forward to the stroke of midnight on December 31st this year. He wants the year 2002 to be far behind as soon as possible and he knows many of you feel the same way. Read about his thoughts for 2003 in this year-end Something Ventured.
November 22, 2002: The
Real Innovation: No More Politics After a flurry of political events this week (Vancouver election, Innovation Summit), Brent looks at the real impact of government policies in the short term and the mess that politics makes of good intentions to grow our technology industry.
November 8, 2002: Wake Me Up When It's Over In a week that began with good news that might indicate the bottom of the technology market, hopes were dashed with a visit to the IT managers at large and medium sized companies. They aren't buying IT! Read what they had to say this week in Something Ventured.
October 25, 2002: Contraction
Contrition As the tech downturn continues and cost-cutting is de rigeur, concerns are being raised about permanent job losses in the technology industry, particularly jobs that can be done off-shore far less expensively. Brent gives his perspective on that concern this week in Something Ventured.
August 16, 2002: Rational Exuberance Brent still has “burnin’ love” for the technology industry as a whole even though it continues to “shake, rattle and roll”. Find out why this business won’t be “heartbreak hotel” on this, the 25th anniversary of the death of the King of Rock ‘n Roll.
June 28, 2002: Self
Interest vs. Self Destruction There are many ramifications of the scandals plaguing public markets today. For example, does the idea of the CEO being personally (i.e. everything they own) on the hook for any transgressions that occur at their company make them nervous? As a burned investor, does that sound fair to you? Like a VC backed start-up, many larger businesses may soon have their managers personally warrantying the company.
May 31, 2002: Back to the Future What is old is new again. What worked in the past must be applied now. This week, Brent explores these concepts in two contexts, the start-up technology company and the province of BC as a whole as it tries to start a new Innovation agenda and bring more prosperity.
February 15, 2002: An
Olympian Effort With the Winter Olympic Games upon us, Brent could not resist the obvious metaphors. This week, Brent introduces some new sports that we all need to watch and judge in the coming months and years as they affect the technology industry in BC.
February 1, 2002: Can't Grow, Supplies Are Low BC's technology industry is chronically under- funded argues Brent this week. He has some interesting comparisons between BC and Oregon to illustrate that the problem lies the supply of money, not the quality of opportunities. Read more in this week's Something Ventured.
January 4, 2002: Wishful Thinking Brent rings in the New Year with a set of wishes for you and for the technology industry as a whole. After 2001, it won't take much to improve the situation...
November 23, 2001: Engineering
BC’s Technology Future The new BC Government is actively asking for ideas on how to grow the technology industry. So this week Brent obliges and tells you what he told the Vancouver Board of Trade and the Minister of Competition, Science and Enterprise this week.
November 9, 2001: Take This Job And Covet The technology job market has rapidly imploded with all of the layoffs and bankruptcies. What will all of these knowledge workers do now? Brent has some predictions this week in Something Ventured.
October 26, 2001: My-Optic Markets
Conferences and trades shows have been decimated since 9/11.
But Brent
September 28, 2001: Fear and Loathing in the Media Fear and sadness has turned to anger since September 11th. This week Brent rants about the business media's willingness to use the terrorist attacks as an excuse for everything bad in our economy. It's not right and it's not accurate, he argues.
September 14, 2001: A Horrible New Beginning It is not hyperbole to state that the world has changed this week. With the emotions still raw, it seemed too trite for Brent to talk about the technology industry. Nonetheless, he musters up some thoughts about the impact of the terrorist acts on the world, Canada and the tech industry.
August 30, 2001: Red
Sky In The Morning According to Brent, we live in uncertain times. Gazing in the crystal ball can be dangerous but that hasn't stopped Brent from trying to figure out what the conditions are currently and what might happen next in the technology sector.
July 6, 2001: Digital
Divide Or Digital Disaster?
After starting a small maelstrom with negative comments about Industry
June 22, 2001: Six
Months of Misery: 1H 2001 Report
The first half of 2001 has largely been forgettable for the technology
May 11, 2001: Election Circumspection The election that the technology industry has been waiting for is upon us. Brent gives one final rant on the NDP before proposing how Gordon Campbell can live up to his promises with the tech community.
January 19, 2001: Ottawa's Lambda Gamble Things may be tough in the money raising markets, but Canada's outlook remains bright due to our tech industry. According to Brent, the brightest star in the technology sky is Ottawa, but he points out that their reliance on one sector of the overall industry might be dangerous.
January 5, 2001: The Canadian Conspiracy It's 2001 and Brent tries make like Arthur C. Clarke with a tongue in cheek look at Canada's brain drain and the underlying conspiracy that created it."
December 22, 2000: Lump of Coal It's Christmas time and Brent is not feeling jolly. The new economy/Internet gravy train is now a smoldering wreck. Or is it? Are we all over-reacting a bit by bidding the stock market to new lows?
November 3, 2000: Greeks, Grits and GOP This week, Brent returns from his one column hiatus and talks about the elections this month - here and in the US. He sees the elections affecting the tech industry with an impact, especially if Jean Chretien mentions "new economy" again and again and again."
October 27, 2000: Apocalypse Maybe: The Venture Capital Meltdown This week, Paul Kedrosky writes on Brent's behalf discussing venture capitalists (like Brent), classifying them midway between i-bankers and short-sellers as well as discussing their role in finding and obtaining funding for companies.
October 13, 2000: We Rose to the Occasion This week, Brent takes a look at the historical passing of Pierre Elliott Trudeau and tries to nail down what all the fuss is really about given that he created incredible economic hardship for Canada. In the end, it looks like we may be better off going forward because of what he did and what he represented, especially now that government is tuning into the technology industry.
September 1, 2000: Back to School Brent Holliday discusses the importance of education and how society, as a whole, will be better off if the people, as a whole, are more educated. So how do we start to cultivate more smart people through education?
July 21, 2000: Now We're Cooking Brent Holliday reveals how our Province is still Hot and RIGHT for starting a new technology business in terms of finding talent, raising capital, getting customers and getting buzz.
July 7, 2000: A Little Too Liberal in Spending Brent Holliday vents his anger about the $700M of the hopelessly misdirected Canada Jobs Fund that became the political albatross in April and May and Jane Stewart's undoing, which is now headed only to Atlantic Canada to spur the "New Economy".
March 31, 2000: Blame.ca of the Canadian Consulate Trade Office, representing the Canadian technology Industry in California and retracts on previous rants and raves directed at the governments apparent lack of insight and support regarding the new world economy and technology. Read his column on the front page of T-Net today.
March 3, 2000: Sigh
of Relief
January 7, 2000: Ride
the BC Bull
September 17, 1999: Underrated and Under Radar
August 6, 1999: Summer Better Than Others
April 16, 1999: Damn Yankees
March 5, 1999: Fed Up
January 8, 1999:
Missing the Big Dance
October 23, 1998: Playing God With BC's Economic Future
August 29, 1998: Currency Crunch Reality Check
July 6, 1998: Attracting Tech Workers To BC: A First Step
April 20, 1998:
Report
from the Future: Impact of the TIA High-Tech Report on BC
February 22,
2008: BC's Got
Talent
November 23,
2007: Vancouver
Giants?
September 21,
2007: Channels
Surfing
August 10,
2007: Founder vs.
Founder
April 13,
2007:
Black Cats And
Blown Budgets
January 26,
2007: Will You Get
The Pass?
November 10, 2006: The Valley Way (Redux) Six years ago, Brent wrote a 10 point essay on how the Silicon Valley was different than here, from the perspective of the company, entrepreneur and employee. This week, he turns it around and looks at traits found outside of the Silicon Valley that make it very tough to grow an insanely great company.
October 6,
2006: Trade Shows:
Boondoggle or Boo-Yah!
March 4,
2006: It’s So
Basic
December 16, 2005: Money in Your Stocking Who doesn’t like a little money in their stocking for Christmas? This week Brent looks at a few ways to add cash to your growing technology company that may be a little off the beaten track. He also speaks to the lump of coal that the CDN dollar’s strength is delivering to everyone’s stocking.
September 23, 2005: My Advice Column This week Brent gives some advice to entrepreneurs on, well, advice. For a variety of reasons start-ups tend to overlook good advice because they don’t want to pay for it or don’t see the value in it. Find out why this is a mistake made too often, in this week’s Something Ventured.”
June 24, 2005: Be Ready for Battle This week Brent delves into competition for your company’s product or service and reveals some key ingredients missing from most start-ups’ and some growing companies’ competitive analysis. As a bonus, a long letter is attached from a reader responding to his column about Creo and the successful creation of the groundbreaking thermal CTP technology in the early 90’s. Interestingly, this person is (and always has been) from Kodak.
March 4, 2005: Heading For The Exits When an investor talks about an ‘exit’, they are not talking about showing a CEO the door at a start-up. An ‘exit’ is the time to get liquidity for an investment in the form of a public offering or an acquisition. This week Brent explores the method behind the acquisition exit and why it is often a bumpy ride from the first overtures to the announced deal.
May 21, 2004: Why Can't We Go Hire? After years of involvement with start-ups, Brent has seen some good, bad and very bad hiring practices. With some anecdotes and advice, he hopes to help those of you looking for a few good people."
May 21, 2004: Born Leaders Any
venture capitalist will point to only one thing that determines the
outcome of an investment in early stage technology companies:
management. This week, Brent dissects this motherhood and
apple pie statement in writing specifically about leaders and his
thesis that they are born, not made.
January 23, 2004: Getting to No We
Canadians can be a polite, shy bunch. But in global business,
particularly in early stage business, not asking direct questions or
reading between the lines on "nice" answers can lead to
poor decisions. This week Brent says "Go ahead and
ask". The worst that they can say is "No."
November
21, 2003: Conspiracy
Theory On the 40th anniversary of the single event in American history that spawned a thousand conspiracy theories, Brent looks at the theory that big technology companies, like the big organizations supposedly behind the assassination of JFK, are capable of doing whatever they want to whomever they want. And he gives his two cents on the JFK conspiracy theory.
September 19, 2003: Timing Is Everything The saying goes that timing is everything. As the economy slowly turns and technology starts to look like a vibrant industry again, Brent explores how to set yourself up to benefit from exquisite timing. It’s not pure luck.
May 16, 2003: IT's Marginally Better After being accused of over-hyping the Information Technology recovery, Brent fires back with a look at the fundamental reason IT is the place to stay: great margins. Read about it in Something Ventured this week.
March 7, 2003: Hope On In this time of uncertainty in geopolitics, the stock market and other continuing concerns, Brent shows that the technology industry is showing some positive indicators. Read about the hope he has for companies that can meet the current challenges and carve out a living in an uncertain world.
October 11, 2002: A Very Limited Partnership All small start-ups with a product ready for the market look to larger, more established partners to help them expand their customer base and gain credibility. But many times, these partnerships are not worth the press release they are written on… This week Brent explores some myths and traps of strategic partnering.
August 30, 2002: The CEO Looks in the Mirror With increasingly heavy scrutiny being directed at the role of a CEO and what they can and cannot do in that role, Brent looks at the typical lunch-bucket, start-up CEO and issues a few warnings about early stage corporate responsibility.
July
12, 2002: A
Slow And Sticky Road Fast Company was the mantra of the late 90’s. Everyone wanted to know how to get big fast. Well, in fact, it doesn’t happen that way. Four years ago Brent wrote about a slow growing success in Vancouver and advocated the lean, mean approach to growing big. This week, he re-visits that theme and urges everyone to stick with it through these tough times.
May 10, 2002: Are We Out Of Options? Is the stock option grant for employees a thing of the past? Do employees of early stage technology companies care after all the carnage in the markets? This week Brent explains the current state of stock options and why you should care, whether you are an employer or an employee.
March 28, 2002: I Told You Not To Do That Feeling an explanation was required for missing his column deadline last time, Brent has revealed that he made a stress-inducing mistake. In keeping with the theme, he shares common start-up company mistakes this week so that you might avoid them in your venture.
January 18, 2002: Technology Jobs Contract With almost 12,000 BC civil servant job cuts announced this week, Brent's thoughts have turned to the job market in technology and the prospects for the unemployed tech worker. Read what those prospects might be in this week's Something Ventured.
October 12, 2001: Fact or Friction? That which does not kill us makes us stronger. This week Brent talks about a prolonged technology slump and the prospects for getting through the other side as a successful enterprise
August 17, 2001: The Proposition Is Clear We all know that the Internet mania and the telecom disaster are behind us. What are some of the lessons that we can learn from the recent past that can help our technology companies grow today? One of the lessons is to really ask oursleves why people will part with their money to buy our product or service. This week, Brent explores the black art of creating a solid value proposition.
July 27, 2001: Grab Your Boards And Let's GO Maybe it's the heat, but the summer of 2001 is getting to Brent. In the middle of all of the bad news for technology companies, he dishes out some advice on getting a better Board of Directors and how that might help your company raise some capital in this, the Sahara Desert of technology cycles.
May 25, 2001: Rules Of Engagement From his
perspective as a venture capitalist, Brent sees many Opportunities at the
earliest stage. Two things continue to bother him about Vancouver's start-up
scene: Industry experienced management and the lack of knowledge in financing a
start-up. He gets specific in this
week's column.
March 30, 2001: A
Cash Strapped Start-Up Odyssey
March 16, 2001: Customer Driven Capital Under a blanket of snow, interesting times are happening in Ottawa. Among other things, Brent paid a visit to the Ministry of Finance and to a technology conference last week and shares his observations on building successful companies from scientific roots.
February 2, 2001: A Successful Experience Have you ever been experienced? Brent argues that venture capitalists have been, and that they have learned what entrepreneurs should know. The theme is explored in 4 key areas that are critical for early stage companies.
December 8, 2000: The Valley Way, Eh? This week, Brent discusses the conditions of belonging to a large, fast growing company. In short, you have to learn the lessons of the Valley. They have perfected the process of starting the technology company. They have learned, through an iterative process, the tactics and strategies of growing a small technology business quickly into a large, well known company. They have found what ingredients need to be sprinkled in with the entrepreneurs to support the start-up and growth of these companies.
September 29, 2000: Citius, Altius, Fortius This week, Brent Holliday talks about entrepreneurs and what it takes to compete and win. He describes them as "peak emotion junkies" enduring great hardships and long hours of preparation in order to experience the rush of meeting and exceeding expectations - the emotional high of success.
August 18, 2000: Brain Currency This week, Brent Holliday discuses what he defines as Scarecrow Economics - It's all about Buying Brains. Technology companies have found that one of the keys to success is finding scarce talent. Recruiting is hard. Buying companies for their staff is easier.
May 12, 2000: Whither The CFO Brent Holliday reveals the secret to a company's success - A competent money counting manager who is responsible for driving the entire money-making process as well as managing the legal aspects - and still getting the best deal for the company and its shareholders. Bottom line: They need to know how to close a financial deal.
February 18, 2000: The
New Human Race
October 29, 1999: Decisions,
Decisions
September 3, 1999: It's Interesting, But...Brent Holliday presents his 'idea' for making a billion-dollar company as he reaches the 'insight' stage of the four-stage process in becoming a commercial success and seeks critique from his readers. Read his column on the front page of T-Net today. August 20, 1999: What A Concept! This week Brent Holliday explores the repetitive processes behind taking an idea and making it into a commercial success. Brent provides a flowchart model as a guide and highlights insight, opportunism and planning as necessities to achieving commercial success. July 9, 1999: The Kids Are Alright Summer's here and the living is easy. Brent Holliday this week reflects on the Nintendo generation and suggests that those of us running technology companies should consider harnessing the incredible energy and enthusiasm of this next (internet) generation. Read his column on the front page of T-Net today. May 31, 1999: A Look At Some New Models Brent Holliday assesses existing high tech business models and profiles some emerging new ones with particular reference to changes made possible by the internet.
March 19, 1999: Keeping Your Company IQ
February 19, 1999: The Talent Show
October 9, 1998:
Rising Above the Noise, Part 2
September 11, 1998: How To Gain (Or Drain) A Brain
August 14, 1998:
What It Takes To Be A Tech Entrepreneur
June 1, 1998:
Is Now The Right Time To Start a High Tech Company In BC?
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