Archive for July 9th, 2010

Start-ups are cool … but these days, they don’t create jobs.

July 9, 2010

Interesting perspective from Intel’s Andy Grove: these days, ideas are still being developed in the U.S. but when they’re “scaled up” to production levels, the associated jobs go off-shore.

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Excerpted from Bloomberg BusinessWeek: How to Make an American Job Before It’s Too Late, Andy Grove, Jul 1, 2010

Since the early days of Silicon Valley, the money invested in companies has increased dramatically, only to produce fewer jobs.

Simply put, the U.S. has become wildly inefficient at creating American jobs.

The great Silicon Valley innovation machine hasn’t been creating many jobs of late — unless you are counting Asia, where American technology companies have been adding jobs like mad for years.

Startups are a wonderful thing, but they cannot by themselves increase employment.

Equally important is what comes after that mythical moment of creation in the garage, as technology goes from prototype to mass production. This is the phase where companies scale up. They work out design details, figure out how to make things affordably, build factories, and hire people by the thousands. Scaling is hard work but necessary to make innovation matter.

Scaling isn’t easy. The investments required are much higher than in the invention phase. And funds need to be committed early, when not much is known about the potential market.

The scaling process is no longer happening in the U.S.  And as long as that’s the case, plowing capital into young companies that build their factories elsewhere will continue to yield a bad return in terms of American jobs.

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Today, manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is about 166,000 — lower than it was before the first personal computer was assembled in 1975. Meanwhile, a very effective computer-manufacturing industry has emerged in Asia, employing about 1.5 million workers — factory employees, engineers and managers.

For every Apple worker in the U.S. there are 10 people in China working on iMacs, iPods and iPhones.

The same roughly 10-to-1 relationship holds for Dell, disk-drive maker Seagate Technology, and other U.S. tech companies.

The job-machine breakdown isn’t just in computers.  U.S. employment in the making of photovoltaic films and panels is perhaps 10,000 — just a few percent of estimated worldwide employment.

Full article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-01/how-to-make-an-american-job-before-it-s-too-late-andy-grove.html

Posted in Employment - Jobs, Entrepreneurship | Leave a Comment »

Let’s end amateur hour … please !

July 9, 2010

I was surprised that – in 2008 – folks were able to brush aside Obama’s complete lack of operating experience.

I was told: not to worry.  He’s really smart (I still would love to see his transcripts) and he surrounds himself with strong people (pick one: Biden, Holder, Napolitano, Salazar)

This guy hits the nail on the head …

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Excerpted from AOL: It’s Amateur Hour in the Nation’s Capital, July 1, 2010

While decorum can be imposed by fiat, it is genuine respect that prompts teams to achieve in all fields, and which must be earned.

In recent years, we have seen many situations where those with little or no pertinent experience or knowledge impose their views upon the country and in the process undermine respect for major institutions with their ineptitude.

For example, In House hearings on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, we have noted experts in petroleum engineering — Reps. Henry Waxman and Edward Markey — making determinations as to which well-drilling method was preferable.

And, we have a treasury secretary with no private sector experience and who had trouble filing an accurate tax return.

If our country is going to get back on track, we need to redevelop confidence in and respect for our leaders and institutions. This means first and foremost electing and appointing people who command this respect by virtue of their bona fide achievements and not simply their paper credentials.

In recent years, far too many people with prestigious degrees and titles have made far too many horrible decisions that have caused great harm to Americans everywhere.

We need people who have shown through their actual performance in business, the military, government or academia (preferably in multiple areas that pertain to the problems we face) that they can and will handle pressure and act at all times with integrity and good judgment.

The time for on the job training in lofty positions is over.

We need to be led by those who genuinely command respect.

Full article:
http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-its-amateur-hour-in-the-nations-capital/19538553

Posted in Leadership, Obama Administration | 1 Comment »