Economic Risks
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Martin Eberhard talks about his first lesson - Do Something Meaningful. Martin believed that he would be successful only he worked on something that he really cared about. He believed that providing a solution to oil consumption was an issue that needed attention. He talks about how he began his journey by building a solution to this immensely important world economic problem.
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Data shows, consistently, that poor people have more children than rich people; economically speaking, children are an inferior good. Children are production goods because they do work, consumption goods because they are enjoyable, and investment goods because they support parents in old age. Jobs in the modern sector require education and health. To pay for this, parents have to focus their resources on fewer children.
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There are several ways to examine the behaviors of organisms when they forage or hunt for food or mates. These behaviors become more complex in higher organisms, such as primates and whales, which can hunt in groups. Foragers and hunters have been shown to examine the marginal cost and marginal benefit of continuing an action and then adjust their behaviors accordingly. They are also able to handle risk by hoarding resources.
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One can look at biodiversity from several perspectives. An ecological point of view tries to determine how necessary diversity is for an ecosystem to function. An economic point of view tries to capture the value of the "services" nature provides for mankind. An evolutionary point of view shows how artificial the human "right" to dominance is. Finally, a personal point of view captures the emotional basis for the values that humans place...more
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The economic concept of game theory can be readily applied to evolution and behavior. By analyzing encounters between organisms as a mathematical "game," important information such as fitness payoffs and the proportions of "strategies" played by each group within a population can be inferred. While oftentimes these games are too simplified to apply directly to actual examples in nature, they are still useful models that help convey...more
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Roizen talks about her experience in taking venture capital. She learned that if one can use venture funds judiciously to raise the inflection point, then it makes sense to do it. For her, it was an economic decision. Other reasons to take VC money involve credibility issues. Customers want to see that you have partners and money in the bank to prove that you will be around, she says.
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After bringing together the best team, raising money in tough environments, and establishing and living by core values, says Worthington, Fluidigm focused on launching the product. The product development went much faster than anyone could have hoped and soon they had a product with many important features, including an immediate economic benefit to the customers, he notes.
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Jeff Raikes, group vice president of Productivity and Business Services (PBS) at Microsoft Corporation, explains his own background and how being open to opportunities helped him become the only undergraduate from the Engineering Economic Systems department at Stanford.  Plans change as opportunities arise, he says. He also recommends entrepreneurs look for a job they love.
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Michael Cline and Jason Green, Founding Partners at Accretive Technology Partners and Emergence Capital respectively, argue that when raising money, entrepreneurs should raise enough money to get past essential proof points in the business. Furthermore, Green emphasizes that entrepreneurs should be focused on raising enough money to flush out the key risks in the business.
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Things aren't ever as good or as bad as we think. Today (2002) is one of the best environments to be an investor. The last three or four years were not a lot of fun--if Khosla went to someone to build a reasonable business, the response he would get was that another company was willing to give more money for less work. He would have to explain that the role of a VC was to help companies develop a real economic model and to give an honest...more
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Recent Women's Health Initiative (WHI) studies demonstrated that hormone therapy carries a number of health risks in woman not considered earlier, such as the increased likelihood of blood clots and stroke. Marcia Stefanick, PhD, professor of medicine at Stanford School of Medicine, served as chair of the WHI steering committee and she continues to analyze the project's data for other ill-effects.
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William Sahlman, professor at Harvard Business School, maintains that entrepreneurs must manage the relationship between risk and reward, illustrating his point with the example of John Osher, creator of the very successful spin toothbrush. Specifically, Sahlman argues that entrepreneurship is fundamentally about decreasing risks and increasing the chances of success - an issue that is fundamentally related to the people in the venture.
