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A series on Hope, part one

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Dylan McGrath at EE Times asking me if I knew of any companies doing well, because he wanted to write some good news.  I told him that there was a lot of hope out there, but nothing that can be reported publicly right now.

I thought about that email for a while and decided I should talk about what is going on in the world from a larger perspective.  So Dylan, this was inspired by you.  

Bobby Kennedy said during his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination that, "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."  A lot of people may think that the US economy indicates too
many people have failed greatly already and are wondering when the great
achievement is going to begin.
  But
in this first message of hope, I want to start by saying that what we have been
daring to do in the past decade is mostly hold on to what we have.
  We really haven't been doing much to
reach for the stars.



The first web boom that went bust was based mostly on the
belief that a business could make money without a plan.
  All you had to do was rely on
advertising.
  At least Web 2.0 is based on building relationship, although that's an indication of
the loneliness of our society.
  The
semi industry and establishment of the internet began with the goal of
democratizing the world through electronic communication and, by and large,
that goal has been accomplished.
 
But the industry and the net lapsed into a pursuit of status and profit,
rather than improving the quality of life for all people.
  And the media fell into the same trap
as the dotcom-mers when it stopped realizing it was a communication vehicle and
started seeing itself as a sales vehicle for industry…again for great profit.



We've all forgotten the lessons of Adam Smith, i.e. that
capitalistic endeavor is for the improvement of society, and that personal
wealth comes as a byproduct of that endeavor.



But here’s the hope for you all:  There are a lot of people all over the world who believe
that America, deep down in its gut, knows it's off the track, and they are
willing to bet the farm on our ability to get our mojo back.

I've learned over the past few months that foreign
governments
are more than willing to help their entrepreneurs set up shop in
the US to do business here, to buy and sell products and services, the hire
employees, and lease office space.
 
I've learned these same governments are will to invest in US start-ups
to move headquarters to foreign shores to hire their engineers directly.
  And I've learned that there is a
significant group of US investors more than willing to consider investing in
foreign technology startups.

The
last two Mondays I've attended seminars on European entrepreneurs and met
leaders in REALLLY BIG
venture funds f
rom overseas looking to invest in US
companies. There is a lot of hope
out there, it just may not be where you've always looked for it. And in the next couple of posts, I want
to encourage you get a piece of that hope by opening your horizons.