Friday, July 30, 2010
Dear Tom:
Interesting article with a good overview, yet I would have liked to have seen more depth as to the fundamental causes of this state of affairs. There are two factors that have not been addressed. The first is the 1886 Supreme Court decision in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company that gives corporations the same status as a person. There were other decisions that allowed corporations charters in perptuity which was not the case prior to these decisions. This assures a momentum, sovereignty, and status not afforded to many governments. The second aspect is that of monopoly leveraging. This has the effect of siphoning capital and mindshare out of the mainstream where true innovation can flourish. Too big to fail, too big to be responsible, and too big to pay are becoming the status quo mantras of the globals.
Of the companies mentioned, Apple, Google, and Microsoft I will disagree that these people had tremendous vision, etc., etc. These people were in the right place at the right time with the right resources and a series of other factors that led to their successes. Once the momentum is established on a frontier it is winner take all in the technology frontier. When corporations get to a larger size it is extremely difficult for them to internally innovate and deliver a truly new, useful, and unique product to the market; most of the time it is a me too version of the front-runner at the moment. The topic of software patents is also pivotal to this article. Though I have my own opinions and direct experiences, I also would have liked to have seen a discussion on how this affects venture capital from your point of view.
The Best to All,
Vladimir----------------
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