FEATURE
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Why Crowdfunding for Start-ups Could Become a Huge Mess
January 24, 2014 | CNBC
Looking to put your life savings into an unproven start-up, and hopefully cash out when it hits big? Rules under consideration by the SEC would allow start-ups to "crowdfund" their businesses, raising capital from people who have traditionally been barred from making such risky investments. But while the crowdfunding phenomenon has worked for companies like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, trying to fund start-ups this way could prove disastrous for many people, experts say.
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Crowdfunding Tips for Turning Inspiration Into Reality
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Searching for ‘Next Big Thing’ Results in Soaring Valuations
January 22, 2014 | New York Times
You probably saw that Google is paying $3.2 billion in cash for Nest Labs, a maker of smart thermostats that has no profit and perhaps $300 million in revenue. The search giant can obviously afford to pay a rich price, and scarily high valuations are nothing new in Silicon Valley. Yet, the Nest purchase also illustrates how cozy the Valley is — and how that coziness removes any check on more sober pricing. Higher prices are in everyone’s short-term interest.. It’s hard not to be worried. Silicon Valley has no incentive to stop the valuation madness.
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Founder to Chicago: Let Go of Silicon Valley-Size Dreams
January 24, 2014 | Chicago Tribune
Adrian Holovaty says it’s time to rebrand the Chicago startup scene, focusing on passionate bootstrappers rather than small firms looking to get huge. Playing “the Silicon Valley game” isn’t going to get Chicago any closer to the kind of massive venture-capital dollars that flow through California, Holovaty told about 450 people gathered last week for the Chicago Entrepreneurial Center’s 2014 Startup Forecast.
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San Francisco Tech Industry Moderates the City's Backlash
January 24, 2014 | Los Angeles
Tech industry leaders launch a goodwill campaign in San Francisco, promising to create more jobs and affordable housing. As start-ups poured into San Francisco in recent years and younger employees of companies have chosen to live there and make the long commute to Silicon Valley, the pressure has proved too great on what remains a small city geographically, just 7 by 7 miles, creating a backlash..
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