Decius wrote:

Guy Kawasaki, Apple Computer legend, founder and managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, a venture capital firm:

Here's what not to do:

Create a venture capital fund, because capital isn't the issue; good ideas are (which is why we need engineering schools and foreigners).

The stuff you don't have always seems harder to come by than the stuff you have. Kawasaki must know that he doesn't fund ideas, he funds teams of people, and the cheaper those people are, the better, which is why he needs "engineering schools and foreigners."

The US doesn't need to be more innovative. It just needs to stop shooting itself in the foot. Things like the USPTO and expensing stock options have blunted what was already a great innovation machine. People keep getting concerned about American competitiveness, but that's not a real concern if you just stop over-reacting or allowing special interests and monopolies to control legislation. China, India, Russia - they are all growing on the backs of American innovation. Do you think that China is using home-grown techniques for energy production, construction, or telecommunications? Don't think for a minute that the US economy is not directly profiting from their growth.