Scandals rock the Valley; need for an ethical check up

Just when we thought the technology "depression" was over, we face another scandal that, if I'm right, will rock the general investor confidence in technology investments. You know what I'm talking about. Options backdating. This is a time for an ethical check up and discernment training.

The Valley depends on your Innovation!

Fred Smith. Know his name? Likely not, but he's the founder and CEO of FedEx. The innovator who changed the concept of package delivery in our lifetime. When he came up with the idea of FedEx, he "borrowed" it from a different industry. Since telecommunications and banking both applied a hub and spoke system of dissemination, he thought that could be applied to delivery services to increase speed and efficiency and enable a new business concept. And you know what his undergraduate professor thought of this "innovation? " Not much. He got a "C" and a bad peer review.

Out With the Old Process, In With the New – Completely

Remember Webvan? Those pretty brown trucks. We saw one all scuffed up and worn down by the side of the road today and it perfectly symbolized the promise of an Internet-based grocery company that never made it. Lots of theories on its failure have been created, but I am always amazed that most people fail to recognize one of the biggest factors that doomed Webvan. It is a lesson that too few people seem to recognize when running their own business units.