WRAL Tech Wire

 Our government can’t prevent a digital 9-11 – Entrepreneurs must step in

Analysis: “The National Security Agency and some branches of government have brilliant computer scientists working for them and can defend their own systems; but the rest of us are our own,” writes tech entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa. “The government simply can’t innovate fast enough to keep pace with the pervasive threats and dynamics of the internet or Silicon Valley’s rapidly changing technologies.”

 Men and women entrepreneurs: Not that different

Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at the School of Information at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. You can follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwaand find his research at www.wadhwa.com.

Women in business

 Startups' decision: Go for all of the gold or just enough?

It matters how big entrepreneurs want to get before cashing out because it affects the way you grow your company, and the focus you place on products and customers.

 Can Russia build its own Silicon Valley?

Analysis: Russia has many challenges. Foreign investors are discouraged by rules of law that fail to match countries such as the U.S. and Western Europe; bureaucracies are confusing and cumbersome; corruption is rampant and is even seeping into the education system; powerful oligarchs dominate key industries; and secrecy in R&D is the norm. Until these problems are fixed, tech entrepreneurship simply can’t flourish.

 High tech’s hiring dark secret: It’s all about age

The harsh reality is that in the tech world, companies prefer to hire young, inexperienced engineers. And engineering is an “up or out” profession: you either move up the ladder or face unemployment. This is not something that tech executives publicly admit, because they fear being sued for age discrimination, but everyone knows that this is the way things are.

Tracking age and earnings

 Abolishing software patents would unleash more innovation

In software, patents are just nuclear weapons in an arms race. They don’t foster innovation, they inhibit it. That’s because things change rapidly in this industry. Speed and technological obsolescence are the only protections that matter. Fledgling startups have to worry more about some big player or patent troll pulling out a big gun and bankrupting them with a frivolous lawsuit than they do about someone stealing their ideas.

Software patent survey

 Emerging markets: Opportunities in ‘Patent-Free Zone’

Opinion: Vivek Wadhwa provides a fresh take on how the geographical differences in patent law may actually open up big opportunities in countries considered emerging markets.

 Magic is gone: Why an Apple fanboy is Craiglisting his iPads

“I really believed that this cool new device would solve the world’s technology problems and reduce the number of electronic gadgets I had to carry around,” writes entrepreneur and university professor Vivek Wadhwa. He now says he was wrong.

 Why Andy Grove is wrong about job growth

Opinion from Vivek Wadhwa: Reigniting job creation in the U.S. won't happen by becoming more like China and India.

 Entrepreneurship = hope: Inspiration from some determined young girls in India

Analysis from Vivek Wadhwa: If the young girls I met in India can rise above poverty, alcoholism, gender bias, domestic violence, marriage pressures, religious oppression, and a wide range of complex social and economic obstacles through pure hard work and determination, so can underprivileged communities in the U.S.

 Why policy makers should review facts before marching to drumbeat of xenophobes

Analysis: New research confirms what most people in Silicon Valley already know: that foreign-born I.T. workers complement American professionals and make the pie bigger rather than take jobs away.

 Fixing Societal Problems starts with mom and dad

Opinion: Though many people say sexism is rare in the tech world these days, the barriers encountered by some women entrepreneurs aren’t unusual. If you're going to fix a problem, you need to start by admitting that it exists and then fix its root causes. Don't pretend that everything is okay just because you can highlight a few random successes.

 Is an MBA a plus or a minus in the startup world?

Analysis: In the startup world, it’s simply survival of the fittest. You have to involve yourself with almost every aspect of the business — and use all skills. Education helps meet those challenges.

 Bootstrapping to success: Three startups that grew on their own

Analysis: Founders at Threadless, Pointabout, Buzzient demonstrate how venture capital is not essential for building a profitable venture.

 Bootstrapping case No. 2: Told no by VCs, Pointabout persevered on its own

Key advice for success: 'Focus hard and focus on your core. Almost anyone can make any one thing great if they focus on it and dedicate their life to it.'

 Bootstrapping case No. 3: A former VC chose to build value first at Buzzient

Key to success? 'The first rule is to relentlessly focus on your customers.'

 An entrepreneur’s advice to the South: Invest in failure first

Vivek Wadhwa, a Triangle entrepreneur turned academic at Duke and other universities, tells TechDrawl Web site that taking risk is essential to a region’s success.

 Seeking funding? Ditch biz plan, buy a lottery ticket

Analysis: The reality is that the vast majority of startups don’t receive any VC or angel funding. My advice is always the same: ditch the business plan, and buy a lottery ticket. Your odds are better, and you’ll suffer less stress.

Bootstrap your way to mountaintop

 Launching your own venture: Pointers on bootstrapping

There is no single recipe for bootstrapping a company, but there are some essential ingredients. Read here for some pointers.

 How to be happy at work – And to deal with that jerk boss

Analysis: It is easy to look at all the things that are wrong with your job. But instead of being despondent at work and focusing on the two or three things that you think are wrong with your job, try thinking about the twenty or so things that are good about it. Try making a list of all that’s good about your job, including the fact that you have one.