Start ups will offer far more opportunity over the long term. Wall Street has entered into a period of trauma that will last for many years or forever.
Fred Wilson quotes Silicon Valley insider Andy Kessler in his latest blog post: "The true money-makers all find jobs elsewhere. The worker bees in the middle tier see disruption, but are eventually absorbed into the reconstructed Wall Street. The bottom tier goes to work at Foot Locker." (http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2008/09/trying-to-make.html) This might sound harsh, but is it the truth? It seems conclusively that the Big I-Banks will be shedding some numbers. Venture Capitalists like Wilson are even trying to funnel some fired Lehman, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch folks into the offices of NY-based startups (http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2008/09/leave-wall-stre.html). The answer seems pretty straightforward: startups are the new Wall Street.
Wall Street needs innovation. But it's going to eventually be restructured. It's not as if this hasn't happened in some form, before. The bright spot for startups though is right now, it's a good bet, because the VC money is still there. VCs are still investing and really good startups could flourish in the future. Right now, the silicon valley crowd is not sweating this Wall Street debacle in the same way as Wall Street is.
Wall St is shrinking from 40% of profit (pre crisis) to 5% (historic norm for financial services.) Wall St pay will remain good (despite being under scrutiny,) but the numbers employed will be much lower. Wall St will also have its fair share of start-ups. www.smartinvestorafrica.com
Change is here to stay. The old guard is dying. The basic measurements we use to define the economy and on which Wall Street is built does not even begin to take into account the intangible assets that are being produced rapidly in this country. The knowledge economy is growing by leaps and bounds and we haven't even begun to measure it yet. Startups and emerging market businesses are in a position to identify and adapt to change. Wall Street is too entrenched in business and bottom line and how it's currently identified to move quickly enough to adapt to the new world. That may change in the future, but for now, start-ups, entrepreneurs and small business have the advantage in the marketplace.
Startup. Wall Street glamour will go away once the financial gimmicks are gone, more regulations are in place, and the "entire pay structure" is revamped.
If there is much less money to be made on Wall Street, then the MAIN street will benefit.
The Feds created the problem and can't fix it using the same process that created it. Further, proposing to underwrite worthless mortgages with by printing money supposedly backed by the value of those mortgages... it's insanity! All the Feds are doing is relieving the mortgage companies (and now AIG) of debt responsibility by shifting it to the tax payers directly as "National Debt." And, the burden it is placing on the next generation will be stifling. Try getting your head around the following:
In this day and age when big numbers are bandied about daily in the news, it is easy to lose perspective of what we are really talking about. As children, most of us grew up thinking a "million dollars" was really a lot of money. Last Thursday the US government bought a failing insurance company and added a trillion dollars to the debt owed by US citizens… that’s a thousand billion! Money has lost meaning; people can’t even conceptualise a "billion" much less a “trillion”.... we don’t have any realistic idea of what "a billion dollars" really looks like or means in tangible terms!
TRY THE FOLLOWING TO UNDERSTAND "A BILLION DOLLARS"
If you had One Billion Kiwi dollars in one dollar coins and wanted to take them to the bank, here is what would be required to do it all in one trip based on weight alone.
4,583 Two-ton trucks
1 Half-ton pickup truck
And you would still have about $18,186 in pocket change left over. Also, the caravan of trucks would stretch out bumper to bumper, for 16.67 kilometers. Now a trillion dollars…. That’s a caravan of trucks 16,670 Km long or more than half way around the world.
The US national debt has grown by two trillion dollars (the equivalent of about 13.7 MILLION truck loads of Kiwi dollars) since last year alone, and the total 9.5+ trillion dollar debt is now the equivalent of about $31,600 for every man, woman and child. At 5% interest the servicing of this debt would be 47.5 BILLION dollars per year. If spread equally, that would be $6,320.00 in federal taxes annually for a family of four just to pay the interest! Of course it is not going to be “spread equally.” Talk about mortgaged futures! Tsk Tsk! Ain’t it awful!?
But wait a minute! Although we Kiwis are still only dealing in the Billions for our national debt (only about 12.9 billion as of September quarter figures), given our small population that works out to about $33,000 for every man, woman and child. Woo hoo; take that you Yanks! When it comes to turning surpluses into debts Kiwis rule!!!!!
What ever happened to “penny lollies”… or even pennies for that matter?
Startup? Wall Street? I think the solution for future ventures is rather ambiguous. I mean how wise is it to dump loads of cash into a startup that wants to sell "lemonade on the corner" (figuratively speaking). You are better trying to bail out Lehman from its financial distress. Working for a startup firm compared to Wall Street anticipating profit lies in the paradigm of the individual or firm. Wall Street, like every other industry, is going through its cycle of depletion of bad investments(loans, credit, leverage) and reformation. This could be seen as opportunity to any vulture capitalist that gains from the mistakes and mishaps of the marketplace. In contrast, opportunity presents itself in start-ups that may appear to be an hedge against the catastrophes of the financial sector. All in all, opportunity is every place where there is a vision and plan to constitute profit.
There are two types of people in this world - those that start things, and those that follow. Everyone crosses over once in a while, but the smart ones go back to their true calling. At Initial Underwriting we see startup ideas from those that are...well, for the lack of better words - better at doing what they do at the daytime job. And then there are those that have the ideas, and the motivation to start a business - but are stuck in the corporate world.
What is best? Try both, and whichever you love and do better at - the answer is obvious.
Sincerely,
Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting
There are two types of people in this world - those that start things, and those that follow. Everyone crosses over once in a while, but the smart ones go back to their true calling. At Initial Underwriting we see startup ideas from those that are...well, for the lack of better words - better at doing what they do at the daytime job. And then there are those that have the ideas, and the motivation to start a business - but are stuck in the corporate world.
What is best? Try both, and whichever you love and do better at - the answer is obvious.
Sincerely,
Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting
12 Total
September 19, 2008 at 10:32am by Edward Sussman
Start ups will offer far more opportunity over the long term. Wall Street has entered into a period of trauma that will last for many years or forever.
September 19, 2008 at 10:53am by Brendan Collins
Fred Wilson quotes Silicon Valley insider Andy Kessler in his latest blog post: "The true money-makers all find jobs elsewhere. The worker bees in the middle tier see disruption, but are eventually absorbed into the reconstructed Wall Street. The bottom tier goes to work at Foot Locker." (http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2008/09/trying-to-make.html) This might sound harsh, but is it the truth? It seems conclusively that the Big I-Banks will be shedding some numbers. Venture Capitalists like Wilson are even trying to funnel some fired Lehman, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch folks into the offices of NY-based startups (http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2008/09/leave-wall-stre.html). The answer seems pretty straightforward: startups are the new Wall Street.
September 19, 2008 at 12:06pm by Paul Maiorana
Wall Street
September 19, 2008 at 12:34pm by Lynne d Johnson
Wall Street needs innovation. But it's going to eventually be restructured. It's not as if this hasn't happened in some form, before. The bright spot for startups though is right now, it's a good bet, because the VC money is still there. VCs are still investing and really good startups could flourish in the future. Right now, the silicon valley crowd is not sweating this Wall Street debacle in the same way as Wall Street is.
September 19, 2008 at 4:06pm by Omnizen Consultancy
Wall Street. More risky, more lobbying, more start-ups (wanting more credibility to get funding)... all leads to wall street becoming an elitist club.
September 19, 2008 at 5:28pm by Afam Edozie
Wall St is shrinking from 40% of profit (pre crisis) to 5% (historic norm for financial services.) Wall St pay will remain good (despite being under scrutiny,) but the numbers employed will be much lower. Wall St will also have its fair share of start-ups. www.smartinvestorafrica.com
September 19, 2008 at 5:55pm by Monica Holbrook
Change is here to stay. The old guard is dying. The basic measurements we use to define the economy and on which Wall Street is built does not even begin to take into account the intangible assets that are being produced rapidly in this country. The knowledge economy is growing by leaps and bounds and we haven't even begun to measure it yet. Startups and emerging market businesses are in a position to identify and adapt to change. Wall Street is too entrenched in business and bottom line and how it's currently identified to move quickly enough to adapt to the new world. That may change in the future, but for now, start-ups, entrepreneurs and small business have the advantage in the marketplace.
September 20, 2008 at 2:18pm by Ramesh Gandhi
Startup. Wall Street glamour will go away once the financial gimmicks are gone, more regulations are in place, and the "entire pay structure" is revamped.
If there is much less money to be made on Wall Street, then the MAIN street will benefit.
September 20, 2008 at 5:07pm by Richard A. Engdahl
As Al Borland would say: "I don't think so, Tim!"
The Feds created the problem and can't fix it using the same process that created it. Further, proposing to underwrite worthless mortgages with by printing money supposedly backed by the value of those mortgages... it's insanity! All the Feds are doing is relieving the mortgage companies (and now AIG) of debt responsibility by shifting it to the tax payers directly as "National Debt." And, the burden it is placing on the next generation will be stifling. Try getting your head around the following:
In this day and age when big numbers are bandied about daily in the news, it is easy to lose perspective of what we are really talking about. As children, most of us grew up thinking a "million dollars" was really a lot of money. Last Thursday the US government bought a failing insurance company and added a trillion dollars to the debt owed by US citizens… that’s a thousand billion! Money has lost meaning; people can’t even conceptualise a "billion" much less a “trillion”.... we don’t have any realistic idea of what "a billion dollars" really looks like or means in tangible terms!
TRY THE FOLLOWING TO UNDERSTAND "A BILLION DOLLARS"
If you had One Billion Kiwi dollars in one dollar coins and wanted to take them to the bank, here is what would be required to do it all in one trip based on weight alone.
4,583 Two-ton trucks
1 Half-ton pickup truck
And you would still have about $18,186 in pocket change left over. Also, the caravan of trucks would stretch out bumper to bumper, for 16.67 kilometers. Now a trillion dollars…. That’s a caravan of trucks 16,670 Km long or more than half way around the world.
The US national debt has grown by two trillion dollars (the equivalent of about 13.7 MILLION truck loads of Kiwi dollars) since last year alone, and the total 9.5+ trillion dollar debt is now the equivalent of about $31,600 for every man, woman and child. At 5% interest the servicing of this debt would be 47.5 BILLION dollars per year. If spread equally, that would be $6,320.00 in federal taxes annually for a family of four just to pay the interest! Of course it is not going to be “spread equally.” Talk about mortgaged futures! Tsk Tsk! Ain’t it awful!?
But wait a minute! Although we Kiwis are still only dealing in the Billions for our national debt (only about 12.9 billion as of September quarter figures), given our small population that works out to about $33,000 for every man, woman and child. Woo hoo; take that you Yanks! When it comes to turning surpluses into debts Kiwis rule!!!!!
What ever happened to “penny lollies”… or even pennies for that matter?
October 1, 2008 at 6:30am by Delanta Frink
Startup? Wall Street? I think the solution for future ventures is rather ambiguous. I mean how wise is it to dump loads of cash into a startup that wants to sell "lemonade on the corner" (figuratively speaking). You are better trying to bail out Lehman from its financial distress. Working for a startup firm compared to Wall Street anticipating profit lies in the paradigm of the individual or firm. Wall Street, like every other industry, is going through its cycle of depletion of bad investments(loans, credit, leverage) and reformation. This could be seen as opportunity to any vulture capitalist that gains from the mistakes and mishaps of the marketplace. In contrast, opportunity presents itself in start-ups that may appear to be an hedge against the catastrophes of the financial sector. All in all, opportunity is every place where there is a vision and plan to constitute profit.
October 3, 2008 at 10:21am by Ilya Bodner
There are two types of people in this world - those that start things, and those that follow. Everyone crosses over once in a while, but the smart ones go back to their true calling. At Initial Underwriting we see startup ideas from those that are...well, for the lack of better words - better at doing what they do at the daytime job. And then there are those that have the ideas, and the motivation to start a business - but are stuck in the corporate world.
What is best? Try both, and whichever you love and do better at - the answer is obvious.
Sincerely,
Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting
October 3, 2008 at 10:21am by Ilya Bodner
There are two types of people in this world - those that start things, and those that follow. Everyone crosses over once in a while, but the smart ones go back to their true calling. At Initial Underwriting we see startup ideas from those that are...well, for the lack of better words - better at doing what they do at the daytime job. And then there are those that have the ideas, and the motivation to start a business - but are stuck in the corporate world.
What is best? Try both, and whichever you love and do better at - the answer is obvious.
Sincerely,
Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting