Crowd funding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet.[1] One early-stage equity expert described it as “the practice of raising funds from two or more people over the internet towards a common Service, Project, Product, Investment, Cause, and Experience, or SPPICE.”[2] The crowdfunding model is fueled by three types of actors: the project initiator who proposes the idea and/or project to be funded; individuals or groups who support the idea; and a moderating organization (the "platform") that brings the parties together to launch the idea.[3] In 2013, the crowdfunding industry grew to be over $5.1 billion worldwide.[4] History[edit] Types[edit] The Crowdfunding Centre's May 2014 report identified the existence of two primary types of crowdfunding: Rewards-based[edit] Equity[edit] Debt-based[edit] Litigation[edit] Charity[edit] Role of the crowd[edit] Crowdfunding platforms[edit] Origins[edit] Press
Silicon Valley An aerial view of Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a nickname for the South Bay portion of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, United States. The region occupies roughly the same area as the Santa Clara Valley where it is centered, including San Jose and surrounding towns, where most of the companies are located. Origin of the term[edit] The term Silicon Valley was coined by Ralph Vaerst, a successful Central California entrepreneur. Demographics[edit] Depending on what geographic regions are included in the meaning of the term, the population of Silicon Valley is between 3.5 million and 4 million. History[edit] "Perhaps the strongest thread that runs through the Valley's past and present is the drive to "play" with novel technology, which, when bolstered by an advanced engineering degree and channeled by astute management, has done much to create the industrial powerhouse we see in the Valley today Social roots of information technology revolution[edit] Law firms[edit]
Economy of Israel The economy of Israel is a market economy.[12] As of 2012[update], Israel ranks 16th among 187 nations on the UN's Human Development Index, which places it in the category of "Very Highly Developed". The major industrial sectors include high-technology products, metal products, electronic and biomedical equipment, agricultural products, processed foods, chemicals, and transport equipment; the Israeli diamond industry is one of the world's centers for diamond cutting and polishing. In September 2010, Israel was invited to join the OECD.[31] Israel has also signed free trade agreements with the European Union, the United States, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Jordan, Egypt, and on 18 December 2007, became the first non-Latin-American country to sign a free trade agreement with the Mercosur trade bloc.[32][33] History[edit] From 1924, trade fairs were held in Tel Aviv. The Orient Fair was inaugurated in 1932.[39] After independence[edit] OECD membership[edit]
Angel investor An angel Investor or angel (also known as a business angel or informal investor) is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasing number of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share research and pool their investment capital, as well as to provide advice to their portfolio companies.[1] Etymology and origin[edit] The term "angel" originally comes from Broadway, where it was used to describe wealthy individuals who provided money for theatrical productions. In 1978, William Wetzel,[2] then a professor at the University of New Hampshire and founder of its Center for Venture Research, completed a pioneering study on how entrepreneurs raised seed capital in the USA, and he began using the term "angel" to describe the investors that supported them. Source and extent of funding[edit] Investment profile[edit] Geographical differences[edit] US[edit]
Silicon Valley News - Archive 3 - High Tech Trends, News & Events - Silicon Valley to Internet Valley: archive #3 High Tech World Wide Trends, News & Events Chinese and Indian Entrepreneurs Are Eating America's Lunch By BY VIVEK WADHWA Watch out, Silicon Valley: China and India aren't just graduating bad engineers and stealing intellectual property anymore. They're fostering innovations that will shake the world... 21st century, hi-tech India: the smartest country on the planet. Europe Is Searching For Its Silicon Valley. Chile: South America's Silicon Valley? Has Silicon Valley Lost Its Edge? Apple iPad 2: why tablets are the future of computing By Shane Richmond Announcing the iPad 2 last night, Steve Jobs talked by about it as a "post-PC" device. Can You Really Build a Great Tech Firm Outside Silicon Valley? US Venture Capital investments by Region / Q4 2010 In its search for quality, Google might find more than it bargained for. ... doesn't think there's a dot-com style tech bubble right now ... First 15 Years of the Browsers Wars:
Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (/ˈnoʊm ˈtʃɒmski/; born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher,[21][22] cognitive scientist, logician,[23][24][25] political commentator and anarcho-syndicalist activist. Sometimes described as the "father of modern linguistics",[26][27] Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy.[21] He has spent most of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is currently Professor Emeritus, and has authored over 100 books. He has been described as a prominent cultural figure, and was voted the "world's top public intellectual" in a 2005 poll.[28] Born to a middle-class Ashkenazi Jewish family in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from relatives in New York City. He later undertook studies in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained his BA, MA, and PhD, while from 1951 to 1955 he was appointed to Harvard University's Society of Fellows. Early life Childhood: 1928–45
MENA Private Equity Association - Supporting and Developing private equity and venture capital industry Start-Up: the book » Content and summary The content in pdf (english version) Le contenu en pdf (version française) Is the world of start-ups misunderstood? This economic phenomenon of major importance, which appeared fifty years ago in Silicon Valley near San Francisco, seems to face scepticism and even suspicion. It may still suffer from the consequences of the excesses of the Internet bubble in the late nineties. However Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Yahoo and Google were all start-ups and they prove that the emergence of start-ups is not mere speculation. The book tells the exceptional story of start-ups which have created, in Silicon Valley, a true ecosystem. For this reason, it should be read by a large public, not only by specialists of innovation or by high-tech entrepreneurs, but also by anyone puzzled by the thrilling world of start-ups. Chapter 1: the Google saga. Chapter 8: few success stories in Europe. more… Investors The venture capital world, the investors in start-ups, is quite different from classical finance.
Cultural hegemony The Communist intellectual Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) developed the theory of cultural hegemony to further the establishment of a working-class worldview. Background[edit] Etymology[edit] The etymologic and historical evolution of the Greek word hegemony, and of its denotations, has proceeded thus: Historical[edit] In 1848, Karl Marx proposed that the economic recessions and practical contradictions of a capitalist economy would provoke the working class to proletarian revolution, depose capitalism, restructure social institutions (economic, political, social) per the rational models of socialism, and thus begin the transition to a communist society. To that end, Antonio Gramsci proposed a strategic distinction, between a War of Position and a War of Manœuvre. As a result of their different social purposes, the classes will be able to coalesce into a society with a greater social mission. Intellectuals and cultural hegemony[edit] Gramsci's intellectual influence[edit] See also[edit]
Private equity A private equity investment will generally be made by a private equity firm, a venture capital firm or an angel investor. Each of these categories of investor has its own set of goals, preferences and investment strategies; however, all provide working capital to a target company to nurture expansion, new-product development, or restructuring of the company’s operations, management, or ownership.[2] Bloomberg Businessweek has called private equity a rebranding of leveraged buyout firms after the 1980s. Among the most common investment strategies in private equity are: leveraged buyouts, venture capital, growth capital, distressed investments and mezzanine capital. In a typical leveraged buyout transaction, a private equity firm buys majority control of an existing or mature firm. Private equity is also often grouped into a broader category called private capital, generally used to describe capital supporting any long-term, illiquid investment strategy. Strategies[edit] Notes:
For Europe’s start-ups, Silicon Valley still calls By Kim Hjelmgaard, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) — “Go West,” young technology company. That sentiment, with its compass-point directive, is both a rallying cry and a death knell in Europe’s war to assert the credentials of its homespun technology entrepreneurs. Divided by geography, language, regulation and, in some cases, just old-fashioned cultural prejudice, the region has struggled to shed fully its image as a place where men and women with ideas are born, but where they do not necessarily stay, prosper or secure funding. And that’s despite some global-headline-grabbing deals recently for some of the Old World’s most innovative and promising young companies. A view of downtown San Jose, Calif., the self-proclaimed capital of Silicon Valley. In May, for example, Microsoft Corp. The capital injections keep coming, in fact. Mark Rock Mark Rock, founder and chief executive of British start-up Audioboo. “It’s all right here and that’s why I moved. US : U.S.: Nasdaq Volume: 692,004