VentureBeat

Young “Billionaire” Guns of SV « Technically Speaking said:

[...] The entire time I read this article, the old Bon Jovi solo song went through my head - “Blaze of Glory“. Go figure; Technically Speaking of course! [...]

Starked SF, Unforgiving News from the Bay » Blog Archive » Hump Day Holler: Asleep on the Job? said:

[...] Young Guns: secret Silicon Valley society. [...]

Tech and Science News Updates! » Blog Archive » Say Hello To The Vapor Billionaires said:

[...] While economic bubbles may not be so bad, it is funny to see how quickly reports of great wealth from a bubble translate into a sudden influx of folks who don’t understand a space at all, but just want to cash out. It happened during the last bubble around 1999 when all of the reports of crazy IPOs were happening, making lots of people paper millionaires (many of whom never turned that fake paper into the green kind that matters). Now, it seems that with the lack of suitable IPOs, we’re going to be hearing a lot more stories about vapor millionaires. It started back in August with Business Week’s silly cover story claiming that Digg’s Kevin Rose had personally made $60 million which was flat out false, and now it appears that Rolling Stone is following suit. VentureBeat points us to a Rolling Stone story about “the baby billionaires of Silicon Valley.” There’s just one problem: none of the people they list is a billionaire. Outside of the YouTube founders (who are worth a few hundred million on paper) none of the others are even worth very much on paper. They all founded or run small private companies that have yet to be sold to anyone and there’s no telling what they’re worth, if anything. Some of the guys profiled are very nice guys who we’ve met — and they may eventually be able to cash out with plenty of money — but to claim they’re billionaires (or even millionaires) isn’t even remotely accurate. They don’t even have the money on paper — other than in this Rolling Stone article. It truly is the rise of the vapor billionaire — and the problem is that stories like this will just send out the signal for more folks to show up planning to make their own billion, not even recognizing that the original billionaires didn’t even exist in the first place. [...]

Baby billionaires? at Technologica said:

[...] Baby billionaires? Published November 9th, 2006 in rolling stone, youtube, billionaires This has to be one of the stupidest articles I have ever read.  It’s entitled “The Baby Billionaires of Silicon Valley” and it appears in Rolling Stone this month.  In it, David Kushner describes what sounds like a secret society of “billionaire” kids who hang out after school together. This is almost as bad as the Business Week cover with Kevin Rose with the title “How this kid made $60 million in 18 months”.  If you were to believe this type of reporting you would be suprised to learn that none of the people mentioned in actually billionaires. Not even close. Realistically most of these guys are still paper millionaires which is a long way from being a billionaire. These are the kinds of articles that caused people to invest and lose all sorts of money in flacky tech stocks in 2000. Thanks to Venture Beat for alerting me of this. [...]

Venture Midwest » No Time For Reading said:

[...] Hello Readers. Life is busy for legions of techrepeneurs - so choatic I developed the term “techrepreneur” to accurately describe our lifestyle. Emails, advertising deals, telephone conversations, financials are jobs for many individuals, but limited resources in the uber-competitive tech landscape create 21st century Renaissance Men. Since I live this existence myself, I am hesitant to question the intent of reports from respected tech sources such as techcrunch, techdirt, and venturebeat. Who has time for leisure reading - is this not the main problem solved by blogging? Coverage of a Rolling Stone’s article entitled “The Baby Billionaires of Silicon Valley” illustrates the extent of time constraints for techrepeneurs. Techdirt posted “Say Hello To the Vapor Billionaires” while VentureBeat released the similarly targeted “Young Guns form Secret Silicon Valley Society.” Both stories criticize the lack of tangible, or paper money these aspiring individuals possess, citing YouTube founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley as the only members of real worth. By no means do I support Rolling Stone as the pinnacle of journalism integrity and the stories headline is misleading since none of the featured entrepreneurs are billionaires. However, after reading the article, I discovered a story primarily focused on aspirations and publicity - not wealth of California 20 somethings. A coming of age story, starring tomorrow’s Mark Cubans, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs…A introductory story containing obvious details to informed followers of Web 2.0. Typical propaganda from a youth culture propulsion literature, notice this our else. After speaking with Web 2.0 analyst, D. Christopher Crawford, we agreed the story did deserve criticism, but for lack of insight not for misleading readers. “Rolling Stone attempted to capture the potential of these youthful entrepreneurs. Displaying their notable successes with young age behaviors - billiards, women, and beer - conveyed the humanity of these emerging titans. Mentioning “Billionaire” in the title was only an initial attention grabber” - D. Christopher Crawford. Blogs can be misleading as well! Disclaimer: Andy Angelos does not except responsibility for any factual, grammatical, syntax errors in this posting. The opinions are simply…opinions. [...]

Bill Gates » Open-Source Group Razzes Microsoft With ‘BadVista.org’ (TechWeb) said:

[...] However TechWeb - Free Software Foundation Web site tries to draw attention to perceived weaknesses of Vista and encourages users to consider alternatives. Need help finding more information? say Hello To The Vapor Billionaires While economic bubbles may not be so bad, it is funny to see how quickly reports of great wealth from a bubble translate into a sudden influx of folks who don’t understand a space at all, but just want to cash out. It happened during the last bubble around 1999 when all of the reports of crazy IPOs were happening, making lots of people paper millionaires (many of whom never turned that fake paper into the green kind that matters). Now, it seems that with the lack of suitable IPOs, we’re going to be hearing a lot more stories about vapor millionaires. It started back in August with Business Week’s silly cover story claiming that Digg’s Kevin Rose had personally made $60 million which was flat out false, and now it appears that Rolling Stone is following suit. VentureBeat points us to a Rolling Stone story about “the baby billionaires of Silicon Valley.” There’s just one problem: none of the people they list is a billionaire. Outside of the YouTube founders (who are worth a few hundred million on paper) none of the others are even worth very much on paper. They all founded or run small private companies that have yet to be sold to anyone and there’s no telling what they’re worth, if anything. Some of the guys profiled are very nice guys who we’ve met — and they may eventually be able to cash out with plenty of money — but to claim they’re billionaires (or even millionaires) isn’t even remotely accurate. They don’t even have the money on paper — other than in this Rolling Stone article. It truly is the rise of the vapor billionaire — and the problem is that stories like this will just send out the signal for more folks to show up planning to make their own billion, not even recognizing that the original billionaires didn’t even exist in the first place.Did you know that Vapor means a fantastic or foolish idea. This information might be a better choice bill Gates: "Vista is key to the era" - PC Advisor Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told an audience in New York last night that Windows 95 ushered in the internet era, but Windows Vista, released in the UK. Need help finding more information? new York emergency hotline welcomes cell phone photos to help nab criminals (AFP) [...]

Trying to Be like Bill Gates » Say Hello To The Vapor Billionaires said:

[...] occasionally we can take a look at this While economic bubbles may not be so bad, it is funny to see how quickly reports of great wealth from a bubble translate into a sudden influx of folks who don’t understand a space at all, but just want to cash out. It happened during the last bubble around 1999 when all of the reports of crazy IPOs were happening, making lots of people paper millionaires (many of whom never turned that fake paper into the green kind that matters). Now, it seems that with the lack of suitable IPOs, we’re going to be hearing a lot more stories about vapor millionaires. It started back in August with Business Week’s silly cover story claiming that Digg’s Kevin Rose had personally made $60 million which was flat out false, and now it appears that Rolling Stone is following suit. VentureBeat points us to a Rolling Stone story about “the baby billionaires of Silicon Valley.” There’s just one problem: none of the people they list is a billionaire. Outside of the YouTube founders (who are worth a few hundred million on paper) none of the others are even worth very much on paper. They all founded or run small private companies that have yet to be sold to anyone and there’s no telling what they’re worth, if anything. Some of the guys profiled are very nice guys who we’ve met — and they may eventually be able to cash out with plenty of money — but to claim they’re billionaires (or even millionaires) isn’t even remotely accurate. They don’t even have the money on paper — other than in this Rolling Stone article. It truly is the rise of the vapor billionaire — and the problem is that stories like this will just send out the signal for more folks to show up planning to make their own billion, not even recognizing that the original billionaires didn’t even exist in the first place. Others have talked about console Wars: Xbox 360 Trumps Wii and PlayStation 3 (NewsFactor) NewsFactor - Although Nintendo claimed a big victory in the opening battle of the next-generation console wars, selling more than 600,000 of its Wii systems in North America shortly after its launch date, new sales data indicates that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 actually won the holiday wars.Did you know that Console means the portion of a computer or peripheral that houses the apparatus used to operate the machine manually and provides a means of communication between the computer operator and the central processing unit, often in the form of a keyboard. What a great idea palm Regains Control Of Palm OS, In All Its Outdated Glory News today is that Palm has secured a perpetual license to Palm OS Garnet (via Engadget) from Access, the Japanese company which bought PalmSource in the fall of 2005. The history of the Palm OS has plenty of twists and turns since the original Palm split off PalmSource, a company to focus on the OS, in 2003. But one thing has remained constant — Palm OS 5, or Garnet. It’s by now about five years old, and despite the tinkering that’s been done with it along the way, it’s been surpassed by other smartphone OS like Symbian and Windows Mobile. Outside of Palm itself, the Palm OS hasn’t been attractive for quite some time, and nearly three years ago, PalmSource talked of the need to make it better suited to smartphones. The supposed successor to Garnet, designed for smartphones, never went anywhere, and has fallen by the wayside, leaving Symbian and Windows Mobile to dominate the market. So, congratulations, Palm, you’ve now basically got full control of an outdated operating system that even you yourself have turned away from. Wall Street’s been trying to figure out where the company is headed, and moves like this don’t seem to elicit much confidence.Did you know that Palm means the part of a glove or mitten that covers the palm of the hand. Somthing like that youTube pledges to protect copyrights in Japan (AFP) [...]