Category: Insights

This is a very good read on Techcrunch regarding Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuck replied: If I were starting now I would do things very differently. I didn’t know anything. In Silicon Valley, you get this feeling that you have to be out here. But it’s not the only place to be. If I were starting now, I would have stayed in Boston. [Silicon Valley] is a little short-term focused and that bothers me.

He explained that he had a conversation once with Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos about this, and the average time someone stays in job at Seattle is twice as long than it is in Silicon Valley. “There’s a culture out here where people don’t commit to doing things, I feel like a lot of companies built outside of Silicon Valley seem to be focused on a longer-term,” he explains. “You don’t have to move out here to do this.”

Quoted from here.  With our team in the United States, Japan, and Korea we do notice a difference in not only national cultures but also areas or district cultures.  For example the business culture in Washington’s Bellevue varies from the business culture of Seattle or Tacoma.  In Japan, the culture of Osaka varies to Tokyo or Yokohama even.  Even in Seoul the business people of Seoul differ to their friends in Pusan.

Good thing to keep in mind when starting, or even moving your company.

That has been the thought of most of the people close to China.  Including those of us in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Seattle for that matter.

It looks like invincible manufacturing power may not the case.  We all know in sports, business, and even life, it is always safe to assume that there is someone tougher than you.  The outsourced manufacturing mantle has historically passed to the places with the lowest labor costs.  It looks like we are beginning to see that happen for China as well.

The BBC reports

China is losing its edge as the world’s cheapest place to manufacture goods, a new report suggests.

Indonesia and Bangladesh are benefiting most as rising costs in China force firms to switch production, it says.

The report by consultants KPMG says that minimum wage levels in China are now four times greater than other places in South and South East Asia.

You can read the full article here.

Very interesting article here.

Of course, common knowledge to anyone in business.

That’s because Apple collects more money than it spends, while the U.S. government does not.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-has-more-cash-on-hand-than-the-us-government-2011-7#ixzz1TWBZJQte

Although it looks like gridlock with the President blaming Congress, and vice versa, we believe that debate is good.  This is really getting everyone thinking who wants to.