We’ve often wondered why stealth mode startups have websites. Isn’t being found the one thing you don’t want to happen when operating in stealth mode? Not so, says Bond Collective, a provider of “thoughtfully curated boutique work environments” that charges wantreprenuers $900 a month for “an unmatched experience.” In some cases, a stealth mode startup […]
There are all sorts of statistics out there about how often tech startups fail, with data research firm CB Insights saying that 70% of upstart businesses close shop in less than two years. Some industries are obviously tougher than others, like consumer hardware with a 97% death rate. We’d wager that launching a rocket or […]
The human spirit for exploration has taken us to the top of Mt. Everest and beyond to the very threshold of the solar system. The price for such adventures has been paid in human lives and garbage – lots of garbage. We read recently that mountaineers hauled down some 24,000 pounds of waste from the […]
Build it and they will come. This paraphrased prediction – famously uttered from a cinematic cornfield, a place notorious for where creepy killer kids tend to congregate – has both metaphorical and literal connotations. One could apply the maxim in everything from ballfields to a Dwarf Empire theme park in Kunming, China. In our case, […]
The new space race is no longer about the United States and the Soviet Union going tit for tat in a chest-thumping contest for dominance over the pockmarked rock that orbits our planet. The rapid commercialization of space is witnessing an unprecedented emergence of private companies racing for lucrative government contracts, as well as private […]
We recently deconstructed an upcoming IPO from NIO, a China-based manufacturer of electric vehicles that hopes to take on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) some day. We noted then that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is gunning for the United States in every technological arena possible, from artificial intelligence to fintech. And while China may be kicking […]
You don’t acquire a geeky obsession about technology like ours without growing up being a science fiction fan. While Star Wars fostered an unhealthy fetish for Carrie Fisher in a skimpy slave outfit, Star Trek probably holds a special place in our tiny little MBA hearts. That’s because Gene Roddenberry’s space opera offered a vision […]
The 21st century. This is to be the century of flying cars and warp speed engines that will take us to other worlds. There are a growing number of companies working on the former, but as far as we know, humanity is far from developing the means of traveling faster than the speed of light. […]
In quite a few of the bleaker science fiction worlds, the future is fraught with all sorts of sinister dangers, from invading aliens to varying apocalyptic visions of Easy Rider in the Outback. One of the more common villains is the Company or the Corporation—an all-powerful conglomerate that’s usually up to no good in pursuit […]
All this talk about Elon Musk taking everyone to Mars got us to thinking about sci-fi movies that feature cool spaceships. Those of us from a certain generation favor the USS Enterprise. The new movies are a blast, even if Kirk doesn’t get the hook-up with blue-skinned alien babes like in the Shatner days. But […]