From the Harvard Business Review: http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/taylor/2008/07/four_reasons_most_startups_f...
1) "make something people want" - "What are people forced to do now because what you plan to do doesn't exist yet?" 2) "be willing to let [your] ideas change" - "the founders of Reddit came ... with a plan to help people order fast food on their cell phones. When everyone agreed it wasn't exactly a killer idea, the desperate search for a new idea led to the launch of their successful company." 3) "Don't worry too much about money" - "... today, unlike back in the mid-90s, you've got the MBAs working for the technologists, rather than the other way around. 4) "be benevolent"... act in the long-term best interests of customers, as opposed to the short-term best interests of [the business] - "people will rally around you" with ideas, improvements, and word-of-mouth marketing If only number 3) was true in Kenya. There's certainly not enough venture cap. flowing, and most certainly it's the technologists working/slaving for the MBAs (and policy wonks). The KICTAnet/Skunkworks divide. Any policy prescriptions to be derived from the summary, especially around number 3) ? Saidi