Best States for Entrepreneurs and Fastest Growing Industries
If you’re not an entrepreneur, you may not know how fast the pace of innovation is racing along in this century. But you have some idea, given the fact that we didn’t have Facebook, Twitter, Smartphones and a million Apps 10 years ago.
If you tried to guess which industries are growing the fastest, would you pick the Internet and broadcasting No. 1? Probably. Check out the top 10 fastest growing industries and the best states for entrepreneurs in this fantastic graphic below.
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As a black entrepreneur in the Internet Publishing – E Learning industry, I must take issue with the ‘best and worst’ states view. What makes a state ‘worst’ or another ‘best’? Regardless of what is said about opportunities (or lack thereof) for us – the web is indeed the GREAT EQUALIZER!
In tech, most often, location is irrelevant. Although controversial, I have found that, as the tech industry goes anyway, blacks aren’t making the gains desired because we have no way to measure what a GAIN is outside of that defined by white folk. Why would anyone want to be a part of Silicon Valley when the valley neither wants us there or do we know how to measure ourselves outside of what whites have set forth? How do we even know that it will work for us the same way as for whites?
Business leaders, such as those on this site haven’t even defined our own communities yet desire to head to the valley and make a footprint?
We run to whites for venture capital and the few of us who do eventually ‘make it’, forget to bring others along.
The reason why there are very few black venture capitalists and even fewer angels with interest in defining our own ‘valley experience’ we haven’t defined what OUR goals are, much less positioning others to do likewise.
What cohesive, nationwide initiatives are underway outside of a few social gatherings? Those who have the wherewithal to make a difference rarely do (hello Magic Johnson). Further, we as a people are GREAT at following leaders who organize other LEADERS who then sit around talking about our communal problems (hello Tavis Smiley and State of the Black Union) but what great vision is cast for blacks socially or economically? (my point exactly)
These summits only serve ‘the few’, make others superstars and position the ‘haves’ at the top of the heap where they spend years JUST TALKING, carving out their own niche (hello Al Sharpton) at the expense of the ‘have nots.’ (can anyone say T.D. Jakes)
You talk about education but in a Web 2.0 environment, what exactly does that mean? Innovation isn’t coming up with some ‘new trinket’ or even as yet unknown technology. Innovative changes occurs when an entrepreneur morphs from DREAMER to DOER! Sure there are certain tools necessary to accomplish the task however, education will NEVER trump sheer tenacity. The educated work for the dreamers.
The point is – we must define ourselves independent of ‘crying foul’ at whites and going down the road (again) of sitting around a table where nothing ever results accept more talk. One of the founders of this site, Mr. Green, received an email from me not long ago.
Of course he is a busy man and I gave him an elevator pitch hoping he would be about something more than just talking. I haven’t heard from him and don’t expect to. What I didn’t tell him in the email was I am in fact one of the BLACKS who have ‘innovated’ according to some of the standards HE and others have put forth in this forum. I wonder if he would’ve responded if I’d said – “I want to donate 100K to your organization!” We all know the answer to that don’t we.
Just to ease Mr. Green’s burden a bit, I asked if he could at least refer me to someone else for follow-up. Did he? Of course not! I am wondering if he and all of those who make visionary claims here are simply attempting to carve out their own niche or perhaps, create a ‘new black elite’ as has the Minority Business Development Association. Read about the MBDA here – http://goo.gl/pl4RT (copy & paste link into browser)
Seriously – I don’t need Mr. Green or any of the others here because at the end of the day and as Mr. Russell Simmons (who does understand his responsibility to his people) told me years ago – “Brian, don’t wait on blacks to help you with anything.They are crabs in a bucket who will only crawl up your back and that of any other to step over you. Do you think any of them (expletive) helped me back in the day when I went to them asking for help launching Def Jam (records)?”
It is my hope that everything I put forth here is proven wrong but at the beginning of my 4th decade of life, Russell’s words have proven true to many times.