Those of us who blog have our favorites that we follow, but that doesn't mean that we always agree with what they have to say.  Such is the case with one of my favorite blogs, Steve Blank, who is a VC, author, and adjunct professor at Stanford.  The day before Thanksgiving he  posted "When It's Darkest Men See the Stars."  This was meant as a there-is-still-a-lot-to-be-grateful-for-despite-everything-that's-wrong-in-the-world type of post appropriate for Thanksgiving when we're supposed to give thanks for everything we have.  And it was actually a very positive post, claiming that "we're standing at the beginning of the entrepreneurial revolution." I'm sorry, Steve, but the entrepreneurial revolution has been going on since the 1980s when it became the word du jour  in the U.S.  But that's not why I'm responding to his post.

I do agree with Steve that the American dream is not dead despite the fact that we are now a debtor nation that will soon be eclipsed by China, which is embracing entrepreneurship while we seem to be running from risk and looking to the government to jump start the economy. But, back to Steve's post.  He talks about how the barriers to entrepreneurship are falling away.  Today we are building products faster with minimum feature sets that let entrepreneurs get to market in a fraction of the time it took in the past.  We can build new companies for thousands of dollars rather than millions and the consumer Internet is driving innovation. Here's the problem as I see it.  What Steve says is absolutely true, but I wonder if it's the very reason we're in trouble.  Steve is touting the new entrepreneurship--ventures that can be conceived, validated, and operational at the speed of light--as the reason that "the second decade of the 21st century may turn out to be the West's...finest hour."  I'm wondering if we're not in trouble because we're too impatient to do businesses that require patience. After all, a vaccine for super bug infections is not going to come from an Internet entrepreneur.  The solutions to alternative fuels are not going to be developed without significant investment and a complex network of strategic partners.

Yes, we've gotten better, faster, and cheaper, but at what cost?  As a country, the U.S. has been known for innovation.  We do the hard stuff that others don't have the resources or know-how to do.  I agree with Steve that entrepreneurship has been democratized by the Internet.  But when things get easier, the barriers go down, and so does the value.  Let's celebrate that the Internet has made it possible for more people to start businesses, but let's also celebrate those courageous, patient souls who will give us the cure for cancer and the vehicle that will get us to Mars at a price we can afford.