BTW, most participants in this forum are probably too young or too new
to have heard the story about Verifone. This is the biggest IP success
story in Hawaii. Verifone grew too big and had to be sold to a mainland
company for something like 9-digit figure. I know some of the founders
of Verifone, many of them still live on the island and many are still
actively pursuing VC activities. Several of them invested in a company
called Aquasearch, which makes microalgae and got into a very nasty
patent fight with its next door neighbor, Cyantech.
Eventually Aquasearch filed for bankruptcy, and Cyantech did not fare
too well, either. Both companies had great technologies and are in one
of the most promissing markets, but they had to try to fight each other
to death.
Anyway, I know getting a decent paycheck is priority No. 1, but if we
ourselves can't think too much about the VC business, we sure hope
someone else on the islands will make it, and make it big. wayne
