The Streets of San Francisco...
No... not the Michael Douglas, Karl Malden reruns .... but a newer kind
of non-stop chase-scene ... chasing the rolling-green, as it were.
... but is it the "next big thing" ?
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/18476/
Following the dot.com 'bust' 7-8 years ago, lots of jobs were lost in
the epicenter of that phenomenon - the San Francisco Bay area; but most
of the IPO wealth had long since been cashed-out by savvy investors -
and already rebooted into a gaggle of genetic engineering startup
companies, many of which located a few blocks away in South San Francisco.
Even though that industry, epitomized by the company 'Genetech' has yet
to fully mature, the 'smart money' which landed there, has moved-on,
once again.
The original 'smart money' from 60's silicon valley: Intel, AMD and HP,
jumped first to computers, then to software and games, then to dot.com,
then to genetics and is now moving-on in a relentless quest to do for
venture capital what Moore's law has done for the CPU.
That's why they call it "smart". 'Smart' and 'stationary' do not mix. A
rolling stone may gather no moss, but like Rumple-straw, it can be
transmuted into virtual gold, if spun rapidly.
The story of Amyris Biotech (above) is one of many similar.
However, the longshot bet on the "next big thing" may not be biofuel...
... make that "not only biofuel."
Jones
Today I'll brew, tomorrow bake;
Merrily then I'll dance and sing,
For morrow will a king's heir bring.
As little does a royal lady dream
That Rumpelstiltskin is my name!"
