Catching Up On Readings: A Time for AI

Here is a summary of the posts from this past week, in case you missed them. >>>

Still Openings for Wednesday’s Strategy Roundtable

Don’t miss this opportunity to receive Sramana’s expert advice for your new business or business idea at 8AM Pacific Time, June 3, 2009. To participate and pitch your ideas to Sramana at this free webinar, register here.

Toward Zero-Energy Buildings: Kevin Surace, Serious Materials (Part 4)

SM: What was the closing chapter of Air Communication?

KS: There was real technology and we had orders coming in. People wanted to buy product, and the skeleton office sold a few hundred thousand dollars a year for the next several years. >>>

How Does the Uptick Rule Affect Stock Prices?

By Guest Author Tim Smith

[More than 5,000 people signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of the uptick rule that was prepared by Jim Cramer, William Furber, Eric Oberg and Scott Rothbort and sent to the SEC earlier this week. In today’s guest post, Tim Smith of SunGard’s Astec Analytics weighs on the effects of the removal of the rule, which forbid short sellers from selling securities before a share price increase, and its possible re-introduction.]

True or false: The removal of the uptick rule helped create the environment of falling stock prices

There has been much debate around the possible re-introduction of a form of the uptick rule that is seen by some as a panacea for all evils that have befallen stock values. Some argue that the removal of the original uptick rule in June 2007 was the catalyst that started, or at least exacerbated, the downward trend in prices and allowed the bears to have their way with what were perceived to be over-valued stocks. It is a generally held belief that the decision to remove the uptick rule had been a relatively quick one, implemented without much planning or aforethought. >>>

Toward Zero-Energy Buildings: Kevin Surace, Serious Materials (Part 3)

SM: What was the purpose of starting Air Communications?

KS: In 1992 I met some people and came up with a business plan to start Air Communications as a wide area wireless device company. You could surf the web and recieve a fax with a little dial-up phone called an Air Communicator. >>>

Entrepreneur Journeys Book Review: “Bootstrapping” In Tune With The Times

Francine Hardaway has a great review of EJ2 over at FastCompany. She writes, “Sramana Mitra’s Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction is a book for our time, because it’s something real out of Silicon Valley. No more stories about legendary VC fundings or startup-to-IPO in six months. In this, the second volume of Entrepreneurs Journeys, her focus is on doing more with less, in tune with the times.”

Candice Arnold over at CollegeRecruiter has also reviewed the book. Candice writes, “One thing that stands out more than anything else is the amount of patience and persistence that’s required to be an entrepreneur. Such a venture is definitely not for anyone who discourages easily. But it’s also apparent that hard work, dedication and a keen sense of what consumers want or need more often than not lead to success.

Both Entrepreneur Journeys and Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction, which is scheduled for wide release on June 1, 2009, are available on Amazon.com. They’re worth reading for anyone who has or plans to journey down the road of entrepreneurship.”

The book officially launches on Monday. If you have already read the book, we request that you please review it on Amazon or on your respective blogs and newsletters. It would help us tremendously with the launch.

Dell Needs A Growth Market

As the global recession continues to affect the sales of computers, leading computer manufacturer Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) with annual revenue of $61.1 billion yesterday reported 63% dip in its first quarter profit with PC sales declining 34%. Let us take a closer look. >>>

Toward Zero-Energy Buildings: Kevin Surace, Serious Materials (Part 2)

SM: What was it like moving from National to Seiko Epson?

KS: When I was at National we would make a big die that was 400 by 400 mils. If we could yield one die per wafer, that was amazing. We were told the Japanese must be dumping because they would sell a 6 gate for much less than we would. >>>