State Capitalism and the Entrepreneur

One of the problems with managed capitalism as is seen in the Asian countries is the process of "creative destruction". It is not a pleasant process for lunching bureaucrats and moral thought leaders; it is a cauldron of unrest. How many promising computer corporations rose and died before we reached our current status and how would such an evolution be managed by shortsighted, conflicted and dishonest bureaucrats? How many gazelles would have to be shackled in the name of fairness to the possums? How many Solyndra Frankensteins must be floated, how many GMs resuscitated and intubated?

Start-up investors sometimes refer to the formative period in early companies as "The Valley of Death." The company has an early development stage, it stabilizes and then must prove its worth in the competitive landscape where it will succeed or fail. This period of vulnerability is "The Valley of Death", the graveyard of good ideas, where the theoretical meets the practical, the idea, reality. If the service or product cannot show itself of value early in the competitive arena, it will die. The Valley of Death is filled with fear, anguish and screams. It is not the place for malleable bureaucrats, people without conviction or vision. Indeed, one of the strengths of the entrepreneur is his selective vision, his ability to see across the valley to success. Aggression, confidence, self-assurance, long vision, passion--these are the qualities of the builder, the entrepreneur. In fact, many staid and settled companies, hoping to create some entrepreneurial energy within, have purposely separated their entrepreneurs from oversight.

In essence, the entrepreneur is unmanageable.