BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

State of the Union...for the Tech Biz

This article is more than 10 years old.

Image via CrunchBase

Even with the financial crisis and sluggish economy, the good news is that the US still remains the epicenter of innovation, with breakout companies like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Tesla (NYSE:TSLA).

But hey, there is always room for improvement. So to get some insights on the “State of the Union” for technology, I reached out to some VCs and CEOs. Here’s what they had to say:

Mike Maples, Managing Partner, Floodgate Fund

"Tech innovation is being democratized throughout the world and this is great cause for optimism for the economy and our standard of living. At the same time, we are seeing increased fear of change and xenophobia: a fear that is causing us to expel some of the smartest immigrants in the world from the United States, even when they want to create breakthrough companies here that make life better for millions. To win in the future technology world, we need to give foreign students with advanced degrees from US universities a clear path to permanent residency; we need to remove the per country caps on green cards offered; and we need to make it easy for any foreigner with an advanced degree to get a green card. This is not an issue of foreigners taking 'our' jobs – it is an opportunity to massively increase the size of the pie for everyone. It is the essence of what America has represented from its earliest days."

Ned Hill, Managing Director, Mercury Fund

"Even as the general 'State of the Union' trends modestly positive, I am very enthusiastic about the state of technology looking forward. Trends like the emergence of cloud services (and their impact on both the enterprise and the consumer), the potential of 'big data' to deliver tangible value to these same constituents, the ubiquity of high-speed wireless data, and the BYOD encroachment on the enterprise – all converge to form incredible opportunities for innovation by ever-creative entrepreneurs. It’s like a race – between the creation of innovative cloud services being adopted by consumers (workers) and the IT department attempting to harness that power for the enterprise (without losing control). This productive tension is but one of many broad themes that drive my enthusiasm."

Todd Peters, President, ArcSoft

"2013 will prove to be an incredible year for the mobile industry as well as mobile users. New devices and  more affordable, ubiquitous and faster data networks will provide access to fun, personalized experiences. Fortunes will be amassed through the emergence of mCommerce, mobile advertising, in-app purchases and other new, unimagined business models. Samsung and Apple will wage an epic battle for device supremacy but could a dark horse like Amazon spoil the duopoly? On another battle front, Apple, Google and Facebook will square off and no one is really sure the slumbering giant in Redmond will remain dormant or finally gain some real traction with their mobile OS. Competition will be fierce and some iconic brands like Blackberry and Nokia could all but disappear. The flood gates will open for IPOs, M&A and some unlikely (some might say unholy) alliances will be spawned. In any case, the consumer and businesses will benefit from the fierce and frenetic evolution of the mobile industry."

Mona DeFrawi, CEO and Founder, Equidity

"We must look to where most new jobs have come from over the past 20 years: from great IPO companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and more. America has transitioned from manufacturing to entrepreneurship for economic growth over the past 30 years and is critically dependent on strong IPOs, which have been broken for over a decade, blocking the ability to create jobs and revitalize the economy."

Luis Salazar, CEO, Jobaline

"There is something lacking in our current State of the Union when it comes to technology. The existing hourly worker/employer matching technology either requires access to the Internet and the use of expensive devices, or still mimics a model that dates back to the 1700s when the first classified ads were published. As entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, we must continue to focus on technology as the means that drives positive social change forward. We have to go beyond the 'digital divide' in America – not only in the classrooms and healthcare but also in the backbone of the US economy: the hourly workers."

Andrew Eye, CEO and Founder, Taskbox

"The 'State of the Union' for technology is stronger than ever. Much has been written about the 'Series A Crunch' and the downturn of big name social technologies as we closed 2012. However, 2013 stands to be the breakout year when all that has been learned through consumer applications of social and mobile technologies truly gets applied in the enterprise sector. Application of these technologies to business means more direct monetization (businesses pay for software...consumers just have to watch the ads that come with their tech) and more job creation. We've already seen this trend start to take shape in the Enterprise Social market with the IPO of Jive Software and the acquisition of Yammer by Microsoft. Even Facebook's founders are betting heavy on enterprise with founder Dustin Moskovitz having departed Facebook to focus on the enterprise."

Tom Taulli is the author of How to Create the Next Facebook: Seeing Your Startup Through, from Idea to IPO.  Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli.