德國人都很重視養身所以很早睡? 其實過了九點以後才是夜生活的開始而已。難得的星期五晚上，樓上辦公室的三位AIESEC研習生(羅馬尼亞女生Catalina，印度女生Jeetica，中國男生Justin)和他們辦公室的德國年輕同事與我相約在慕尼黑市政大廳前，打算要到附近的一些酒吧喝酒聊天。

第一間Bar很多人很熱鬧，放的音樂是電音。許多德國人都是與朋友來這談天聚會，受到音樂的感染，常出現許多有趣的事。有情侶站在桌子上熱吻，有男店員脫下褲子露出三角褲讓女顧客簽名在屁股上(聽德國同事偷聽才知道因為那女生要結婚了)。整家店充滿了歡樂的氣氛，只是因為音樂聲音實在太大了，我的耳朵有有點痛，只好用衛生紙做了耳塞。在那點了3.5歐的Corona，走的時候大概已經12點了。

第二間Bar的店名叫做Hard Rock，店裡牆壁上有許多電視，放的都是搖滾歌手的MV，另外牆壁四周還有許多很酷的收藏品，像是我不知道姓名的歌手在MV中穿過的緊身衣，被砸壞的電吉他，還有許多頗有年代的唱盤之類的，最特別的還是天花板正中央用二十個電吉他圍成圓形的聚光燈。在這間店中嘗了Menu上沒有的隱藏啤酒飲料，是用半杯檸檬汁加半杯啤酒調成的，據說是當地的特產，嗯!! 很好喝 3.6歐。

由於Catalina跟Jeetica很想去有舞池的Bar看看，當我發現再不走就趕不上最後一班地鐵而想離開時，還是被他們拉去第三間Bar了。這間Bar的音樂我超愛的，放的都是拉丁歌曲，充滿了熱情， 一進去就看到有兩三對男女正在跳舞，我也不知不覺得隨著音樂起舞了起來。但很糗的是我不會跳這種類似交際舞的歌曲。總覺得把AIESEC Dance那套拿來跳太動感了很不搭嘎，還是坐在旁邊看德國同事跟Catalina跳就好。歐洲人似乎從小就會跳這種舞步，他們合作起來跳的超協調的。看完後害我超想學國標的。這間小酒吧充滿了溫馨的氣氛，讓我想起電影裡50 60年代的鄉村小酒吧，吧台上的酒客跟服務生都會跟著音樂大聲唱歌。因為之前喝了太多啤酒，我決定點果汁，但反而要5.5歐元，果然啤酒才是最便宜的飲料阿。

一晚去了三間酒吧，點了三杯飲料，感受了三種完全不同的氣氛，充分體驗到歐洲年輕人熱愛夜生活的一面。但與其到很吵鬧的Bar跟朋友聊天，我還是比較愛到簡餐店安靜的與朋友好好聊聊的台式風格。但偶爾體驗一次也是不錯的經驗呢!!

[Mainstream] Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship [The Economist] March 14th-20th 2009

I. Introduction

In recent movie, Slumdog Millionaire, it presented an inspiring story of how a despised slum boy finally became a limelighted millionaire. His success might be destiny, yet back to real we could never hardly find some best-known paragons whose success by no means depended on luck but extraordinary confidence in their spirit: Steve Jobs(Apple), Bill Gates(Microsoft), Richard Branson(Virgin), Sergey Brin and Larry Page(Google), and even ice-cream giants Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield(Ben and Jerry's). Those who mull in different angle, venture with profound confidence, enjoy prodigious risk, and at last create myriad fortune are honorably so-called "entrepreneurs".

II. Definition

For many people the term "entrepreneurship" simply means anyone who starts a business, no matter a small ice cream store or even a high-tech web2.0 start-up. Peter Drucker deemed the most indispensable virtue of entrepreneurs is "innovate". " Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship," he said. Howard Stevenson, the man who has done his best to champion the study of entrepreneurship at the Harvard Business School, defined entrepreneurship as "the pursuit of opportunity beyond the resource you currently control". Hence, apart from general perception, this article will use the word in a sense to "someone who offers an innovative solution to a problem", thus it's not the size of the company but the act of innovation matter.

III. The 5 myths about Entrepreneurship

Plenty of misconception about entrepreneurship are prevailed. There are five myths mostly talked by people:

1. Entrepreneurs are lonely outcasts

History evidences suggest that entrepreneurs also need partners and social network to succeed. In other words they flourished in clusters. A third of American venture capital flows into Silicon Valley and Boston, and the second third into other four places, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego and Austin. In such places entrepreneurship is a way of life - coffee shops in Silicon Valley are full of youngs loudly talking about their business plans.

2. Entrepreneurs are just out of short trousers

Some of the most celebrated entrepreneurs were indeed astonishingly young when they got going: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Michael Dell all dropped out of college to start their own business, and the founders of Google and Facebook were still students when they launched theirs. Yet not all successful entrepreneurs are kids. The Kauffman Foundation surveyed 652 American-born bosses of technology companies set up in 1995-2005 and found the average age of them is 39.

3. Entrepreneurship is driven mainly by venture capital

Venture capital definitely matters in capital-intensive industries such as high-tech and biotechnology. But most of the venture capital goes into just a narrow band of business: hardware and software, semiconductors, telecommunications and bio-tech. The vast capital of start-ups comes from personal debt or from the "three fs" - friends, fools and families. Besides, "angel" investors also play the crucial role for start-ups. They usually have some personal connection with entrepreneurs and are more likely than venture capitalists to invest in a business when it is only a burgeoning idea.

4. To succeed, entrepreneurs must produce new products

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs focus on processes rather than products. Richard Branson made flying less tedious by providing his customers with entertainment. Fred Smith built a billion-dollar business by improving the delivery of packages. Oprah Winfrey has become America's richest woman through successful brand management.

5. Entrepreneurship can't flourish in big company

Big can be beautiful too. Some global giants are dedicating in keeping their people on their entrepreneurial toes. Johnson & Johnson operates like a holding company that provides financial support and marketing skills to internal entrepreneurs. Jorma Ollila transformed Nokia from a maker of rubber boots and cables into a mobile-phone giant. Moreover, big firms usually provide start-ups with their bread and butter. In many pharmaceuticals and telecoms, the giants outsource their innovation to smaller ones. Procter & Gamble tries to get half of its innovations from outside world.

IV. The environments of Entrepreneurship



The World Bank's Doing Business Ranking

In 2003 the World Bank began to publish an annual report called Doing Business (see above table), rating countries for their business-friendliness by measuring things like business regulations, property rights and access to credit it. This "naming and shaming" caused countries to compete fiercely to improve their position in the list. The next we will look at several paragons and discuss how they make entrepreneurialism thrive on their soil.

US

American remains a beacon of entrepreneurialism. Between 1996 and 2004 it created an average of 550,000 small business every month. Many factors have contributed to this glaring result. In cultural part, entrepreneurialism is so deeply rooted in its history. American school children are raised on stories about innovators such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford. In society part, American companies have an unusual freedom to hire and fire workers, and American citizens have an unusual belief that their fate still lies in their own hands. In some countries bankruptcy spells social death, but in America, particularly in Silicon Valley, it is a badge of honor.

America also has several structural advantages. It has the world's most mature venture-capital industry. Second is a tradition of close relationships between universities and industry. About half of the start-ups in the Valley have their roots in the university. The third is an fairly open immigration policy. 52% of Silicon Valley start-ups were found by immigrants. The last reason for entrepreneurial success is "venturesome consumers", who are unusually willing to try new products of all sorts.

However, America faces numerous problems to this remarkable entrepreneurial ecology. The first is patent trolls, which has stuck some start-ups from innovating. And its tax system is so complicated and time-consuming. Then the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 is making th country less open to immigrants. Usually it takes six years for people from India and China to apply visas to work in America.

India

Over the past couple of decades India has been transformed from a licence Raj into a land of uncaged entrepreneurs. India has drawn heavily on its expatriate population, particularly 1m who live in America, to kick off its entrepreneurial economy. In 2003-05 some 5,000 tech-savvy Indians with more than five years working experience in America returned to their home country.Such people have helped to fill some of the skills gaps created by the country's boom.

India's another advantage is its higher education system, the top end of which is very good at discovering and developing first-class brain. The Indian Institutes of Technology and some other institutes, which are oversubscribed that only one in 75 applicants gets in, are now dedicating on producing entrepreneurs. Yet doing business in India has several depressing snags: its legal processes move at glacial speed,much of the infrastructure is a mess and over a third of the people are illiterate.

China

In some ways China has had a more difficult task than India in term of entrepreneurialism. The Cultural Revolution destroyed the country's intellectual and managerial capital. Few Chinese speak good English. The state is more interested in grand projects-from state own company to giant infrastructure schemes-than in letting a hundred flowers boom. But China shares one important advantage with India: the army of overseas Chinese who have made their home in America, particularly Silicon Valley. China has used them well.

Taiwan's experience has fully catched Chinese authorities eyes. Since the late 1990s Taiwan have been doing everything they could to tempt expatriates back, upgrading their universities, often working with foreign institutions, setting up science parks and welcoming foreign companies. So many Chinese expatriates have returned in the past few years that Valley-slang has given them a special name, B2C(back to China).

Many of China's most successful entrepreneurs have done little more than copy American brilliant stars. Baidu is a Chinese Google; Taobao is a Chinese eBay; Oak Pacific Interactive is a combination of MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and Craigslist. Besides copy and paste, China is also producing some genuinely innovative entrepreneurs. Alibaba, a website, sells goods from China's thousands of corner shops to other business. A weakness of doing business in China is the influence of politics. Businessmen often neglect their firms because they spend so much time cultivating political connections.

Israel

Israel is home to 4,000 high-tech companies, more than 100 venture-capital funds and a growing health-care industry. A brigade of American companies, including Intel and Microsoft, have established research arms here. And a host of Israelis who once emigrated to America in search of education and opportunity have returned home. The Israeli government helped by providing a ready supply of both human and physical capital. The country has the world's highest ratio of PhDs per person, the highest ratio of engineers and scientists and some of the world's best research universities. And because its army trains young Israelis in the virtues of teamwork and improvisation, it is strikingly common for young to starts businesses with friends they met in the army.

Denmark

Denmark is engaged in a social experiment to test whether it can embrace capitalist globalization yet continue to preserve its generous welfare state. The Danish economy has traditionally been divided between big multinational companies and small family firms. The government now wants to add a third economic force: start-ups with the potential for rapid growth. It has created a public venture-capital fund and is now trying to promote "education for entrepreneurship. Some accomplishments are looming, Denmark is already home to about 20% of Europe's biotech companies.

Singapore

At first sight Denmark and Singapore have little in common, yet they share not only the same official enthusiasm for entrepreneurialism but also many of the same polices. Singapore's government has invested heavily in digital media, bio-engineering, clean technology and water purification. More than 5% of Singapore-based companies are backed by venture capital. The government has also done everything in its power to make life easy for entrepreneurs. Schools teach the virtues of entrepreneurialism. The universities put ever more emphasis on business education and links with industry.

V. How downturn had brought both advantage and disadvantage to entrepreneurship?

But how is the new enthusiasm for entrepreneurship standing up to the world-wide economic downturn? Entrepreneurs are being presented with huge practical problems. Customers are harder to find. Suppliers are becoming less accommodating. Capital is harder to raise. In America venture-capital investment in the fourth quarter of 2008 was down to $5.4 billion, 33% lower than a year earlier. For many the change in public mood is equally worrying. Congress made life more difficult for start-ups with the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation on corporate governace.

Yet the threat to entrepreneurship can be exaggerated. The downturn has advantage as well as drawback. Talented staff are easier to find and office space is cheaper to rent. Harder times will eliminate the competitors and, in the long run, could make it easier for the survivors to grow. Microsoft, Genentech, Gap were all founded during recessions. Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, Polaroid and Revlon started in the Depression.

Opinion polls suggest that entrepreneurs see a good as well as a bad to the recessions. 85% of the entrepreneurs said they had already felt the impact of the crisis and 88% thought that worst was yet to come. But they also predicted, on average, that their business would grow by 31% and their workforces by 12% this year. Half of them thought they would be able to hire better people and 39% said there would be less competition.

台灣人的民族性

1. 對他人之事愛耍嘴皮 對自己的事缺乏目標與行動力 (儒家思想的遺害?)

2. 一窩蜂 花了時間最後什麼都沒剩

3. 浮躁缺乏安全感

4. 找不到自己的生活(休閒) 所以很無聊天天管別人閒事

5. 以上 最惡者為第一項 最根源者為第四項


我不是想批判 因為自己是台灣人 所以只是想警惕自己

從國外觀察自己土生土長的地方 才能發現些真實

讓自己有自己的生活吧 台灣人

我的美國敗家心得!!

在台灣時常抱怨為什麼女生的衣服on sale時都比男生on sale便宜..

沒想到來美國終於找到男生便宜的名牌了!!

這三個月跑了好多次 outlet, macy's 也在Amazon上買了許多東西..

花的錢快要直逼台灣新鮮人的三個月薪水了..(汗!!原來我有敗家天份..)

稍微整理一下買了些什麼:

一. 服飾類
1. Banana Republic 短褲一件
2. Banana Republic 外套一件
3. Nautica 短褲一件
4. Nautica 襯衫一件
5. Levi 襯衫一件
6. Levi牛仔褲兩件
7. Kennth Cole 襯衫兩件
8. Kennth Cole 領帶兩條
9. Tommy Polo衫五件 (我成為Tommy控了)
10. Calvin Klein圍巾一條
11. I Love NY T-shirt 一件
12. Armani Exchange 皮帶一條
13. Old Navy 襯衫一件

二. 鞋子
1. New Balance 922慢跑鞋一雙
2.Nike 球鞋一雙
3. Rockport 皮鞋一雙

三. 配件
1. Coach 錢包一個
2. Coach 手提包一個
3. Oakley 太陽眼鏡一付
4. MoMA 雨傘一支

四. 電子產品
1. LG手機一支
2. I-Audio MP3 Player 一個
3. NDSL主機一個
4. NDS遊戲三個 (新超馬, 應援美版, 薩爾達)
5. Sennheiser耳機一付

五. 保養品
1. Victoria's Secret 乳液 6瓶

美國的名牌賣的比台灣便宜..
常常讓人忍不住買不停..

回國之前還要買個大行李箱才行

四天紐約行

紐約 照片集 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=34553&l=4d326&id=612507960


一個很久以前就想拜訪的地方
沒想到就這樣輕鬆的利用公司放假的時間過來了
四天的時間 有點短暫但也足夠認識一個城市


[地鐵]
紐約的地下世界與他世界首都的稱號不太相稱
髒亂的月台 悶熱的空氣 混亂的車班
這都是讓許多人卻步的原因
但不可否認的是 它真的是要命的方便


[人群]
東岸的人生活的匆忙與壓力
是他們常被說成不友善的原因
生活在西岸的我 明顯的感覺出
這個城市帶給人們的壓力
到紐約的第一天
擁擠的街道與車廂真的很難忍受
當場有種想搭飛機回家的感覺
但事後覺得還好沒這麼作

~~因為 紐約還是有很多很棒的事物的!!~~


[摩天大樓]

走出地鐵 重回地面 這裡的大樓讓人印象深刻

徹底的呈現出大都會的氣勢

midtown的每條街道

一片片的大樓彷彿向世界宣告著這個城市的不凡

跨國公司總部 一流飯店 名牌服飾眼前總是能出現他們的蹤影

也許這就是紐約客驕傲的緣由吧

[AIESEC]
這次多虧了小萱義氣相挺 明明課業繁忙
卻還是出借他家地板並帶我到處玩
在美國見到熟悉的朋友真的真的很開心!

AIESECer在紐約是不怕寂寞的!
第四天中午與幾個Alumni的聚餐
update了許多AIESECer的近況與全國大會的秘辛
這讓我好生羨慕在東岸的大家 西岸台灣AIESECer不多
我也很希望能常跟朋友聚會阿!!

值得一提的是隔海連線廖宏彰的生日Pa
看起來很熱鬧 好想早點回台灣!!


[夜景]




紐約的夜景是這輩子見過最美麗的都市夜景
尤其在Brooklyn Height的岸邊觀看對岸的曼哈頓
讓人難忘 若是以後成為有錢人
一定要買下岸邊的公寓
一打開窗戶就能看到如此美麗的景色
這會是多美好的事


[啟發]

這個城市是資本主義的極致呈現
不像台灣上流社會的隱約
這城市毫不掩飾的向世人展現富有與貧窮之間的落差
加長型黑頭車駛過街邊乞討的流浪漢
高級服飾店街邊的攤販
地上地下世界的落差 給了我很大的震撼
讓我也默默為自己許下了一個心願.

[總結]
A city of pride and pressure 是我對紐約的印象
很幸運能在開始踏入社會的最後一個暑假
認識這個城市 期待下次的造訪

一些感想

來美國一晃眼已經1個半月了
這段時間體驗了很多不同的事物
腦子裡卻很少有些自己的想法
大概是因為太放鬆的關係吧!!(太懶的想事情)
但是看到了貞儀版上關於家庭與自己關係的文章
加上這段時間在美國的一些觀察
突然有個有趣的想法想紀錄下來。


[華人的倫理定義範圍太廣]

還記得上哲概課時談到倫理
它為一個人植入了什麼是好的 什麼是不好的觀念。

生長在台灣這個華人社會
我們從小就被培養要懂得待人接物 因為這是好的
要認真唸書 要聽老人言 因為這也是好的
我們的倫理定義似乎太廣泛了些
對於自己充滿了衡量的標準
對別人更是充滿了比較與批判
考慮太多真的是好的嗎?

西方人的教育很簡單
除了一些重要的事有定義對與錯以外
ex. 暴力 欺騙是不對的; 誠正 友善 獨立是對的
其他事就完全尊重個人自我的意志
外表 交友態度 以至於未來該怎麼走等
沒有人(包含自己)會評判好與壞
在這樣的環境下 做什麼事都比華人少去許多壓力與束縛

但也有好有壞 在台灣我們做什麼都會考慮別人的感受
雖然壓力大 但人與人的相處總能展現出熱情與友善。
在國外 總是很難適應他們的獨立(或者可以說是冷漠)

回想起來 我給自己的束縛也太大了:
沒什麼心得 文筆不好 別人會看不懂自己的文章
所以就別po文了
要未來不被錢所苦 生活不能比別人差
要擅用自己有的資源 所以就該走工程師 唸商管。

我的思考決策總是環繞在衡量自我能力
與他人做比較(附帶評判他人對錯)
以及考慮別人(社會)觀感這幾件事情上

顯得綁手綁角


這大概是來美國後體驗到的Cultural Difference 的其中之一吧..

American Life Day 4&5 -- Indenpendent Day~A two-day trip to Monterey!!

七月四號是美國的獨立紀念日~不像台灣..

這裡的商家甚至車子都插上了美國國旗!!

收拾好行囊..跟著美國人一起到Monterey的海邊玩..



海天一線的景色..微涼的風..這裡是Monterey 的海邊


到了全加州知名的水族館..照張像做個紀念!!


三層樓高的水族缸..怎麼沒看到什麼魚勒??


超可愛的小水母


因為可愛了..補個影片吧!!




色彩繽紛的海底世界


復古風味的公車..到站時駕駛會搖鈴鐺..很特別


漁港上停滿了漁船..很壯觀的景象


美麗的國慶煙火..(雖然不像台灣那麼華麗..但身為一個外地
遊客.. 能與美國人一同慶祝..感覺還是很不錯)



隔天一早吃了很豐盛的早餐.. 美國餐館的食物份量都很大..
連早餐也是..


美麗的庭院..這裡是高爾夫球場的入口



美麗的花..給它來個近拍吧!
!

回程時..用了AIESEC專屬的矯情式拍照法
這些都是未來要一起工作的EP們!!
來自新加坡..大陸以及台灣..


這趟是我們來美國後第一次到遠地的旅遊..我們七個人的感情
也因此 建立了起來..而我也開始習慣了這裡的環境..雖然遇到
了些文化衝擊.. (美國人未詢問我們就安排了快讓我們破產的
食宿..還有歧視我們的 ABC..)但整體來說..我愛這裡..廣闊的大
地..友善的路人與車輛..美麗 的建築與景觀..乾淨的空氣與微涼
的風..大概除了沒有車的不方便與 日夜溫差很大以外..一切都
很美好..

星期一就要開始正式上班了!! 希望能順利Handle這份工作..
接下來要出去外就得等Weekend了..到時在來Po遊記吧!!

PS. 很想念台灣的大家..希望台大的全國大會能很順利..
Postcard要開始趕工了..希望這星期能寄出!!