ETRE Conference Rome (2001): Part 1

Special coverage of the European Technology Roundtable and Exhibition in Rome. The big topic of discussion was the future of the economy and lots of optimism comes from the tech industry experts about opportunities for growth now that the economy has hit bottom. [Episode #1911, First broadcast: 11/27/2001] In addition to looking at the future, tech experts do some soul searching about the past. Kevin Fong from the Mayfield Fund, The Red Herring’s Tony Perkins, Bill Gates via satellite, Tim Draper from Draper, Fisher, Jurvetson and Bloomberg News journalist Joel Dreyfuss talk about what caused the dot-com crash and how the intoxicated dot-com industry is getting sober. Then, journalists give their cynical opinions on NASDAQ behavior being immoral and calculated. Dan Gillmor from the San Jose Mercury News, Michael Rogers from Newsweek, Tony Perkins and Thom Calandra from CBS Marketwatch say too many people were allowed to invest in risky ventures while basic business model ideals like profit were absent. But, some positive perspectives come out in their discussions about the sober economic setting also opening up opportunities for entrepreneurs to capitalize. Next, experts try to find a consensus on which markets to go after to deal with this economic slump. Isabell Maxwell, CEO Emeritus, Commtouch and John Thompson, Symantec CEO, say the security of data and people is a hot market while Michael Rogers says video conferencing is the happening market. Finally, discussions abound about terrorist viruses and new security technologies. And, Michael Dell joins the experts in asserting that the Internet proved its durability in the 911 aftermath while Israeli business leaders like Gil Schwed, Check Point CEO, talk about how they focus on business in the midst of terrorist-threatened world. http://archive.org/details/European2001