创业精神的特别报道(英文与译文)

1创业精神的特别报道(转之经济学人杂志)Mar12th2009FromTheEconomistprinteditionAnideawhosetimehascome创业精神的时代已经到来Entrepreneurialismhasbecomecool企业精神真酷VICTORHUGOonceremarked:“Youcanresistaninvadingarmy;youcannotresistanideawhosetimehascome.”Todayentrepreneurshipissuchanidea.维克多•雨果说过：“人们能够抵御武装的入侵，却阻挡不住思想的渗透。”今天，创业精神的思想遍地开花。Thetriumphofentrepreneurshipisdrivenbyprofoundtechnologicalchange.Atrioofinventions—thepersonalcomputer,themobilephoneandtheinternet—isdemocratisingentrepreneurshipatacrackingpace.Todayevencash-strappedinnovatorscanreachmarketsthatwereoncetheprerogativeofgiantorganisations.创业精神的成功来自深刻的技术革新。发明三重奏——个人电脑、移动电话和互联网，大大促进了创业精神的传播。现在甚至是资金缺乏的创新者也能进入那些曾经是大型机构所独享的市场。Theinternetprovidesacheapplatformforentrepreneurstobuildinteractivebusinesses.MegWhitmangrewrichbydevelopinganonlinemarketplace,eBay,wherepeoplecouldbuyandsellwithoutevermeeting.Anarmyofpyjama-cladbloggershasrepeatedlyoutsmartedlong-establishednewspapersonbreakingstories.Automatednews-collectingservicessuchasRealClearPoliticsandMemeorandum,usingtinyamountsofcapital,haveestablishedthemselvesasindispensabletoolsfornewsjunkies.互联网为创业者们进行互动业务提供了低价的平台。梅格•惠特曼的致富手段是建立了一个在线市场：eBay，在这里人们不用见面也可进行买卖。在突发新闻爆料的竞争中，一大群“业余”的博友们再三超越那些历史悠久的报纸。自动新闻搜集服务诸如RealClearPolitics和Memeorandum，虽投入不大，但已在新闻爱好者心目中树立了不可替代的地位。Thedevelopmentof“cloudcomputing”isgivingsmalloutfitsyetmoreopportunitytoenjoytheadvantagesofbigorganisationswithnoneofthesunkcosts.Peoplerunningsmallbusinesses,whethertheyareintheirownofficesorinahotelhalf-wayroundtheworld,canusepersonalcomputersorlaptopstogainaccesstosophisticatedbusinessservices.“云计算”技术的发展给予那些小型机构更多的机会享受那些大型机构所拥有的优势，而不用承担沉没成本。小型企业的运营者们能够使用个人电脑或笔记本享有完善的商业服务，不论是在办公室还是在旅行中的酒店里。Themobilephonehasbeenalmostasrevolutionary.About3.3billionpeople,orhalftheworld’spopulation,alreadyhaveaccesstoone.Thetechnologyha2sallowedentrepreneurstobreakintowhatusedtobeoneoftheworld’smostregulatedmarkets,telecoms.Andmanydevelopingcountrieshavebeenabletoleapfrogrichonesbygoingstraighttomobilephones,cuttingoutlandlines.移动电话的出线几乎可被视为一场革命。33亿人拥有移动电话，占世界总人口约50%。这项技术使得创业者们能够进入电信行业这个原先世界上管制最严格的市场。许多发展中国家直接越过了有线通讯的阶段，在移动电话领域和发达国家并驾齐驱。Thishasresultedinacascadeofentrepreneurship.IqbalQuadir,aBangladeshiwhoemigratedtoAmericatobecomeaninvestmentbankerandthenabusinessacademic,hadadreamofbringingmobilephonestohishomeland.HestruckuparelationshipwithMuhammadYunus,thefounderofGrameenBank,whichprovidesmicrofinance,toturnthedreamintoreality.Ifthebankwaswillingtolendwomenmoneytobuycows,whynotmobilephones?Bangladeshnowhas270,000phoneladieswhoborrowmoneytobuyspeciallydesignedmobile-phonekitsequippedwithlong-lastingbatteries,andselltimeontheirphonestolocalvillagers.GrameenhasbecomeBangladesh’slargesttelecomsprovider,withannualrevenuesofaround$1billion;andtheentrepreneurialphoneladieshavepluggedtheirvillagesintothewidereconomy.这项革新为导致了创业行为的进步。移民美国的孟加拉人IqbalQuadir曾担任过投行银行家，现在是一位商业学者。他曾有一个梦想：将移动电话引入自己的家乡。Iqbal和孟加拉乡村银行的创始人MuhammadYunus建立了关系，该银行向孟加拉人民提供小额贷款，帮助人们梦想成真。Grameen认为，既然银行愿意3向妇女们提供贷款购买牲畜，为什么不可让她们购买移动电话呢？现在，孟加拉国已有27万名妇女贷款购买了移动电话，这种移动电话配置了较长时间的电池，以及在和村民通话时播放的广告内容。Grameen也就成为孟加拉国最大的电信供应商，每年大约获取10亿美元的收入，而那些拥有电话的创业女性们也把将她们的村庄带入到更广泛的经济领域中。Thankstothecombinationoftouch-screentechnologyandeverfasterwirelessnetworks,themobilephoneisbecomingtheplatformofchoicefortechno-entrepreneurs.SinceJulylastyearApplehasallowedthirdpartiestopostsome20,000programsorapplicationsonits“appstore”,allowingphonestodoanythingfromidentifyingthesingerofasongontheradiotoimitatingthesoundofflatulence.Sofararound500m“apps”havebeendownloadedforaboutadollaratime.凭借触摸屏技术和更快的无线网络结合的优势，移动电话正变成许多“技术创业者”可选择的平台之一。去年7月份，苹果公司允许第三方将大约2万个程序或应用软件放在其“苹果商店”中，使得iPhone可以“无所不能”，从收音机播放歌曲的歌手身份识别到肠胃胀气声音的模仿。截至目前，人们已经从“苹果商店”里以每次1美元的价格下载了大约5亿次各种程序。Thesedevelopmentshavebeenreinforcedbybroadculturalchangesthathavebroughtentrepreneurialismintothemainstream.Anactivitythatwasonceregardedasperipheral,perhapsevenreprehensible,hasbecomecool,celebratedbypoliticiansandembracedbytherisinggeneration.广泛的文化变革加强了技术发展，并使创业精神成为了主流。过去被视为边缘化的甚至是应受谴责的行为已经变得很酷，并为政治家称赞，为年轻一代所喜爱。Britain’sOxfordUniversityusedtonurtureoneofthelongesttraditionsofanti-entrepreneurialprejudiceintheworld.Thedonsvalued“gentlemanly”subjectssuchasclassicsorphilosophyoveranythingthatsmackedof“utility”.(“Hegetsdegreesinmakingjam/atLiverpoolandBirmingham,”wentonepopularditty.)Thestudentsdreamedofcareersinthecivilserviceorthelawratherthanbusiness,stilllessentrepreneurship.“HowIhatethatman,”wasthewriterC.S.Lewis’startcommentonLordNuffield,hiscity’sgreatestentrepreneurandhisuniversity’smostgenerousbenefactor.英国牛津大学惯于培养该校“创业精神偏见”，该偏见是牛津历史最悠久的传统之一。牛津的老师们重视那些具有“绅士特征”如学术名著或哲学，而不是带有“实用特征”味道的课程。（“他获得了做果酱的学位/不过是在利物浦和伯明翰”这种讽刺小调说明一切）。牛津的学生们则梦想在政府或法律界开始自己的职业生涯，而不是从商，他们的创业精神略显不足。作家C.S.Lewis在对Nuffield勋爵刻薄挖苦中曾提到：“我是如此憎恶此人”。而Nuffield勋爵是伦敦最伟大的企业家，也是牛津最慷慨的赞助人。TodayOxfordhasathrivingbusinessschool,theSaïdSchool,withacentreforentrepreneurshipandinnovationandagrowingbusinessparkthattriestomixtheuniversity’sscientistswithentrepreneurs.OxfordEntrepreneursisoneoftheuniversity’smostpopularsocieties,with3,600studentmembersandarecordo