There has been a lot of talk about bringing Silicon Valley to other parts of the country–or world. About what makes Silicon Valley unique, and how to replicate it.

As someone who lived in the Valley for 10 years and created a successful technology company there, and who now lives in a decidedly less-tech-heavy area (San Diego), I have a unique perspective: I don’t want Silicon Valley to come to San Diego. In fact, if it did, I’d leave here just like I left the Valley.

A conversation I had recently with an entrepreneur who moved from San Diego to the Valley reminded me of everything that is broken with Silicon Valley. I began by asking him why he’d moved his company to the Valley–I’m always curious about why companies choose to move.

He said the access to connections–other people who could potentially invest in his company–was unprecedented in the Valley. (Later on in the conversation, he admitted that he hadn’t gotten anyone to actually write him a check yet. “But they will,” he promised.)

He proceeded to name-drop several angel investors he’d had meetings with–the same names you hear consistently on TechCrunch, Venture Beat, and other sites commonly read by tech entrepreneurs.

Delving deeper, I

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As the summer beckons, focusing on the daily grind may become a challenge. To offer a bit of inspiration, I created a list individuals that I believe to be “super entrepreneurs.” That is, these are not just people who have amassed wealth or who ran a successful business, they left an indelible imprint on the world that has altered the way we live, work, think and play. These people are some of the biggest business movers and shakers of the century.

All of these people lived and worked in the 20^th century and beyond. Though a few of them may have reached their prime a before the start of the 1900′s, I still consider them “contemporaries.” So without further a due, here’s my list. You may be surprised how many of the brand names you recognize even if you don’t know the people behind them.

1. Andrew Carnegie

From his simple beginnings as the son of a poor Scottish weaver, Carnegie went on to build a formidable steel empire. His mills literally built up much of the infrastructure of post-Civil War America. His success was largely due to his focus on increased efficiency, cost reduction, and notably his quick adoption of the Bessemer process for refining steel.

2. John Pierpont

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Failed junior miner Pamodzi’s Gold’s Ndlovu shaft, which was sealed last week with steel plates and a pile of dirt, would now look like a grave and represent the legacy of Aurora Empowerment Systems, trade union Solidarity said on Monday.

Aurora was given control of Pamodzi’s Grootvlei and Orkney mines until its eviction in May.

Solidarity said the Pamodzi liquidators closed the shaft after an allegedly illegal miner fell 400m to his death earlier in June.

Solidarity reported then that Hlelali Solimzima of Springs fell and died in the Ndlovu shaft, which Solidarity said was left as an open hole in the ground after Aurora neglected to maintain the shaft.

AfriForum environmental affairs head Julius Kleynhans said the Ndlovu shaft now bore silent witness to the tragedy that had taken place over the past two years.

“The Ndlovu shaft was erected only four years ago. However, the shaft is now pillaged in such a way that it will cost R100-million to reconstruct. This is more than double the R40-million that it cost to erect,” Kleynhans said.

Kleynhans said he has started with preparations for a comprehensive impact study at the former Aurora mines. Full Post…

Consumer credit granted by South African registered credit providers has increased 31.2% from March 2010 to March this year, a National Credit Regulator (NCR) report released on Wednesday revealed.

Unsecured lending experienced a year-on-year rapid growth of 66.8%, the report showed.

The total value of new credit granted decreased from R83.53-billion for the quarter ended December to R80.75-billion for the quarter ended March, the information submitted by credit providers to the regulator revealed.

The number of applications received for credit decreased by 917 558 from 6.72-million in December to 5.8-million in March.

Other findings included that the value of new mortgages granted decreased quarter-on-quarter from R26.87-billion to R24.76-billion; secured credit, which is dominated by vehicle finance, decreased from R28.12-billion to R27.45-billion; credit facilities which mainly consisted of credit cards, store cards and bank overdrafts increased by 1.81% from R10.25-billion to R10.43-billion; short term credit showed a decrease of 2.85% from R1.46-billion to R1.42-billion.

The banks’ share of the total outstanding consumer credit as at March was R1.09-trillion, with retailers at R36.25-billion, non-bank vehicle financiers at R40.15-billion, and other credit providers at R43.71-billion.

South African credit bureaus reported records for 18.6-million credit-active consumers, an increase of 0.5% over the 18.5-million of the previous quarter.

Consumers classified in good standing increased by 0.1% to 9.97-million.

The number of credit accounts decreased from 64.28-million in the previous quarter to 63.05-million, while the number of impaired accounts decreased by 107 000 to 16.26-million, from 16.36-million in the previous quarter.

Reporting bureaus attributed this to both market trends and data management exercises undertaken in this quarter. – Full Post…