Scwamp Analysis Essay Example

Maternal Obesity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Maternal Obesity - Research Paper Example The wellbeing pointers were created on the reason that they identified with a few of the constant ailment states and the activity of power over these markers would prompt critical improvement of wellbeing to a high extent of the populace (Pivarnik, 2008). Corpulence is considered to have arrived at plague extents all around in the advanced world. Alongside developing ascent of corpulence in everybody, stoutness during pregnancy is likewise on the ascent. Weight during pregnancy is currently viewed as a typical obstetric high-hazard condition (Conway, 2011). Evaluations propose that one out of four of ladies in the regenerative age bunch are corpulent in the USA (March of Dimes, 2010). This converts into one out of each five ladies being fat toward the beginning of pregnancy featuring the profundity of the general medical issue of maternal stoutness (Kim et al, 2007). Essentialness of Maternal Obesity While when all is said in done the danger of weight among everybody is uplifted beca use of the ways of life, the danger of corpulence during pregnancy is considerably more in light of the past practices and convictions of ladies during pregnancy. Prior it was accepted that maternal weight gain was valuable in improving newborn child wellbeing and diminishing perinatal mortality. In any case, proof from concentrates currently point to overabundance of weight gain during pregnancy is negative to the mother, upgraded dangers during conveyance, and bothersome birth results. It has additionally been discovered that 40% to 50 % of ladies during pregnancy put on more weight than is suggested by the Institute of medication. Hazard factors for this undesirable weight gain during pregnancy incorporate higher pre-pregnancy weight, primiparity, lower salary, poor information on weight gain suggestions, lower levels of physical action, and improved food utilization (Herring et al, 2008). Assessment of the pervasiveness of maternal heftiness over the cross-area of the female pop ulace in the US shows that the ladies from the racial and ethnic minorities and low financial status are more inclined to maternal stoutness than ladies from the dominant part populace and higher financial groupings (DHHS, 2007). There are a few reasons with regards to why maternal weight is increasingly predominant among racial and ethnic minorities and the low financial gatherings in the network. Deceptions of more prominent weight gain being advantageous to both mother and kid make them inclined to abundance of dietary admission. The significant expense of sound nourishments like organic products, vegetables, and entire grain and simple accessibility of minimal effort quick nourishments brings about ladies from the monetarily sections of society bound to utilize ease undesirable quick food sources as the wellspring of their expanded sustenance, prompting undesirable weight increase and heftiness during pregnancy (Larson, Story and Nelson, 2009). Absence of or poor offices for phy sical movement in the lower salary networks, wretchedness, weakness, and the absence of inspiration to keep up one’s wellbeing among the ladies with low financial status likewise adds to the more noteworthy pervasiveness of maternal weight in this section of the populace (APA, 2011). Results of Maternal Obesity Evaluation of the outcomes of maternal weight must be seen from the three points of view of results to the mother,

DFJ Venture Draper University of Heroes

DFJ Venture Draper University of Heroes INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi, today we are in Hero city in San Mateo and we collected all the greatest heroes of San Mateo. One of them is Tim. Tim, you are one of the founders of DFJ venture capital. Who are you and what do you do?Timothy: I started Draper Fisher Juvertson and then I started Draper University of Heroes, which is this new school. It all came from my venture capital work at Draper Associates, so there are sort of three entities but theyre all moving forward and they all do great things. I guess Im a venture capitalist and Im a headmaster.Martin: What does headmaster mean?Timothy: A headmaster is someone who runs a school. So I run this school, and its a great school for extraordinary individuals who have a little bit of a spark in them and we want to ignite that spark and we want to turn them from ordinary citizens into heroes. The way we do that, we go through a real process, we go through We teach future, we dont teach history. We teach future, we teach business in a very modern or advanced way, where marketing is crowd sourcing and viral marketing and social media. And in design we do very odd design work, we do an egg drop, where they drop an egg from the eight flour and they have certain materials that they can use and they have to protect their egg or they dont get breakfast. And then we have survival training where the students have to go through real survival, both urban and rural survival training.Martin: In the forest?Timothy: The rural part is out in the forest, the urban part is thing like this: we say Ok, you have four hours, go get a job offer on paper and bring that paper back.Martin: That sounds fun.Timothy: And so we do those kinds of things. Survival training is with real US military special forces people who take them through maneuvers and its quite exciting. Because we want an entrepreneur hero to understand physically, emotionally, and intellectually where their limitations are and where there are no limitations. Particularly, whe re there are no limitations. And then, at the end of the eight week period, we have them do a 2 minute presentation to a panel of venture capitalists. So then they can bring their brilliant idea to a panel of venture capitals, and some of them will get funding, some of them start businesses, some of them start revolutions, they do a little bit of everything. Its very unique school. We also operate just as a team, everything is team based. So, in school normally you get an A or B or C. You get an A for not making any mistakes, while we encourage people to make mistakes. So, our team based approach gives, we give points to teams who do extraordinary things, either positive or negative. More points for positive than negative, but if something they try fails, thats still okay; we encourage that kind of behavior. And I think that high volatility or the vicissitudes of activity generate more creativity and spark more intellectual power than just sitting in a classroom and falling asleep. So, weve got a new school. And its a school that I started because it is something I knew something about, which is entrepreneurs, because Ive been funding them for 30 years. Thats where I got started, as a venture capitalist, I built up my business and weve had some great success with. Our best successes have been when we have industries that are getting fat and lazy and bureaucratic, and then an entrepreneur comes into that industry with just a new idea and they create a wedge in that industry and slowly, but surely, they grow to be the leader in that industry. That happened with Skype, and its happening with Tesla. It definitely happened with Hotmail, Hotmail eliminated the need for the post office to send messages to each other. So, weve had a lot of great success where we took on big challenges like that.DFJ VENTURE CAPITAL KEY INVESTMENT CRITERIAMartin: Tim, lets talk briefly about the DFJ venture capital. Hows the fund basically structured? What are the key investment criter ia and segments?Timothy: It all started with Draper associates. Draper associates is the seed investor group that continues to operate as a seed investor. And then I brought on partners, Josh Fisher and Steve Juvertson, we created DFJ, and Draper associates still operates independently of DFJ. So we do both. DFJ does more venture work and Draper associates does the early stage work, so just to get that. We are, we operate as a series of partnerships, and those partnerships are set up with investors, who we call limited partners, who have limited liability, they put their money in, but theyre not liable for anything beyond that money. And then we take that money and we pool it with other investors and we invest it in this variety different companies, as many as 20 or 30 per fund. And then we help manage those companies, we sit on boards of some of them, we guide them in different directions. And then, as those companies evolve, sometimes they get acquired, they go public, in which ca se then we can usually generate a really good return for our investors. And thats how the system works. And the way were paid is, were paid a management fee and a carried interest, an interest in the profits of the business.Martin: What are some kind of industry segments that youre focusing on. Im pretty sure youre not investing in everything, but maybe youre focusing on health care or on some kind of hardware or software, something like that.Timothy: My key focus right now, I mean my focus continues to evolve because our business is really one where being a good generalist with a lot of narrow fall side is generally better than being just focused on one thing. But, what I like the best right nowI like Bitcoin, because I think Bitcoin could do for finance, commerce, credit cards what the internet did for media, communications, and information. So, I actually think that this technology is one that we can, as a world, ride for many, many years to come. And so I actually love Bitcoin f or a lot of reasons. One is, for all the merchants in the world, whove been paying 2,5-4% percent to credit card companies for all this time, they wont have to do that. For all of the people who send money to another country to take care of their family, and pay 10% to Western Union, they wont have to do that anymore. The money will just go. The wealth of the nation, the wealth of the society is always tied to the speed at which the money moves through the system and Bitcoin moves through the system faster than any money anywhere. So, I think Bitcoin could end up being a major transformative industry for all of us. It could really make our lives a lot better. So, thats number one, Bitcoin.Number two, I actually think that, with the advent of these electric cars and the self driving cars, I think there are going to be opportunities in telematics, where you add more and more software to the car and then I think thats going to be quite valuable. I also look at industry where they are g etting a little bit fat and bloated and bureaucratic, and I would say that education of youth, we call it K12 education here, I dont know what it is in Germany, but its from 5 years old to 18 years old, that education is operated very much by monopoly combination of teachers unions and the textbooks manufactures in the States, the Department of Education. They operate as a monopoly. The great things that are happening in education are all around MOOCs, which are the online schools, the new kind of educating that is tied to search engines and to social networks and to other ways to educate people. Thats all changing things very quickly, so I actually think that there are some great opportunities in education.Another big, bloated oligopoly is the big pharma. Any time they say big anything, so big accounting, big pharma, pharmaceuticals, whenever they call it big anything you know that its an oligopoly that needs to be challenged by an entrepreneur. I actually believe that there are g oing to be some great opportunities in medicine, we have big pharma and the FDA here in the US and they have sort of the relationship thats a little bit too comfortable, and any new drugs that come in, you could cure cancer tomorrow, but you might be dead by the time anyone ever allowed your cure for cancer to go through FDA. It often takes 100s of millions of dollars like, multiple hundreds of millions of dollars to get a drug from Hey, this cured cancer to into somebodys body legally. Thats clearly not going to be something that lasts forever, I think entrepreneurs will be able to go after both sides of that equation. I think there could be an entrepreneur that challenges the FDA and there could be an entrepreneur that challenges the drug companies, both. And I know one, called Theranos, its one we invested in, and she has figured out how to challenge the blood test market. Where the way you normally get a blood test is you get a needle in your vain and then they keep putting more and more test tubes into the vein to get more blood, while what she can do is with the prick of a finger, she can drop two drops of blood into a micro fluidic chamber and bring back 50 tests, and not only does she bring back 50 tests, but each of those tests then is logged in, so if you go and you get your blood tested today, and then you get it tested in a year, or in five years, or in 10 years, youre going to have a line drawn for each of those blood tests to see whats happened to your body over time. Its amazing research and its amazing opportunity for people. That ones called Theranos, very exciting.Martin: Lets talk about the venture capital fund again. How is the typical investment due diligence process working?Timothy: The investment process is different every single time. But, there are some things that were always looking at. When I got started in the venture capital business, I was knocking on doors and saying Hey, are you looking for money?And any new construction where they had something software I was trying to knock on their door and find out what was going on. Well, now weve build a brand and so Draper associates and DFJ are big brands and we get lots and lots of business plans. So now we have a process where we filter those business plans. The things were looking for are uniqueness, market size, and then are you riding a new technology that looks like its really going to change the industry, and is the industry fat and bloated and bureaucratic. Once its gone through those four checks, then well meet with the entrepreneur and well, and the way we judge an entrepreneur is really all on how enthusiastic are they and how well do they along as a team. Were looking for more of the softer side of how businesses run, how passionate are they about their business. They all say Im really passionate about whatever, you know, watching people cook, or Im really passionate about, whatever, but just saying it doesnt present it and I think if they show incredi ble enthusiasm and great knowledge of their business, that usually pushes us over the top and well fund them. Now, thats at the seed level. Thats at Draper associates level. If it goes up to DFJ, then it really has to have sort of, got to the point where its, product is just about out, it looks like its really going to work, customers are starting to ask for it, there are some benefits like that. And for DFJ growth, it has to be to the scale where there are many customers using it and the business is scaling up and it looks like its going to be a huge market. So, then we do, of course before we write the check we do background checks on a lot of people, not every time, but most of the time. We run checks on customers to see whether they would respond well to something like this. And then we negotiate terms and we just work it out and get to know the people as well as we can in the very short time.MAJOR TRENDS BITCOINMartin: Tim, lets talk about two major trends. One you just shortl y acknowledged, which is Bitcoin and the second thing, which is also very visible, show on your cravatTimothy: Yes, Six CaliforniasMartin: Yes. So, lets start with Bitcoin. Can you briefly explain to somebody whos quite new to this topic how it works? How the Bitcoin system is distributed, how the information is stored and exchanged when the transaction happens?Timothy: So, Bitcoin is, turns out to be the most efficient, safest, most stable currency in the world today. People just dont recognize it yet, because its had so many troubles getting to this point. But my Bitcoin is safer than my money in Smith Barney, in Morgan Stanley. And the reason is that the technology is so advanced and the way theyve set up security is so advanced that your money is actually safer in the form of Bitcoin than it is in any other currency anywhere in the world. The idea generally is that you have a private key and you have a public key. The private key you keep to yourself and the public key is the on e people send money into. You need the private key and the public key in order to send the money out of your Bitcoin wallet. So, its more secure. Its much faster, much more efficient; because if I owe you money, and youre in Germany and Im in the US I have to get the money translated in marks Is it still marks or is it Euros?Martin: German mark we had something like 15 years ago, now its Euros. But the next time you are in Berlin, I can pay for youTimothy: Ill buy something with mark. So, you turn it into Euros and in that translation you lose money to bank over here and you lose money to bank over here. When it converts toMartin: Another currency.Timothy: So, it turns out that that can be done much more efficiently and much cheaper when you do it in Bitcoin. If you have Bitcoin I just send you Bitcoin and its done. And you have Bitcoin. And you can do whatever you want with a Bitcoin, you can buy things, sell things, whatever you like. And there are lots of new businesses, theres o ne called Snapcard that makes you so you can shop with Bitcoin on any site in the world. So you go to the checkout and as soon as you check out they say Would you like to pay in Bitcoin? and with Snapcard you can just do that. The other thing you can do is you can just swipe a credit card, we have a company called Atlas where you swipe a credit card, but its really Bitcoin debit card and you can pay for things. It comes straight from your account to the retailer and the retailer gets the exact amount of money, they dont, theres no 2,5-4% transaction fee. So, Bitcoin has all of these great opportunities. Now, the other thing Bitcoin is, is a technology. Theres something called Blockchain and it gets checked by all these people out there, so every time theres a transaction, the Blockchain is being checked by many, many people. So, the Blockchain is always stable. What that also means is that you can use the Blockchain for something called the Smart contract. So, we could have the smar t contract, we can make a bet on the outcome of the Germany-US soccer game, and we make bet of one Bitcoin, so you bet a Bitcoin and I bet a Bitcoin. We put those Bitcoins into a secure escrow and then, when the game comes out, the outcome of the game, lets say Germany wins, suddenly both of those Bitcoins go right to your account. And so that any time theres an event, the smart contract can actually disperse to whoever its supposed to disperse to. So, for all shareholders in a company, it can all disperse to the shareholders, if its tied to, anything thats tied to an event can be done without lawyers or accountants or anything, its just done in the Blockchain and it shoots out to the people that, who deserve the money.Martin: If I compare Bitcoin with PayPal, what drives the cost advantage of Bitcoin in terms of infrastructure costs, compared to PayPal? BecauseTimothy: Well, the good thing about Bitcoin is that its the crowd, its an open source. So there isnt some company with a bu nch of overhead charging us for that extra overhead.Martin: Because I have my own device which is part of the infrastructure, and thats why I dont have this overhead cost, I bear it anyway, but with my own device.Timothy: Yeah. And PayPal is now accepting Bitcoin, for as I understand. I think theyre So, they understand that this is much better way to go. PayPal, when you use your PayPal account, you also have to pay your credit card guy. PayPal is kind of expensive. I think there are a lot more efficient ways to move money around.MAJOR TRENDS SIX CALIFORNIASMartin: Ok. Lets talk about the second trend. You are one of the proposers of separating California into six sub states. Can you tell us a little bit more about background and the reasons behind it?Timothy: Were actually dissolving the existing California and creating six new states. So, technically, thats whats happening. Nothing new here, Massachusetts turned into Massachusetts Maine and Vermont. Ohio left Pennsylvania. West V irginia left Virginia. South Carolina and North Carolina split. We accepted Hawaii and Alaska at the same time into the United States. Its just nothings happened for a number of years. We havent, I think our democracy has gotten a little complacent, because we havent done anything because were just thinking Oh, everything works, no problem, we dont have to worry about it. Well, it doesnt really work. Lot of things have gone wrong. First of all, government spending as a percentage of GDP is now almost 50%, so thats a big problem. It means that incentive of most of the people are to create more government and then they will be supported by less and less of a private sector. So you need a big private sector to generate a real positive outcome for a government. Well, in California, its even more insidious than that, because I grew up in California, so 45 years ago in California, California was the number one in education, the best state in the union for education and in the best country for education in the world. And weve benefited from that, weve built incredible Silicon Valley, weve benefited from that incredible good education system that we had 45 years ago. Well, in those 45 years, the education system has gone from 1st to 47th.Martin: In the world?Timothy: California is now the 47th, so the third worst in the US. And the US has gone from fist to about 18th in education. Thats a bad sign, because education drives everything else. During that same 45 years, the number of prisoners we have in California has gone from, has quadrupled. We have four times as many prisoners and we have much more recidivism which means they keep going back to jail because they cant get employed. We have huge job, we have big unemployment here, particularly in the rural areas, big unemployment. And were almost pushing jobs away because 45 years ago we were number one, as the best place in the world to do business, and now were like number 50, were the worst state in the country to d o business. And the country is getting harder to do business. So, were looking at that and saying Something has to change. First of all, governments have to innovate just like every other sector of the world. They have to think in terms of how do we move forward, how do we become more efficient, how can we provide better service to our constituents, how do we do it for less money. All those things that all the other businesses in the world do are not happening in government because they have these monopolistic fighters. Well, if we have six Californias, its set up so those governments all have to compete for us, for the constituents, so they have to improve. If somethings not being done right, they have to improve. Its interesting, in California we also have all these other issues that are, where there are different value systems, if you are Inland vs. whether youre on the coast. And there are many other issues, so people are enjoying the idea of six Californias because theyll get a choice and theyll feel better about the choice. The thing I want is I want a government that is innovating, competitive, driven and I want the value that I deserve as a constituent and a tax payer of that government. So I look and I say Im not getting the service. We pay the most here, we get the worst service in California. So, its time and it has to come from this state because it is the one that is operating the most like a monopoly. Because they got the nice weather, we got great weather, nobody wants to leave. But, it is a huge state and it really needs, we need to be closer to our constituents, we need the government to be close to its constituents. We are feeling more and more distant from the people in Sacramento who make all the laws for the state.Martin: Totally get the point that once you have more countries, and they compete and maybe innovate, because if theyre monopolistic they dont have an incentive and if they are more they compete for it. One implication and one qu estion. One implication would be: this should apply to all other states, not only in the US, but also abroad as well. So, maybe having smaller kind of political entities, this is the one implication that you would agree, I assume.Timothy: I think it is better to at least have it so the people feel represented, so that they are attached to their government. Here we call it were the people. We are the government. But I feel in California its going to be a little bit we-they. Were the people and theyre the government, as opposed to we are all, the government. I think you only feel that if you are close enough so that youre feeling like youre being represented, youre being heard. And were clearly not being heard here. Now, will this spread around the world? I hope so. Its interesting that competitive governments is already starting to happen. Singapore, 45 years ago, was one of the poorest countries in the world. Now they are one of the richest, because they created this platform for gr owth, and the platform made everybody much more successful. Same thing in Korea, Korea was very poor country after the war and now its very, very wealthy country. China is looking the same way; Japan, after World War II was a very, very poor country and now it is very wealthy country. Thats all because of the platform that the government laid out for growth. Russia was a very wealthy country, and then the Bolsheviks came in and they made business illegal, and it became a poor country. And only now theyre starting to realize that a free market is going to improve their situation. And Estonia. Estonia has, the president of Estonia lived in the Silicon Valley for 9 years, he then went back to Estonia and he made, he created a whole new government, thats the most efficient government in the world. Its all digital signatures, its all digital voting, its, I can set up European bank account in 24 hours through the Estonian government, I can become an Estonian virtual resident and have the benefits of being a part of Estonia.Martin: So, we talked about the implication of this having more and more states compete for the voters. The other question that arises from my point of view is: how do you manage different political levels? What I mean by that is like, in US, a state law or federal law, in European Union, for example, you have this kind of very regional law, then you have the German law or country law, and then you have European law, where as more and more laws are generated on a more European level, which will then not help the competition.Timothy: Yes, I think thats one of the Well, that highest level is also competing, theyre competing with the United States, Asia, whateverMartin: But I can move that easily, yes?Timothy: Its harder to move, yeah. But as we can move more easily, the governments are going to have to recognize that and realize that they are going to really have to compete for us. Having those levels, I always believe that the best government is th e most local government, the one who is your neighbor, saying Please dont build that thing because its going to be looking right into my bathroom. I think thats the most, thats the best form of government, or Please smoke outside, or Please dont smoke around here. I think government is really important for when something you do affects something I do, or/ and we are in each others way. Some sort of set of rules, set of laws for that, its very important. Beyond that we should all we push locally, the information should be spread globally, but the actual application of the law should be local. And I see with the EU and with the US, both seeing more and more power centralizing on the central government and not being pushed away. The genius of George Washington was that he was, in fact, the king of America, and he pushed power away. He said I dont need to be the king, lets have the king rotate. Lets have it be a president, well call it something else, and lets have it rotate. The greate st leaders are the ones that are able to push power down, away from themselves. Gorbachov did that, and so did Deng Xiaoping. Deng Xiaoping said Its okay to have a free market here, its okay to make money. As soon as he said that, a billion Chinese were freed up to be entrepreneurs or to be business people and to make great things happen. Thats amazing, thats like releasing whole pile of people from jail or whatever. It really freed their country. And he did that by, in a fact, by pushing the power down to the citizens and allowing the citizens to do great things for themselves. I believe that that is absolutely mission critical for any great country, its for the leader to know what the issues are that they should be leading on, and what the issues are that they should be pushed down to the local level.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS FROM TIMOTHY DRAPER In San Mateo, we talked with venture capitalist and the founder of DFJ Venture and Draper University of Heroes, Timothy Draper about the key investment criteria and investment process. Furthermore, Tim shares his thoughts about Bitcoin and Six Californias and advice for young entrepreneurs.The transcript of the interview is included below.INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi, today we are in Hero city in San Mateo and we collected all the greatest heroes of San Mateo. One of them is Tim. Tim, you are one of the founders of DFJ venture capital. Who are you and what do you do?Timothy: I started Draper Fisher Juvertson and then I started Draper University of Heroes, which is this new school. It all came from my venture capital work at Draper Associates, so there are sort of three entities but theyre all moving forward and they all do great things. I guess Im a venture capitalist and Im a headmaster.Martin: What does headmaster mean?Timothy: A headmaster is someone who runs a school. So I run this sch ool, and its a great school for extraordinary individuals who have a little bit of a spark in them and we want to ignite that spark and we want to turn them from ordinary citizens into heroes. The way we do that, we go through a real process, we go through We teach future, we dont teach history. We teach future, we teach business in a very modern or advanced way, where marketing is crowd sourcing and viral marketing and social media. And in design we do very odd design work, we do an egg drop, where they drop an egg from the eight flour and they have certain materials that they can use and they have to protect their egg or they dont get breakfast. And then we have survival training where the students have to go through real survival, both urban and rural survival training.Martin: In the forest?Timothy: The rural part is out in the forest, the urban part is thing like this: we say Ok, you have four hours, go get a job offer on paper and bring that paper back.Martin: That sounds fun.T imothy: And so we do those kinds of things. Survival training is with real US military special forces people who take them through maneuvers and its quite exciting. Because we want an entrepreneur hero to understand physically, emotionally, and intellectually where their limitations are and where there are no limitations. Particularly, where there are no limitations. And then, at the end of the eight week period, we have them do a 2 minute presentation to a panel of venture capitalists. So then they can bring their brilliant idea to a panel of venture capitals, and some of them will get funding, some of them start businesses, some of them start revolutions, they do a little bit of everything. Its very unique school. We also operate just as a team, everything is team based. So, in school normally you get an A or B or C. You get an A for not making any mistakes, while we encourage people to make mistakes. So, our team based approach gives, we give points to teams who do extraordinary things, either positive or negative. More points for positive than negative, but if something they try fails, thats still okay; we encourage that kind of behavior. And I think that high volatility or the vicissitudes of activity generate more creativity and spark more intellectual power than just sitting in a classroom and falling asleep. So, weve got a new school. And its a school that I started because it is something I knew something about, which is entrepreneurs, because Ive been funding them for 30 years. Thats where I got started, as a venture capitalist, I built up my business and weve had some great success with. Our best successes have been when we have industries that are getting fat and lazy and bureaucratic, and then an entrepreneur comes into that industry with just a new idea and they create a wedge in that industry and slowly, but surely, they grow to be the leader in that industry. That happened with Skype, and its happening with Tesla. It definitely happened with Ho tmail, Hotmail eliminated the need for the post office to send messages to each other. So, weve had a lot of great success where we took on big challenges like that.DFJ VENTURE CAPITAL KEY INVESTMENT CRITERIAMartin: Tim, lets talk briefly about the DFJ venture capital. Hows the fund basically structured? What are the key investment criteria and segments?Timothy: It all started with Draper associates. Draper associates is the seed investor group that continues to operate as a seed investor. And then I brought on partners, Josh Fisher and Steve Juvertson, we created DFJ, and Draper associates still operates independently of DFJ. So we do both. DFJ does more venture work and Draper associates does the early stage work, so just to get that. We are, we operate as a series of partnerships, and those partnerships are set up with investors, who we call limited partners, who have limited liability, they put their money in, but theyre not liable for anything beyond that money. And then we ta ke that money and we pool it with other investors and we invest it in this variety different companies, as many as 20 or 30 per fund. And then we help manage those companies, we sit on boards of some of them, we guide them in different directions. And then, as those companies evolve, sometimes they get acquired, they go public, in which case then we can usually generate a really good return for our investors. And thats how the system works. And the way were paid is, were paid a management fee and a carried interest, an interest in the profits of the business.Martin: What are some kind of industry segments that youre focusing on. Im pretty sure youre not investing in everything, but maybe youre focusing on health care or on some kind of hardware or software, something like that.Timothy: My key focus right now, I mean my focus continues to evolve because our business is really one where being a good generalist with a lot of narrow fall side is generally better than being just focused on one thing. But, what I like the best right nowI like Bitcoin, because I think Bitcoin could do for finance, commerce, credit cards what the internet did for media, communications, and information. So, I actually think that this technology is one that we can, as a world, ride for many, many years to come. And so I actually love Bitcoin for a lot of reasons. One is, for all the merchants in the world, whove been paying 2,5-4% percent to credit card companies for all this time, they wont have to do that. For all of the people who send money to another country to take care of their family, and pay 10% to Western Union, they wont have to do that anymore. The money will just go. The wealth of the nation, the wealth of the society is always tied to the speed at which the money moves through the system and Bitcoin moves through the system faster than any money anywhere. So, I think Bitcoin could end up being a major transformative industry for all of us. It could really make our lives a lot better. So, thats number one, Bitcoin.Number two, I actually think that, with the advent of these electric cars and the self driving cars, I think there are going to be opportunities in telematics, where you add more and more software to the car and then I think thats going to be quite valuable. I also look at industry where they are getting a little bit fat and bloated and bureaucratic, and I would say that education of youth, we call it K12 education here, I dont know what it is in Germany, but its from 5 years old to 18 years old, that education is operated very much by monopoly combination of teachers unions and the textbooks manufactures in the States, the Department of Education. They operate as a monopoly. The great things that are happening in education are all around MOOCs, which are the online schools, the new kind of educating that is tied to search engines and to social networks and to other ways to educate people. Thats all changing things very quickly, so I actual ly think that there are some great opportunities in education.Another big, bloated oligopoly is the big pharma. Any time they say big anything, so big accounting, big pharma, pharmaceuticals, whenever they call it big anything you know that its an oligopoly that needs to be challenged by an entrepreneur. I actually believe that there are going to be some great opportunities in medicine, we have big pharma and the FDA here in the US and they have sort of the relationship thats a little bit too comfortable, and any new drugs that come in, you could cure cancer tomorrow, but you might be dead by the time anyone ever allowed your cure for cancer to go through FDA. It often takes 100s of millions of dollars like, multiple hundreds of millions of dollars to get a drug from Hey, this cured cancer to into somebodys body legally. Thats clearly not going to be something that lasts forever, I think entrepreneurs will be able to go after both sides of that equation. I think there could be an en trepreneur that challenges the FDA and there could be an entrepreneur that challenges the drug companies, both. And I know one, called Theranos, its one we invested in, and she has figured out how to challenge the blood test market. Where the way you normally get a blood test is you get a needle in your vain and then they keep putting more and more test tubes into the vein to get more blood, while what she can do is with the prick of a finger, she can drop two drops of blood into a micro fluidic chamber and bring back 50 tests, and not only does she bring back 50 tests, but each of those tests then is logged in, so if you go and you get your blood tested today, and then you get it tested in a year, or in five years, or in 10 years, youre going to have a line drawn for each of those blood tests to see whats happened to your body over time. Its amazing research and its amazing opportunity for people. That ones called Theranos, very exciting.Martin: Lets talk about the venture capital fund again. How is the typical investment due diligence process working?Timothy: The investment process is different every single time. But, there are some things that were always looking at. When I got started in the venture capital business, I was knocking on doors and saying Hey, are you looking for money?And any new construction where they had something software I was trying to knock on their door and find out what was going on. Well, now weve build a brand and so Draper associates and DFJ are big brands and we get lots and lots of business plans. So now we have a process where we filter those business plans. The things were looking for are uniqueness, market size, and then are you riding a new technology that looks like its really going to change the industry, and is the industry fat and bloated and bureaucratic. Once its gone through those four checks, then well meet with the entrepreneur and well, and the way we judge an entrepreneur is really all on how enthusiastic are they and how well do they along as a team. Were looking for more of the softer side of how businesses run, how passionate are they about their business. They all say Im really passionate about whatever, you know, watching people cook, or Im really passionate about, whatever, but just saying it doesnt present it and I think if they show incredible enthusiasm and great knowledge of their business, that usually pushes us over the top and well fund them. Now, thats at the seed level. Thats at Draper associates level. If it goes up to DFJ, then it really has to have sort of, got to the point where its, product is just about out, it looks like its really going to work, customers are starting to ask for it, there are some benefits like that. And for DFJ growth, it has to be to the scale where there are many customers using it and the business is scaling up and it looks like its going to be a huge market. So, then we do, of course before we write the check we do background checks on a lot of pe ople, not every time, but most of the time. We run checks on customers to see whether they would respond well to something like this. And then we negotiate terms and we just work it out and get to know the people as well as we can in the very short time.MAJOR TRENDS BITCOINMartin: Tim, lets talk about two major trends. One you just shortly acknowledged, which is Bitcoin and the second thing, which is also very visible, show on your cravatTimothy: Yes, Six CaliforniasMartin: Yes. So, lets start with Bitcoin. Can you briefly explain to somebody whos quite new to this topic how it works? How the Bitcoin system is distributed, how the information is stored and exchanged when the transaction happens?Timothy: So, Bitcoin is, turns out to be the most efficient, safest, most stable currency in the world today. People just dont recognize it yet, because its had so many troubles getting to this point. But my Bitcoin is safer than my money in Smith Barney, in Morgan Stanley. And the reason is that the technology is so advanced and the way theyve set up security is so advanced that your money is actually safer in the form of Bitcoin than it is in any other currency anywhere in the world. The idea generally is that you have a private key and you have a public key. The private key you keep to yourself and the public key is the one people send money into. You need the private key and the public key in order to send the money out of your Bitcoin wallet. So, its more secure. Its much faster, much more efficient; because if I owe you money, and youre in Germany and Im in the US I have to get the money translated in marks Is it still marks or is it Euros?Martin: German mark we had something like 15 years ago, now its Euros. But the next time you are in Berlin, I can pay for youTimothy: Ill buy something with mark. So, you turn it into Euros and in that translation you lose money to bank over here and you lose money to bank over here. When it converts toMartin: Another currency. Timothy: So, it turns out that that can be done much more efficiently and much cheaper when you do it in Bitcoin. If you have Bitcoin I just send you Bitcoin and its done. And you have Bitcoin. And you can do whatever you want with a Bitcoin, you can buy things, sell things, whatever you like. And there are lots of new businesses, theres one called Snapcard that makes you so you can shop with Bitcoin on any site in the world. So you go to the checkout and as soon as you check out they say Would you like to pay in Bitcoin? and with Snapcard you can just do that. The other thing you can do is you can just swipe a credit card, we have a company called Atlas where you swipe a credit card, but its really Bitcoin debit card and you can pay for things. It comes straight from your account to the retailer and the retailer gets the exact amount of money, they dont, theres no 2,5-4% transaction fee. So, Bitcoin has all of these great opportunities. Now, the other thing Bitcoin is, is a technol ogy. Theres something called Blockchain and it gets checked by all these people out there, so every time theres a transaction, the Blockchain is being checked by many, many people. So, the Blockchain is always stable. What that also means is that you can use the Blockchain for something called the Smart contract. So, we could have the smart contract, we can make a bet on the outcome of the Germany-US soccer game, and we make bet of one Bitcoin, so you bet a Bitcoin and I bet a Bitcoin. We put those Bitcoins into a secure escrow and then, when the game comes out, the outcome of the game, lets say Germany wins, suddenly both of those Bitcoins go right to your account. And so that any time theres an event, the smart contract can actually disperse to whoever its supposed to disperse to. So, for all shareholders in a company, it can all disperse to the shareholders, if its tied to, anything thats tied to an event can be done without lawyers or accountants or anything, its just done in th e Blockchain and it shoots out to the people that, who deserve the money.Martin: If I compare Bitcoin with PayPal, what drives the cost advantage of Bitcoin in terms of infrastructure costs, compared to PayPal? BecauseTimothy: Well, the good thing about Bitcoin is that its the crowd, its an open source. So there isnt some company with a bunch of overhead charging us for that extra overhead.Martin: Because I have my own device which is part of the infrastructure, and thats why I dont have this overhead cost, I bear it anyway, but with my own device.Timothy: Yeah. And PayPal is now accepting Bitcoin, for as I understand. I think theyre So, they understand that this is much better way to go. PayPal, when you use your PayPal account, you also have to pay your credit card guy. PayPal is kind of expensive. I think there are a lot more efficient ways to move money around.MAJOR TRENDS SIX CALIFORNIASMartin: Ok. Lets talk about the second trend. You are one of the proposers of separating Ca lifornia into six sub states. Can you tell us a little bit more about background and the reasons behind it?Timothy: Were actually dissolving the existing California and creating six new states. So, technically, thats whats happening. Nothing new here, Massachusetts turned into Massachusetts Maine and Vermont. Ohio left Pennsylvania. West Virginia left Virginia. South Carolina and North Carolina split. We accepted Hawaii and Alaska at the same time into the United States. Its just nothings happened for a number of years. We havent, I think our democracy has gotten a little complacent, because we havent done anything because were just thinking Oh, everything works, no problem, we dont have to worry about it. Well, it doesnt really work. Lot of things have gone wrong. First of all, government spending as a percentage of GDP is now almost 50%, so thats a big problem. It means that incentive of most of the people are to create more government and then they will be supported by less and l ess of a private sector. So you need a big private sector to generate a real positive outcome for a government. Well, in California, its even more insidious than that, because I grew up in California, so 45 years ago in California, California was the number one in education, the best state in the union for education and in the best country for education in the world. And weve benefited from that, weve built incredible Silicon Valley, weve benefited from that incredible good education system that we had 45 years ago. Well, in those 45 years, the education system has gone from 1st to 47th.Martin: In the world?Timothy: California is now the 47th, so the third worst in the US. And the US has gone from fist to about 18th in education. Thats a bad sign, because education drives everything else. During that same 45 years, the number of prisoners we have in California has gone from, has quadrupled. We have four times as many prisoners and we have much more recidivism which means they keep g oing back to jail because they cant get employed. We have huge job, we have big unemployment here, particularly in the rural areas, big unemployment. And were almost pushing jobs away because 45 years ago we were number one, as the best place in the world to do business, and now were like number 50, were the worst state in the country to do business. And the country is getting harder to do business. So, were looking at that and saying Something has to change. First of all, governments have to innovate just like every other sector of the world. They have to think in terms of how do we move forward, how do we become more efficient, how can we provide better service to our constituents, how do we do it for less money. All those things that all the other businesses in the world do are not happening in government because they have these monopolistic fighters. Well, if we have six Californias, its set up so those governments all have to compete for us, for the constituents, so they have t o improve. If somethings not being done right, they have to improve. Its interesting, in California we also have all these other issues that are, where there are different value systems, if you are Inland vs. whether youre on the coast. And there are many other issues, so people are enjoying the idea of six Californias because theyll get a choice and theyll feel better about the choice. The thing I want is I want a government that is innovating, competitive, driven and I want the value that I deserve as a constituent and a tax payer of that government. So I look and I say Im not getting the service. We pay the most here, we get the worst service in California. So, its time and it has to come from this state because it is the one that is operating the most like a monopoly. Because they got the nice weather, we got great weather, nobody wants to leave. But, it is a huge state and it really needs, we need to be closer to our constituents, we need the government to be close to its const ituents. We are feeling more and more distant from the people in Sacramento who make all the laws for the state.Martin: Totally get the point that once you have more countries, and they compete and maybe innovate, because if theyre monopolistic they dont have an incentive and if they are more they compete for it. One implication and one question. One implication would be: this should apply to all other states, not only in the US, but also abroad as well. So, maybe having smaller kind of political entities, this is the one implication that you would agree, I assume.Timothy: I think it is better to at least have it so the people feel represented, so that they are attached to their government. Here we call it were the people. We are the government. But I feel in California its going to be a little bit we-they. Were the people and theyre the government, as opposed to we are all, the government. I think you only feel that if you are close enough so that youre feeling like youre being rep resented, youre being heard. And were clearly not being heard here. Now, will this spread around the world? I hope so. Its interesting that competitive governments is already starting to happen. Singapore, 45 years ago, was one of the poorest countries in the world. Now they are one of the richest, because they created this platform for growth, and the platform made everybody much more successful. Same thing in Korea, Korea was very poor country after the war and now its very, very wealthy country. China is looking the same way; Japan, after World War II was a very, very poor country and now it is very wealthy country. Thats all because of the platform that the government laid out for growth. Russia was a very wealthy country, and then the Bolsheviks came in and they made business illegal, and it became a poor country. And only now theyre starting to realize that a free market is going to improve their situation. And Estonia. Estonia has, the president of Estonia lived in the Silico n Valley for 9 years, he then went back to Estonia and he made, he created a whole new government, thats the most efficient government in the world. Its all digital signatures, its all digital voting, its, I can set up European bank account in 24 hours through the Estonian government, I can become an Estonian virtual resident and have the benefits of being a part of Estonia.Martin: So, we talked about the implication of this having more and more states compete for the voters. The other question that arises from my point of view is: how do you manage different political levels? What I mean by that is like, in US, a state law or federal law, in European Union, for example, you have this kind of very regional law, then you have the German law or country law, and then you have European law, where as more and more laws are generated on a more European level, which will then not help the competition.Timothy: Yes, I think thats one of the Well, that highest level is also competing, theyre competing with the United States, Asia, whateverMartin: But I can move that easily, yes?Timothy: Its harder to move, yeah. But as we can move more easily, the governments are going to have to recognize that and realize that they are going to really have to compete for us. Having those levels, I always believe that the best government is the most local government, the one who is your neighbor, saying Please dont build that thing because its going to be looking right into my bathroom. I think thats the most, thats the best form of government, or Please smoke outside, or Please dont smoke around here. I think government is really important for when something you do affects something I do, or/ and we are in each others way. Some sort of set of rules, set of laws for that, its very important. Beyond that we should all we push locally, the information should be spread globally, but the actual application of the law should be local. And I see with the EU and with the US, both seeing more a nd more power centralizing on the central government and not being pushed away. The genius of George Washington was that he was, in fact, the king of America, and he pushed power away. He said I dont need to be the king, lets have the king rotate. Lets have it be a president, well call it something else, and lets have it rotate. The greatest leaders are the ones that are able to push power down, away from themselves. Gorbachov did that, and so did Deng Xiaoping. Deng Xiaoping said Its okay to have a free market here, its okay to make money. As soon as he said that, a billion Chinese were freed up to be entrepreneurs or to be business people and to make great things happen. Thats amazing, thats like releasing whole pile of people from jail or whatever. It really freed their country. And he did that by, in a fact, by pushing the power down to the citizens and allowing the citizens to do great things for themselves. I believe that that is absolutely mission critical for any great count ry, its for the leader to know what the issues are that they should be leading on, and what the issues are that they should be pushed down to the local level.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS FROM TIMOTHY DRAPERMartin: Tim, we always try to help first time entrepreneurs to make less errors, so they become more successful when starting their own company. What would you advice them to do, imagining that the friend comes to you and asks for advice?Timothy: Well, I think my advice to most entrepreneurs is: youre not stretching far enough. Youve got an idea, so do 50 other people around the world; they all have that same idea, theyre all building their business. Why arent you stretching to something a little higher than where you are? I think some entrepreneurs think Oh, if Ive only done a better sales job in the meeting, I wouldve got the money. I dont think thats usually true. Most venture capitalists, angels, theyre looking and theyre saying How big is this idea and how good is this person? And I think theyre looking beyond the sale. So I think that would be the advice Id give. Also, go for it. I mean, you only live once, you ought to do what you can with your life, and if you are, if you know this is your mission in life, why are you waiting?Martin: Tim, thank you very much.Timothy: My pleasure!Martin: And the next time you want to start a company, think about what Tim said, stretch yourself and become a hero. Thank you very much.

An Analysis Of Okonkwo s Things Fall Apart - 1259 Words

In Things Fall Apart the novel, Okonkwo was determined to be nothing like his father Unoka, this â€Å"strict adherence to masculine standards, (which causes the destruction of his family, creates dissent in his tribe, and leads him to his death) supports the value of the feminine in Igbo culture.† â€Å"Though it may seem that women are seen as the weaker sex in Ibgo society,† (E., Skwiot personal comment, August 23, 2016) The novel is set at the end of the twentieth century. It describes in detail about life in an African culture very different from Western culture. Okonkwo brought honor to his village by wrestling and putting down Amalinze the Cat, a man that was undefeated for his wrestling throughout all nine villages of Umuofia. He was quick tempered, he did not like dealing with unproductive men like his father, who died very much in debt (Achebe, 1994). However, because of Unoka’s laziness and carelessness, the village had thought of him as a failure and a fool; he was a constant reminder to Okonkwo of how lazy he was. Although, Unoka had a family to support, he was constantly borrowing money and them wasting it on Palm-wine and celebrating with his neighbors, while his family, done without food to eat. Unoka thought nothing of his responsibilities, his priority was living his life to the fullest. He played the flute very well, he was happy and serene while playing his flute, his music had sounds of grief and sorrows (CliffsNotes, 2016). Unoka never took a title because ofShow MoreRelatedWork1068 Words   |  5 Pages2013 Things Fall Apart: Character Analysis Research Paper In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the main character Okonkwo has only one tragic flaw; he has raised himself so that looking weak or effeminate is the worst thing to him that he could do. Okonkwo is a model clansman based on his success. However, he is more alienated from his culture based on his lack of respect for it. In this research paper, I’ll walk through a character analysis of Okonkwo. The protagonist of Things FallRead MoreChinua Achebe s Things Fall Apart1719 Words   |  7 PagesThings fall apart is a classic novel written around the turn of the century, the novel focuses on the protagonist who we can also call a hero, Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected leader within the Igbo tribe of Umuofia in eastern Nigeria. Strong individual with a passionate belief in all the values and traditions of his people. Chinua Achebe presents Okonkwo as a particular kind of tragic protagonist, a great man who carries the fate of his people. Okonkwo is a man who is inflexible andRead MoreThe Struggle Between Tradition and Change1056 Words   |  5 PagesENGL 2112 October 17, 2012 In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the reader is taken on a literary journey to a Nigerian tribe, the Umuofia, to experience first-hand the struggles of a warrior named Okonkwo. At first glance, the novel appears to be written for a very specific audience: scholars familiar with Nigerian history, traditions, and culture. However, upon further examination the novel reveals itself to be a striking chronicle of human experiences, universal themes, and timelessRead MoreChinua Achebe s Things Fall Apart1702 Words   |  7 Pages Title: Things Fall Apart Biographical information about the author: Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. He had an early career as a radio host, and later became the Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nigeria. After moving to America, he became an English professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Achebe has won numerous awards for his poetry and fiction, including the Man Booker prize and Commonwealth Poetry Price. He currently teaches at Bard College. Author: ChinuaRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Things Fall Apart Themes1246 Words   |  5 PagesLiterary Analysis of Things Fall Apart Themes Masculinity â€Å"Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper† (Achebe 13). Okonkwo is the definition of hypermasculinity. As someone who condemns all things feminine, he never learned how to express his feelings, leading to him lashing out in violence instead. It is important to note his treatment of the women in his life as well. Okonkwo’s poor, often times abusive relationshipRead MoreChinua Achebe s Things Fall Apart1308 Words   |  6 PagesIn Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the reader is taken on a literary journey to a Nigerian tribe, the Umuofia, to experience first-hand the struggles of a warrior named Okonkwo. At first glance, the novel appears to be written for a very specific audience: scholars familiar with Nigerian history, traditions, and culture. However, upon further examination the novel reveals itself to be a striking chronicle of human experiences, universal themes, and time less struggles that appeal to every humanRead MoreOkonkwo: a Life Story of a Tragic Hero1069 Words   |  5 PagesMyEsha Moore Honors English II- Hyatt May 23, 2012 Things Fall Apart Final Literally Analysis Essay Okonkwo: A Life Story of a Tragic Hero What makes up a hero in today’s society? Young children today imagine a hero with superpowers and a cape, but little do they know heroes come in many different forms. In his novel, Things Fall Apart, the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe illustrates the making of modern hero. Even though Okonkwo does not act like a regular hero, he still has a noble structureRead MoreIb English Written Task993 Words   |  4 Pagestext for analysis: Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe Part of the course to which the task refers: Part 3: Literature – text and context Key Points: †¢ Define masculinity in Okonkwo’s viewpoint †¢ Explore how Okonkwo never shows his emotions because of fear †¢ Describe the struggle of Okonkwo’s strength †¢ Discuss the importance of Okonkwo’s reputation of Umuofia †¢ Explain why Okonkwo emphasized on his masculinity Critical Response In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things FallRead More THINGS FALL APART Essay684 Words   |  3 Pages Summary and Analysis of: Things Fall Apart nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;There are many lessons that we learn in life. Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart teaches one of life?s greatest lesson. True, lasting happiness matters more than ones social rank or ones rank of wealth. Okonkwo, who is the main character in this book, is trying his best to be the man that is father was not. His father was a well known bum and a man who owed a lot of debts. Okonkwo felt that men are always suppose to be strongRead MoreFemale Role in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Acheebe1219 Words   |  5 PagesDiscuss the role of women in the novel. How are feminine qualities of the Ibo culture important to its survival? Women: Weak Gender?! In the novel â€Å"Things fall apart† by Chinua Achebe we are introduced to a different Africa than most of us know. We travel back in time and go to the pre-colonial Africa, more specifically Nigeria, to a village known as Umofia where the Ibo people live. The Ibo people form a very archaic and agriculture based society. Achebe introduces us to this new world that was

Lethal Energy Proposal For Alternative Solutions For The...

Lethal Energy: Proposal for Alternative Solutions to Atomic Energy Patrick Racosky Estrella Mountain Community College Abstract Atomic energy production is a dangerous technology that must be replaced by eco-friendly energy production methods. Atomic energy production relies upon radioactive materials used as fuel to generate electricity; these fuels are highly toxic and volatile substances that are lethal to all forms of life. In the event of a technical malfunction, or natural disaster, these dangerous substances can escape into the environment where they will remain disruptive for centuries. The nuclear power plant at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan is one such example of this, but alarmingly, many nuclear power plants are built along geological fault lines, in tsunami regions, and other dangerous weather zones all across the globe. The potential for widespread devastation to the environment is real. For this reason alone nuclear energy should be phased out entirely and replaced by a safe alternative. Fortunately, alternative energy technologies exist which can completely alleviate this danger. These technologies include solar, wind, and biodiesel sources for clean renewable energy production. Should these technologies be implemented worldwide on an industrial scale, they can protect and sustain a healthy environment by providing an eco-friendly replacement for nuclear power. This paper will provide a chronicle of selected worldwide nuclear incidents inShow MoreRelatedThe Viability of Nuclear Energy Essay1197 Words   |  5 Pagesknow today is dependent on energy. The options we have currently enable us to produce energy economically but at a cost to the environment. As fossil fuel source will be diminishing over time, other alternatives will be needed. An alternative that is presently utilized is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is currently the most efficacious energy source. Every time the word ‘nuclear’ is mentioned, the first thought that people have is the deva stating effects of nuclear energy. Granting it does come withRead MoreNuclear Power: Problem or Solution2397 Words   |  10 Pagespower plant provides energy that does not contribute to global warming. Climate concerns have seen a rise in the construction of new reactors to address growing demands of electricity worldwide. Currently the United States and Canada receive 20% of their electric power from nuclear plants. The rest of the world is at 6% but rising. The benefits drive the nuclear energy movement and continue to do so and the proponents of nuclear power see this as an indispensable solution in reducing the consumptionRead More From Western to Asian Environmental Ethics Essay example3991 Words   |  16 Pagesonce-arable land. The limitations of food, fuel, and land become painfully evident. The only viable solution to these crises involves a changing of ideals, from consumptive to sustainable, from linear use and dispose to cyclical reuse and recycle. In practical terms, this means that everything which is mined, manufactured, or produced must be recycled and reused, with a minimum of wasted energy and resources. Land cannot be wasted on raising beef cattle when the same land would feed many timesRead MoreScience and Technology13908 Words   |  56 PagesPrize and Third Prize winning essays in Children s and Youth categories respectively. Representing various cultures and backgrounds, the essays contain creative and innovative ideas of young people, who are ready to make use of their talents and energy for their community and the world. We trust that these essays will inspire the readers to think about how we can make best use of science and technology in the 21st century, so that we may realize a more equitable, prosperous and sustainable worldRead MoreEssay on Silent Spring - Rachel Carson30092 Words   |  121 Pagesirresponsible chemical industry, which continues to claim that pesticides are safe, and imprudent public officials, who accept without question this disinformation. As an alternative to the scorched earth logic underlying accepted pest-control practices, the author outlines the biotic approach cheaper, safer, longer acting, natural solutions to pest problems (for example, controlling the Japanese beetle by introducing a fungus that causes a fatal disease in this insect). The primary inspiration for theRead MoreGp Essay Mainpoints24643 Words   |  99 PagesWikipedia quickly removed it for the lack attribution but journalists †¢ E.g. Cover page of economist: President Obama at oil spill (cut a lonely figure: portrays the multitude of problems faced by America and his helplessness in coming up with solutions): Photoshopped †¢ Inherent bias/political slants †¢ E.g. Fox news channel headed by Republican supporters often portray Democrats in a negative light. Fox’s anchorman compared the logo of the recent nuclear technology forums, approved by PresidentRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesoverviews. In view of the fact that no phase of history can begin to match the twentieth century in terms of the extent to which it has shaped the contemporary world, this marginalization is particularly pernicious and has been at times literally lethal. The unmatched abundance and accessibility of primary documents and secondary works on world history in the past 100–150 years, which are clearly evident in the citations that accompany the essays in this collection, makes this neglect all theRead MoreNational Security Outline Essay40741 Words   |  163 PagesInternational Law of Conflict Management 5 CHAPTER 4: The Use of Force in International Relations: Norms Concerning the Initiation of Coercion (JNM) 7 CHAPTER 5: Institutional Modes of Conflict Management 17 The United Nations System 17 Proposals for Strengthening Management Institutional Modes of Conduct 23 CHAPTER 6: The Laws of War and Neutrality 24 CHAPTER 7: War Crimes and Nuremberg Principle 28 CHAPTER 12: Nuclear Weapons: Deployment, Targeting and Deterrence 33 CHAPTER 13:Read MoreProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 Pages1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES As companies approach some degree of maturity in project management, it becomes readily apparent to all that some sort of standardization approach is necessary for the way that projects are managed. The ideal solution might be to have a singular methodology for all projects, whether they are for new product development, information systems, or client services. Some organizations may find it necessary to maintain more than one methodology, however, such as oneRead MoreChemical Hazards43022 Words   |  173 PagesAbbreviations ADPC AERB AMAI APELL ASME ASSOCHAM BIS BLEVE CA (EPPR) Rules CAS CCG CCR CDM CETP CFEES CIF CII CIR CLI CMVR CPAP CPCB CRR CSIR DAE DCG DCR DCS DDMA DDMAP DEA DGFASLI DGFT DISH DM DMI DMIS DMP DRDO Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Alkali Manufacturers Association of India Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at Local Level American Society of Mechanical Engineers Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry Bureau of Indian Standards Boiling Liquid

Bureaucratic Organization And The Learning Process Free Essays

string(179) " There can be an amalgamation of many employee’s ideas and thoughts that could result into changes in the organization in future which would contribute towards its development\." This paper talks about a bureaucratic organization in detail. It focuses however on the learning aspect in an organization that means how conducive the entire working environment is there. This promotion of a learning environment is essential in effective growth of a company or whichever organization that undertakes the learning process as part of their work. We will write a custom essay sample on Bureaucratic Organization And The Learning Process or any similar topic only for you Order Now The argument that surrounds this entire paper is essentially that how well a bureaucratic organization deals with this aspect of efficiency by inculcating within it the process of subliminal learning. The argument arises when it is said that there is not much learning undertaken in a typical bureaucratic organization. Introduction At the onset of the industrial revolution, at the end of the eighteenth century, many small shops around villages etc. were transformed into big factories by centralizing their power. There are two main practices that are talked about when the term â€Å"bureaucratic organization† is mentioned. These two main theories are: †¢ Weber’s ideal bureaucracy †¢ Taylor’s scientific management Both these concepts talk about compartmentalization and labor resource. These two factors according the theories are very important in determining what exactly is meant by efficiency in work at the workplace. Taylor’s scientific management Taylor talked about analysis undertaken at the workplace with respect to working behavior. His study which was very detailed and conclusive, analyzed labor work at a factory where there were machines involved also. His aim was to improve efficiency while also making sure that per unit costs decrease of the output or the product/s that are being produced. The role of the research was to make sure that the human labor involved were basically machines that could be replaced or exchanged with each other when there is a lack in one’s performance for instance. (Kimble, n. d. ) His idea originated from that one time when he conducted observational studies on workers who were doing repetitive jobs. He called these repetitive jobs and the employees/ lower level factory workers tasks as â€Å"soldiering†. He claimed that an efficient way or the best method of doing each job should be determined and then taught to all the workers. This, according to him would make sure that the worker’s productivity goes up and the workers would also feel like they are indulging into quality work for the organization; thereby also leading motivating them. He said that there are many forces at work that contribute towards the actual production of output. These factors involved are the internal human characteristics, the physical environment, social atmosphere, the task itself. The task itself would involve things like the kind of work involved (manual or automated), speed with which it can be done etc. For this purpose he designed time motion studies to measure how workers contribute to the output. (Kimble, n. d. ) Taylor found out that as the products involved more and more complex, and then the workers’ productivity increased thereby too. And eventually the entire middle management of the factor itself emerged as a new layer therein. Departmentalization took place resulting into more efficient allocation of resources. (Kimble, n. d. ) The Ideal Bureaucracy – Max Weber (1864 – 1920) Max Weber was the actual proponent of bureaucracy. He talked about having a form of organization that incorporates into itself use of written and formal documents. Moreover, most people take the term â€Å"bureaucracy† as something that has monarchy or an authoritarian style of leadership or management. This is the view that Weber promoted. At the time when capitalism was very much in an influential state, concept of this type of management was introduced. It had/ has the interplay of maximization of the production or the output, while also making sure that input prices and costs are minimized. Hence, this is the point where Taylor also agrees when the latter talks about efficiency in allocation and management of resources while doing work. (Kimble, n. d. ) Weber categorized many concepts that he thought are related to this type of administration and management. These he called as the core factors or rudiments that are there in such an organization. These are: †¢ Efficiency first of all †¢ Impersonality †¢ Logical sequence of activities and events Weber further illustrated and clarified the role of bureaucracy by saying how the structure of such a firm is controlled from above. Hence, there is centralization of power only at the top and most of time no one else has any authority in making or trying to undertake any decisions involving the organization’s functions and activities. (Kimble, n. d. ) Weber said that such an organization hence has more chances of succeeding in its lifecycle development since there is no meddling of affairs in the hands of those who are not directly involved in the organization. He gave the example of the army or the forces, by saying that they have success in the performance of their goals since they have centralized authority and power at the top. This results in giving of and hence following of the direct orders of the entire team in the army. (Kimble, n. d. ) Weber proclaimed that along with the power at the top, there is also power and authority at the managing level or the â€Å"head† of each level in the hierarchy. He said such organizations are more effective and stable. (Kimble, n. d. ) Learning Process in Organizations There are many companies today that indulge in many different activities involving various perspectives. This means that they have the kind of perspectives that they think are effective to do the work that are involved in. now, putting these vague concepts together it can be said that a learning organization indulges into subliminal knowledge sharing that promotes the presence and activation of a conducive environment. Facilitation of learning on each employee’s part in an organization along with changes, results in a learning process. (Smith, 2001) There is widespread opening up of people’s capacities which mean that each individual has a fair chance of learning in the process of working for this organization. There can be an amalgamation of many employee’s ideas and thoughts that could result into changes in the organization in future which would contribute towards its development. There is inspiration, aspirations, hopes and dreams, aiming to achieve success and more and more developments in a positive way. This can be made possible when there is an adequate amount of openness that promotes giving value through each employee or the member of an organization. (Farago Skyrme, 1995) Learning levels or types: It is not just training and teaching that is part of a learning organization, rather it is also about how the development of each member’s capacities is enhanced, thereby providing benefits to the entire organization on the whole (Smith, 2001). There are different types of learning, these are: Level 1: facts, processes, procedures in learning Level 2: job skills development Level 3: adaptability to a changing environment (for the better good of the organization) Level 4: innovating and fostering people’s creativity. Characteristics of a learning organization: These are pointed out below as discussed by Smith (2001): †¢ Culture that promotes learning †¢ Processes involved that promote interaction and development of human potential by discovery †¢ Group and individual learning e. g. problem solving techniques †¢ Acquiring of skills and thereby attaining motivation So, is Bureaucracy Not Consistent with Learning? It is general notion and a common belief that a bureaucratic organization is not very welcoming of a learning environment. This is because when there is control directed at everyone from the top then there is not much learning that takes place. This is certain of the fact that usually in a bureaucratic organization the focus is on efficient control and advancement with promotion of power that the lower level workers (for each head respectively that is) are subjected to. (Smith, 2001) In most extreme cases, it is even said that these two types of organizations, learning organization and a bureaucratic organization, are two extremes of a pole. And there is often impossibility of having learning in a bureaucratic organization. In contemporary times, many companies have also focused on changing from a bureaucratic organization to a learning organization as being part of one of their main strategic aims. Many theorists have said that the commercial importance of a learning organization is also increasing with the passage of time. This also handles competition well and makes sure that efficiency is kept in line with that of the worker’s involved. (Smith, 2001) How can an Organization be made a Learning Organization? A lot has been said about organizations that run on bureaucracy, and have no or minimal aspects of learning involved. The very important question here is hence that how can organizations be made to function in a way that promotion of a learning culture is done. This could be a step by step procedure that could involve learning as part of its components while also catering bureaucracy as the main type of its management (Kline, 1997; Senge 2006). Techniques: An environment could be created that promotes such type of learning and thereby help in advancement of the organization in the most effective manner. Many things could happen including: †¢ Having an environment of inquiry and that of allowing free flow of information †¢ Creativity and allowing for innovative ideas †¢ Efficient organization and coordination of information †¢ Making quick decisions and allowing for flexibility in decision making in general †¢ Conducting observation studies to document and verify this later †¢ Making sure that new learned information and knowledge is amalgamated into the new procedures and policies to incorporate changes thereby Henceforth, it is clear that to have a bureaucratic organization changed into a learning organization if not wholly then at least partially, it is highly essential that there is a collective or a team effort to start off with. Also, there should be many teams and groups there which have easy interaction so that there is an ease in information flow. Nothing should stay hidden which can help in imparting knowledge even if it’s implicit knowledge (which is usually the case). (Farago Skyrme, 1995) Skills involved: †¢ Communication †¢ Observation and a listening atmosphere †¢ Strengthening of colleague to colleague and boss to colleague relationships †¢ Sustainment of each other at the workplace †¢ Having a holistic approach towards everything †¢ Accepting confrontations and challenges positively †¢ Accepting change †¢ Being flexible and open to new trends/ ideas †¢ Fostering one’s own development of capacities by also helping others to do so with their own Taking out elements that make an organization not a â€Å"learning† organization: This section deals with how an organization can help itself by taking out all these factors that do not extend towards the organization being able to benefit from learning and knowledge sharing. There are hence many obstacles or hindrances that can render a bureaucratic organization not take advantage of learning. The following pointers could be related to a supervisor at a bureaucratic organization. These are: †¢ Being traditional and seeing everything from the â€Å"I-own† perspective rather than from the â€Å"I-share† perspective †¢ Being too focused on systems and procedures themselves rather than being appreciative of sharing information overall †¢ Being overly rejective of change †¢ Having hidden feelings †¢ Having hidden personal goals and ideas and not sharing them †¢ Not having empowerment done †¢ Having materialistic view of everything around them Success factors in changing: There are many factors hence that can be solved when taking these into account. Some of the success factors are: †¢ Start at the top †¢ Prioritize things †¢ Be active rather than passive †¢ Do correct diagnose of acute issues †¢ Link things together †¢ Allow for mutual feedback (top to bottom, and also bottom to top) †¢ Allow for new ideas and product development †¢ Think out of the box †¢ Role-playing; this can be particularly helpful to these people who think that power is everything and now its effective usage †¢ Energizing, specializing behavior (Farago Skyrme, 1995; Kalling Styhre; 2006) Works Cited Farago J and Skyrme D. (1995) The learning organization. Retrieved November 3, 2008, from http://www. skyrme. com/insights/3lrnorg. htm Smith, M. K. (2001) The learning organization, the encyclopedia of informal education, Retrieved November 3, 2008, from http://www. infed. org/biblio/learning-organization. htm. Kimble, C. (n. d. ). Bureaucratic organizations. Retrieved November 3, 2008, from http://www. chris-kimble. com/Courses/mis/Bureaucratic_Organisations. html Huysman, M. H. and de Wit, D. H. (2002) Knowledge Sharing in Practice. Springer Kalling, T. and Styhre, A. (2003). Knowledge Sharing in Organizations Kline, P. (1997) Ten Steps to a learning organization. Great River Books Senge, P. (2006) The Fifth Discipline: The Art Practice of The Learning Organization. Double Day Business How to cite Bureaucratic Organization And The Learning Process, Essays

Useful Guidelines for Writing Narrative Essay

Narrative Essay: Useful Guidelines for Writing Get Acquainted With Narrative Style Have you ever heard about different writing styles? I’m sure you did, at least vaguely. But what about essay writing in particular?   Believe it or do not, but there are really quite a lot of different types of essays.   And each of them has its own special peculiarities, just like formulas and theorems in physics and mathematics, but literary; with their special goals and shapes, and tricks and writing hooks. By the way, general essay types and their main features are briefly described here. If you are getting frightened by any references of limits and formats, if you are a freedom-lover who got a lot of stories and thoughts, and want to share your experiences in your own inimitable manner – narrative essays will fit you like nothing else. Stuck on Your Narrative Essay? Check out these example narrative essays. Yes! Show me examples So what is narrative essay and what’s better to do and do not in papers of such type – you can read in the following writing guide. Narrative Essay Outline So, how does it feel like to write a narrative essay? You may feel uncomfortable and shy and writing about yourself may seem quite a challenge for the first time – that’s definitely okay. In any case many students face some difficulties when writing essays, so any feeling of discomfort is quite natural. Let’s have a look at the features of narrative essays to calm down. Very often when writing a narrative essay means that you have an opportunity to choose the topic on which you will write.   It is very important to choose the good one, so you will have enough things to say. By the way, some essay hacks and ideas in choosing a topic you can read here. The most beautiful thing about narrative essays is that you can write almost everything you want. It is clear there’s no place for swearing and cursing someone you don’t really like (but if you have such an unusual talent for veiled disapproval – you are welcomed to try). Literally, I say so because you are writing about yourself. Concerning that fact, narrative essays aren’t alike 90% of all other educational papers. The thing is that it’s like telling a story, so there are no very specific outlines or schemes of writing (what one can’t say while speaking about argumentative or persuasive essays). It is useful to remember that use of the past tenses is prevailing over the rest. How to come up with ideas for narrative essay It can be either pretty chaotic and disordered or well thought out and planned to the details piece. Everything depends only on your essay ideas. Use your creative thinking and imagination at full power. Feel free to write about your memories, experiences, adventures and misadventures. But always remember to spread the information thoughtfully and comfortable for the perception of the reader. For example, you can start your introduction with some memories which will harmoniously lead to the main part and develop your story. Also, you can use dialogues in narrative essays, so bear it in mind. Speaking about the use of tenses the important point here is prevailing use of the past, but different variants are possible. Don’t be afraid to seem awfully, or even, let us say, terribly subjective – you’re telling like it is and giving the reader an opportunity to look at something with your eyes. Don’t think about the things like: â€Å"Well, I’m just a student with boring life and anybody won’t be interested in reading about it†. Write so that you yourself were interested in reading it. You are writing about yourself, so be true and honest with yourself. The Subtleties of the Writing Process Let’s say that after doubts and hesitation your topic is already chosen and you are full of anticipation and excitement and, of course, the desire not to screw everything up. Believe me, you won’t do it. If you are interested in your writing process you will be a success anyway, anyhow. So cheer up, find your writing inspiration and create! It’s not that difficult as it may seem for the first quarter of an hour. If it’s more convenient for you to have a plan – sketch up the main points which you want to cover up in your essay. Of course it’s quite better to have the main idea of your future essay preserved in your imagination. Also, you can create a draft of your narrative essay and then edit it until it will feel good enough for you. I’ve got used doing it since primary school so I know how it works. Express Yourself If the use of vivid expressions and descriptions is typical of you – use them, as much as you can, but naturally within reason. Try to explain things from unexpected points of view so they would seem interesting and unusual. For instance, you can describe the door of your room as a magical portal to your personal Narnia or maybe your cat is kind of fantastic creature whose superpowers are hyper-meow and razor-sharp claws. Don’t be afraid of anyone’s judgement, this is a relatively free creative field and it belongs to you. I’ve already said, but I’ll repeat once again: remember that you have an opportunity to speak from your heart, with great subjectivity which is not allowed in any other college paper as much as in narrative essays. Incidentally, this phrase of mine looks quite like a sentence from narrative. Usually these essays are written in first person, so wide use of â€Å"I† statements is very common. If you find it difficult to write only about yourself – think over main characters of your narrative essay. In such case, make a brief outline of these characters and note what their peculiar properties are. For example, create a couple of warring personages (or, scientifically speaking – protagonist and antagonist) or show a bromance of two inseparable friends which complement each other perfectly. Of course, the good guys and the bad guys are the essence of the daily life, but let me remind that the greatest narrative essays are still the â€Å"I†-ones. Actually, do whatever you want but don’t forget to tell a story. Nearing Narrative Essay Conclusion So far seems like we are closer to the end. Well, accept my congratulations; the greatest part of work is already left behind. Feels a lot like victory†¦ But here’s a small surprise for you: most of the writers face with so-called pre-final silence. That strange feeling of â€Å"nothing left to say† after a great flow of thoughts and ideas which were flushing in your mind during the writing process. And so you are sitting there with few empty cups of coffee or tea and looking through your essay and trying to get what you’ve missed or wanted to add. Of course there is something lying on the surface waiting for your attentive eyes. Check-Check-Check You may be sure that there is no need in essay editing but anyway pay attention to re-check of your essay to feel completely calm. Check the orthography and grammar mistakes, if you are not sure if you’ve found all the mistakes – use free online editors or ask to help some friend of yours. Repetition is the mother of learning same as Daenerys is the mother of dragons, bear in mind. So repeat and check everything for several times before printing or sending your narrative essay to your professor. Seems like I’ve written quite too much words in here lately, but I hope some of them were really helpful for you. So what on earth should I write more? To summarize, let’s have a look at the main features of narrative essays one more time: vast variety of topics to discuss; prevailing use of the past tenses; wide use of first person and â€Å"I†-statements; stylistic diversity; no strict essay form in general (without considering the classical outline â€Å"intro – main body – conclusion†); use of dialogues; an opportunity to share your own memories, stories and points of view and write about yourself in general. Well, it may be not the full list of what we’ve discovered up above but at least I’ve tried to cover up the main peculiarities which were mentioned previously. If you want to find out some more facts and ideas about narrative essays – just surf through the web and I’m sure you’ll come over some more info. The taste of finish Let’s return to our essay. The only one thing which we haven’t discussed yet is the conclusion of narrative essay. So just for one moment imagine that you’ve finishing your narrative essay. Maybe you’ve really finished it already, but just imagine. How it feels like? I think it’s exciting. And it really is. It’s like watching at the painting, the creation of which took hours and hours, and now here is it, just in front of you. So after surfing through the stream of imagination and memories, what can you say or add to sum up your story? After all, each story has its conclusion and teaching. Tell what are yours.