During any sort of boom, the businesses that provide supplies or any ancillary services to those chasing the boom usually make the most money. The California Gold Rush of 1849 is a prime example. A young immigrant named Levi Strauss realized he could make more money selling picks and shovels to the 49ers than the 49ers would ever make looking for gold. Eventually, he would also sell them rugged, canvas pants that became known as “blue jeans.” As the Internet emerged at the close of the 20th century as the new backbone of communication, tens of thousands… Read More
During any sort of boom, the businesses that provide supplies or any ancillary services to those chasing the boom usually make the most money. The California Gold Rush of 1849 is a prime example. A young immigrant named Levi Strauss realized he could make more money selling picks and shovels to the 49ers than the 49ers would ever make looking for gold. Eventually, he would also sell them rugged, canvas pants that became known as “blue jeans.” As the Internet emerged at the close of the 20th century as the new backbone of communication, tens of thousands of businesses sprang up to provide the picks and shovels: Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) for networking, Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) for database management software, Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) for enterprise server hardware. Even more amazing is that the computer technology business has grown in what seems like the blink of an eye compared with the century or so it often takes other industries to develop. With the exponential growth comes the need for space. But providing real estate and related services for high-tech industry is very different than what it takes for other industries. Read More