Guesstimating the mortgage fall-out
How bad a dent could the mortgage mess eventually make in the earnings of internet companies? As we reported last week, this has been very much on the internet companies’ radar screens, though the impact seems not yet to have filtered through.
Early estimates point to some wide variations. According to Henry Blodget, some 13 per cent of the revenues of the four biggest US internet companies is at stake. Read more
Martin Varsavsky, the Argentinian founder of Fon, the world’s largest wifi network, loves Europe so much that he has made Spain his home. But he finds himself a pariah in his adopted country.
"A lot of people in Europe think entrepreneurs are thieves," he told participants at Seedcamp today, having dropped in on the week’s events between flights from Madrid to Beijing.
Mr Varsavsky, who attracts 300,000 a month to his blog on entrepreneurship, is no Eurobashing American. He tried living in the US, he admitted today, but said he didn’t like it, and criticised those in the US who still believe Europe as an expensive museum.
This is probably why his words should be taken seriously by those that believe Europe is somehow superior to demonise those who seek to create wealth.
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Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
