Some entrepreneurship studies I’d like to read

I have searched for these sorts of studies and been unable to find anything. If anyone knows anyone who might help me uncover these answers, please let me know:

1) Is there a correlation between starting your career with a large business vs a small business and ultimately going on to start your own business?

2) Are people who start their own companies after working at small businesses more or less likely to achieve success than those who start their own companies after working at large businesses?

3) Are software companies started by software developers more likely to be in business in ten years than those started by non-technical founders?

4) Are companies started by MBAs more likely to be in business after ten years than those started by non-MBAs?

5) Are companies started by 18 year olds more likely to be in business after ten years than those started by 50 year olds?

What if D.R. Horton had an army?

Here in the United States, we make some pretty aggressive infrastructure expenditures (I won’t call them investments, as that suggests there is some desired ROI for the investor) that road contractors, lobbyists, and politicians argue we will need in the future.

One extreme example: at this very moment, we are widening little two lane roads into six lane highways in hundreds of towns with declining populations. I’m in one such little town right now. It has lost 5% of its population in the last ten years, and everywhere I go, I’m driving through road construction sites (obviously, there’s no walking option – I just drove 0.6 miles to the Food Lion to pick up some strawberries). Unless you are profiting from this expenditure, I can’t imagine any rational argument in support of it.

All the crazy market interventions we do here in the United States (from the mortgage interest tax deduction to our highway construction) accelerate exurban development and debt accumulation. But we’re playing in the minor leagues. The Chinese really know how to do it.

Their government is developing hundreds of cities in order to urbanize the nation.

The damage (both health and environmental) resulting from the waste associated with that pace of industrialization is devastating. China just closed a city of 11 million because it’s smog index climbed over 1,000. The WHO considers 300 hazardous, and “recommends” under 20. For comparison, Atlanta’s smog index is presently at 13. NYC, with a population of  8 million, has a smog index of 41. And all the pollution they’re seeing today is just the tip of the iceberg.

This morning, I was wondering how that sort of thing might happen. I suspect that if there was only a single real estate holding company in the entire United States, if it had an army, and if it subcontracted its development to fee developers who controlled our politicians, this is exactly what would be happening.

Imagine if D. R. Horton, the largest homebuilder in America, had an army and could force people to buy its homes. That’s what’s happening in China.

Don’t buy what they are selling

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This afternoon, I stopped into a very small (ie 20′ x 40′) drug store in a little NC town. Half their shelves are dedicated to normal over-the-counter stuff like hydrogen peroxide, band aids, and decongestant. The pictures above are from the other half of their shelves.

There is a lot of talk out there about gluten free, paleo, and low carb, and, honestly, I buy most of it. Following a contrarian nutrition path has helped my health. And in my journey, I’ve come to believe that the most dastardly villain of all – the one that increases susceptibility to and amplifies just about every illness from depression to cancer – is not carbs or gluten, and it’s certainly not saturated fat. It’s refined sugar.

Refined sugar in all its forms is in just about all packaged foods, most baked goods, and practically every condiment except mustard.

Read labels, avoid refined sugar, eat real food, and you’ll find yourself needing the stuff they sell behind the counter less and less.