Blue is Better for Innovative Companies

Jim Clark: Progressive politics better for business

NEW ORLEANS — Multimillionaire investor and entrepreneur Jim Clark thinks “red state” Louisiana should be a little more blue if it wants to create a better climate for technology companies.

The Netscape founder and Tulane University board member told a crowd this morning at the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development in downtown New Orleans that places that are more progressive and liberal are better breeding grounds for innovative companies.

“Liberal means open to new things,” he said. “You need an environment where it’s OK to take risks.”

He argues that conservative business climates discourage risk-taking and are more likely to go along with the status quo.

Clark, who once lived in New Orleans as an undergraduate student at Tulane’s University College and later as a graduate student at Louisiana State University, was the keynote speaker at the conference. He spoke of his experiences growing multibillion-dollar companies like Silicon Graphics in the early 1980s and Netscape Communications in the ’90s. Clark is now chairman of online photography site Shutterfly.com.

He was invited to speak to share his success stories and talk about technology trends on the horizon. However, politics and the increasing influence of the religious right are pressing business concerns for Clark.

He said people shouldn’t see the liberal label as a four-letter word.

“I think it’s very important to have a liberal political environment,” he said. “I’d make the argument that most of the progressive business environments in the country are blue,” he said, referring to areas that voted more heavily for Democrats in the last presidential election.

Clark pointed to tech hotbeds like Palo Alto, Calif., Boston, Mass., and the Northwest as evidence supporting his theory.

While he is a major supporter of university research and committed more than $100 million to Stanford University, he rescinded $60 million after President George W. Bush enacted rules prohibiting federal money to be used for stem cell research. Most university research is supported by federal grants. In making the policy change, Bush sided with religious conservatives who oppose stem cell research on moral grounds.

Clark said that the country’s leaders shouldn’t use religious fundamentalism to influence policy decisions concerning science and technology. If we don’t invest in stem cell research, the country will fall behind in cutting-edge treatments, Clark said.

“I think our current government being so directed by a religious fervor is severely limiting the United States in development of business because you need to keep religious beliefs separate from policies and (business development),” he said.

By Keith Brannon
The Biz Network
April 21, 2005 02:35 PM