托福閱讀背景知識：中西部“瞪羚”創(chuàng)業(yè)公司

　　Entrepreneurship in America

　　Gazelles in the heartland

　　American entrepreneurship is flourishing, if you know where to look

　　美國創(chuàng)業(yè)公司

　　中西部的瞪羚

　　美國的創(chuàng)業(yè)浪潮正盛，只要你看對地方

　　AT FIRST glance, it seems that America’s economy is losing its mojo. Many economists, most notably Robert Gordon of Northwestern University, have lamented that productivity growth seems to be anaemic when compared with earlier golden eras (see Free exchange). A gloomy chorus of business leaders has echoed what media outlets have by now turned into a mantra, that American entrepreneurship is in steady decline. Surely America’s overall competitiveness, then, is plummeting?

　　乍看起來，美國經(jīng)濟似乎正在失去光環(huán)。以美國西北大學教授羅伯特·戈登(Robert Gordon)為首的許多經(jīng)濟學家哀嘆，與早前的黃金時代相比，如今美國的生產(chǎn)力增長看起來羸弱無力。商界領袖們齊聲唱衰，恰應和了如今媒體常掛在嘴邊的論調(diào)，即美國的創(chuàng)業(yè)浪潮日漸衰退。那么，美國的整體競爭力想必是在直線下墜了?

　　The answer from one influential think-tank, the World Economic Forum (WEF), is no. In its latest update to its long-running annual ranking of global economic competitiveness, published on September 27th, America rose from third place to second, ranking below only Switzerland.

　　頗具影響力的智庫“世界經(jīng)濟論壇”(World Economic Forum)給出了否定的答案。在它于9月27日例行發(fā)布的最新年度全球經(jīng)濟競爭力排名中，美國從第三位上升至第二位，僅次于瑞士。

　　This is partly because poor economic policies and weak productivity growth are bedevilling rivals such as China and Europe. Yet glaring American weaknesses, such as fraying infrastructure and fractured politics, are outweighed in the WEF analysis by the country’s strengths in areas like business sophistication and technological readiness. And aside from market size, the variable on which America still outscores other rich countries the most is its culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

　　這在一定程度上是由于中國和歐洲等對手正飽受經(jīng)濟政策不力及生產(chǎn)力增長疲軟的困擾。美國盡管有明顯的弱點，如基礎設施老化、政局分裂，但在世界經(jīng)濟論壇的分析中，這些缺陷被美國其他方面的優(yōu)勢蓋過，如商業(yè)環(huán)境成熟、技術(shù)條件完備。而除市場規(guī)模以外，創(chuàng)新和創(chuàng)業(yè)文化仍然是美國超越其他富裕國家最多的因素。

　　Hand-wringing about a crisis in business formation relies on official data showing that fewer new firms are being started than in the past. The latest figures, released on September 20th, show that there were 414,000 firms that were less than a year old in 2015 (the latest available year), compared with an average of 511,000 in the decade before the financial crisis. Still, not every new firm is equal—some entrepreneurs want to create the next Tesla, not open another bodega. Of the roughly 4.4m firms created in the last ten years, about 30,000 can be described as gazelles, or young, high-growth companies, according to the Kauffman Foundation, another think-tank that is known for its work on entrepreneurship. These firms have a disproportionate impact on job creation and innovation. They pack a powerful punch.

　　人們非常擔憂美國的創(chuàng)業(yè)文化遭遇危機，是因為官方數(shù)據(jù)顯示新成立公司的數(shù)量較以往有所減少。9月20日發(fā)布的最新數(shù)字顯示，在2015年(有數(shù)據(jù)可查的最近一年)，成立不到一年的公司有41.4萬家，而在2008年金融危機前的十年間平均每年有51.1萬家。然而，并非所有新公司都可等量齊觀——有些企業(yè)家想打造的是下一個“特斯拉”，而不是又一間雜貨鋪。另一家以創(chuàng)業(yè)研究聞名的智庫考夫曼基金會(Kauffman Foundation)表示，過去十年成立的約440萬家公司中，大概有三萬家可稱為“瞪羚”企業(yè)，即高成長的年輕公司。這些公司在創(chuàng)造就業(yè)和創(chuàng)新上的影響力遠超其他新公司，沖擊力十足。

　　A forthcoming report from the Kauffman Foundation finds that high-growth entrepreneurship has rebounded in America from the trough induced by the global financial crisis and is now rocketing (see chart). These experts scrutinise three things: how quickly startups grew in their first five years; the share of firms scaling up past 50 employees by their tenth year; and the prevalence of “fast growth” firms with at least 20% annualised growth over three years (and $2m or more in revenues).

　　考夫曼基金會即將發(fā)布的報告認為，在美國，高成長創(chuàng)業(yè)已從全球金融危機引發(fā)的低谷反彈，目前迅速躥升(見圖表)。專家們審視了三個方面：創(chuàng)業(yè)公司在頭五年的增長速度、創(chuàng)立第十年員工增至50人以上的公司占比、三年年化增長至少達20%且年收入達200萬美元或以上的“高成長”公司占比。

　　The analysis also reveals that such gazelles are found in unexpected places. Consider ProviderTrust, a health-tech startup. The firm has developed a novel software-as-a-service offering that helps health-care firms track people’s professional credentials and licences efficiently. Because states do not typically share timely information about disciplinary actions taken against health-care workers, footloose rogues can create a costly regulatory headache for unwitting new employers in another state. The company has been growing at a rate of over 60% a year since its founding in 2010; revenues should reach $10m this year.

　　該分析也顯示，這類“瞪羚”企業(yè)出現(xiàn)在人們意想不到的地方。以醫(yī)療技術(shù)創(chuàng)業(yè)公司ProviderTrust為例，該公司開發(fā)了一款新穎的“軟件即服務”產(chǎn)品，幫助醫(yī)療保健公司高效追查從業(yè)人員的專業(yè)資格及執(zhí)照信息。由于各州通常不會及時互相通報針對醫(yī)療從業(yè)人員的處分，一些違法之徒可能會跑到其他州求職，而一旦被監(jiān)管機構(gòu)發(fā)現(xiàn)問題，不知情的新雇主將面臨高昂罰款。ProviderTrust自2010年成立以來一直以每年60%以上的增速發(fā)展，今年收入應該可達1000萬美元。

　　Or look at Root Insurance, America’s first mobile-only insurance firm, which is increasing downloads of its app by nearly 50% month over month. It uses actual driving data to set insurance rates for all of its customers, and offers discounts to drivers for using the self-driving mode of their Tesla car. Alex Timm, its chief executive, explains that data collected via its customers’ mobiles proves that people are much safer when the car does the driving. His firm even punishes drivers for texting and driving, which it discovers by analysing the micro-vibrations of smartphones.

　　另一個例子是美國首家完全基于手機的保險公司Root Insurance，其應用下載量的月增幅接近50%。該公司利用實際駕駛數(shù)據(jù)為所有客戶設定車險費率，并向使用特斯拉汽車自動駕駛模式的駕駛者提供保費折扣。公司的首席執(zhí)行官亞歷克斯·蒂姆(Alex Timm)解釋說，從客戶手機收集的數(shù)據(jù)證明，汽車采用自動駕駛模式時，安全性更高。該公司甚至能通過分析智能手機的微小震動發(fā)現(xiàn)駕駛者在駕車時發(fā)短信，從而對其做出懲罰。

　　These gazelles are found not in Silicon Valley or Boston but, respectively, in Nashville and Columbus. Other overlooked cities in the American heartland are also hotspots of high-growth entrepreneurship (see map). Mark Kvamme of Drive Capital, a venture-capital (VC) fund based in Ohio, points to Indianapolis as a rising technology hub: ExactTarget, a local software-marketing startup, was acquired in 2013 by Salesforce, a Californian software giant, for $2.5bn. “Luring talent away from Silicon Valley and Seattle is getting much easier,” says Mr Kvamme, a native Californian who left Sequoia Capital, a top Silicon Valley VC fund, to found Drive.

　　上述兩家“瞪羚”企業(yè)并不在硅谷或波士頓，而是分別位于納什維爾(Nashville)和哥倫布(Columbus)。美國中西部其他被忽視的城市也是高增長創(chuàng)業(yè)公司的聚集地(見地圖)�？偛课挥诙砗ザ碇莸娘L投基金Drive Capital的馬克·克瓦姆(Mark Kvamme)指出，印第安納波利斯是新崛起的技術(shù)中心：當?shù)匾患覕?shù)字營銷創(chuàng)業(yè)公司ExactTarget在2013年被加州軟件巨頭Salesforce以25億美元收購�！皬墓韫群臀餮艌D挖人才變得容易多了�！� 克瓦姆說。他是加州當?shù)厝�，在離開硅谷頂級風投基金紅杉資本(Sequoia Capital)后創(chuàng)立了Drive Capital。

　　Steve Case of Revolution, an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist (in 1985 he co-founded what later became America Online), calls this the “rise of the rest”. Having observed this trend on periodic bus tours across America, during which he encourages (and sometimes invests in) many local entrepreneurs, he thinks three factors are fuelling it. Barriers to entry have fallen, especially for technology companies. Access to risk capital for startups, including through crowdfunding, is no longer limited to the two coasts. Local governments are increasingly supporting training schemes, accelerators and other bits of soft infrastructure that greatly boost startups’ chances of success.

　　風投公司Revolution的史蒂夫·凱斯(Steve Case，成為風險投資家之前是一位企業(yè)家，在1985年聯(lián)合創(chuàng)辦了 “美國在線”的前身企業(yè))稱上述現(xiàn)象為“其他人的崛起”。他定期乘坐巴士穿行美國各地，為眾多當?shù)貏?chuàng)業(yè)者打氣，有時也直接投資。在行程中他觀察到了這一趨勢。他認為三個因素起了助推作用：進入門檻已降低，尤其是對科技公司而言;創(chuàng)業(yè)公司要獲得風險資本，包括通過眾籌，已不限于要在東西海岸;地方政府加強了對培訓計劃、加速器及其他軟基礎設施建設的支持，大大提高了創(chuàng)業(yè)公司的成功率。

　　Challenged on whether high-growth entrepreneurship can really be spread like jam across America, Mr Case acknowledges there is value to clustering. He insists, however, that nearly three-quarters of all VC money need not go to just California, Massachusetts and New York. “Spreading this to 30 cities”, he reckons, “would transform America.”

　　有人質(zhì)疑高成長創(chuàng)業(yè)公司是否真的能在美國遍地開花。對此，凱斯承認集群確有其價值。但他堅稱，不必將風投資金總額的近四分之三統(tǒng)統(tǒng)投向加州、麻省及紐約�！叭绻�把這些錢分散投向30個城市，”他說，“美國將煥然一新。”