] It could be an entrepreneur's wildest dream or a
] bureaucratic nightmare. But one thing is certain: It will
] definitely be BIG.

Thankfully, I get to figure out HOW we're going to accomplish these things.

American Healthways gets Medicare boost

] The chief architects of this rising business model are
] the 30,000-odd Indian IT professionals who live and work
] in the Valley.

The first mention of the real driver behind outsourcing to India.

More to the story...

] American Healthways shares were up 4.6% in trading this
] morning, to a 52-week high of $50.54. The stock price has
] risen nearly 23% since the company announced plans for a
] 2-for-1 stock split on Nov. 19.

and 50% since I joined! heh heh...

American Healthways lands big deal; stock price surges

] Hayes says he doesn't have any big regrets.
]
] Every once in a while he runs into a former employee who
] wishes the company was still in business.
]
] "I tell them, 'Don't worry about that. Just be proud of
] what we accomplished because we changed the world.' "

An interesting article for any old sk001 BBS d00ds, but more interesting for anyone who's owned their own business.

Modem moguls' paths diverge

] Unquestionably, the solutions to many current problems,
] the treatments for many illnesses, and the pathways to
] new businesses have already been invented, but they are
] waiting on the sidelines.

...

] it's not only innovation that
] matters, it's the rate at which innovations are
] improved and brought to market. And this has declined
] precipitously since the bust. The result is a surplus of
] innovations, with vast numbers of potentially important
] advances being warehoused or shelved. This situation is
] alarming enough in itself, but even more worrisome is the
] fact that innovations don't have an unlimited shelf
] life: they are perishable and risk becoming unusable when
] the people associated with them move on to other
] endeavors. Another reason for concern is that warehoused
] innovations remain untested and deprived of the iterative
] improvements so critical to their journey from inception
] to implementation.

you have to register for this, but it's a great article on how innovation has accelerated but the conduit for commercializing it has essentially collapsed. This has validated my thinking on the subject, but changed my perceptions on it quite a bit. Upto now, I had considered it a purely supply-demand problem, but it is more complex than that as the system that transforms innovation into the mainstream has matured and atrophied to some degree. The system is irrevocably changing.

Our Innovation Backlog

] From on-board radar and Wi-Fi to electronic steering,
] amazing technologies already here or soon coming promise
] to create a new automotive era

More propaganda from Detroit and Stuttgart.

21st Century Cars Hit the Road

] The vast majority of the 2.7 million job losses since the
] 2001 recession began were the result of permanent changes
] in the U.S. economy and are not coming back, which means
] the labor market will not regain strength until new
] positions are created in novel and dynamic economic
] sectors, a Federal Reserve Bank of New York study has
] concluded.

Like I was saying...

Jobs cut since 2001 are gone for good, study says

] U.S. manufacturers shed another 44,000 workers in August
] -- their 37th consecutive month of job losses. Bush,
] expressing concern about the continued decline of
] manufacturing, said Monday that he planned to appoint a
] new assistant commerce secretary to help the troubled
] sector.

Forget it. The US has lost those jobs forever, and because of advances in technology, our productivity is higher than ever. We're basically screwing ourselves.

U.S. continues to shed jobs

I thought this was timely, given our discussion on Odlyzko's paper.

TVs Join The Wireless Grid

] In an era of double-digit percentage increases in health
] premiums and a general consumer backlash against
] insurers, it's a pitch that has been gaining traction in
] recent years. American Healthways manages the equivalent
] of approximately 850,000 health plan members, more than
] double what it did two years ago. The new business helped
] American Healthways nearly triple its earnings in 2002,
] and analysts expect profits to grow in excess of 50% this
] year. Annual revenues are expected to eclipse $160
] million.

American Healthways creating a buzz