爲什麼美國90後創業越來越難了?範例

A friend of mine was once so inspired by his own start-up concept that he pulled out his phone, checked the availability of his preferred URL, and registered the domain name on the spot.

我有一個朋友，有一次他被自己的創業靈感驚豔到了，當即就拿出手機看了一下那個域名可不可用，然後馬上就註冊掉了。

Similar scenes play out at lots of business schools. The majority of MBA students range in age from the mid-20s to the 30s; with all the discussion of start-ups and new businesses, it would seem that they're living the Millennial dream of entrepreneurship.

類似的場景在很多商學院也在發生。MBA學生的大部分都是20到30幾歲；看着他們討論那些創業和新業態的時候，感覺他們似乎都實現了千禧一代的創業夢。

But it seems more often than not these days, the start-up ideas fail to take off.

不過，現在這些日子，創業的想法卻經常是要胎死腹中的。

When I check on my peers' start-up proposals after a few weeks, I often find that their ideas have been abandoned, and that my classmates are focused on their steady corporate jobs.

每當我過幾個星期再去看同行們的創業項目，我通常都發現這些想法被放棄了。我的這些同學們還是選擇了專注於他們在企業裏的穩定工作。

Research suggests entrepreneurial activity has declined among Millennials. The share of people under 30 who own a business has fallen to almost a quarter-century low, according to a 2015 Wall Street Journal analysis of Federal Reserve data.

研究發現，千禧一代的創業行爲正在越來越少。根據《華爾街日報》2015年一篇有關美聯儲數據的分析，30歲以下的人中擁有自己生意的比例已經下降到25年來最低。

A survey of 1,200 Millennials conducted in 2016 by the Economic Innovation Group found that more Millennials believed they could have a successful career by staying at one company and attempting to climb the ladder than by founding a new one.

經濟創新組織在2016年開展了一項覆蓋1200名千禧一代的調查，他們發現千禧一代中現在有更多的人相信自己可以靠在公司上班、向上爬職場階梯來獲得一份成功的事業，而不必去另謀生路。

Two years ago, EIG's president and co-founder, John Lettieri, testified before the U.S. Senate, "Millennials are on track to be the least entrepreneurial generation in recent history."

兩年前，EIG的總裁兼聯合創始人 John Lettieri 在美國參議院面前出庭作證說：“千禧一代正在成爲近段歷史中最沒有創業精神的一代。”

Some of the reasons have been well-documented.

這背後的很多論證都證據充分。

The romantic view of entrepreneurship involves angel investors and venture capital funds, but in fact, the ordinary entrepreneur is more likely to fund a start-up using personal savings—something underemployed Millennials simply could not build as they entered the workforce during or in the immediate wake of the Great Recession.

在對創業的浪漫化想象中，總是有天使投資人和風投基金的戲碼。但實際上，一般的創業者更有可能需要靠自己的積蓄來資助自己的創業項目——而這對那些就業率低下、在經濟大衰退前奏中走入職場的千禧一代來說，是負擔不起的。

Funding from friends and family is the next most common source, but this personal network could not help much during the most recent economic downturn, when so much home equity was underwater. Student debt worsened the underlying economic problems.

其次常見的資金來源，是朋友和家人。但在最近這樣的經濟下行情況下，這樣的個人關係網也幫不上太大的忙，畢竟現在很多房屋資產都自身難保。而學生的債務則讓這些經濟問題變得更嚴重了。

According to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, between 2004 and 2014, the number of student borrowers rose by 89 percent.

根據紐約聯儲銀行的一份報道，從2004年到2014年，學生借款人的人數上升了89%。

Lately, though, it seems that even those who might typically have access to other forms of funding, like venture capital, are having a hard time getting investors' attention.

而最近，似乎就連那些有條件獲取其他融資渠道的人也很難引起投資人的注意。

As Matt Krisiloff, a former director at the Y Combinator start-up accelerator in Silicon Valley said, "Start-ups are a lot less cool than they used to be."

正如硅谷創業孵化器YC的前總監 Matt Krisiloff所說的：“創業公司已經遠沒有以前那麼酷了。”

Michael Sadler, an e conomist at the University of Texas, is concerned about the rising concentration of start-up investment in just a few super-performing regions such as Austin, New York, and Silicon Valley.

德克薩斯大學的經濟學家 Michael Sadler 則在擔心創業公司扎堆的問題，現在越來越多的創業投資都集中到了奧斯汀、紐約和硅谷這種業績超羣的地區。

As with American politics, it appears the geography of U.S. venture capital and economic growth has become increasingly polarized.

就像美國的政治一樣，美國風投的版圖和經濟增長似乎也越來越兩極化了。

There's more competition from abroad, too.

而國外的競爭也變多了。

Chinese venture capital and private-equity firms—and the entrepreneurs they invest in—are challenging America's historic tech dominance.

中國的風投機構和私募公司以及他們投資的那些企業家，都在挑戰着美國一貫的科技領先地位。

In the past, this kind of investing tended to involve American funders and American companies.

在過去，這一類的投資通常都是美國投資者和美國公司的事。

But last year, Asian investors put nearly the same amount into tech start-ups as their U.S. counterparts, according to the Wall Street Journal, with most Chinese-led investments going into the country's own firms.

但是根據《華爾街日報》的報道，去年亞洲投資者投進科技創業公司的錢和他們的美國同行一樣多，裏面很多是中國的錢投資進了中國自己的公司。

Of the top five global VC deals in 2017, three were Chinese companies: Didi (a ride-sharing app), Meituan-Dianping (an e-commerce platform), and Toutiao (a news feed reader).

2017年全球最大的5筆風險投資交易中，有3家都是投的中國公司：滴滴（共享出行app）、美團點評（電商平臺）以及頭條（新聞資訊閱讀器）。

Meanwhile, in the United States, products and services are increasingly being created on top of existing platforms like Apple's iOS or Google's Android platform.

而與此同時，在美國，產品和服務卻越來越多地是出現在既有平臺上，比如蘋果的iOS和谷歌的安卓平臺。

While a mobile app can make for a decent side hustle to a regular corporate job, it won't turn into the next Apple or Google, and American investors know that.

雖然，當你有一份常規的企業工作時，做一個手機app可以是個不錯的副業，但它是不會成爲下一個蘋果或谷歌的，而美國的投資者們都清楚這一點。