Can Silicon Valley keep its dotcom crown?

Source: Technology Digital

Date :11/16/2007 9:10:31 AM

John O’Hanlon talks to Brett Bullington about funding start-up companies and whether his native San Francisco can hold its position as the dotcom center of the universe

Silicon Valley, it seems to me, is as much an idea as a location these days. I am mildly astonished it hasn’t attracted the attention of movie makers more than it has because if anything was ever multi-layered then surely it’s the national park that used to be called the Valley of Heart's Delight. If you’re looking for a scriptwriter, Stephen, call me.

By John O'Hanlon

It may be easier to appreciate the Valley’s mythic and symbolic qualities from afar, but I soon realized that for Brett Bullington, a Californian born and bred, it still looks like a very special place: a place where the laws of the universe are suspended and alchemy is possible. I really don’t want to get too fey about this, but I can’t help being attracted by the image of a city frequented by angels whose touch changes lives.

For Brett Bullington is an angel, of the business variety. One of those fortunate, detached people who have made enough money to be able to give up the corporate life, the uniforms and routines that go with having a ‘day job’, and organize his life according to priorities. These seem to be clear – at the top his family; then the multitude of businesses in which he is an investor, board member, advisor; then of course the next idea, the next investment, the next passion.

Funding and futbol

Like Carolina for Kibera, a charity founded in 2001with the object of preventing ethnic and religious violence in the deprived Kibera quarter of Nairobi, Kenya, through a community-based sports program and improving healthcare, sanitation and the quality of life there.

Three Fs came together for Brett when he was planning a trip to Africa last summer, family, football and funding. “Whenever we travel, somehow a futbol, or soccer ball, is involved,” he confesses. In getting ready for this trip he came across this particular charity, met its founder Rye Barcott (a former UNC undergraduate).

Soon he was out there, seeing its work for himself, interviewing staff (you can see his interview with pharmacist Frederick Ocheng here - and learn more about CFK) and watching his 15 year old son Kyle play soccer with the local lads. “Now I am an advisor to CFK and helping them to raise some capital for their programs,”

Does having values make Brett an atypical internet entrepreneur? At any rate it shows that you don’t have to be a complete weirdo. Brett did a political science degree at UC Santa Barbara, then moved to Berkeley California. Like many of us his first thought was that he should make practical use of his qualification, so moved on to an internship with the US Congress…

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