Communications and Information

It's Easier Becoming an Infopreneur
By Wayne Van Dyck

Entrepreneurs thrive during periods of rapid change, and we are living in such a time right now. The good news is that the more rapid the change, the greater the opportunities available to entrepreneurs.

The explosion of new technologies make this an unprecedented period in economic history for entrepreneurial opportunities: cheap computers, new software applications and digital networks - namely the Internet - are powerful tools available to everyone who wants to create financial independence and improve his or her lifestyle.

The Money Game

I've been a student of business since I began my career as a venture capitalist on Wall Street. Over the years I raised millions of dollars to finance numerous entrepreneurs and start-up companies until I decided to become an entrepreneur myself and financed my own companies in broadcasting, alternative energy, software, and telecommunications. I was the CEO of the company that built the first digital network in Moscow, in 1990, and started one of the first B2B Internet service providers.

It's from this perspective that I see fantastic new entrepreneurial opportunities unfolding. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of communications and information.

Because information and communication are fundamental components of every human interaction and business transaction, each new communication medium - the telegraph, telephone, radio and television -- has had a successively greater impact on the world, and created great fortunes for those who rode each wave of change. The Internet will be the most significant wave of all.

The Internet

The Internet now makes it possible to reach almost any person, anywhere in the world, in only a few seconds and for only a few pennies. But what makes it even more significant is that computers can convert all the traditional analog forms of information (sound and voice, printed words, pictures and data) into a common digital medium for transmission over the Internet. This capability is radically changing existing businesses and creating vast new entrepreneurial opportunities.

While the Internet is affecting every business in every industry, its greatest impact will be on the information industries' products and services. Think of some of the biggest businesses in the world. Think entertainment (music and movies), think broadcasting (news, information and entertainment), think publishing (books and magazines), and biggest of all, think training and education (books, courses and continuing education).

To see the Internet's potential impact, let's look at one small, well-established medium: the book.