Dot-coms start to spread the wealth

From James Hattori
CNNdotCOM Correspondent

SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- No place has prospered more from the growth of a dot-com economy than the San Francisco Bay Area. Wages are high and the housing market is on fire. But there's a growing sense that the newly rich haven't done enough to give back to the community.

"There's a lot of greed going around Silicon Valley," Gib Myers, founder of the Entrepreneurs' Foundation, told CNN in 1999. "I think there's a fervor, a desire for people to make money."

That climate set off an alarm for Myers, who after 30 years as a venture capitalist, decided to devote his business skills to philanthropy. In 1998, he started the Entrepreneurs' Foundation -- a non-profit located in San Jose that helps smaller dot-coms and high-tech startups funnel money and effort into social causes.

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"So our concept is (to) go to these companies early, when they are fairly small -- 30 to 100 employees -- and facilitate. We'll help them get involved in the community and develop a community culture for them," Myers said.

Myers' trailblazing efforts are paying off. In just two years, the foundation has recruited more than 70 small high-tech companies. In addition to participating in charitable activities, companies are asked to donate about $100,000 worth of stock before going public. Half goes to the foundation, which donates it to needy Bay Area organizations, and half goes back to the company to fund community programs.

Paul Saffo, director of the Institute for the Future and a longtime observer of Silicon Valley, said the minds and personalities that have changed technology and the economy are now bringing their creativity to a more socially minded arena.

"This generation is going to redefine charitable giving as fundamentally as Andrew Carnegie redefined it 100 years ago," Saffo said. "At the end of the day, the money from wealthy entrepreneurs can at best only be the catalyst that gets things going, that inspires other people. So they're going to have to make their money count."

Getting companies to sign up with the foundation hasn't always been easy. Myers and his staff approach it like an investment pitch, hitting the boardrooms from San Jose to San Francisco. The biggest challenge is convincing companies they can find the time.

"They're working 24 hours a day, they're not seeing their families, and they're getting divorced because they're not paying attention. So it is a matter of priorities," Myers said.

That's why the foundation customizes activities for each company, sometimes making it as simple as a blood drive. In the case of Point Base, a Silicon Valley wireless software development company, employees spent a day clearing brush at a local nature preserve. Some volunteers have discovered that these kinds of group activities are also good for business.

"We came up with some cool ideas which have actually led to some real good progressions in the company because we talked about things in a different way," said Eddie Pratt, Point Base software developer.

Even big companies are looking for creative ways to make their money count. Sun Microsystems is helping to finance and build a top-class homeless shelter right across the street from its main campus in Santa Clara. It can house about 30 homeless families for up to several years, depending on their circumstances. Sun is also equipping it with a computer center to provide high-tech job training.

"If you want technology to make a difference for people, you have to put the technology where the people are," said Gary Serda, manager of community development for Sun Microsystems.

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Institute for the Future
Sun Microsystems
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