Abstract
So many seminars about high-tech start-ups take place in Silicon Valley every day. They are very popular events for high-tech start-ups and entrepreneurs because such seminars provide them with not only business and technology information, but also with networking opportunities to get contacts for funding, human resources, potential clients and so on, which are critical for their business. So called “networking associations” host these seminars and are steadily growing and becoming more important in the venture arena in America, especially in Silicon Valley. Most people think venture capital firms or business incubators are playing very important roles for supporting start-ups. However, networking associations are useful for far more startups and entrepreneurs than venture capital firms or business incubators, because they, in principle, accept any type of entrepreneur as member who can enjoy their services. We call them “Business Incubators without walls.” We, in Japan, should promote a social and cultural background that eases existence of networking associations.
