To escape the commodity trap — and to compete effectively in a knowledge-based economy — business leaders of all kinds need to reinvent themselves as innovators in services.

Bill Nguyen launches startups with haste, never researches the competition, and makes the same mistakes "again and again." So why do people keep giving him so much money?

Editor's Note: This is the guy behind Color. I don't find the portrait of him flattering nor does he seem especially worth emulating, but some of the discussion about Silicon Valley, funding and entrepreneurship is indeed interesting and worth a read.

Borders still matter, according to Pankaj Ghemawat, author of World 3.0. But that doesn't mean there aren't great opportunities to do business abroad.