State of IPO nation

With Facebook’s IPO set to take place in a week or so, tech seems like a pretty fertile field. You can buy lots of shovels and hoes for $100 billion.

Inc. is a pretty good guide for those who aspire to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. Most of the short columns — such as how children of entrepreneurs are two to three times more likely to launch a business — are aimed at those who want to start the next big thing. Best for those with start-up ambitions is the cover story on turntable.fm, whose users create virtual DJs and play songs in a chat room. The article delves into how the two founders, Seth Goldstein and Billy Chasen, are fighting as they try to figure how to keep the once-hot business from falling off the charts.

Wired magazine’s cover story is about Marc Andreessen, a lesser- known tech player than Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs. While the magazine has always been a place where the digerati blow their own horn, the Andreessen interview by editor Chris Anderson falls short of rigorous by miles. Take this exchange: Anderson, “A quote of yours that I’ve always loved is Netscape would render Windows ‘a poorly debugged set of device drivers.’ ” Andreessen, “In fairness, you have to give credit for that quote to Bob Metcalfe, the 3Com founder.” Elsewhere there’s the ubiquitous profile of “The Avengers” director, Joss Whedon.

If you can’t get enough of Jobs, Fast Company serves up a splashy cover package dubbed, “The Lost Steve Jobs Tapes,” elevating it to a Silicon Valley version of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It’s a 12-page collection of hundreds of conversations spanning a quarter-century between the late Apple founder and reporter Brent Schlender. It incudes lots of fawning illustrations of a prophet-like Jobs. For relief, there’s a saucy photo essay on the evolution of beach wear, starting with the knee-length versions of the early 1900s to the current barely there kind.

After the wildly successful Forbes 400 list of billionaires, the magazine has come up with a slew of new groups to which to pander. This cover story of Forbes’ latest issue heralds “The Midas List,” the top 100 tech investors, and the inevitable fluff that purports to explain the brilliant strategies that have made them so rich. For No. 1 ranked Jim Breyer of Accel Partners, it was simple: he happened to make an early bet on Facebook. Forbes under new editor Randall Lane has another list that promises to be a little more intriguing: America’s most powerful art dealers. (There are only 12; average age 65).

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Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, Steve Jobs, Facebook, Seth Goldstein, cover story, cover story, Billy Chasen, Chris Anderson, Bob Metcalfe

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