Durango Herald Online -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 2/11/2003
Last Visited: 2/14/2003
Rick Carlson and several partners, all of whom have experience in the technology industry, have founded KivaNet and are offering high-speed wireless Internet access in the Edgemont Ranch and Animas Valley areas.
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Carlson, KivaNet's chief executive officer, left Silicon Valley four years ago to settle in Durango with his family."As we were flying into Durango for the first time, I was thinking, ‘God, I'm finally away from Silicon Valley,'" Carlson said."For me (Durango) is the right size.In Silicon Valley, the traffic hasn't gone away.It's not people going to their jobs; it's people looking for a job."A Chicago native, Carlson earned a degree in mathematics from Illinois Institute of Technology and, bitten by the allure of the emerging high-tech sector, he moved to California's Silicon Valley in 1975.
"For me, it's been a roller coaster," Carlson said.
He got to witness first hand - and participate in - the early days of the personal computer industry.
He met Apple's founder, Steve Jobs, when Jobs was beginning to develop the Macintosh.
"It was almost like being in Hollywood, plots and subplots, chasing the almighty dollar. ... kind of fun."
At least it was until about five years ago, Carlson said, when venture capital, which played a major role in the industry's rapid growth, started to dry up."Everybody believed it would be the economic boom of all time.It turned out to be the biggest bust. ... Durango is somewhat fortunate.It didn't get caught up in this.Count your lucky stars you're not in Silicon Valley right now."
Carlson continues to be involved in the industry, however, as an executive of AccelChip, an Illinois-based company that develops tools for computer chip design.
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There is a potential to create good jobs here," Carlson said.
For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.ekiva.net/.