By Scott Duke Harris
MercuryNews.com
If Tesla Motors and other electric carmakers have their way, the phrase “hitting on all cylinders” may someday go the way of the horseless carriage.
But for now, the metaphor seems apt as Silicon Valley tries to accelerate out of the Great Recession. The region’s unemployment remains stubbornly high at 12 percent, but a bullish survey of software executives, the revival of Wall Street debuts, new earnings reports and recent funding news are encouraging signs. Consider:
- A new survey of the software industry released Wednesday by Sand Hill Group found that 71 percent of software execs believe their business has or will return to pre-recession levels by the end of 2010. Nine of 10 executives said they expect employee head count to increase, including 23 percent who anticipate a “significant” increase.
- With Tesla Motors as the headliner, 80 companies nationwide were in the pipeline for initial public stock offerings in the first quarter, seeking $11.4 billion, up from 54 deals registered for $10.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a new study by Ernst & Young. Both quarters represented dramatic improvement from the doldrums of the recession.
