I don't have an MBA, but I have earned my SIlicon Valley MBA.  Let me explain. When I was a few years out of college, I considered going back to get an MBA.  I liked working in the valley and knew that I wanted to spend my career in tech and ultimately around startups - at that point I had only worked for Apple.  So I asked around to a lot of people I knew well and respected.  People who I thought had been successful in their careers and whose path I wanted to learn from.  Many of them had MBAs and some did not.  I wanted to hear their perspectives on the value of a traditional MBA.

Disruptive technology is forcing big changes in Hollywood: new contracts, new genres, new stars. As the behemoth industry steps into the digital era, entertainment execs will be paying even closer attention to the global Silicon Valley—especially the startups that are writing the rules and creating the tools for the digital entertainment age.

What is Apple going to do about AT&T's network problems? One iPhone fan, desperate for a solution, asked if someone from Apple is working on the problem. Jobs, as usual, keeps his cards close to his chest and gives a carefully crafted response, but not a real answer. The bottom line seems to be that the Apple-AT&T partnership is still worth more than the headaches AT&T's network is causing for Apple.

Here at home, the angel community in New England is really starting to flex its muscles.  Thanks to Scott Kirsner's arbitrary declaration (and admirable leadership), June is Innovation Month in New England and there is a ridiculous amount of activity going on.It started off on June 1st with Angel Boot Camp, a confab that gathered over 200 angels, VCs and start-ups. Last night was Tech Stars Boston Investor Night, which continues to gain momentum heading into its second season, as well as the big annual the MITX Awards event.  Every night this month, there is something going on.  You can see the master schedule at www.neinnovation.com. Many of these venues didn't exist 3-4 years ago - Mobile Mondays, Web Inno, Open Coffee, etc.  New events are coming to Boston this month, including the Open Angel Forum, which is June 18th.

Steve Jobs recently said that fewer people will be using personal computers in the next 5-10 years than today. Steve Ballmer disagrees and says that PCs will continue to shift in form factor but are here to stay. Is this just an issue of semantics? Is the iPad a PC as Ballmer suggests? Either way, what's Microsoft's role in an post-iPad world?

If you missed part one, where Greg explains Sigma's unique approach to world class investing while maintaining a low profile, check it out here.

AlwaysOn: How did Sigma view this last recession?

It's with great excitement that we introduce the eighth annual AlwaysOn Global 250 top  private companies. The AlwaysOn Global 250 represent the top emerging companies in the Global Silicon Valley that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technologies in on-demand computing, digital media, and greentech.

The AlwaysOn editorial team, along with partners at Manatt, Morgan Stanley, the Blackstone Group, KPMG, Silicon Valley Bank, Sonnenschein, and Bridge Bank, as well as industry experts across the globe, scoured the entrepreneurial community to identify the top 250 private companies that are taking old notions of doing things and forging solutions that will lead to industry shake-up and huge value-creation opportunities.

We kicked off day 2 of the STVP/AlwaysOn Summit at Stanford with a keynote from Doug Merritt, EVP at SAP. The message from Doug about cloud computing was clear: Change will be constant, the OnDemand model will continue to perform, this is just the beginning, and SAP will be there for the longhaul. This talk starts off with Tony Perkins' intro for the day and rolls right into Doug's talk.

Venture capitalists in the United States widely expect their industry to contract while those in emerging markets, including China, India and Brazil, expect to see their ecosystem expand over the next five years, according to the 2010 Global Venture Capital Survey by Deloitte and the National Venture Capital Association. According to the survey results, more than 90 percent of U.S. survey respondents expect the number of venture firms to decrease between now and 2015, while a majority of venture capitalists in China, India and Brazil anticipate adding more venture firms in their country during the same time frame. Venture capitalists in Europe and Canada also expect an industry contraction in their respective countries though to a lesser extent than in the U.S.

Thirty eight US venture capital funds raised $1.9 billion in the  second quarter of 2010, according to Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).   This level marks a 49% decline, by dollar commitments, compared to the first quarter of 2010, which saw 38 funds raise $3.7 billion during the period. This quarter represents the lowest by dollar commitments since the third quarter of 2003.