The nature of economic development has changed in recent decades, as the nature of society has changed from the Industrial Era to the Information Society, in which a majority of the workforce are information workers. In the new Information Society, brainpower is the key ingredient for becoming rich. New communication technologies like the Internet and other applications of computers are changing the economy, in the process creating opportunities for new companies whose entrepreneurs convert a technological innovation into a high-tech company and grow it to dominant size. Bill Gates, the richest individual in the world today, founded a computer software company in Albuquerque 20 years ago to service MITS, the world's first personal computer company. Had MITS survived, and Microsoft not then moved to the Seattle area, Albuquerque would be a very different city today.
Silicon Valley is practically synonymous with technopolis, but there are many others.
Entrepreneurial spirit, the desire to launch a new company around a technological innovation. Venture capital, money invested in young high-tech companies with a high potential for growth. Venture capitalists provide the funding for new companies so that they can purchase land, build a plant, and hire employees, so that the start-up can outgrow its competitors. In exchange for providing funding to the new company, the venture capitalist usually gains majority ownership of the new venture. A technological innovation usually provides the entry ticket for the start-up company in an industry.