The Eastside would have been utterly different without Microsoft. Above all, Microsoft is a world-class employer that affects the local economy. Our commercial and residential real-estate market correlates rather well with the company’s fortunes.

What I don’t see is the next Microsoft. Are we going to be a Microsoft “company town” forever? Is there another world-beater among us that has the potential to rise to Microsoft’s stature in the next 10-20 years?

Fundamentally, this has to do with the economic sectors that will experience the most explosive growth over the next decades. Will these be Gaming? Clean Technology? Biomedical Devices? Online Services?

It also has to do with our collective approach to entrepreneurship. We are good at venturing the $5 million to $10 million company that can be grabbed up by a larger company. We do not necessarily create the “home runs” that successfully transition from a small success to a sustained one.

It also has to do with our approach to risk-taking. Too many people seem to be sitting on the sidelines waiting for the economy to pick up. If we stop taking smart risks, we will never succeed in creating the next giant success story.

How do we change all of this?

I am obviously biased in favor of education. We need to enhance the overall number of baccalaureate degrees produced in our region and also make sure that the education is relevant to the needs of our region. Also, we need visionary thinkers who can be properly nurtured to grow their business. Then we must convince more smart people to start their own company – not just as a target for acquisition, but as a longer-term play.

Where is the next Microsoft going to come from? I would love to hear from you.

Sandeep Krishnamurthy, Ph. D., is the Director of the Business program at UW Bothell (http://www.uwb.edu/business). He oversees the undergraduate and MBA programs in Bothell and at the UW Bothell Eastside Leadership Center in Bellevue. He can be reached at SKrishnamurthy@uwb.edu or at 425-352-5229.