Here we highlight selected innovation related articles from around the world on a daily basis. These articles related to innovation and funding for innovative companies, and best practices for innovation based economic development.
Venture capitalists increased their funding of startups to $9.5 billion in the first quarter of 2014, the MoneyTree report revealed recently. The press thinks we’ve got a bubble forming.
I don’t get their interpretation. The numbers show that the tech startup funding scene looks nothing like it did in 2000.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
When I started The Protocol School of Palm Beach, I chased every opportunity that came my way. My company was brand new and I needed clients. To grow my business, I said yes to everything.
At first, it was great. My professional network grew and so did my client base. But then I hit a wall. I was exhausted and overcommitted. My calendar continued to fill up, but my bottom line was stagnating.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
How do you become the most interesting person in the world?
To be sure, I’m not referring to the silver fox from the Dos Equis beer commercials, who once ran a marathon just because it was on his way, whose organ donor card lists his beard and who speaks fluent French -- in Russian.
The bar doesn’t have to be that high.
Image: RainieLuv via DeviantArt
In reaching its initial target of £500,000 in just over three hours, Crowdfunder broke the equity crowdfunding record before settling on a final total of £650,000 equity funding raised in under one day.
Practicing what it preached, Crowdfunder applied many of the principles which have brought success to its rewards-based crowdfunders to its own campaign. So we asked Crowdfunder Marketing Manager, Graeme Roy, to share the secret of his seven steps to success.
Image: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk
As one of few Central European universities, STU has its own technology business incubator focused on supporting small technological enterprises. It was established thanks to the support from the PHARE fund. Since 2005, the incubator has been renting premises at advantageous rates to innovative start-up companies. In addition, it offers a range of support and consulting services. So far, the incubator has supported 35 start-up companies and hundreds of individuals.
Image: http://www.stuba.sk
The future of health technology is in the palm of your hand. Mobile communication, wearable devices, data sharing, analytics and even gaming concepts will soon seamlessly meld with medical treatment.
DreamIt Health Baltimore explored these possibilities in a four-month accelerator program that fostered nine early-stage companies. Company representatives demonstrated their products, presented plans for growth and pitched to investors during the program’s culminating Demo Day on Wednesday.
Image: http://mdbiznews.choosemaryland.org/ - Phobious helps people overcome their fears and anxieties through virtual and augmented reality on mobile devices.
April is the national commemorative month for all kinds of things, including poetry, welding and soy foods. But it’s also National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
Unfortunately, the recognition of this month for distracted driving is a hallow gesture—just like the half-hearted attempts at developing apps that prevent cell phone use while driving.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Let’s be honest — the federal government isn’t always known for thinking outside the box. But Jonathan Aberman, managing director of Amplifier Ventures, has long argued the federal government is home to some innovative thinkers on the hunt for big ideas. Aberman leads Tandem NSI— short for "national security innovation" — which officially kicked off in March. As we reported in December 2013, Arlington County and the McDonnell administration agreed to put more than $500,000 behind the initiative to connect startups with national security agencies, aiming to both foster commercialization of federally-funded technology and open a new market for entrepreneurs.
Image: http://www.bizjournals.com
Economies progress through distinct stages as cultures acquire knowledge, skill and experience. The past century has seen a shift from agriculture being the dominant contributor to wealth, to industry, service and, finally, to one based on creativity. This Creative Economy is the new Gold Rush and is based more on human ingenuity and less on sweat and blood.
Image: http://www.huffingtonpost.com
In order to achieve greatness, you have to fail greatly.
The most successful people will tell you that at some point in their careers, they thought they were going to fail. Not because they didn’t have enough confidence in themselves, but because they had risked everything.
With the decline of great industrial laboratories, such as Bell Labs—home of such major technological advances as the transistor and research that won seven Nobel Prizes, all in physics—many universities are putting increased focus on technological innovation, translational research, and commercialization. Work leading to successful innovations, however, "does not necessarily result in outcomes that are traditionally counted (by universities) in career advancement, such as publication," write Paul Sanberg, senior vice president for research and innovation at the University of South Florida in Tampa, and his co-authors in an article published 28 April in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In fact, it "often requires faculty members with a different working mindset and modus operandi than those conducting purely basic research."
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Twittering laughter fills the air at the new Techstars office on the edge of Chinatown in Boston, as dozens of young engineers, designers, and marketers gather to raise a glass to Katie Rae, a startup veteran with short, curly blond hair and unstoppable energy. It's the end of Demo Day, an annual ritual for Techstars Boston, where Rae is the managing director. Patrón tequila is poured, and grins abound, for this is a moment of catharsis—the end of an intense, three-month sprint to turn an idea into a company. Most of the faces in crowd are young, full of youthful exuberance and a naïve hope that their company is going to make a difference. The collective energy is difficult to miss.
Image Courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Unhappy with results so far of the two-year-old Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, some Republican lawmakers are pushing for changes that could weaken investor protections. They argue that entrepreneurs find some of its provisions too burdensome.
Image: Ron Wilson, right, CEO of Hylete, a maker of performance cross-training apparel, is looking forward to future equity crowdfunding possibilities. Sam Hodgson for The Wall Street Journal
Our current class of companies (Batch 9) is in full swing, so we’re pleased to announce the two awesome EIRs who will help guide and mentor our startups over the next few months.
First up is Poornima Vijayashanker, an engineer and entrepreneur. After graduating from Duke University with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, she began her career as an R&D Engineer at Synopsys, and eventually became enamored by Silicon Valley’s startup scene.
The stress of senior year and the college admissions process is coming to a close. We have all heard that some of the country’s top universities experienced historically low admission rates, but you weathered the storm and gained admission to one or more of your best-fit schools. So what’s next?
Preparing to get into college is one thing, but that does not really brace one for the transition of actually going to college. You have hopefully done research and know all of the resources available to you at your chosen school, now is the time to take advantage of them!
Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) plans to invest an additional $150 million in startups to speed up the development of new technologies.
Cisco Investments, the company’s venture-capital arm, will use the funds to spur advances in projects such as data storage and innovation in India and the Internet of Things, which refers to devices such as Web-connected power meters, home appliances and traffic lights, Cisco said in a statement today.
Running a truly innovative company means constantly improving your innovation culture and process. Running a successful innovation ecosystem, however, demands more. Successful innovation ecosystems make people outside the company measurably smarter, richer, and more innovative. Biologically speaking, innovation ecosystems invest in symbiosis, not parasitism. Growth isn’t zero-sum.
Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
How stressful is business travel? Very. Especially if you’re a female vice president. We know this because Michael Segalla and Dominique Rouziès of HEC Paris teamed up with Catalin Ciobanu and Vincent Lebunetel of Carlson Wagonlit Travel to survey thousands of business travelers about the stress they felt at every stage of a trip.
Image: http://blogs.hbr.org
Over the years I’ve seen hundreds of investor slide decks from entrepreneurs. Some good, some bad, and some all of over the place. When pitching investors, it’s best to keep the visual slides simple (no more than 10 words per slide) and to provide a separate set of leave-behind slides that have more information. Investors want to engage and have a dialogue, so focus on the conversation and not just pitching.
Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Choice and destiny came in an unusual package for Bedford, Virginia, high school student Cody Beckner. Fearing the worst when called out of gym class last spring, Cody was relieved and excited to learn about an unexpected glimmer of opportunity. Mrs. Smith, Cody’s school counselor, was recruiting him to apply for a new school she described as a potential “perfect fit” for a student with an aptitude for innovation and problem-solving.
Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
