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.
When I meet with entrepreneurs, I am often asked about the VC “pipeline.”
How many deals do we see? How many meetings? How often do we conduct due diligence? How many of those companies do we invest in?
I thought it would be helpful to provide visibility about the VC pipeline, while also outlining what helps a company move from an intro meeting into a closed investment.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
I’d love to have a toolkit that promised me great, creative ideas every time I sat down to work. Obviously that’s not going to happen--creativity doesn’t come from tools.
But luckily there are some tools that can improve our chances of working creatively. According to research, these six tools can help inspire your next big idea:
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Sometimes in life, it becomes clear that you’re on the entirely wrong path.
Whether it’s a business that’s floundering or a career that is increasingly intolerable, your gut is telling you that something has to change--drastically.
But how do you reinvent yourself if you’re making a dramatic career change or moving your business into an entirely different sector without seeming flaky or unreliable?
On a recent Friday evening, D.J. Trischler is settling into an IPA and talking about climbing mountains. It’s only 30 minutes after the end of the workweek, and the Flying Squirrel Bar in Chattanooga’s Southside neighborhood is packed. At one booth, some of the city’s leading architects gossip. A small pack of women whisper amid the music as their eyes scan the room. Guests at the LEED-certified hostel next door, where outdoor enthusiasts rest their heads, are settling in. Down the street people finish up productive days at Camp House, a former artist studio-turned-coffee shop and venue where, under clerestory windows, Chattanooga’s entrepreneurs talk potential partnerships.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
The IRS is increasing scrutiny into a complex practice for using retirement accounts to fund a business. The practice may trip up business owners who take advantage of it. In the end, it could cost them not only their retirement nest eggs, but open them up to paying back taxes and large penalties to the IRS.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
It is something of a Holy Grail for many European entrepreneurs with plans to export. The US market is vast, potentially lucrative, but tough
And when their products require US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, it gets even tougher.
It is a familiar situation for Swedish medical device company, Timesulin whose product – a smart replacement cap for insulin pens displaying the time since the last insulin injection was administered – helps diabetes patients manage their condition more effectively.
Image: Insulin type syringe ready for injection. Doctors view. Deutsch: eine Insulinspritze, bereit für die Injektion. Aus der Sichtweise des Arztes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Creating a company from the ground up while generating a successful revenue steam is the essence of the American Dream; but if this were an easy task, there would be a flood of employees quitting their "nine-to-fives" to found startups.
The autonomy that comes along with building a business around personal goals, talents and interests is compelling for many workers who are fed up with their daily grind. On the other hand, leaving a stable employment situation can be stressful — and it's a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly, even if you're not entirely satisfied with one or more of the aspects of your current job.
Image: FLICKR, THEILR
Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Every company needs this focus to attract the best minds and loyalty in both categories.
When it comes to choosing whom to work with in business, there’s a huge difference between choosing to partner with a small startup versus a large Fortune 500 corporation.
Both have their own merits and it really depends on what the end result is meant to be.
Check out our list of what really separates the little guys from the big corporate companies below.
Image: http://under30ceo.com
Building a startup company is something that one can not understand until trying to do it. It is painful, arduous and at times seems absolutely impossible. Yet at the same time, it can be one of the most exciting and rewarding things one can ever take on in their life.
As a serial entrepreneur, I have learned both from experiences and inspiring people who have taught me what it takes to succeed in business and grow as a person.
Image: http://under30ceo.com
I have unwittingly made some bad decisions in my 28 years on this earth, but every day I make better ones. Reflecting on this, it is clear that making the right calls, large and small, requires certain prerequisites and a thoughtful decision-making process. These considerations are especially important in a startup, where you will never have perfect information when making a decision.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
AUTHOR BRIGID SCHULTE SAYS COMPANIES SHOULD STOP REWARDING OVERWORKED EMPLOYEES AND FOCUS ON PRODUCTIVITY INSTEAD.
Do you rush through the morning paper, barely skimming the headlines while answering emails and making kids’ lunches? Do you compete with coworkers over how late you stay at the office each night?
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Applications are now being accepted for the $100,000 Innovations in American Government Awards.
Offered by Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, the Innovations Award is the nation’s premier award for the public sector. It recognizes programs that demonstrate creative and effective government at its best.
All units of government — federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial — from all policy areas are eligible to apply for recognition.
This year, the Ash Center is also offering the Roy and Lila Ash Innovations Award for Public Engagement in Government, a special Innovations Award that will recognize government-led innovations that demonstrate novel and effective approaches to increasing public engagement and participation in the governance of towns, cities, states, and the nation. The top winner of the Innovations in American Government Award and the winner of the Roy and Lila Ash Award will each receive a $100,000 grant to support replication and dissemination activities in 2015. Top finalists will also receive monetary grants.
Applications and additional information are available at www.innovationsaward.harvard.edu
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE ON JUNE 20, 2014
If you have any questions about the application or our website, please contact the Innovations staff at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (800) 722-0074.
Innovations in American Government
Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
Harvard Kennedy School Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Healthbox, which helps medical startups grow through accelerators in the U.S. and U.K., is expanding its business through a $7 million fundraising.
Healthbox CEO Nina Nashif Healthbox Healthbox and groups like Rock Health and Blueprint Health help entrepreneurs launch businesses in hot markets like health information technology and digital health. Medical software and information services startups raised $297 million in the first quarter, a 130% jump from Q1 of 2013, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
Image: Healthbox CEO Nina Nashif Healthbox
Personality and IQ have traditionally been viewed as distinct domains of human functioning. However, research over the past three decades suggests that IQ is a personality trait. In an excellent book chapter, personality neuroscientist Colin DeYoung points out that many personality traits involve cognitive processes and abilities. It’s just that IQ is primarily measured with ability tests, whereas personality tests are primarily measured with questionnaires. But this is more a reflection of a lack of ingenuity on the part of psychologists than a real difference in domain of human functioning.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Entrepreneurship evangelists often see their work in some parts of the world as a war on poverty. This week, President Barack Obama will visit Philippines’ President Benigno Aquino III as part of his Asian tour. While the Philippines is the second-best performing economy in Asia, growing at an average of 6 percent since 2012, poverty incidence affects more than 20 percent of its population. For President Aquino, now is the time to look beyond necessity-driven entrepreneurship and address his country’s challenges in helping high-growth firms start and scale.
Image: http://entrepreneurship.org
Are you interested in biotech entrepreneurship? Do you want to stay informed about the rapidly evolving US biotech industry? If so, make sure to subscribe to BioHealth Innovation’s weekly newsletter and find out what we are doing to make the state of Maryland the next big US biotech cluster.
Please contact Rich Bendis, President & CEO of BioHealth Innovation for questions and comments.
(Rich Bendis who edits InnovationDAILY also edits BioHealth Innovation's Weekly Newsletter)
Primarily written for business owners “with infrastructure,” a business with employees and an ongoing concern, it’s actually a great resource for managers inside of a small business or mid-sized business as well.
In a joint interview with Professor David Grayson, Melody McLaren, and Heiko Spitzeck, we discussed their new book, Social Intrapreneurism and All That Jazz: How Business Innovators are Helping to Build a More Sustainable World. Distilling insights from interviews with social intrapreneurs, their colleagues and experts from around the world, the authors bring to life how business can be about more than just maximizing profit.
The you-know-what just hit the fan. Your startup is in full-on crisis mode. What do you do now?
Luckily, professional coach Lindsay Broder has the answers. In this video, Broder discusses the actions business leaders need to take to stop the bleeding and what to keep in mind when managing a team through a crisis.
Image: http://www.entrepreneur.com/
