Investors are opening their wallets again but their tolerance of risk has been dampened by the crisis, Jean-Bernard Guérrée, CEO of the World Investment Conference, told EurActiv in an interview.

Guérrée sees hope in the US, where Silicon Valley innovations are once again attracting investment as companies like Apple continue to post huge profits thanks to high-tech products.

"California has had a record high in the first quarter of 2010 – it's the highest ever level of private investment. It feels like 1999," said Guérrée, who has spent 20 years working as an entrepreneur in the US technology sector.

Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has started looking at energy innovation through politics. Gates, who has started speaking more frequently on the importance of developing the next generation of energy technology from a technologist and an investor’s perspective, co-wrote a column in the Washington Post on Friday that calls for the U.S. government to invest significantly more money into energy innovation.

Specifically Gates used the column (co-written with former CEO and Chairman of DuPont’s Chad Holliday) to announce a new group that he’s joined called the American Energy Innovation Council, which is a group of business leaders that support energy innovation. The group will announce specific recommendations to enhance energy innovation in the coming months, according to the column, but for now Gates and Holliday gave these three reasons why developing energy technology is different than creating electronics innovation, and why energy technology needs much more federal funding. (We put Gates on our list of 25 Who Ditched Information Technology for Greentech).

There are ideas and there are ideas. The venture industry, the ‘ecosystem’ and even other folks you meet will jump right into slotting the idea as fundable or not, scalable or not, or even feasible or not. Then there are these other tags and cliches you’ll hear – lifestyle business, capital intensive model, non-monetizable, feature-not-a-product.

But sometimes, the best way forward is to be Nike and just do it. Many an idea dies too early a death caught in analysis-paralysis, and killed by the negativity of thoughts even before its crystalized into a business. Most businesses figure out their exact packaging, revenue streams and the real costs and possible optimizations somewhere along their lifetimes, not as a solved problem upfront. How do you know you’re not going to discover scale as you go along ? How can you be sure there are no other market segments you may be able to address as you come across them ? Optimism and hope are an entrepreneurs currency, and surely many ideas can be made to work. Sure, they may probably not be very attractive VC businesses as they stand when you start out. But that’s about the lousiest reason to not do it!

Two reports released recently by the SBA and spotlighted in The Entrepreneurial Mind blog confirm what many small-business owners may already know:  Entrepreneurs and their employees aren’t saving enough for retirement.

Saving for Retirement: A Look at Small Business Owners (PDF), written by SBA economist Jules Lichtenstein, assesses how well entrepreneurs are preparing for their own retirement. Among the results:

• Just 36% of business owners have individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Of those, one-third contributed during the 2005 tax year (latest data available). Only 18% of business owners have a 401(k) plan, and less than 2% have a Keogh plan.

• The business owners most likely to have and contribute to retirement accounts are non-minority, older, have higher education levels, own more established and more profitable companies and are more likely to own multiple businesses.

• The overall asset ownership of entrepreneurs affects how they save for retirement. Those who own homes and have other retirement accounts are most likely to have IRA, Keogh or 401(k) participation (in other words, those who have one type of retirement account are likely to have more than one.)

• Business owners who own micro-businesses (less than 10 employees) are less likely to own or contribute to retirement accounts.

As president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1994 to 2008, G. Wayne Clough was often asked why he didn't attend meetings of the Association of American Universities.

Georgia Tech was not a member, but "people were always saying, 'We thought you were in,'" says Mr. Clough, who is now secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

It was a reasonable assumption. The AAU represents universities with the most prestigious profiles in research and graduate education. Georgia Tech has long been strong on both counts. The university's share of federal research dollars topped the shares of almost all non-AAU, comprehensive universities, as well as those of quite a few members.

The brains of the VC’s are wired differently and startups should know how to deal with them.

A venture capitalist is a person who invests in a business , providing capital either for start-up or growth. Venture capitalists aim for a higher rate of return than would be given by more traditional investments. My years of interactions with VC’s have made me come to a conclusion that their brains are certainly wired differently. Just like entrepreneurs demonstrate certain common traits across the world VCs have certain traits. And when it comes to India I think the breed goes through another generation of transformation. To help entrepreneurs and startups better understand how to deal with the complex brains of the Indian VCs, I have put together my version of their brain map. Of course this is generic and there are many exceptions to the rule.

Ego
Being a VC in an emerging markets like India is like being a VIP. You are at a very high pay scale, constantly being pitched by smart entrepreneurs, called to give speeches at every
major conference. At business plan events they are almost mobbed and receive endless amounts of emails, phone calls, SMS most of them trying to desperately convince them into liking them. They meet CEOs of top companies, are in influential company boards, and get an ego massage from everyone who meets them, what a great tie! I like your hair style, i love that advice you gave me, that investment of yours is the next Facebook are very common compliments. Its but natural for any human who is living in an environment like this to develop a bit of an EGO. Its really complex dealing with such people and you too can easily get into the EGO massaging mode. However I think what really works with VC’s is being real and challenge them, question them and you dont have to agree with them on everything and deal with them like a real person.

One evening last month, the mayor of Detroit, Dave Bing, took to the podium at a downtown theater. The occasion was the state of the city address, and despite the mayor's best effort to project optimism, the truths facing America's 11th largest city are grim. The budget deficit is at least $85 million. The police department doesn't have the money to safeguard Detroit's vast, sparsely populated territory. The school system is a mess, and its emergency financial manager plans to shut nearly a quarter of the city's public schools by summer. Bing plans to shrink Detroit's government and shed thousands of jobs — an unpopular proposition in a city already boasting a 25% unemployment rate. Outside the theater, protesters waved signs that read, "FIRE THE MAYOR," and "SAVE OUR CITY." Inside, Bing spoke plainly: "We've been hit the hardest by what many call 'the Great Recession.'" We simply cannot afford to continue down this road." Days later, an independent report would suggest that Detroit's actual budget deficit might be $400 million, and that the best route for survival is possibly bankruptcy.

Emirates NBD Seed Capital loans are available up to a maximum of AED 2 million with easy qualification and repayment terms. The move by Emirates NBD comes at a time when self-employed nationals are increasingly recognised for their contribution to the UAE economy and the government plans to introduce a new law to help streamline and speed-up the process of setting up new businesses.

“Small businesses account for 46 per cent of the country’s GDP and new business start-ups make a significant contribution to this,” said Jamal Bin Ghalaita, Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Emirates NBD. “Our aim is to inspire more UAE nationals to develop their entrepreneurial ideas into fully fledged business enterprises, which are of vital importance to the growth and prosperity of our economy.

WASHINGTON – The United States Senate unanimously agreed to extend the Small Business Administration (SBA) and vital programs that fall under the Small Business Administration Act and the Small Business Investment Act, such as the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The programs, which have been operating under a temporary extender and were set to expire on April 30, 2010, will continue with a three-month extension through July 31, 2010. The bill now heads to the House for approval. United States Senator

Last June in Cairo President Obama promised to host a Summit on Entrepreneurship “to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world.”

Next week in Washington, DC, President Obama will make good on that promise.

Bringing together 250 participants from 60 countries, the administration will host the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship at the Ronald Reagan Building on Monday and Tuesday. Mr. Obama will address the summit on Monday evening and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will close the summit on Tuesday evening.

“This was a direct commitment the president made in his Cairo speech last June,” White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said briefing reporters on conference call to preview the summit, “He made the point that as we work to address issues, the US wants to deepen a set of partnerships with Muslim communities, related to education, and economic opportunity, science and technology.”

1. Solar and wind power are the greenest of them all.

Unfortunately, solar and wind technologies require huge amounts of land to deliver relatively small amounts of energy, disrupting natural habitats. Even an aging natural gas well producing 60,000 cubic feet per day generates more than 20 times the watts per square meter of a wind turbine. A nuclear power plant cranks out about 56 watts per square meter, eight times as much as is derived from solar photovoltaic installations. The real estate that wind and solar energy demand led the Nature Conservancy to issue a report last year critical of "energy sprawl," including tens of thousands of miles of high-voltage transmission lines needed to carry electricity from wind and solar installations to distant cities.

Nor does wind energy substantially reduce CO2 emissions. Since the wind doesn't always blow, utilities must use gas- or coal-fired generators to offset wind's unreliability. The result is minimal -- or no -- carbon dioxide reduction.

The entrepreneurial spirit starts early for many teenagers, but for most things like high school, college and social lives overpower the urge to start a business.

But not every teenager.

Occasionally there are a few really driven youngsters who actually create successful companies before they are old enough to vote, buy alcohol, or even drive. Here are 10 inspirational stories of some incredibly successful young entrepreneurs, who all started their empires in their teens.

Israel, a global cleantech powerhouse, is now attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in cleantech investment every year.

The country gets more from its soil, water, air, and sunlight than most other nations on earth.

Why has such a small country been able to position itself a world leader in cleantech?

The answer, I believe, is a combination of many factors: its history, attitude of the people, ingenuity, and challenges to survival.

According to my research, the following are major highlights of Israel’s cleantech leadership to date in 2010:

1. Israel is the Silicon Valley of water. Relative to its small size, Israel has devoted more resources to the development of waste water treatment and reclamation than any other country in the world. Seventy percent of its waste water is recycled, three times the figure of number two: Spain. Israel is the birthplace and world leader in drip irrigation, which has literally turned deserts into farmlands. The Israeli firm Netafim, a $500 million high-tech drip-irrigation giant, is a world leader in smart irrigation technology and has been credited with starting the drip irrigation revolution. Israel Newtech, which promotes Israeli clean energy and water technologies, has identified hundreds of water companies. It's estimated that Israel's water industry was valued at $1.4 billion in 2008 and could reach $2.5 billion by 2011. The sector is supported by early stage private and government investment programs, such as the Kinrot incubator, 11 investments to date) and the Office of the Chief Scientist (several million dollars in early stage R&D grants), as well as large industrial players such as IDE Technologies, a global leader in water desalination and Mekorot, the country’s innovative technology-oriented water carrier.

Venture capitalist  Randy Komisar suggested today that Web startups may not actually need his money — at least, not right away.

Komisar, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, reached that conclusion in a roundabout way during a question-and-answer session at the Startup Lessons Learned conference in San Francisco. His main point was a piece of common entrepreneurial advice: To paraphrase Komisar’s new book on the topic, startups need to “get to plan B.” They need to cycle through different ideas with as little time and money as possible to discover which of their assumptions are wrong. For startups in fields like biotech or cleantech or enterprise technology, that process may take months or years of work, and it probably requires sizable funding. But at a consumer Internet company, things should be much faster and cheaper.

“So why do we need venture capitalists?” Komisar asked. “They may not be as important.” That means he might tell an early-stage Web startup looking for funding, “You get my money later, at a higher valuation, when you need to accelerate a good idea to a great one.”

Another interesting — and quotable — part of the discussion covered Komisar’s idea of a startup’s “analog” and “antilog.” Every startup idea involves a few “leap of faith” assumptions. As entrepreneurs explore those assumptions, he said, they should look for companies that successfully built on those ideas (analogs), as well as companies that used those ideas and failed (antilogs).

In an interview yesterday with the Chronicle of Higher Education, Bill Clinton highlighted the crucial role of American colleges and universities in a world that is, in his words, “unequal, unstable and unsustainable.” The back story to the President’s vision involves both good news and bad news. The bottom line is maximizing the impact of these great institutions is not simple but definitely worth the effort.

First, the good news. If you are looking for a long term bet on drivers of innovation in our society, universities are the place to start, because they are going to be around long after the newest “flavor of the week” has come and gone. Consider the following: Of the 85 institutions in existence since 1522, 70 are universities (two others are the British Parliament and the Catholic Church). As Dean Roger Martin recently told me, universities have long runways. Increasing their impact may take a while but you can be sure it is worth the effort.

Fresh from passing a landmark angel investor tax credit, Minnesota lawmakers are advancing a bill that would, in time, radically alter high-tech economic development in the state by concentrating authority in a single public-private entity.

The proposed Minnesota Science and Technology Authority, modeled after programs like Third Frontier in Ohio and The Ben Franklin Technology Partners in Pennsylvania, will craft a long-term science and technology strategy. More importantly, it would also oversee economic development efforts, including money to retain locally grown companies and attract out of state ones.

“People felt hope” after the angel credit passed, said Sen. Kathy Saltzman (D-Woodbury). “Now that we have your attention, this is the next step.”

Who is online? As the figure shows, the majority of adults from 18 to 50 are living some form of digital life. Even older adults 65 and older are growing in numbers with an estimated 38% online.

Now that they are online – what are they doing there? A recent Forrester study indicated that 60% of baby-boomers are avid social media users. Whereas many industry leaders consider boomers too old to embrace technology, in fact their presence in the various social media outlets is up 40% from last year.  Women over the age of 55 are in fact the fastest growing segment on Facebook. Nonetheless, boomers don’t seem to post status updates, check in at foursquare, or post twitter feeds as often as their younger social media predecessors. So, what are they doing with social media?

Consumers are trying to fulfill both rational and emotional needs. In addition, to finding basic information about drugs or specific health conditions, they are seeking reassurance, support and, at times, validation – digital healing. Reassurance that the behaviors they are pursuing are in the mainstream. Support that they are not alone as either patient or family caregiver. Validation that the medications, devices and health services they are adopting are correct.

ERIC RIES and Steven Blank think they have a better way to build a start-up, one that takes less time and money to try new ideas and find paying customers. They are leading proponents of the “lean start-up” — a fresh approach to creating companies that has attracted much attention in the last year or so among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, technologists and investors.

The concept is gaining a following beyond the Valley as well. “If it works, it will reduce failure rates for entrepreneurial ventures and boost innovation,” says Thomas R. Eisenmann, a professor at the Harvard Business School. “That’s a big deal for the economy.”

The term “lean start-up” was coined by Mr. Ries, 31, an engineer, entrepreneur and blogger. His inspiration, he says, was the lean manufacturing process, fine-tuned in Japanese factories decades ago and focused on eliminating any work or investment that doesn’t produce value for customers.

Silicon Valley. Boston. Singapore. Ireland. Scandinavia. Munich. When it comes to promoting entrepreneurial culture, some places just seem to 'get it right': serving as powerful magnets for talent, money, and ideas, and as powerful incubators for tomorrow's best companies.This book draws on extensive new research to pinpoint the key reasons why some locations succeed in the quest to become a technology centre, while others fail. The authors answer crucial questions about the world's entrepreneurial hotspots: What makes these locations so special? Which local characteristics are inherent? Which can be fostered? What are the best ways to promote local entrepreneurship? And what can budding centres of entrepreneurship do in order to enter the game?Creating Regional Wealth in the Global Economy analyses the key factors for developing regional success and wealth in the Networked Ecomomy. It identifies the best practices that business and government leaders need to consider to develop their area into a powerhouse of the future.

At the 99% Conference in New York last week, venture capitalist Fred Wilson gave a presentation entitled ‘Ten Ways To Be Your Boss’. He argued that there are many ways to be an entrepreneur but unfortunately the iconic image of the entrepreneur is so paramount that it causes a lot of people to doubt that they too can run a business. He told the audience:

“There are many, many ways to be an entrepreneur. We can all be our own boss – it’s energizing to work in a place that you imagined and created and where the culture comes from you and your partners.”