The budget crisis in California will surely kill the ambitious agendas of many elected officials – but if we play to California's strengths, it should not derail our most pressing agenda: job creation.

Even in the middle of a brutal recession, California is fertile economic territory. With a smart strategy, targeted investments and the right incentives, Gov. Jerry Brown and his team can produce thousands of new jobs and millions in revenue for the state.

What better way to study the pros and cons of a major shift in strategy than to examine its impact on a similar organization that took the plunge? In 2005, the University of Utah’s new president Michael Young, in response to the state’s investments in Utah’s knowledge economy, plucked the technology commercialization office out of the research administration division and handed its oversight to Jack Brittain, then Dean of Utah’s business school. The university combined three previously independent units under Brittain into a new division called “Technology Ventures” whose mandate was to accelerate the rate of startup formation, connect the technology transfer office to the university’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Center, improve the university’s industry research partnerships, and streamline its technology licensing strategy.

Detecting melanoma—the most lethal form of skin cancer—still relies on dermatologists eyeballing moles and deciding which ones warrant a biopsy. A new handheld device developed by scientists at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) and licensed to Verisante Technology could provide instant information about the molecular makeup of moles.

The device, called the Verisante Aura, is held above a mole, and uses Raman spectroscopy, a technique that distinguishes molecules using their vibrational states, to scan for those whose relative concentrations are characteristic of melanoma. The device returns a verdict within seconds. Following a successful small clinical trial, Verisante is now analyzing the results of another trial with 1,000 moles. The company plans to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later this year.

He skipped four grades as a child, graduated college at the age of 18, and became the youngest CEO ever to raise venture capital. How did he do it? Brian Wong sums it up succinctly: He's Asian. He references the recent WSJ article by Amy Chua, "Why Chinese mothers are superior," by way of explanation as to how one should go about trying to create a child prodigy.

Canadian-born Wong actually started designing when he was eleven and was off like a rocket from there, skipping grades and graduating early, but he noted that his parents didn't want him to, fearing for his emotional and social health. But when I grilled him on what his parents did to make him the young phenomenon he became, he revealed that there is no patented, top secret recipe--just love and a solid home life.

He’s been on the job for just a short time, and already he’s asking for state money back from a company that’s fallen short of job-creation goals.

Mark Kvamme said it’s a good example of what the state of Ohio can expect from him as new director of the Department of Development.

“This particular company was supposed to create 100 jobs, and they created 10,” he said. “We need to make sure companies are living up to their word.”

“Clawbacks,” or the process of retrieving state grant money from companies that fail to meet promised economic or job goals, has been relatively rare. But Kvamme said it may become more common as Ohio moves toward a new model of economic development that relies more on private-business concepts.

Late last night the 43 startups in the most recent Y Combinator class got quite a surprise. Start Fund, a new fund created by DST’s Yuri Milner as an individual and SV Angel, offered each of the companies a $150,000 investment in the form of a convertible note with no cap and no discount.

Most of these companies are still in stealth mode, and Start Fund hasn’t seen them. They made the offer based on the Y Combinator stamp of approval.

The startups are jumping on board. 36 of the 43 startups in the class had signed the paperwork to take the loan before the event was even over last night, says David Lee, a managing partner at SV Angel who’s also managing the Start Fund. “As of 3 pm today we’ve received 39 confirmed signature pages, and we believe the rest are awaiting approval from their attorneys.”

Last week the European Commission has adopted measures to make participation in the EU's current Seventh Framework Program for Research more attractive and more accessible to the best researchers and most innovative companies, especially Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Based on the simplification plan unveiled by the Commission in April 2010, these measures will take effect at once.

According to a Commission announcement, Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: "Today's measures will allow the many thousands of excellent people we fund to save time and effort on paperwork and concentrate on what they do best - working to boost growth and jobs and improve our quality of life in Europe through world class research and innovation. We want to attract even more and better applicants, including dynamic small businesses which can't cope with reams of red tape. This is only the start: the Commission has already proposed big changes to the overall financial rules governing all EU funding programmes, and if the Parliament and Council agree with those, we will put forward more radical simplification measures for the successor programme to FP7."
Three concrete measures

This morning the White House announced the Startup America Partnership – a public/private effort bringing together an alliance of the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders, working in concert with a wide range of federal agencies to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of American entrepreneurs.

The Startup America Partnership (www.startupamericapartnership.org) will marshal private resources to scale up a portfolio of proven models at every stage of the innovation funnel, from the first stirrings of entrepreneurial ambition to the market success of a new firm.   One of the core outcomes of the effort is to expand entrepreneurship education and mentorship programs that empower more Americans not just to get a job, but to create jobs.

“Startup America” will seek to make permanent elimination of capital gains taxes, set aside $2 billion for small business startups.

And: Former head of AOL Steve Case will chair group.

White House to Launch “Startup America” Initiative
Administration and Private Sector Campaigns will promote entrepreneurship and innovation

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama laid out a plan for winning the future by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building the rest of the world. This week, the White House will hold a number of events to focus on innovation, and how we can create the jobs and industries of the future by investing in the creativity and imagination of the American people.

Out of the mouths babes. Maybe because it's a company town and everyone in Silicon Valley has a family connection to entrepreneurship. Or maybe I just encountered the most entrepreneurial 12 year olds every assembled under one roof. Or maybe we're now teaching entrepreneurial thinking in middle schools. Either way I had an astounding evening as one of the judges at the Girls Middle School 7th grade Entrepreneurial night.

During last week’s State of the Union address, President Obama challenged the Nation to out-educate, out-innovate, and out-build our competition to win the future.

A critical ingredient in this endeavor is the creative spirit of the American entrepreneur that featured prominently in the President’s Strategy for American Innovation – a framework for long-term economic growth and sustainable job creation.

Today, President Obama celebrated the launch of Startup America, a national (public/private) campaign to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship across all corners of the country, and the formation of the Startup America Partnership to catalyze private support for entrepreneurial ecosystems.

1. "There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread." - Mother Theresa

2. "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice." - Meister Eckhart

3. "The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated." - William James

4. "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." - William Arthur Ward

5. "I would rather be able to appreciate things I cannot have than to have things I am not able to appreciate." - Elbert Hubbard

International travelers and expatriates have long known that currency exchange rates are not reliable indicators of purchasing power. For example, a traveler to France or Germany will notice that the dollar equivalent in Euros cannot buy as much as at home. Conversely, the traveler to China will note that the dollar equivalent in Yuan will buy more.

Economists have attempted to solve this problem by developing "purchasing power parities," which are used to estimate currency conversion rates that equalize values based upon prices (Note 1). This helps establish the real value of money in a particular place.

When it comes to being healthy and living a vibrant and energy filled life, sleep seems to be one of the most elusive aspects to conquer.

Certainly we know that getting a good night’s sleep is important - crucial, even, to good health. But it’s not as simple as just deciding that you are now going to start sleeping better. At least that’s how it often seems.

Want to eat healthier or with more variety? All it takes is some planning and follow-through. Want to exercise more? It’s just a matter of making time for even 10 minutes a day, and scheduling it in.

Have you ever tried to tell someone about your online business or your idea for a business – but when you did, their eyes glazed over? You feel stupid or self-conscious because you know they’re bored, confused or just don’t get it.

The truth is we’re already so inundated with information and overloaded with work everyday that it’s hard to interest us in anything. In fact, most of us happen to think, say and do the same things everyday. We just do it with slight variations. (That’s why you can’t help wanting to check your emails, tweets and text messages to see what’s fresh coming down the information pipeline. It’s human nature.)

The days are gone when a techie or a genius could build things in his garage and customers would find and buy the product, based purely on the “wow factor” of the technology. New technologies are everywhere today. People have seen so much that they aren’t impressed anymore, and fully expect the impossible to appear tomorrow.

They are overloaded by the media with amazing advertising messages, and people now realize that you can’t believe anything you see in pictures, and even videos can be edited to deliver any message. In fact, we are all media companies now, with our cell phones, computers, and professional-looking publishing tools.

• Decision Points by George W. Bush
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (the Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race by Jon Stewart
• Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Jessica Livingston, one of the founders of Y Combinator wrote an article yesterday titled What stops female founders? which was partly about the under-representation of women in tech (4% of Y-C entrepreneurs are women) but also has a good slew of general advice for all entrepreneurs.

I particularly liked the section headed ‘Thick Skin’ which started with the oft repeated but worthwhile reminder that for most entrepreneurs the ability to continue on in the face of widespread criticism and lack of understanding is a pre-requisite for success.

Founders face all sorts of rejection in the early days. You are suddenly in a world where you get slapped around a lot, so if you take slaps personally it is going to be distracting. People will dismiss your idea, complain about the functionality of what you’ve built, or publicly criticize you.

Given the fact that most of us are trained to be good employees– rather than groomed to become entrepreneurs – making the transition from working for someone else, to being self-employed can oftentimes be difficult.

I recognized that I’d be facing new challenges when I went into business for myself, but I wasn’t prepared for how different. Although I’m still an entrepreneurial work-in-progress, a few lessons learned in 2010 have helped me a lot:

Don’t Burn Bridges
Being unhappy with your job can be a great catalyst for change; and more than one entrepreneur has started their business for this very reason. But it’s always best to give your soon-to-be former employer the respect they deserve, and depart on the best possible terms.