Western Washington is already home to some of the most innovative people, companies, and academic programs in the world. And yet we should be doing much more to connect and support our local innovators, to attract more agents of change to the region, and to help them develop big new things.

Boston Seed Capital is looking to raise up to $40m for its third venture capital fund, AltAssets can reveal.

The fund, Boston Seed Capital Fund III, has yet to register any commitments according to its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

While no target or hard cap is made clear, the funds predecessor launched in 2014 with the goal of $20m.

The Wisconsin Venture Capital Association, a nonprofit trade group that was formed in 2002 but has been dormant since 2008, is springing back to life, according to key figures in the state’s venture industry.

The revival, first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was confirmed Wednesday by two Madison-based investors.

Ten years ago, when we would ask senior executives or company directors what “digital” meant to them, their response would usually be something related to social media. Today, it might be apps, Big Data, 3D printing, “the cloud” or another current example of digital technology. All such answers are equally correct – and equally in error. More important than the specific innovations introduced by the digital revolution is their earth-shaking cumulative impact on business and on organisations. There is no border anymore between the pre- and post-digital worlds. Digital is business and business is digital.

When the Wright Brothers flew in 1903, Dayton had more patents per capita than any other U.S. city, records show.

And that was before NCR, Delco Labs, Frigidaire, General Motors, Mound and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base invented products or processes that have transformed the world.

“At one point, Dayton was essentially the Silicon Valley of its day,” said Eron Bucciarelli-Tieger, CEO of Sounstr and an Englewood resident.

There are a lot of factors involved in this question, all of which increase or decrease the standard of living. The Human development Index (HDI) is a key measure of standard of living. The other primary form is GDP per capita.

First, we need to understand what the HDI is. The HDI is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita. A country scores higher HDI when the life expectancy at birth is longer, the education period is longer, and the income per capita is greater. It is used to distinguish whether a country is developed, developing or underdeveloped.

Your purpose as a leader is to become a source of growth for the people around you. There’s nothing more sacred or important in your work than helping others grow. To do this, you need to draw upon seven powerful tools.

Serving as a source of growth requires a deliberate effort to:

1. Pay attention. Your willingness to listen and focus on the work of your colleagues is a high form of showing respect. Respect is rocket fuel for relationships.

The idea that science is inextricably linked to technological progress is now taken for granted.

Historical evidence is voluminous and examples abound all around us, from satellites that keep our GPS devices working to medical treatments that cure diseases that have victimized millions in the past. This idea has unfortunately been drastically simplified to fit a global narrative of innovation that has shaped science policy in Canada and internationally.

My mind was becoming constricted. I noticed that the weight of the world, and all my clients’ issues, were pressing down on me. I worried that my thinking was falling into a rut and my creativity and ability to advise my clients well were going to suffer.

Image: http://benariltd.com

JOHN SWART NAMED CULTIVATION CORRIDOR
IOWA BIOTECH LEADER OF THE YEARM
Ted Crosbie Also Honored Posthumously For Contributions
To State And Industry

DES MOINES – March 22nd, 2017 – Iowa Biotechnology Association (IowaBio) Executive Director Joe Hrdlicka and Cultivation Corridor Executive Director Brent Willett announced Dr. John Swart, founder and CEO of Exemplar Genetics, as the Cultivation Corridor Iowa Biotech Leadership Award recipient at this year's Partnering For Growth event. Additionally, special recognition was awarded posthumously to former Monsanto executive and industry leader Dr. Ted Crosbie who passed away suddenly this past summer.

The Cultivation Corridor and the IowaBio team up to present the award to an individual who in the past year has demonstrated leadership, innovation, advocacy and commitment to advancing Iowa's biotech industry.

An executive partner at Flagship Pioneering discusses what’s next for the industry, disruptive technologies, and patient care.

What’s next for the pharmaceuticals industry, amid digital disruption and rapid technological advances? McKinsey’s Martin Dewhurst sat down for a wide-ranging conversation with David Epstein of venture firm Flagship Pioneering to explore ways the sector could shift in coming years.

BYU professors’ research has led to many new technologies and inventions including more than 19 startup businesses throughout the country in the past year, according to the Technology Transfer office director Mike Alder.

The Technology Transfer office is tucked away on the third floor of the Harold B. Lee Library. It stays busy with 65 to 100 unique inventions each year from professors all over campus, Alder said.

Image: Inventor and BYU alumnus Ben Faber, left, holds a prototype of the active noise control technology with co-founder and BYU alumnus Kevin Harrison, center, and computer engineer Jorden Luke, right, in front of a test vehicle. (Henk Brenkman) - http://universe.byu.edu

In San Francisco, the rent — as they say — "is too damn high."

In an effort to help employees avoid the high cost of living, a small tech company will pay new hires $10,000 to move out of the Bay Area and work remotely.

In a blog post published March 17, Zapier CEO Wade Foster announced an experimental "de-location" incentive program that will reimburse moving expenses up to $10,000 if a person accepts a position at the startup and moves out of the Bay Area in the first three months.

The bloodletting in the Indian startup ecosystem continues with hotel-booking app RoomsTonite shutting shop on the heels of the Stayzilla fiasco, which is still playing out in the media. I have previously said that the startup space in India is safe because of its self-correcting nature. However, I did not expect that startups that failed to raise venture capital will start raising “vendor capital”.

Image: Anirudh Damani

Selexys was one of the top five largest mergers and acquisitions of U.S.-based companies in the fourth quarter of 2016. That deal and the sale of WeGoLook are proof positive that Oklahoma's strategy of public/private venture capital funds works.

When the recent fourth-quarter and full-year MoneyTree Report came out, I got a little hot under the collar. MoneyTree reports trends in financing to U.S. venture capital-backed companies.

What’s going on in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry? Companies that used to thrive with clearly defined product portfolios are entering one another’s businesses. Erstwhile hardware companies such as Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Xerox have moved into software services. Software companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and HCL Technologies make smartphones. Companies that used to offshore computer services, such as WiPro, are moving back onshore and competing through the cloud.

Peter Drucker wrote Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the 1980s as a book that for the first time put innovation as a regular management tool, side-by-side with strategy and operations in a managed business. It offers little mystification of the term "innovation" and there is much of a practical approach to where innovation is made---or might be made. Drucker had a personal purpose towards innovation: eliminate the terror of mid-managers for eating the vegetable soup so as to make entrepreneurship a systematic job to be done within any type of business (venture business, corporate enterprise or public business).

The dream of the flying car could come down to earth before it gets off the ground. Rising in its place: a network of self-flying drones big enough to ferry individual commuters around town. That’s the future envisioned by several start-ups that are developing so-called “passenger drones,” which could shrink commute times from hours to minutes.

Can Rhode Island be transformed into a high performing state? Saul Kaplan tells GoLocal that Rhode Island's cynical attitude and recent calls for Rhode Island's government to be transformed are an opportunity for change and improvement.

He sees the opportunity through engagement to drive change. While Rhode Island has not kept up with peer states like Massachusetts, but the state can compete by leveraging greater engagement and taking advantage of the state's size.

Did you know Grand Rapids is among the fastest-growing local economies in the country? If you spent time with me or The Right Place recently, you certainly did. We’re beaming with pride about the collaboration happening to build and ensure a vibrant, growing city and region with opportunity for everyone. A rebounding business climate and strong placemaking has allowed diverse companies to flourish and find success here, while employing local residents in critical, good-paying jobs.