The angel investor market in 2015 had a slight increase in investment dollars and in the deal size according to a new report from the Center for Venture Research (CVR) at the University of New Hampshire. In The Angel Investor Market in 2015: A Buyers Market, CVR reports that total angel investments in 2015 were $24.6 billion – an increase of 1.9 percent over 2014.

The Indian startup ecosystem has witnessed tremendous interest from investors and VC firms overseas. One of the countries is Japan – which has shown tremendous interest in Indian companies. Conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp Ltd has poured in enormous amount of wealth in the form of funding, especially under the helm of its ex- President Nikesh Arora.

Image: East Ventures

“Don’t.” That was Mark Cuban’s surprising answer when we asked him on the set of Shark Tank last week for his number-one tip for making money in investing. “Don’t invest.”

Next, unprompted, the fast-talking entertainment tech mogul and Dallas Mavericks owner launched into a rapid-fire list of “smart money moves” he says “everyone should make.”

Wherever you might be reading this in the world, it’s very likely you’ve read by now about the referendum in the UK recently, in which the country voted by about a majority of 52:48 to leave. While this caused some initial shocks (and rebound) in the financial markets both in the UK and globally, many in business and industry are yet to see what impact this will make in the long term. The future is definitely, uncertain, but it’s clear that it will be some time before anyone knows what exactly will happen.

MADISON – The 2016 edition of “The Wisconsin Portfolio,” an annual publication of the Tech Council’s Wisconsin Angel Network, shows a sharp increase in angel and venture investment activity for the previous calendar year.

At least 128 Wisconsin early stage companies raised investment capital in 2015, a 13 percent jump from the prior year. More than $209 million was raised by those 128 companies, which was down from the 2014 total of $346 million but largely explained in the context of one major deal: SHINE Medical Technologies’ $127.4 million debt financing round in 2014.

The Tech Council obtained data from a variety of public and industry sources, including a survey of members of its angel network. The Wisconsin Angel Network is the Tech Council’s link to the investor community, helping to fuel the growth of capital in Wisconsin by providing services and resources to the early stage investing and entrepreneurial communities.

On our intelligence portal and throughout our reports, we couldn’t help but notice the sheer number of innovative ideas being developed in Boston. With a high density of startups, its diverse residents and a supportive civic infrastructure, the city serves as an incubator for progress.

And why not?

Image: http://www.psfk.com

The debate over China’s innovation potential keeps coming back. It was even one of the first topics I wrote about in my own blog Startup Noodle. Since then I see it returning again (interesting essay by Maya Cypris) and again (article published by the World Economic Forum) and there are many, many other examples.

In the day-to-day rush to get everything done at work, one important task can easily fall by the wayside: Keeping up on your own skill development.

It’s easy to fall into a rut and overlook or ignore new and emerging skills you’ll need to keep pace with the industry and advance your own career. A September 2014 survey from training firm Udemy found that 61% of Americans believe that today’s workforce is plagued by a skills gap, but they don’t think they’re part of the problem.

HOLLAND, MI -- Holland's new Smart Zone technology park is introducing itself with a $5,000 contest.

Here's how it works: Entrepreneurs pitch their early stage ideas. The five finalists will be culled from the entries filed at 5x5night.com. Applications and votes are accepted through July 14. The winner will be picked by five judges at the July 21 contest.

If the contest sounds like Start Garden's hallmark 5X5 Night competition, that is because the start-up incubator -- which brings together investors and startups -- is involved.

Image: http://www.mlive.com

Within a week, two continents embarked on widely divergent paths. Europe’s union took a potentially fatal blow, while North America committed to a deeper relationship: Canada, the U.S., and Mexico issued a joint commitment to building a clean economy. It’s a big step forward for cross-border cooperation, and the ramifications for energy producers and users (that is, everyone) could be enormous.

The North American Climate, Clean Energy, and Environment Partnership covers a lot of ground. The biggest commitments are:

Every time one company launches a takeover bid for another, the justification is always about synergies. The more and bigger they are the better the deal. Microsoft’s recently announced $26 billion all cash offer for LinkedIn is the latest case in point. The CEOs of both companies and the media have all focused on the synergies in communicating and discussing the deal.

But this “sum the synergies” approach to evaluating deals is highly problematic. All too often acquirers make big claims about synergies that they fail conspicuously to achieve, at least that’s what the track record in M&A suggests.

The Chinese government's call to the nation to build an innovation-driven economy from the top down has sparked a rush by local governments to construct new buildings in the name of supporting creativity.

Innovation centers have been popping up around the country and are set to more than double to nearly 5,000 in the next five years, according to internet research firm iiMedia. The only problem for local governments; entrepreneurs are not moving in.

“We’re moving to Canada.”

In media coverage and casual conversations with CEOs, investors and skilled professionals, this sentiment is brought up constantly. I’m not surprised. With the state of the European Union after the Brexit vote, and the possibility of a Trump presidency in the United States, it’s easy to see why people might look to Canada as a haven from the uncertainty bubbling around the world.

While some people are clearly exaggerating their desire to pull up stakes, there is evidence that many skilled professionals are seriously considering moving to Canada right now. This offers Canadian startups an unprecedented opportunity.

In my role as an angel investor to startups, I’m struck by the broad variety of advisor strategies I see in investor presentations and business plans that cross my desk. Some entrepreneurs are “lone rangers,” never mentioning any outside guidance, while others tout dozens of advisors. In my experience, both of these approaches will likely have minimal value for your venture.

Y Combinator is generally acknowledged to be the accelerator program with the most successful startup alumni — including multi-billion dollar businesses like Airbnb, Stripe and Dropbox.

But a study published by investment research firm CB Insights on Tuesday said the Mountain View accelerator trails another Bay Area program, when measured by the median amount of money raised by founders who go through its program.

For many young businesses and startups, crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are now the go-to source for seed capital. So much so that, by the end of 2016, this innovative financing method is expected to contribute more business funding than venture capitals (VCs).

Given the ever-increasing popularity of the system, getting backers’ attention is no easy task and barely 40% of all campaigns succeed. My latest study was designed to see whether those that do would consider embarking on the crowdfunding campaign trail again, or if once was enough for any sane entrepreneur.

Image: https://www.startupgrind.com

Some business owners are still not entirely comfortable with the "mysterious" field of information technology. They know they need a website and are concerned about getting viruses on their equipment, but they do not know if they are ready for a full-fledged IT outsourcing service. Perhaps there is an employee or two that seem "good with computers" and they have managed to save the day occasionally during an IT crisis. However, there have also been some instances where business was lost or a customer turned away dissatisfied due to a technical glitch. Perhaps the desired growth in your business just isn't happening, and you suspect it is because you do not yet have an online presence.

The number of people actively involved in starting a business in Sweden is growing faster than in Germany and France, which along with Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain have the lowest levels of entrepreneurial activity in Europe, says a new report

Five per cent of Swedish adults are involved in setting up new businesses, and almost 6 per cent have invested in a business started by someone else, according to a new comparative study of entrepreneurial dynamics, published by the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum and based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).

Image: http://www.sciencebusiness.net

In August 2005, a few months after Judith Rodin was named the first female president of the Rockefeller Foundation, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast. In the days, months, and years that followed, the critical importance of resilience — the ability to prepare for systemic disruptions, survive them, and transform them into opportunities for growth — became evident.

Tom Peters. You know the guy. He branded himself with an “!” after his name. He and Bob Waterman wrote one of the best-selling business books of all time, In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies (Harper & Row, 1982). 

Peters is one of the handful of people who helped transform the business book genre from a staid backwater into a mass market — with 1.8 million titles in print, it’s the fifth-largest book category on Amazon. He has written 29 of those titles and sold more than 10 million copies of them. In the process, Peters helped define the term business guru and inspired more wannabes than Madonna. At age 73, he enjoys an engaged, multigenerational audience, including 135,000 Twitter followers. 

Image: http://www.strategy-business.com