Bill Gates has invested indirectly in a newly established technological incubator for the development of medical devices, sources inform "Globes." As far as is known, this is Gates first-ever investment in Israel. The investment is in the XELERATOR incubator, which was set up by the MEDX medical device developer, managed by entrepreneur Harel Gadot (previously a senior Johnson & Johnson executive and a former Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball player). There are three other partners in the incubator - Boston Scientific, the Sheba Medical Center, and Intellectual Ventures. The partners are committed to an overall investment of $65 million over eight years in the incubators' companies and graduates.

Image: http://www.globes.co.il

Being an entrepreneur today is very different from the way it was in our parents’ and grandparents’ days. In countries with ‘Western’ cultures, the young adults’ world is also vastly different from that of older generations. But because we often need to do business with older people, this has implications for how we relate to, and work with them.

Research into the attitudes and expectations of people born during the second half of the 20th century suggest that they can be categorised roughly into one of two groups: Millennials and Generation Xers.

Image: http://ventureburn.com

At some point as an innovation leader, you and your team will launch new innovations into the market place. Those could be new products and services, it could be a new advertising campaign, or simply displaying your products at a trade show. These initiatives are an important test of your leadership. So here are my tips - the DO’s and DON’Ts for launching new initiatives.

WACO, Texas (June 20, 2016) - A new study from Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business helps leaders better understand how to manage innovators, specifically scientists and engineers.

"Our study suggests that leaders who understand how to manage their employees' commitment to both their organizations and professions may be the most successful at motivating and retaining innovators," said the study's lead author, Sara Perry, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor's Hankamer School of Business. "Innovators represent a highly valued workforce."

Image: THIS IS SARA PERRY, PH.D., ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT IN BAYLOR'S HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. CREDIT: BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

There is a common belief in the angel and venture capital community that you put your money on the best team, rather than the best idea. Thus the top priority of every entrepreneur who wants funding should be to build and highlight their “dream team” of co-founders, executives and advisers, to attract the biggest and best investors. Solo entrepreneurs rarely find an investor.

The first proposed test of CRISPR gene-editing technology in human beings is being funded by Internet billionaire Sean Parker, MIT Technology Review has learned.

The novel cancer treatment, initially disclosed last week, is being reviewed Tuesday by a federal advisory panel in Washington, D.C., and could become the first clinical trial involving CRISPR, the red-hot gene modification technology.

Now we can report that Parker, a 36-year-old whose net worth is estimated at $2.4 billion, is financing the study.

TOKYO, June 20, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - The University of Tokyo ("the University") and Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501; "Hitachi") today announced the establishment of "Hitachi The University of Tokyo Laboratory" ("the Laboratory") within the grounds of the University on June 20, 2016, to co-create and share visions towards realizing the "Super Smart Society"(1) (Society 5.0(2)) proposed by the Japanese government. The Laboratory will co-create visions that achieve both solutions to issues in society and economic development, by leading innovative changes in society and creating new value for the prosperity of society.

Excitement is swirling about the new Harry Potter film being released this November. More properly, it’s a prequel, since it takes place long before Harry’s parents were born, but a lot of us Potter fans are getting our Hogwarts on anyway. (I’m summoning my inner Hermione and yes, thank you, I was very much like her as a child – minus the wand and the incantations.)

So a few weeks ago, that was my state of mind while I was having a therapeutic cup of coffee with the head of Talent Acquisition at a very large company, whom I’ll call ‘Tracy.’ At least the headache-du-jour was not the common problem of attracting applicants. Tracy had nailed that one years ago. Admittedly, it’s less of a challenge when your company is pretty much a household name. And branding as a preferred employer hadn’t been much of a concern either, for the same reason.

The ongoing coral bleaching event that has killed or severely injured reefs from the Great Barrier Reef to Hawaii and the Indian Ocean has set its sights on the U.S. during the rest of 2016 and into next year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

The agency's Coral Reef Watch computer model outlooks show that the bleaching event will continue worldwide "with no signs of stopping," the agency said in a press release and media conference call Monday. 

Given the malign effect that Tony Blair’s support had on the “Remain” campaign, it will be interesting to see how Richard Branson’s similar intervention fares.

The entrepreneur, who’d probably turn up at the opening of a crisp packet if he thought it would get publicity for his Virgin brand, is a bit of a “Marmite” personality.

Some laud him as a rare British example of an American-style brash entrepreneur, while others carp about his shameless self-promotion and the labyrinthine corporate nature of his Virgin Corporation, which would probably even give a headache to those clever chaps at Google.

The status-seeking moves of ambitious employees can alter the fate of a company.

It is widely believed that in order to gain competitive advantage, companies must first win the “war for talent”. The future of an organisation thus depends on its ability to lure rock-star employees and keep them happy. It’s a seeming no-brainer: The team with the most proven winners wins the most.

Image: http://knowledge.insead.edu

Every successful entrepreneur has horror stories. When it’s you and your idea against the world—at least that’s what it feels like during the dark midnight-oil-burning times—you’re going to drop the ball, bite off more than you can chew, and make mistakes.

Mistakes aren't all fatal, and most of them are useful. They keep you on your toes. I first started Create & Cultivate, an online platform and offline conference for female digital entrepreneurs, and I made plenty of miscalculations in my first few years. Here are six of them that taught me the most.

When you sign on to be a mentor to a junior employee, you probably think the arrangement is weighted in favor of the mentee. After all, the traditional dynamic sees you doing the bulk of the giving, while the latter just has to absorb your priceless wisdom and reap the rewards. But what you may not realize at first is just how much your own career stands to gain from the mentor experience.

Image: Flickr user Nick Kenrick

Prominent Australian founder, entrepreneur and investor Mick Luibinskas says there are three crucial questions he always asks a founder, whether he’s looking to mentor them or invest in them.

In an AMA session run by Blackbird Ventures, the muru-D entrepreneur-in-residence says he has a series of questions to test a founder’s commitment and purpose.

“I want to quit what I’m doing now and come join you for 10 years – should I?” Luibinskas says.

He then offers to buy the business right there for $5 million.

Image: http://www.startupsmart.com.au

"What do you think about ‘Lyft for food’?"

In 2013, Gagan Biyani was working as what techies like to call a "growth hacker" at the ride-hailing company Lyft—his job was to help launch its service in Los Angeles, Lyft’s first market beyond San Francisco—when a childhood friend, Neeraj Berry, asked him if he’d be interested in applying Lyft’s blueprint to another type of service.

Image: Cooking up loyalty: in January 2015, sprig CEO Gagan Biyani added a $10-per-month unlimited delivery option to his ondemand restaurant. "it’s better to increase a customer’s lifetime value," he says, "than it is to increase your marketing spend" finding new customers.Photo: Noel Spirandelli

Cities are like living entities: They grow, shrink, expand and decline over time. And surprisingly, until now, there wasn’t a good way to watch this happen holistically.

A new study from Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies aims to take the first steps toward fixing that problem, with the release of a data set that digitizes 6,000 years of historical population data worldwide.

“I think to understand cities today it’s helpful to see cities from the past to look at how cities have changed,” says Meredith Reba, the lead author and a research associate at Yale F&ES.

Image: https://nextcity.org

AngelList, an online platform that matches high potential startups with investors and employees currently indicates that 578 accelerators are in operation, up from one in 2005. Why the enormous increase in the number of accelerators in the United States over the past decade? What’s Behind the Growing Number of Business Accelerators in the U.S.?

Raising funds from a large number of people, generally through an online platform, offers start-ups a chance to push ahead despite the tightening of criteria by traditional lending sources following the global financial crisis. The new licensing regime for crowdfunding platforms, announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), acknowledges the utility of this form of raising capital. However, a balance has to be struck between facilitating the development of securities-based crowdfunding and ensuring that there are sufficient safeguards for investors. Complaints made by investors who failed to receive their payouts highlighted the need for action.

Ventures Platform (VP), a world-class innovation hub for the tech community in Abuja has promised to expand its foothold to other parts of the country.

It promised an incubation ground for young entrepreneurs, which would provide them an enabling environment and mentorship from business experts and venture capitalists.

At the core of VP’s value proposition is an intensive 16-week hybrid incubation programme, a residence for need-based cohorts and a paid co-working space for free-lance entrepreneurs and professionals on the go. Through the incubation and accelerator programs, events and training, Ventures Platform will identify, support and fund innovative ideas and enterprises in the e-agriculture, e-health care, Fintech, e-government, ICT and other technology inclined areas, bringing innovative ideas from concept to reality.

The first study to systematically measure the number of neurons in the brains of more than two dozen species of birds has found that the birds that were studied consistently have more neurons packed into their small brains than those in mammalian or even primate brains of the same mass.

The study results were published online in an open-access paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences early edition on the week of June 13.

Image: The macaw has a brain the size of an unshelled walnut, compared to the macaque monkey’s lemon-sized brain. But the macaw has more neurons in its forebrain — the portion of the brain associated with intelligent behavior — than the macaque. (credit: Vanderbilt University)