Corrosive changes in patent law are undermining research university commercialization of patented, federally-funded basic research, endangering our nation’s innovation ecosystem. Mounting uncertainty repels private investment needed to convert new discoveries into innovative public benefits. Prominent investment destabilizers include: post development invalidation, big-tech’s efficient infringement, increased costs of patent enforcement, looming congressional patent reform, and foreign IP theft and price/access manipulation. Collectively these uncertainties can crumble our country’s world-class innovation ecosystem. We must use the limited time left to reverse that catastrophic outcome by seizing every opportunity to do so.

It is past time for some plain speaking about the very concept of innovation.

Innovation science is still in its infancy.  We have just begun to scratch the tiniest part of the surface of how organizations and cultures become innovative entities.  For the most part, innovation is still more guess work than predictable activity, comprised generally of a set of miscellaneous tools, practices, acronyms, and models, loosely bundled and re-languaged as innovation. 

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. They have enough confidence in their ability to deliver that they don’t worry about someone stealing the idea to get there first, and they don’t forget to listen carefully to critical feedback. They become walking public relations machines for themselves, as well as their idea.

As companies race towards digitisation, the expectation that people in organisations need to be permanently on-call is creating very human challenges. How well an individual copes depends on their personality.

We used to communicate with the people we work with as we walked down the hall to a meeting, or over lunch, or (all too often) with those little hand-written phone messages starting with “while you were out …” These days however, people are more likely to be in constant touch through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as social media, mobile phones or video links. In fact, a recent study found that almost one third of adults in the U.S. never turn off their smart phones - such is the all-pervasive nature of modern communication technology.

It all started with the design of Kevin Plank’s moisture-wicking T-shirts.

The sports world loves an underdog story. And the saga of Under Armour, the sports clothing and accessories company that has carved out a space in a market dominated by well-established players like Nike, has all the elements of a wonderful, up-from-under narrative.

In 1996, University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank launched Under Armour with the design of his moisture-wicking T-shirts. The Baltimore-based company now produces and sells men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, footwear, and accessories.

Image: Founder and CEO of Under Armour Kevin Plank speaks at the 2016 CES trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 6, 2016. Photograph by Steve Marcus — Reuters

Trust is the foundation of strong business relationships, both personal and professional. And healthy relationships are the key factor to happiness.

Besides being happier, entrepreneurs with high levels of trust are more successful at retaining their employees. They may even earn more money.

There is a growing and costly language gap between big businesses and startups, and the stakes have never been higher. 

News flash #1: Startups could really use the help of large businesses. Established companies have the systems, brand awareness, distribution and expertise to turn the seeds of ideas into flourishing gardens of possibility. #JustwhatIneed

I didn’t know it, but the eggs my boys were cooking for themselves each morning were putting me at risk of premature death.

The danger wasn’t the eggs per se, but tiny cooking oil particulates that the stove’s heat was launching into the air. These particulates, known as PM2.5 because of their 2.5-micron size, have been linked with asthma (which I have), heart disease, stroke, and even autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children born to mothers exposed during pregnancy. The World Health Organization estimates that 80 percent of people living in urban environments are being exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution from particulates and it says they cause four million deaths annually around the world.

Image: The Speck 2.0 air quality sensor costs $200.

It’s that time of year when a crop of new college graduates floods the job market looking for work. But how those with freshly minted bachelor’s degrees eventually match up with employers is often a haphazard process for an economy as advanced as that of the United States.

Employers don’t plan far in advance for their hiring needs. They evaluate candidates during interviews based largely on gut instinct, and rely heavily on the halo effect of credentials from elite universities.

U.S. patents date all the way back to the Constitution, which requires the legislative branch to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”

In downtown Dallas, inventors and entrepreneurs can visit one of the country’s five patent offices where examiners review new ideas and inventions to decide whether they qualify for legal protection.

Image: http://www.dallasnews.com

MR. BERMAN: Innovation on a budget. I think in Internet parlance that people might say, “Give us your best hack.” So what’s the single best hack you can share about innovation on a budget?

MR. CASE: Partner. It isn’t just about what you do within your organization, but how you connect with other people, particularly entrepreneurs.

It could be as a customer, it could be as a minority investor, it could be a joint venture, perhaps even an acquisition. But the idea is to not just focus on what you’re trying to do within the company, but also what’s happening around the company.

Ever since it launched in 2011, Payfirma Corp. has been on an upward trajectory. Until recently, anyway.

The company was formed during the heady infancy of mobile payment systems. Square Inc., which launched a couple of years earlier, was a rapidly growing darling of investors. And there was nothing like it in Canada. Michael Gokturk, an entrepreneur who had just ushered a payment processing company he co-founded through a successful IPO, decided to jump on the trend and turn his attention to mobile.

Image: Illustration by Josh Holinaty - http://www.canadianbusiness.com

Are we at the top? 

After years of easy access to cash, a slowdown in funding and IPO has some tech investors and startup founders worried that the industry is facing a correction.

But there are still huge venture capital funds looking to splash the cash as Europe's tech scene continues to grow.

Marc Hedlund and his co-founders are launching a company called Skyliner that looks like a typical tech startup, except in one important way.

The founders are all engineers and, collectively, veterans of marquee tech companies such as Microsoft Corp., Yammer Inc., Etsy Inc. and Stripe Inc.

Their headquarters are in the San Francisco Bay Area. And, as at many startups, the founders are keeping their plans under wraps.

Image: http://www.wsj.com

The latest report from Adobe reveals that a majority (70%) of U.S. office workers report loving their jobs. In fact, they love work so much, they spend a lot of off hours thinking about it, and are likely to have a second job to help them improve the first.

This love fest stands in sharp contrast to several recent reports. According to Gallup’s most recent count, only 32.2% of respondents say they are engaged at work, while a recent study by the Marcus Buckingham Company, a management consultancy, found only 19% of U.S. employees reported being involved, enthusiastic, and committed.

The National Equity Atlas, launched almost two years ago, features racial breakdowns of numerous economic and related data, such as median hourly wages, unemployment and educational attainment, so policymakers, researchers and anyone can see clearly who is benefiting from the economy and who is being left behind. Sarah Treuhaft, director of equitable growth initiatives at PolicyLink, which created the atlas with the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, remembers presenting it for the first time at a conference.

Image: National Equity Atlas

The Minnesota cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have the best park systems in the United States, according to The Trust for Public Land’s 2016 ranking, which was released today.

The national nonprofit, which advocates for preserving green space for Americans, evaluated the 100 most populous U.S. cities on the metrics of park access (how many residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park), park size and investment, popular amenities, including dog parks, playgrounds and recreation centers, and more.

Image: Minneapolis' Loring Park (Photo by Alexius Horatius) (Wikimedia Commons)

What products or services have you purchased that are your absolute favorites? Can think of a few? My bet is that you can think of a few because those products did everything and more than what you expected. Your satisfaction after consuming those products is very high. That’s one reason why the last step of the buying process, the post-purchase phase, may be the most important in the study of consumer behavior. Let’s learn more reasons why and what you as the innovator can do about it.

I recently had the honour of speaking to Executive MBA students from the University of Columbia when they visited Cape Town for a summer school. I shared with them some of the key lessons I learnt during my first couple of years of running a start-up business.

I would like to share my learnings with entrepreneurs looking for some guidance.

The Hershey Co. will be the first tenant in a technology incubator conceived by the University of Pennsylvania and expected to open later this summer in Philadelphia.

Penn and Hershey announced on Friday agreement that makes the Derry Township-based chocolate maker the inaugural corporate sponsor of the Pennovation Center.

Image: Amy Spangler - http://www.cpbj.com