If you feel your smartphone is hurting your health or relationships, the answer may be yes.

You check it in the bathroom. You check it at the movies. You check it when you’re having dinner with your friends. But you wouldn’t say you’re addicted—and most experts would agree with you.

Venture capital investment in Canadian companies rose to a 13-year high in 2015, according to Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association.

A total of $2.3 billion was invested in Canadian companies during the year, a 12 per cent increase from 2014, according to data released by the industry association on Monday. It’s highest level of investment recorded since 2002.

Image: http://www.techvibes.com

When thinking about financing your startup, it is important understand different types of potential investors.

Not every wallet is right for you.

Figuring out who to raise money from and why will save you time and yield better results.

1. Friends and Family

Often times the first check comes from a family member or a friend. In theory, it is a lot easier to close them because they already know you. In practice, sometimes this is awkward, and may lead to awkward situations in the future.

Inova Health System will launch a $100 million venture fund dedicated to precision medicine.

The Falls Church-based health system plans to announce the initiative Thursday as part of an Obama administration event unveiling federal funding and highlighting private-sector commitments in the nascent science.

You may be sitting in your cubicle daydreaming about entrepreneurship – how you can earn more, be more in control of your life. Or, you’re (semi) retired and looking for a new challenge, whether out of boredom or the need to shore up your nest egg.

Regardless of where you are in your career, if you’re wondering about reinventing yourself from employee to entrepreneur, how do you know you’re ready for that big leap?

What do America’s innovators look like? While the stereotype may be Facebook FB +1.09% founder Mark Zuckerberg, the truth, according to a new study out today, couldn’t be more different.

Turns out many of the country’s successful innovators are older, come from highly educated immigrant backgrounds and rather than being 20-something Harvard dropouts, they’ve usually toiled for decades in their fields.

Here’s a tricky task. Pick a photograph from the Web at random. Now try to work out where it was taken using only the image itself. If the image shows a famous building or landmark, such as the Eiffel Tower or Niagara Falls, the task is straightforward. But the job becomes significantly harder when the image lacks specific location cues or is taken indoors or shows a pet or food or some other detail.

Nevertheless, humans are surprisingly good at this task. To help, they bring to bear all kinds of knowledge about the world such as the type and language of signs on display, the types of vegetation, architectural styles, the direction of traffic, and so on. Humans spend a lifetime picking up these kinds of geolocation cues.

Startup founders put a lot of time and thought into who their cofounders will be, but they neglect to do the same when it comes to choosing their investors, argues renowned venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.

"I find (that) this question entrepreneurs give less heart to, and (it) may be one of the most important early decisions people make," Khosla said onstage at the Startup Grind conference in Redwood City, California.

When Anne Dwane became CEO of Zinch, the college matching service, it felt like “diving into a pool needing to figure out how to be a synchronized swimmer.”

“It was a tricky dynamic because there was an existing team,” she says. “I had to insert myself, establish our priorities, and hash out how we were going to operate as a team but there was a lot of missing context.” It was the Olympic Games of adapting to a new job.

Whether it’s a few hours after school or a steady gig for the summer, a part-time job can teach your teen enormous lessons about responsibility, different personality types, and workplace skills—not to mention the extra cash in their pockets.

And the benefits may extend beyond job readiness and economics. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management found that low-income students who participated in the New York City Summer Youth Employment Program, which provides training and summer jobs for young people ages 14 to 21, were more engaged and successful in school.

Image: Flickr user Jason James

Behind every technological innovation is an individual or a team of individuals responsible for the hard scientific or engineering work. And behind each of them is an education and a set of experiences that impart the requisite knowledge, expertise, and opportunity. These scientists and engineers drive technological progress by creating innovative new products and services that raise incomes and improve quality of life for everyone.

A robot’s nimble steps in a snowy forest have wowed the world’s robotics industry. Boston Dynamics, the secretive, Google-owned company, released video of its latest human-like robot tromping through a field — slipping occasionally on uneven terrain — but always catching its balance.

“They’ve set a new bar,” said Aaron Ames, a Georgia Tech robotics professor. “It’s a huge step towards getting robots that can actually operate in our world in unstructured environments on uneven terrain.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a new Federal Funding Announcement (FFA) to award its first national manufacturing innovation institute (NMII). Proposers may solicit a new NMII on any advanced manufacturing technology focus area not already addressed by another institute or competition. NIST intends to make one award in the form of a cooperative agreement that will provide up to $70 million in federal support over a five-year period – NIST requires the awardee match federal funds with equal funding from non-federal sources. The solicitation is open to U.S.-owned entities organized and operated in the United States including U.S. states, local governments, institutions of higher education, nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Applications must be submitted by July 22, 2016.

Be honest. When was the last time you asked yourself, “Does this potential client trust me and what I’m selling?” If you’re a sales manager, when was the last time you asked your reps the same question?

Based on my years of sales training, trust is the most common gateway salespeople fail to navigate and reinforce over a sales cycle. Odds are, you haven’t even considered it. But if you want to take you or your sales team’s performance to the next level, you better start now.

One morning in the depths of the 2001/2002 recession, a decision was looming large at a crucial strategy meeting I had hurriedly called at our offices in Mountain View. It was one of those company defining decisions that come along every so often. And it was clear to all of us in the room that what we decided here would very likely determine whether our startup, Tellme Networks, would live or die.

Here’s one word to describe your first salary negotiation: intimidating.

It’s the first time in your life you’re being told what you’re worth. And you might even be told that you’re not worth the princely sum you thought. While this can feel like a kick to the stomach, consider this: One-third of millennials have taken a salary lower than what they expected, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Despite the recent spate of diversity and inclusion initiatives, the gap between genders in tech is just as wide as ever, according to a new report from SmartAsset.

The financial software and data firm just completed its second annual analysis of Census Bureau data and found that overall, women still make up just over a quarter (26.5%) of tech jobs in the U.S. and earn, on average, 85% of what their male counterparts in similar positions earn.

You thought the Shark Tank was tough... wait until you enter the the first annual Maryland Crab Trap! 

Submit your application to our business plan competition for a chance to be named the company with the most commercial potential at the Regional Biotech Forum and have the opportunity to win $10,000 and an incubation space! Pitch your idea to industry experts on April 19th and 5 Finalists will have the chance to win the Grand Prize.

Biotech company in Princeton plans clinical tests of birth-control patch thanks to state-administered incentive program

If Princeton-based biotechnology firm Agile Therapeutics can eventually get federal approval to bring its promising new female contraceptive patch to market, credit will go to more than just the company’s employees and investors.

Venture capital is the fuel that powers America’s innovation economy, propelling high-tech, high-growth companies from Apple to Uber. Suburban corporate campuses and office parks have long been the world’s leading centers for venture capital investment. But that is changing, according to research I have been conducting with my colleague Karen King and Martin Prosperity Institute research team.