I’ve written about Attention Deficit Disorder a couple of times.

1. How to Know Whether You Have ADD & What to do About It
2. Why ADD Might Actually Benefit Startup Entrepreneurs

In the articles I made it clear that I’m not a doctor and if you have severe ADD you should consult a professional. But I talked about my personal experiences of finding out I had ADD when I was 39 years old and how this discovery led to a freedom mentally and emotionally because it explained some of my self-perceived weaknesses. It helped me to better understand how my brain works and I began working on coping mechanisms. Since then I’ve been able to Jujitsu my slow-processing frontal cortex into an advantage.

Hipsters go to TED for inspiration about what the future will bring, but the world’s greatest physical scientists go to Solvay.  It was there in 1927, at the fifth Solvay Conference that Albert Einstein famously said, “God does not play dice with the universe,” to which Niels Bohr retorted, “Einstein, stop telling God what to do.”

Bohr’s quip was much more than a clever line, but a tipping point in the world of physics toward a quantum world of probabilities rather than the deterministic universe that Einstein preferred.  Even Einstein, when faced with a flaw in his core beliefs, was unable to adapt and it doomed the latter part of his career.

On Monday 18th January 2016, the Austrian Federal Ministeries BMVIT, BMWFW and Austrian Council (RFTE) together with winnovation hosted an Open Innovation Strategy Stakeholder Workshop as an important first step in gaining feedback and ideas from Austrian society for the development of a new Open Innovation Strategy for Austria (www.openinnovation.gv.at), a first of its kind globally.

Bellow you can read more about this initiative:

Silicon Valley’s Sand Hill Road will forever be synonymous with venture capital. Yet the same forces driving the current innovation cycle have also democratized innovation itself, meaning that Silicon Valley no longer has a lock on the best new ideas. As innovation and entrepreneurship have become globalized, so too has opportunity — to the point where exciting venture-backed companies are emerging from cities such as Bangalore, Berlin, London and Shanghai.

Know when the time is right.

There aren’t many certainties when you’re building a company from the ground up. But one thing nearly all entrepreneurs face is the need to raise money to help their business grow. Unfortunately, many startups believe the only way to raise capital is by giving up large amounts of equity. They’ll spend months or years running from meeting to meeting, trying to land that big venture capital deal.

When we set out to build this year’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, we didn’t begin with macroeconomic parameters. Instead our reporting team dug into details on thousands of companies around the globe. Our axiom has always been that whatever challenges may be buffeting business—political uncertainty, market instability, international unrest—there are always pockets of extraordinary achievement. That is what we were looking to uncover.

Image: The new playbook: Mobile video company Hudl is helping both professional teams and high schools like Georgia’s Jonesboro Cardinals (in white) to step up their play with its game-film software and apps. Photo: Emiliano Granado

Regulation A+ crowdfunding rules were released by the SEC in June of 2015, three years after these rules were initially introduced in the 2012 JOBS Act. The debut of the long-awaited regulations led to a flood of companies rushing to capitalize on this new method of funding. According to our research, these are the Top 10 equity crowdfunding campaigns that took place in the US in 2015.

Image: http://www.crowdfundinsider.com

U.S. Representative and Chairman of the House Small Business Committee Steve Chabot delivers remarks at the 2016 State of Entrepreneurship Address, "America's New Entrepreneurial Growth Agenda"

A panel of contributors present recommendations from “America’s New Entrepreneurial Growth Agenda,” and policy leaders share their own insights.

Wendy Guillies, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation delivers the 2016 State of Entrepreneurship Address, "America's New Entrepreneurial Growth Agenda"

You've heard people say, "Entrepreneurship isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Have you been ignoring their subtle warnings? It's true! Entrepreneurship isn't a bed of roses. It is not for the faint of heart. It is really hard work, and there are some very low times indeed.

If you are still banging your head on the brick walls of entrepreneurship, may I suggest 11 reasons you should get out as quickly as possible?

Here’s the most important thing you need to know about being an entrepreneur, according to Under Armour Inc. CEO Kevin Plank:

“Everything matters. The way you carry yourself, the way your business card looks, the way you dress during the day.”

Plank, dressed in dark jeans and a navy knit quarter-zip pullover with Under Armour’s signature logo on the sleeve, offered this advice and other tips to a group of budding entrepreneurs competing in his annual Cupid’s Cup student entrepreneurship competition.

The life of an entrepreneur can be a great one full of success, the ability to be your own boss as well as abundance. However, these things will only happen if an entrepreneur is able to do what it takes to make it in the competitive and fast-paced world of owning your own business.

Fear causes procrastination, avoidance behavior, overwhelm and inaction. Yet it’s something that everyone experiences in business.

Having the ability to be aware of fears and conquer them, however, is the only path to becoming a successful entrepreneur. I like to think of it as a ride on the entrepreneurial roller coaster -- just like life, there are bound to be things that come up and things that bring you down.

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, and having graduated from a big company myself, I talk to many people who have spent years struggling up the corporate ladder who dream of jumping ship and becoming an entrepreneur. I typically suggest that the grass always looks greener on the other side, and the move from employee to entrepreneur is very risky and not for everyone.

No one likes to fail. That’s why it’s beneficial to constantly review your goals and business plan and see where you can improve. It’s also important to look at some of the ways you may be hurting your own business, without even recognizing it.

Freelancers, contractors and consultants know the drill: Order coffee, find a seat (hopefully with an outlet), dutifully carry your laptop to the bathroom with you, and then flee to the next coffee shop when Wi-Fi begins to cut out and/or someone annoying sits next to you. Repeat. It’s not a productive way to run a business. And yet it’s what most solopreneurs end up having to do.

Image: HERA HUB

Demand for innovation is at an all-time high. Innovation is now recognized as being key to economic growth strategies in the United States, Canada and countries in the European Union.

As a result, there is an increased need to understand what drives innovation. Certainly traditional research and development, funded by both the private and public sectors, continues to remain a primary source of new ideas and products. But innovation demands innovators.

Image: Steve Jobs (Leo Lambertini via Flickr Creative Commons)

SARATOGA SPRINGS – A city that is doing well can reach for an even better quality of life for all it’s citizens, by investing in its infrastructure. Two weeks ago (Issue of February 5), we detailed the commitment that the City of Saratoga Springs was making to develop and promote solar technology for itself and its citizenry. In the same vein, a presentation made to the Saratoga Springs City Council by Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan on Tuesday, February 16 detailed a path where the city would become a leader in developing and providing high-speed broadband to all stakeholders in businesses, schools, government, hospitals and the public at large.

Image: http://saratogatodaynewspaper.com

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) recently announced the winners of its prestigious national awards. The FLC awards are esteemed recognition of the innovative research and development (R&D) and technology transfer (T2) accomplishments that take place every day in our nation's federal laboratories. As the federal organization whose mission it is to promote, educate, and facilitate T2 for its more than 300 member laboratories and facilities, the FLC is proud to honor the hard work and dedication that goes into the commercialization process.