Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). New crowd funding platforms on the Internet, like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, as well as the Jobs Act of 2012, are expected by many to ramp up regular people’s ability to fund new opportunities and kill the need for angel groups.

‘Disruptive innovation’ has been a favorite discussion topic for years. I am sure every industry, every company and every innovation team, has had rounds and rounds of discussion about what disruptive innovation means for them.

Rather than attempting another end all, be all definition for innovation, let’s focus on the passion it evokes and the permissions it enables. Disruptive innovation, as an internal charter, allows expansion beyond previous boundaries

Image: http://www.convergedigest.com 

A merica is plagued by mediocre primary schools, subpar infrastructure, and dysfunctional government. But somehow, this country manages to get at least one big, important thing right: innovation.

That's the deep magic of the world's leading economy. But some disturbing trends suggest the nation's competitive edge may vanish if government doesn't embrace startup capitalism rather than crony capitalism.

Ever feel that being an entrepreneur is like having a membership at a big club? Heads up: The roster is getting smaller. According to a new Brookings Institution study, entrepreneurship has reached at least a three-decade low across virtually all of the country.

The paper doesn't pretend to understand why this trend has occurred—and beware of any impulse you may have to say, "Of course!" However, there are clear implications for those trying to run their own businesses. Some are good in the short term; many are bad in the long. It does mean that entrepreneurs have to look at a shifting landscape that could change the way they create and grow companies.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

By Dr. Janice Presser, CEO, The Gabriel Institute

We’re learning more and more about the mind all the time. Neurological functions. Brain chemistry. Thought processes. Feelings and states like being ‘in the zone,’ or ‘positively engaged,’ or even ‘transcendent.’

But it seems we are talking more about mind, and using it less.

We used to use the word ‘mind’ as an action verb or concrete noun. I present three examples for your analytic pleasure.

When I was a kid, “mind the baby” was a phrase often directed to older siblings by an otherwise-engaged parent. It was a call for attention and action – at minimum a few doting moments playing peekaboo or counting fingers. Today, the more likely strategy would be to put the baby in front of the television, or perhaps an attention-grabbing app running on a baby-proofed tablet. Stimulation, yes. Mind? Not really.

Let's face it, we could all use a reminder to call our mother from time to time. But the maternal relationship is a complicated one and this short film simply, and mostly sweetly, illustrates the differences and similarities between the dynamics we all have with mom.

Image: http://www.fastcocreate.com 

It’s no doubt that the indispensable lessons we’ve learned from our moms are inextricably woven into our daily lives. But for some of Silicon Valley’s top CEOs and founders, it’s also woven into their leadership styles and company cultures.

In honor of Mother’s Day, seven business leaders share the leadership lessons from how to create balance to how to manage a team that they learned from their moms.

Some of the mundane materials most of us take for granted—plastic, paper, glass—are miraculous when you think about them. Glass’s strength, for instance, protects us from the elements as its transparency allows light to shine through; without such a material houses and buildings would be decidedly dreary. Just what gives glass these properties? It’s all in the chemistry, materials scientist Mark Miodownik of University College London explains in his new book Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World (May 2014, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Local businesses and government organisations in Miami, Florida will soon have access to a new state-of-the-art facility to help foster innovation, collaboration and economic growth when the first US-based Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) opens later this spring.

Located in Miami, Florida, the centre will be hosted by Microsoft education partner Venture Hive and will be equipped with the latest technology and tools to help drive job creation, increase the number and availability of highly skilled technology specialists, and facilitate collaboration among a variety of diverse groups in the area.

Image: http://www.onwindows.com/ 

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Margaret Dunn’s love of trolleys dates back 30 years to when she took a job as a driver to help pay for her schooling at Arizona State University.

“The part-time job became what my lifetime passion has been,” Dunn told 3TV.

The wheels started turning while she was still a student and they never stopped.

Image: http://www.azfamily.com 

Students now have the option of taking an online driver’s education course through an iOS app from Austin-based startup Aceable.

Aceable is focused on making required state and federal training courses available through your iPhone or iPad. These courses include classes for defensive driving, driver’s ed, employee training, corporate compliance, etc., that people are allowed to take online.

Image: Aceable 

We are so interconnected today that many cannot imagine otherwise. Almost every person is connected to worldwide communication networks. News travels at the speed of a Tweet. Meanwhile, inside the enterprise, reaction times and feedback loops have to get faster to deal with markets that can create multi-billion dollar valuations seemingly overnight. But are they getting faster?

Expectations for digital competencies for workers keep increasing, without much of a clue from management what these really are. Today’s workplace demands emergent practices just to keep up, but there is little time or thought provided to develop these. In most cases our current models for managing people and supporting their knowledge-sharing are ineffective.

Image: http://www.jarche.com 

Register now for the Spring National SBIR/STTR Conference and take your pick of 1-on-1 meetings with Agency principals, first-come first-served starting today. More than 300 meeting slots filled in a week at our 2013 Conference, so don't delay. Once you register, we'll give you access to posters describing all 23 participating Agencies and Institutes to make best 1-on-1 meeting choices -- but you have to register first.

The full Conference agenda, with speakers, is now posted at http://www.nationalsbirconference.com. The Conference's Beltway location -- at The Gaylord - National Harbor Washington DC -- allows us to attract very senior leadership across the Federal Government from the SBA Administrator to key leaders at the State Department, Patent Office and numerous S&T Agencies Scheduled for June 16-18 at the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center, the event is the nation's largest annual gathering of SBIR/STTR Agencies, industry leaders, and veteran SBIR/STTR awardees.

It's not easy being green.

In six decades, the radioactive behemoth known as Godzilla has rampaged through 28 Japanese films (and two American versions — one best not to mention). He's evolved from a metaphor for nuclear weapons into a children's hero and back again, fighting robots and aliens along the way. This year, he'll return to theaters for a new, city-smashing adaptation.

 Image: http://mashable.com/

 

The smartphone generation has an app for every need and mood. But does it have the mood for every app out there in the various app markets? Not really.

Of the thousands of new apps that see light of day each year, the vast majority — about 67% — never make money according to a 2013 study by VisionMobile. Another older study by Canalys meanwhile showed that 50% of app revenues in the US came from just 25 developers.

It can be tough for social entrepreneurs and other development-minded innovators to secure funding to turn their ideas into action.

That said, numerous government agencies, foundations and companies offer funding to support novel ideas that could address pressing development challenges, oftentimes in the thousands of dollars.

Image: Delegates at the 6th Annual South African Innovation Summit in 2013 present their mobile prototype. If you’re an aspiring innovator looking for funding, check out the below tips on how to avoid common mistakes. Photo by: TANZICT Project / CC BY-NC-SA 

Next week, thousands of people from around the world will gather in Boston to hear the latest developments in the fast-changing field of innovation. For me, the Front End of Innovation conference is a kind of homecoming, a place where I meet up with organizational practitioners and fellow consultants and thought leaders, and often learn of important emerging trends. In preparation for next week’s event, here’s my take on the most significant trends shaping the innovation field in 2014. I’ll let you know in future articles here on Innovation Excellence which ones I left out.

Image: http://www.innovationexcellence.com/ 

If humanity is going to survive and thrive in the future, it's going to need strong cities. Two-thirds of people are set to live in urban areas by 2050 (according to U.N. estimates), putting great pressure on city planners to cope.

How well are they doing so far? A new report scores 50 cities both for their "vulnerability" (for example, to climate change) and their "adaptive capacity" (their ability to react), producing an overall "resilience" ranking. And, in fact, the news for North America isn't bad--as long as you believe the rankings. The top three cities are Canadian (Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary), and six of the top 10 are from the U.S. (led by Chicago and Pittsburgh in fourth and fifth places, respectively).

Image Courtesy of Victor Habbick / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you recently formed a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or incorporated, you have taken an important step toward setting the legal foundation for your business and protecting your personal assets. While you may have had several questions leading up to the decision to form an LLC, you probably have even more on what to do after.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Last weekend I unexpectedly stumbled into a learning community. It was at a hackathon on my campus called VT Hacks. I was familiar with these types of events at places like Facebook and even in academic libraries, but this was my first opportunity to attend one.

Image: VT Hacks, 2014.