COLLEGE PARK, Md., May 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ Two University of Maryland graduates have designed The Micro, a consumer-friendly, sub-$300 3D printer, and are quickly staging one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns of all-time to produce it, hauling in $3.3 million with more than 10,000 backers.

The Micro raced past its $50,000 goal in just 11 minutes and hit the $1 million mark in 25 hours, faster than the Pebble watch, which took 28 hours.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Tools that keep us active while we work could give companies much needed productivity gains and reduce the costs of keeping employees healthy.

Take a walk with me. We don’t need to go outside. I’m writing this on a treadmill desk. “A what?” I hear you say. “A treadmill desk”. I get that a lot. It reminds me of the early days of televisions or mobile phones. The fact that you have one becomes a topic of conversation and amazement to those around you. Like the BlackBerry or iPhone there’s a good chance, as costs decrease and companies buy in bulk, treadmill machines too will lose their novelty factor and become standard issue. Many workers in Silicon Valley already have one.

Image: The author at work in his office at INSEAD's Fontainebleau campus. - http://knowledge.insead.edu/ 

Yes. Probably not. It depends. If you’re looking for a definitive answer to the question “Should I go to grad school?” a new book by that name might not be for you. And if you’re considering going to grad school to eventually get rich, the book definitely isn’t for you (it says as much in the introduction). But if you are considering or ever have considered (for yourself or an advisee) attending graduate school – especially in the humanities – as a kind of a calling, then Should I Go to Grad School? 41 Answers to an Impossible Question is worth a read.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, has been selected to receive PACT’s Legend Award for Lifetime Achievement. The formal presentation takes place on Thursday, May 8, at a black-tie gala celebrating the Enterprise Awards, the region’s most prestigious honors in technology and the life sciences.

“This recognition is a testament to the profound impact that Ben Franklin Technology Partners has accomplished, which would not be possible without our committed team, client entrepreneurs, and partners across the public and private sectors,” Rosenthal said. “We are privileged to provide capital, counsel and connections to young companies in this region to help them accelerate down the path to realizing their full potential.”  

We are now in the era of big data 2.0, as defined by Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett in Data Science for Business. There’s growing interest in predictive analytics solutions powered by machine learning. As InsightsOne’s CEO Waqar Hasan puts it: “Predictive is the ‘killer app’ for big data.” Quite interestingly, McKinsey & Company predicted a shortage of machine learning talent in the coming years, and at the same time, we started to see services that made machine learning and predictive analytics accessible to the masses. We’re seeing more and more of these services: Apigee launched one last April, just a couple of months after buying InsightsOne.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

When you hate your job the idea of jumping ship to start your own business seems like a no-brainer.

But if you have a well-paying job you actually like the question becomes a little more tricky. For this week's question we turned to leadership coach Lolly Daskal, Leo Widrich, the cofounder of social media app Buffer, and resident entrepreneur at the United Nations Foundation (and Most Creative Person) Elizabeth Gore.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

When Ron Daniels took the stage in a fourth floor auditorium inside the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in East Baltimore, he was staring down a veritable Who’s Who of Baltimore city’s tech community: startup founders, the presidents and operators of incubators, people at the helm of deep-pocketed foundations and tech company investors.

Image: The Johns Hopkins University Medical Campus. Photo via http://abioticdesignstudio.blogspot.com/p/portfolio-ben.html. 

Elon Musk says he’s increasingly confident that a massive factory will lower battery costs enough for a mass-market electric vehicle.

Tesla Motors said it will start building a massive battery factory next month. A month or two later, it will start building a second factory in parallel. With construction started at two locations, the company reasons, it will be more likely that one will be ready in time to meet increasing demand for its electric cars.

Report: “Implementation of Federal Prize Authority: Fiscal Year 2013 Progress Report”

Organization: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Summary: The report is the third in an annual series briefing Congress on the results of legislative language in the America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2010 that encourages the use of prize competitions by federal agencies to spur innovation.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Molly Wood tests out contextual apps that can predict what you may want from your phone depending on the time of day or the activity you’re doing.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

June 10-12, 2014 in Lowell, Massachusetts The Deshpande Foundation and the University of Massachusetts Lowell are pleased to announce the Third Annual Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education. This inspired gathering of higher education practitioners, academics and faculty focuses on engaging participants in an examination and discussion of emerging strategies and practices that encourage innovative and entrepreneurial education, campus culture and community/business engagement.

Open up just about any news site (even this one) these days and you'll probably see an article that trumpets the existence of a stock market bubble, driven by overhyped technology investment and investor desire for outsized gains. And while the stock market surely is frothy, it's not time to restock the bomb shelter.

Recent data from the Shiller Price Earnings Index shows that stocks are at an all-time high. Even adjusted for inflation, today's prices are only rivaled by numbers not seen since 1929, just before the stock market crash, and the 2000 stock market.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

There’s no mistaking it: Million-dollar, one-person businesses are picking up major momentum in the U.S.

More of these tiny firms–which have no employees except the owners– are breaking into every category of business above six figures in revenue, according to newly released Census Bureau statistics. That’s exciting news for people who don’t want to work for “the man” but still need to earn a healthy income. If they can do it, perhaps you can, too.

Image: http://www.forbes.com 

In its simplest form, strategic thinking is about deciding on which opportunities to focus your time, people, and money, and which opportunities to starve.  One of history’s greatest strategic thinkers, Napoleon Bonaparte summed it up this way: “In order to concentrate superior strength in one place, economy of force must be exercised in other places.” If dead, despotic French emperors are not really your style, Michael Porter said it like this: “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Almost all small businesses start out as one-man bands.

While one day a founder might be taking care of CFO responsibilities, like figuring out how to allot company funds and obtain outside financing, the next day he or she might be hitting the phones and cold-calling for sales leads.

Image: FLICKR, IMPACT HUB 

Complimentary Panel Discussion and Networking with Murat Aktihanoglu and Burton M. Goldfield

WHO:

Moderator Murat Aktihanoglu, Managing Partner of Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, will speak with Burton M. Goldfield, President and CEO of TriNet TNET -1.05% .

Murat Aktihanoglu

Murat Aktihanoglu is an entrepreneur, investor, author and technologist. He is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, an early-stage investment fund and technology accelerator in New York City with a portfolio of 60 and growing companies. Murat is also the co-author of the book "Location-Aware Applications" published by Manning Publications. He has managed engineering teams in Silicon Valley, Tokyo and New York as well as having started numerous technology startups. In addition, Murat is a frequent speaker on technology and entrepreneurship. He has a Masters degree in Computer Science. 

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Entrepreneurs have an important new way to raise money. Crowdfunding pools money from a group of people via the internet and social media. It levels the playing field for anyone raising and investing money, but its impact may be the greatest on under-represented groups, such as women and minorities.

“Women have been significantly underrepresented in the capital markets, so any new approach that promises to address this disparity and shift the trajectory toward a more balanced participation is very exciting,” said Brenda Bazan, co-founder of MoolaHoop, a rewards-based crowdfunding platform for women business owners.

Image: http://www.forbes.com 

Jobs of the future will be in the science and technology fields, according to government speakers at the Tri-State Development Summit held Wednesday at Hannibal-LaGrange University.

"We need students to go into science, technology, engineering and math. Those are the growth areas," Mike Downing, director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, said.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

THE BEST LEADERS ARE ABLE TO MANAGE THEIR EMPLOYEES WHILE ADAPTING TO THE NEEDS OF THOSE HIGHER UP ON THE MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY. HERE ARE SIX WAYS TO MANAGE UP AND DOWN AT THE SAME TIME.

BY GWEN MORAN

When we talk about managing people, it’s usually a discussion about effectively guiding, motivating, and interacting with the people who report to you. However, there is another management direction--managing up--that is often overlooked.

Image: http://www.fastcompany.com/ 

What are we really talking about when we’re talking about conversions?

Persuasion, right? Influence.

When we talk about conversions, we are, most of the time, discussing ways we can be more persuasive, more influential. We’re interested in meeting the needs of customers, fans, and followers and doing so in a way that truly speaks to them.

Image: http://www.fastcompany.com