Crowdfunding isn't easy. Some projects fail because there isn't a place in the market. Other campaigns fail because they aren't far enough along in product development to convince people to jump onboard. And some fail simply because they don't have enough planning or strategy in place before they launch.

When Canary launched our Indiegogo campaign we set a goal of $100,000. We met that threshold before lunchtime on the first day and by the time our campaign ended 34 days later on August 26 this year we had raised over $1.9 million and became the most successfully funded campaign in Indiegogo history.

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A silver BMW 5 Series is weaving through traffic at roughly 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph) on a freeway that cuts northeast through Bavaria between Munich and Ingolstadt. I’m in the driver’s seat, watching cars and trucks pass by, but I haven’t touched the steering wheel, the brake, or the gas pedal for at least 10 minutes. The BMW approaches a truck that is moving slowly. To maintain our speed, the car activates its turn signal and begins steering to the left, toward the passing lane. Just as it does, another car swerves into the passing lane from several cars behind. The BMW quickly switches off its signal and pulls back to the center of the lane, waiting for the speeding car to pass before trying again.

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As the world economy continues to work its way out of the effects of a global economic crisis, countries of all sizes are turning to entrepreneurship to help drive their recovery.

In a little less than one month, millions of people will participate in Global Entrepreneurship Week (Nov. 18 – 24) events, activities and competitions in 139 countries—the largest number of countries in the six years of the initiative.

The discussion of high-speed rail in the United States has been so focused on the California bullet train that some people may be surprised to learn it's not the only proposal in the mix. Less advanced but no less ambitious plans exist for fast trains in the Midwest, Texas, and the Northeast Corridor.

With work on the California line finally underway, it seems fitting to check in on the three other projects.

Image: Amtrak

Venture capitalists invested $1.12 billion to U.S. mobile companies in last quarter, making it the biggest venture capital financing quarter in history for this sector.

Q3 also had the highest number of mobile deals ever in a quarter, and it was the first time mobile VC deal share eclipsed the healthcare sector, according to a study by CB Insights. 

I think few things could be more rewarding than investing in a company that develops a cure or effective treatment for any of the hundreds of conditions that affect millions of people with no effective treatment. But finding the right company can be fraught with risk. That’s one reason why angel and venture investors have been allocating funds to later stage companies that carry less risk.

Researchers and physicians at The Johns Hopkins University will collaborate with Belgian nanoelectronics research center imec to advance silicon applications in health care, beginning with development of a point-of-care device to enable a broad range of clinical tests to be performed outside the laboratory. The collaboration, announced today, will combine the Johns Hopkins clinical and research expertise with imec’s technical capabilities. The two organizations plan to forge strategic ties with additional collaborators across the value chain in the health care and technology sectors.

Many entrepreneurs wish for a financial shot in the arm early on when they work full-time, trying to build their business in their spare time. Business accelerator programmes can solve this problem and offer an opportunity to work in a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, as well as the time to focus on developing their product without worrying about bills. It's no wonder startups are queuing up to get in.

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Like many startups Weebly, the website creation and hosting service, was born in a college dorm room. Back in 2006, co-founders David Rusenko, Chris Fanini and Dan Veltri wanted an easy way to display their work on a website. They weren’t satisfied with the available options, so they set about creating their own service. A year later their project was accepted into the startup incubator Y Combinator, and Rusenko, Fanini and Veltri dropped out of school to move to San Francisco.

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Over the past year, the strengthening housing market has been helping small businesses grow – and fast.

Sageworks, Inc.’s most recent analysis of companies with less than $5 million in annual revenues finds that four of the ten fastest-growing sectors of 2013 are related to housing.

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When it comes to being successful, high achievers have a number of habits in common. But that doesn't mean you can't be right up there with them.

Here are three qualities all successful people share and how you can make them your own:

1. Say 'no' to distraction. Every. Single. Time. Successful people make better use of their time because they are disciplined goal-setters. I’m referring to those high performers who experience no down-time. Sure, there are vacations and time spent with the family, but that comes after success has been achieved.

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“If everyone tells you it is a good idea, run the other way,” Jay Rogers, Local Motors.

Here in the second part of our epic review of the book by Daniel Isenberg, Worthless, Impossible and Stupid, we take a look at crazy ideas and staying away from crowds.

The book, Worthless, Impossible and Stupid, is broken into four parts and in the next few weeks I will be publishing some insights from each part. The book takes the reader on a fascinating journey around the globe with some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. Their successes are explained in conversation with Isenberg, each laced with key lessons for budding entrepreneurs.

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Who we are:

The Science Center provides both the physical space and the key resources needed to help commercialize new technologies and nurture new companies across our campus and throughout the Greater Philadelphia region.

As a VC investing in technology-related companies, be they atoms or bits, the depth and breadth of the innovation is critical. This is a rather obvious.  So how do I define innovation? Innovation = invention + commercialization. If it isn’t viable in the market, if it doesn’t even reach enough of the market to know, it’s a lovely, but it’s an invention, not an innovation – and most of us VCs like the latter more.

As most of you know, the tech industry has made a sport out of bashing college. One of the core criticisms of higher education is that college degrees have become ubiquitous and commoditized. The argument posits that so many institutions of suspect quality are handing out degrees like candy that college has lost its value as a reliable credential and is therefore no longer worth pursuing. Having graduated with a useless degree from Cal State Northridge, I generally agree with this argument when applied to middle of the road schools.

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Know the trouble with most resumes? To a recruiter, they look, feel and sound just like every other resume.

This is no one’s fault… because that is how most of us are taught to write resumes. Our parents, significant others, old-school career advisors and too many career centers don’t know any better – so they just keep handing out the same-old cliché-ridden advice.

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In early October, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation released a report titled " Restoring America's Lagging Investment in Capital Goods," by Luke A. Steward and Robert D. Atkinson. The report analyzes trends in private sector investment in capital goods over the last three decades, investigates the causes of the current decline and proposes policy reforms designed to spur increased investment growth. The authors warn that this serious decline in capital investment over the last decade is a key threat to economic growth.

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That quote by my favorite philosopher rang clear while I read through a recent article in The Economist. The article argues that a large portion, possibly even the majority, of published academic research is critically flawed.

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From a snow plow tracker to paying traffic tickets from your phone, here are some simple ideas that could help us live better--with the help of the devices we all carry around.

You want good civic tech ideas? The people have good civic tech ideas.

Code for America and Mindmixer have been running Ideation Nation--an online brainstorm to find tech fixes for cities--since the beginning of the month. People have posted 300 ideas so far.

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Decision makers know they’re supposed to seek outside counsel — a diversity of information improves the likelihood of a good decision. This, of course, means that good decisions are social decisions. But the converse isn’t necessarily true: Not all social decisions are good ones.

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