The lean startup has changed the way new companies are being launched. It is a methodology that has been used by the likes of Dropbox, Airbnb and Uber. SpaceX and Google have used it to disrupt industries and large companies like Intuit and General Electric have adopted the approach to get new products to market faster with higher success rates.

Image: http://ventureburn.com

Although we hear of wildly successful crowdfunding campaigns, the truth is that the majority of these campaigns fail. The leading reward-based crowdfunding site, Kickstarter, has a 37 percent success rate and Indiegogo’s is even lower. And those cool hardware projects that seem to just take off and get immediate traction with backers? Don’t be fooled: According to research on completed hardware projects, 70 percent of those that raised over $100,000 on Kickstarter and Indiegogo added venture or angel investments before launching their campaigns.

Simon Fraser University (SFU) is billing its newly expanded VentureLabs as the largest business accelerator in B.C.

The two-storey innovation centre opened Thursday (October 1) at the university’s downtown Vancouver campus at Harbour Centre, where qualified startups will be provided mentorship and networking opportunities as well as office space.

Image: Shield Diagnostics chief technology officer Austin Lee showcases his startup's wireless glucometer, which attaches to diabetes patients' smartphones | Credit: Tyler Orton

Some people make giving look effortless. They’re the kind of people who bring donuts on Friday mornings and don’t think twice before helping overwhelmed colleagues, even if it means they end up working late (again). For these “givers,” taking one for the team comes too easily, and their needs often end up by the wayside. Meanwhile, others face more of a struggle when it comes to putting the group first.

I was opening the mail (the real mail, the one delivered by an actual, live person) and between the bills and solicitations, was a single letter, addressed to me, in sloppy — but recognizable — handwriting.

Recognizable because the handwriting was mine.

At first, I didn’t recall sending myself any mail. I opened the letter and began to read. And then I remembered. This was a letter from past Peter to future Peter. At the Bregman Leadership Intensive, participants write a letter to themselves that we send to them months later. This time, I had participated and written one to myself.

Silicon is dead. Long live, carbon nanotubes.

In transistors, size matters — a lot. You can’t squeeze more silicon transistors (think billions of them) into a processor unless you can make them smaller, but the smaller these transistors get, the higher the resistance between contacts, which means the current can’t flow freely through them and, in essence, the transistors and chips built based on them, can no longer do their jobs. Ultra-tiny carbon nanotube transistors, though are poised to solve the size issue.

Before Nick Hanauer was a Seattle billionaire and political activist, he was an early investor in Amazon. Now, he says the city’s next big thing is curing cancer. Hanauer called out Juno Therapeutic’s (Nasdaq: JUNO) innovative immunotherapy cancer treatments during the GeekWire Summit in Seattle on Thursday. The treatments involve engineering patients’ cells to better battle disease and infusing those blood cells back into the body.

Long ago, I believed that to be a successful entrepreneur, you had to avoid having children. The focus and dedication needed to run a business simply did not allow for the time and energy necessary to raise kids.

When I started my first company, I even avoided pets and plants, because I did not want the distraction or additional responsibility. The strategy worked, as I managed to stay focused and grew the business in spite of a global economic meltdown.

Running your own business has its perks — more control, no boss, and choice of working hours.

In the UK and the US, entrepreneurs are associated with startups. But in some countries, becoming self-employed is a necessity rather than a dream. You have to make your own opportunities when there are not many jobs available.

SEATTLE & NEW YORK, Sep 29, 2015 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Accelerator Corporation, a leading life science investment and management firm, today announced that it has secured an additional $11.7 million in new investment commitments, bringing the final Accelerator IV closing to an oversubscribed $62.8 million. This final closing includes new strategic investments from AbbVie, WuXi PharmaTech, and Watson Fund. These new investors join the previously announced Accelerator IV syndicate, which includes Alexandria Venture Investments, ARCH Venture Partners, Eli Lilly and Company, Harris & Harris Group, Inc., Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., The Partnership Fund for New York City, Pfizer Venture Investments and WRF Capital.

In an effort to boost diversity and social mobility, recruiters for accounting and consulting firm Deloitte will not see the names of job applicants’ schools and universities next year in the UK. They will look instead at data on candidates’ personal and economic backgrounds. The company hopes this will force managers to consider the context of applicants’ achievements—giving priority, for example, to a stellar academic record earned at a less prestigious school. There is a “clear business imperative” to “hire people who think and innovate differently,” Deloitte UK chief executive David Sproul said in a statement.

A few weeks ago, we shared some key startup metrics (16 of them, to be exact) that help investors gauge the health of a business when investing in it.

But to repeat ourselves for a moment: Good metrics aren’t just about raising money from VCs … they’re about running the business in a way where founders can know how — and why — certain things are working (or not), and then address them accordingly. In other words, these metrics aren’t just for pitching but for discussing in subsequent board meetings, quarterly updates, and management meetings. As one reader shared: “Drive with them, don’t just ‘report’ them”.

Babson College’s Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership and Breakaway, a Boston-based branding company, announced that they will begin accepting applications for the Babson Breakaway Challenge on Monday, Oct. 5. The objective of the challenge is twofold: help women entrepreneurs see their businesses launch successfully and create opportunities for women to enter the venture capital industry.

The Kansas City region has made strides in the past decade toward becoming a major life sciences industry hub, but to keep growing it’s going to need a better educated workforce and $100 million or more in new venture capital.

So says the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute, which released a new report Wednesday on what it will take to keep the region competitive in biotech over the next 10 years.

“If we do nothing, yes, we’ll grow, but we probably won’t attract entrepreneurs and investors,” said institute president Wayne Carter, whose nonprofit group represents the region’s research universities and hospitals.

VIENNA — The European Union is bringing forward a review of venture capital rules by two years after their take-up fell short of expectations, analysing if conditions introduced in 2013 were too restrictive for investors.

Bloomberg

The EU could make it easier for funds to get a “passport” allowing them to invest in early-stage companies across the 28-nation bloc, the European Commission in Brussels said yesterday. The EU’s executive arm is seeking views until January 6 on whether it should allow larger fund managers, more retail investors and more companies to qualify in the review.

Millennials may be the most studied generation in history, caught in the confluence of the technology they actively use and the creation of data from all that activity. As analysts slice and dice terabytes of information on millennials, one theme has emerged: contradiction.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, millennials are optimistic (despite events like 9/11 and the great recession that have punctuated their lives), they’re caring and community-oriented despite the copious use of a solitary activity such as social media, and they’re eager entrepreneurs, even when they’re often laden with college debt that has forced them to continue living at home after graduation.

Being far-sighted about your strategy can help you prepare for the big global changes already unfolding.

I’ve spent quite some time trying to understand the world of tomorrow – as far away as 2035. I’ll then be 66 years old and ready for retirement, which puts things into perspective - at least for me.

Akron-area innovators, do you have a great idea? You have another chance at part of a $5 million prize. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is inviting application submissions for its second annual Knight Cities Challenge. The submission period starts Thursday and ends Oct. 27. The Miami-based foundation makes grants to cities that were home to newspapers in the former Knight Ridder newspaper group. Akron was the birthplace of the group and home to the Beacon Journal, John S. Knight’s first newspaper.

When you join an established company as CEO, you face an opportunity to not only architect the organization's next phase, but also to shape the next chapter of your life. A new CEO's first year is a crucial transition period — it's a time to listen, learn, build relationships and seek counsel.

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. In addition, current investors want to see every startup go public or be acquired, as an exit event, so they can get their due return for that investment which has been tied up for the last few years.