Cycling technology has improved in leaps and bounds over the past few years. There are an endless number of new individual components and gadgets that make riding safer, more functional, and more comfortable. Everything from the apparel worn today, to the cycle helmets, and the bikes themselves, has come a long way since the Greg LeMond era of two decades ago. These improvements bring benefits in every area of cycling and will only continue into the future.

Over the past 15 years, marketers have seen new channels proliferate, customer behaviour change, and old practices become redundant at a dizzying speed – all because of the rise of digital technologies.

The web has turned the world into the consumer’s library and shopping mall; the mobile device means that he or she is always connected and in search of customer service; and social media has changed the balance of power between brands and their customers.

Once upon a time, venture capital in Michigan was small and inconsequential. Today it's powering the Great Lakes State's new economy, growing at a time when the industry has shrunk. Concentrate takes a long look on what that means for our local entrepreneurial ecosystem.

It wasn't so long ago that Chris Rizik's venture capital firm was one of only a handful of options for Michigan startups. In 1999, Rizik ran Avalon Investments (then Michigan's largest venture capital firm) with now-Gov. Rick Snyder. Local startups could pitch Avalon Investments or two other VCs.

Image: http://www.concentratemedia.com

The Indian Angel Network (IAN) is one of the largest angel investing groups in the country and it was only to be expected that it would have its own incubator. IAN’s incubator took off in 2010 to provide quality mentorship to early-stage start-ups. Approved by the Department of Science and Technology, IAN’s incubator has a base of over 100 mentors who can guide entrepreneurs and their ventures.

Crowdfunding! It sounds like a joyride but only from afar. The success of your crowdfunding campaign largely depends on how well you strategize for the right people. Let me take you through some innovative ways a small business can crowdfund their unborn but great business ideas.

Image: http://www.business2community.com

My first act of rebellion came in the fifth grade. OK, maybe it wasn’t pure rebellion, but it was the first time I did something that was against the rules. 

It was Mr. Saviano’s history class. We were studying the Depression and its impact on families. Our assignment for the evening was to capture our family’s history by drawing a picture of what our grandfathers had done for a living.

Experienced leadership, a concept designed for scalability and timing, is the most important factor influencing fast-growing startups, also known as scale-ups. Only 1 out of 200 startups become a scale-up valued over $10 million within 5 years. THNK and Deloitte conducted quantitative research to analyze the dynamics and characteristics of 400.000 startups.

Scale-ups are new enterprises with innovative products, services or business models that grow on to become large corporations. Valued at over $10 million within their first 5 years of existence, these enterprises garner a huge amount of employment while they scale. They demonstrate spectacular growth and expansion, and revolutionize industries with new business models. Coming out of nowhere, they topple incumbents with fresh outlooks on technology – think Facebook, Google, and Uber.

When it comes to cutting the cost of operations, most business owners tend to think in terms of the worst case scenario. However, there are simple ways to cut back without having to eliminate staff or make big changes in the way you do business.

Increase Performance In order to lower the cost of labor, you won’t have to make layoffs if you can help your staff increase performance and productivity. When staff underperforms, you can end up spending more money to pick up the slack.

The Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF), an R&D department operating under the Prime Minister’s office, announced yesterday that it has budgeted SG$40 million (US$28.3 million) for the Early Stage Venture Fund (ESVF) to support the startup ecosystem.

The NRF will not be directly funding startups, but rather will match funding from large VCs in an effort to incentivise investments.

VCs need to submit their proposals in October 2015 and recipients will be chosen by the end of March 2016.

On a Friday afternoon in June, Staq cofounders James Curran and Mike Subelsky turned over the giant scissors to Greg Cangialosi. Sporting a Staq T-shirt, the tech community leader cut the ribbon on the adtech startup’s new offices.

Located on the fourth floor of a building above 8 Market Place, the ceremony was held one story above a space where DreamIt Health’s Baltimore accelerator program helped six health-focused startups over the winter.

Samsung said on Monday that its evolution as a company depends on “cultivating deep relationships” with startups and startup ecosystems, not just in the U.S. but around the world.

The South Korean tech giant, probably still best known for its hugely successful line of Galaxy smartphones that go head to head with Apple’s iPhone at the premium end of the market, said that startups are the “secret ingredient” in its innovation.

Image: Samsung

American universities lead the world in scientific innovation but face strong competition from Asian rivals with close ties to industry, according to a detailed analysis of academic papers and patent filings.

The inaugural Reuters Top 100 survey, published last week, places Stanford University in the top spot, reflecting its position as a crucible for new ideas in the heart of Silicon Valley.

A program in Washington state is finding ways to ease the way for local entrepreneurs and startups.

For decades, most rural economic-development efforts have focused largely on hitting that ever-elusive home run: landing the big corporate relocation or expansion. But as any economic-development professional knows, this can be a labor- and resource-intensive process with no guarantee of a solid return on investment.

Last year (2014), China overtook the United States in gross domestic product adjusted for purchasing power (GDP-PPP, see point 4 for explanation), according to both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (Note 1). It may come as a surprise, but this is really a matter of China simply reasserting its position as the world's largest economy, which it had lost around 1890 to the United States. This is based on estimates developed by the late legendary economist Angus Maddison of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Image: http://www.newgeography.com

RALEIGH, N.C. — The state Senate voted 44-0 Monday to give tentative approval to a bill that will bolster the state's job-recruiting efforts.

House Bill 117 will plow more money into North Carolina's Job Development Investment Grant program, which gives companies a tax break when they invest in new equipment and hire workers. The bill includes a "super-sized" JDIG grant for large manufacturers such as automakers.

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For the better part of two decades, Daniel Pink has been skewering conventional business wisdom and transforming complex ideas into practical approaches that his readers can put to work immediately. A best-selling author, popular speaker, and one of the world’s leading management thinkers, Pink is a practitioner of what has become — in no small part through the skill with which he plies his trade — a familiar format on the business bookshelf: the application of behavioral research to the world of work.

The University of Michigan spurred a record 19 startups last year, up from 14 a year ago, reflecting the substantial activity connected to its faculty's rich array of research discoveries.

U-M Tech Transfer set several records for annual performance in fiscal year 2015 including patents, agreements, startups and revenue.

Ready for show time? Is your story compelling enough to interest venture capital investors? Some businesses, even if they succeed, simply will not get large enough to deliver the kind of scaleability and potential future returns that venture investors often seek. Do you have demonstrable results? Customer traction? Patented intellectual property? Consider raising a small amount of money from angels or from friends & family first in order to reach important milestones that will make your business more marketable to venture firms. Consider whether you want to raise money in the form of equity, debt or a mixture of the two.

Two of Ohio’s largest research hubs, Ohio State University and the Cleveland Clinic, announced with gusto three years ago that they were joining forces to commercialize their medical-related work.

One official at the time called it “sharing the DNA of the two institutions.”

Image: President E. Gordon Gee made commercialization a priority toward the end of his tenure at Ohio State, but he retired in July 2013.

If there is one thing that I ought to be really great at, it’s hiring. I’ve spent the last 20 years working in leadership roles at the same company — one that is more dependent than most on top talent. Given my tenure, I’ve got an unusually deep level of insight into my company’s services and culture; I’ve had lots of practice at bringing people into the business; and my client base includes about 3,000 heads of HR at the world’s leading companies, so I benefit hugely from proximity to the best in the business.