Many first-time entrepreneurs think their first steps should be to build a product or service and raise money to turn it into a successful business. But most experienced entrepreneurs and experts of entrepreneurial practices believe this thinking is wrong. They say the first thing an entrepreneur should do is validate that his or her idea solves a real existing problem in the marketplace.

Which are the hottest cities for the world's ultra-wealthy? Global real estate consultant Knight Frank broke them down for us in its 2015 Wealth Report.

The report ranks the top 40 cities for "Ultra High Net Worth Individuals," meaning anyone with a net worth of $30 million or more. The ranking looks at business links, economic activity, quality of life, and the number of other super-rich people who live there.

The Small Business Administration released its annual solicitation for the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program, a competitive grants program for eligible organizations to conduct outreach and provide technical assistance services to technology-based small business owners. The program places particular emphasis on organizations that propose helping socially and economically disadvantaged firms compete in the SBA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Each state, through its governor office, may submit one proposal in FY15 for an eligible organization (e.g., state and local economic development agencies; Small Business Development Centers; and, colleges and universities). Applications are due April 10.  Visit the FAST Partnership Program website…

There's no shortage of interviews with Steve Jobs discussing Apple, or Jeff Bezos talking about Amazon, or Mark Zuckerberg talking about Facebook. These guys are incredibly successful, so they're clearly great sources for advice on leadership, innovation, and hard work.

But they're also incredibly successful. They're speaking from a place to which most professionals can't really relate. (When's the last time your company's stocks sold for $120 per share?)

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

A lot of small businesses apparently had a good 2014. And they’re looking to grow during the early part of this year.

That’s the crux of a new report from SurePayroll, the company’s February Small Business Scorecard. The ScoreCard focuses on so-called “micro-businesses” with between 1 and 10 employees. But the average business represented has about 6 employees, SurePayroll says.

Utah’s best college entrepreneurs have been narrowed to the top-20 teams that advance to the final event of 2015 Utah Entrepreneur Challenge later this month. The annual, state-wide, business-plan competition is hosted by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah and sponsored by Zions Bank.

Image: http://lassonde.utah.edu

Obesity stems primarily from the overconsumption of food paired with insufficient exercise. But this elementary formula cannot explain how quickly the obesity epidemic has spread globally in the past several decades nor why more than one third of adults in the U.S. are now obese. Many researchers believe that a more complex mix of environmental exposures, lifestyle, genetics and the microbiome’s makeup help explain that phenomenon. And a growing body of work suggests that exposure to certain chemicals—found in nature as well as industry—may play an essential role by driving the body to produce and store surplus fat in its tissues. Evidence of that cause-and-effect relationship in humans is still limited, but in laboratory animals and in petri dishes data linking the chemicals to problematic weight gain are mounting.

Technology is perhaps the greatest agent of change in the modern world. Although never without risk, technological breakthroughs promise solutions to the most pressing global challenges of our time. From zero-emission cars fueled by hydrogen to computer chips modeled on the human brain, this year’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies list—an annual compilation from the World Economic Forum (WEF)—offers a vivid glimpse of the power of innovation to improve lives, transform industries and safeguard our planet.

Image: Fuel-cell vehicles have long promised several major advantages over those powered by electricity or hydrocarbons. Credit: Masaru Kamikura/Flickr

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – A trio of Senate Democrats have introduced their own patent reform legislation that, they say, would target patent abusers but also strengthen patents and American innovation.  

Coons

U.S. Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii introduced the STRONG, or Support Technology and Research for Our Nation’s Growth, Patents Act Tuesday.

Q: What is disruptive innovation?

A: Depends on who you ask.

The blogosphere is so stuffed with discussion about disruptive innovation that there’s now a mobile app that replaces the overused word “disrupt” on every web page.

North Carolina takes the top spot this year in the Tier-2 metro category, with Greensboro-High Point moving up three spots from its fourth-place finish in 2013. Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., was the biggest mover, climbing up six spots from No. 9 in 2013.

But North Carolina’s dominance extends throughout the top performers. Durham-Chapel Hill moves up too, from 11th place in 2013 to sixth in 2014. And if you toss in a strong showing from nearby Winston-Salem (12 projects, good for a tie for 30th in Tier 2), then one thing is evident: The Piedmont region’s profile is growing more prominent with each passing month. Taken as a unit, the Greensboro-High Point and Winston-Salem metros would comprise the 37th largest US metro area, with a population exceeding 1.6 million.

Image: Thomas Built Buses in October 2014 announced the investment of $11.8 million to add additional capacity and up to 236 new jobs to the company’s operations in High Point, N.C., to make the Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner® C2 (pictured). Photo courtesy Thomas Built/Daimler

Frank Sinatra once famously crooned, “My kind of town, Chicago is.” These days he would be joined by a chorus of business and industry executives who have chosen to invest in the Windy City. In fact, 385 companies either expanded or located in Chicago in 2014, resulting in the city being named Site Selection’s Top Metro in the US for the second straight year. The consecutive wins are a pleasant endorsement, says Jeff Malehorn, president and CEO of World Business Chicago.

“Winning back-to-back speaks to the economic leadership and the work being done here in the city and the region,” he says, tipping his cap to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, assorted partner organizations and the business community.

Last year’s inclusion of a Governor’s Cup for total projects per capita in Site Selection’s annual recognition of new plant announcements doubled the already keen interest in this annual facilities race. Kentucky’s Gov. Steve Beshear claims that trophy for 2014 activity with 258 qualifying projects. Kansas made the Top Ten list on the per capita side, placing fourth with 109 projects, and South Dakota finished fifth with just 27 projects. Ohio and Louisiana placed second and third, respectively, completing the top five per capita winners.

Image: Illustrations by Bob Gravlee

Business schools' efforts to bolster their start-up ecosystems are bearing fruit, with the top-20's MBA ventures securing billions in funding from venture capital firms.

Business schools have been nurturing start-up ecosystems and ventures launched by MBA students have secured vast amounts of funding, according to new data.

Start-ups founded by MBAs from the top-20 business schools have raised $4.4 billion in combined investment in the past five years from angel networks and venture capital funds.

Back in May—remember beautiful, perfect May?—we lamented our desk-chained fates as the world outside basked in the sunshine.

No surprise that while we were gazing out our office windows wishing to be outside we got little else done. Productivity between June and August dips by 20% every year, there’s less attendance overall, and workers are 45% more distracted, according to research from the Captivate Network.

Ah, the good old days. Stocks up $25, $50, $100 more in a single day. Day trading was all the rage. Anyone and everyone you talked to had a story about how they had made a ton of money on such and such a stock. In an hour. Stock-trading millionaires were being minted by the week, if not sooner.

Image: Mark Cuban  - Devan Joseph

“Nerds love Orlando,” according to public relations materials I received this week from the city of Orlando, Fla. But as Orlando seeks to rebrand itself as “a high tech hub for innovation,” it faces a lot of competition.

In 2010, Chicago proclaimed its intention to become “the top destination for technology business.” In December, Citibank joined with The Huffington Post to declare that “you might be living in the next Silicon Valley” if you live in Chicago — or Miami, or Cincinnati or Chattanooga. Slate tracked “next Silicon Valleys” in 2013 and profiled two dozen cities that had been described as such, including Las Vegas, which received the distinction from Slate itself.

Here’s yet another in a growing list of books attacking the brave new Internet-centric world we live in. In the rich vein mined by authors such as Evgeny Morozov (The Net Delusion), Jaron Lanier (You Are Not a Gadget), and Nicholas Carr (The Glass Cage), Andrew Keen brings us The Internet Is Not the Answer. Keen argues that “rather than democracy and diversity…all we’ve got from the digital revolution so far is fewer jobs, an overabundance of content, an infestation of piracy, a coterie of Internet monopolists, and a radical narrowing of our economic and cultural elite.”

The following letter was jointly authored by Wallace D. Loh, President of the University of Maryland, College Park and Jay A. Perman, MD, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Maryland’s road to a stronger high-tech economy lies at the intersection of its I-95 and I-270 corridors.  Better integration of education, research and development in the state’s two biggest innovation centers—the Washington suburbs and Baltimore—will spur success.  This is underway.