Why have innovation and dynamism slowed down?

This is one of the biggest mysteries facing students of the economy. In his 2011 book The Great Stagnation, Tyler Cowen theorized that Western societies have already reaped the low-hanging fruit of technology gains. But as Ryan Avent argued, it seems premature to think we’ve already seen all the social and economic reorganization we’re going to get from paradigm-changing events like the internet.

It was easy to get my head around the biotech buzz and the digital health marketing blitz that happened last month at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference.

But here’s the question I heard most often (and gave me the most food for thought): “Can I meet more angels?”

People were ravenous. From PR agencies on behalf of their clients to software platforms looking to be the new financial connectors to, of course, the entrepreneurs themselves.

Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/64746955@N00/2809069739 

American millennials are lagging behind their counterparts in other wealthy countries, according to a new report from the Educational Testing Service (ETS), a nonprofit that researches, develops, and administers tests.

The ETS analyzed test results from the OECD’s adult skills assessment to determine how millennials—in this study, people aged 16-34—in member countries compare on reading, math and “problem solving in a technology-rich environment.”

My expertise in the conventions of texting and Twitter and Instagram, compared with the expertise of the undergraduate students I work with, is <.

Actually, it is <<<<<.

A couple of weeks ago,  Carlina Duan, a senior at the University of Michigan, dropped me an email to see if I had heard of a new(ish) bit of language use, which she was suddenly noticing everywhere in social media: to use her words, “the use of ‘>’ or ‘

Nothing kills employee engagement quite like a merger. When a company is acquired, even if there is no significant impact on people’s jobs, the number of actively disengaged employees increases by 23%, according to a recent study by HR consulting firm Aon Hewitt. It takes three years to reach the pre-merger level of highly engaged employees.

Growing in the face of budget, time, and resource constraints has become a critical capability of our time. "Do more with less" has become the mantra for many of today’s businesses.

Having recently conducted a three-year study of people and businesses who have been more successful in the face of constraints, not less, here are four insights about what it takes to lead well in constrained times:

Historically, leaders achieved their position by virtue of experience on the job and in-depth knowledge. They were expected to have answers and to readily provide them when employees were unsure about what to do or how to do it. The leader was the person who knew the most, and that was the basis of their authority.

Image: https://hbr.org 

Perhaps they are Rowan University students working in a lab in Science Hall or professors collaborating at the South Jersey Technology Park or at one of the medical schools. Perhaps they are alumni starting a business that boasts the next big idea or residents of a bucolic South Jersey town trying to jumpstart a project they hope will be revolutionary. Regardless of whether they are researchers, inventors, entrepreneurs or business people, there’s a possibility some of them soon will enjoy funding that brings their work to reality.

When I was a junior faculty member, new ideas from MIT labs generally followed one of two paths to the marketplace. A major corporation might sponsor our research and then use its own internal labs (often staffed by our graduates) to turn our discoveries into new processes and products. Alternatively, individual faculty members would connect with the risk capital community to launch companies that delivered their ideas to the world.

Image: MIT president, L. Rafael Reif 

The communications industry is undergoing a massive transformation. It is so fundamental; it will affect every person and every business on the face of the planet in the next 10 to 15 years. You can look at it as thethird wave, comparable with the way railroads, automobiles and planes transformed life in the 20th century.

2014 was a great year for crowdfunding. Kickstarter had 22,252 projects raising a total of $529 million, up from $480 million raised in 2013. Indiegogo enjoyed a 1,000% increase in funds raised over the past two years and both Indiegogo and Kickstarter broke their own fundraising records in 2014.

Dawson Riverman’s parents tried to help him make the best of it.

Born without fingers on his left hand, Dawson struggled to perform even the simplest tasks, like tying his shoes or holding a ball. “God made you special in this way,” his parents told him. But by age 5, Dawson was demanding tearfully to know why.

The Rivermans, of Forest Grove, Ore., could not afford a high-tech prosthetic hand for their son, and in any event they are rarely made for children. Then help arrived in the guise of a stranger with a three-dimensional printer.

Image: Ethan Brown, 8, of Opelika, Ala., was born with two fingers missing on his left hand. Now he wears a Cyborg Beast in black and red, his school colors. 

Electric cars are quick and quiet, with a range more than long enough for most commutes. If you want a car with extremely fast acceleration, the Tesla Model S is hard to beat. And, of course, electric vehicles avoid the pollution associated with conventional cars, including emissions of carbon dioxide from burning gasoline. Yet they account for a tiny fraction of automotive sales, mainly because the batteries that propel them are expensive and need to be recharged frequently.

Today, there are lots of articles telling young people which cities have the most college gradates, the highest wages, and the most jobs. These are perfectly useful guides to the near future. But it's interesting to look back at the best cities for young workers in 1980 to see how often history intervenes with extrapolated trends.

Image: In 1980, Flint, Michigan, had the highest median income for young workers in the country. It has since lost more than a third of its population. Carlos Osorio/AP 

There are poorly designed scientific studies, and then there's poor reporting on scientific studies by journalists who should know better.

A prime example of the latter is the response to a research letter published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association called "Accuracy of Smartphone Applications and Wearable Devices for Tracking Physical Activity Data."

The United States' biggest philanthropists donated nearly $9.8 billion to nonprofits in 2014, and tech entrepreneurs were among the most charitable, according to a new report.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy's 15th annual "Philanthropy 50" list, released earlier this month, compiles the 50 most generous donors of last year. Bill and Melinda Gates took the the top spot, with donations amounting to more than $1.5 billion. Jan Koum, cofounder of WhatsApp, took the No. 4 spot at nearly $556 million in donations, followed by Napster founder and Facebook's founding president Sean Parker in fifth, with $550 million.

Image: Bill and Melinda Gates are interviewed in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015. - IMAGE: SETH WENIG/ASSOCIATED PRESS

As you prepare to become your own boss, you need to get your finances in order. You’ll need enough money to cover 6 to 12 months of business and personal finances before you even launch your business. That being said, you have a few options to consider in terms of where that money comes from.

If you were asked to close your eyes and think of the top five traits that a successful entrepreneur should have, what would be on that list? Think about it. Does salesmanship make it onto the list? It should.

Why?

Because sales is present in almost every area of an entrepreneur’s life. If you were to think about how much time you spend trying to get people to do what you want, it’s likely that it takes up a large portion of your day.

There’s something peculiar about the collegiate routine. United by our fixation on large crowds, status updates, blasting noises and uploading pictures, we are all contributors to this repetitive cycle, for the most part. But to me, our generation is capable of more. Much more.

To truly grow, you must challenge what comes naturally.

Albeit, with every day that passes, students fall deeper into the cracks of systemization and adherence to regulatory principles. Textbooks to highlight. Cameras to smile for. Playlists to prepare. Hormones to obey.

The venture boom that funneled billions of dollars into life sciences companies last year included a big surge in first-time deals, according to a fresh analysis of the numbers for 2014. And the boom in venture investing looks set to continue well into 2015, according to the analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, working with data provided by Thomson Reuters to put out the MoneyTree report.