The window seat has the views, the aisle seat has easy access, and a new design would give the middle seat the elbow room.

The seating concept would transform the middle seat into something travelers don't have to dread, adding two extra inches of space to the traditionally "worst" spot. It would also speed up the process of getting on and off the plane.

Image: SIDE-SLIP SEAT 

Getting traction means not spinning your wheels without forward progress. In a startup, or any business with limited resources, the last thing you need is people who put in lots of time and effort, but never seem to move the ball. Successful entrepreneurs must never stop looking for ways to improve their own productivity, as well as the efficiency and momentum of the team.

The average cost of attending a private college was $46,272 last year, but can cost upwards of $60,000 at some institutions.

Fortunately, there are plenty of great schools that cost far less than that.

Image: John Martinez Pavliga/Flickr 

Great founders are always looking for an edge to increase their performance, especially in the face of limited time. As the saying goes, time equals money. I'll add that sanity equals money, and so does health. And it's often hardest to maintain your time, health and sanity while traveling.

Image: http://www.huffingtonpost.com 

Building a business from the ground up isn't easy. In the first few months (or years) of the endeavor, the entrepreneur is likely to face some of the most challenging situations that if not managed well, could spell disaster. Much like network marketing, there is no greater opportunity for personal development than being an entrepreneur. You'll be stretched and pulled in new directions mentally and emotionally that you never imaged possible, doubt and fear becoming constant companions.

Results from a new national survey shows companies adopting open innovation (OI) to out-pace competitors and lead their industries in an increasingly aggressive global landscape. Innovation leader NineSigma is urging organizations to adopt more openness and collaboration, both internally and externally, to sustain optimum growth and success.

Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/40026216@N03/4489656735 

Perhaps no single issue is a bigger threat to American innovation and entrepreneurship in Pennsylvania than the plague of patent assertion entities, which drain $1.5 billion from the U.S. economy every week.

Better known as “patent trolls,” they are the very antithesis of entrepreneurs. They don’t actually create any products or provide any services, but instead acquire dormant patents and then file suit (or threaten to) against real entrepreneurs and startup firms, vaguely contending that the legitimate businesses are infringing on those patents.

The discount retailer will host an accelerator program with Techstars focused on retail tech as Target looks to speed up innovation online and in stores. Target TGT -1.78% is known as a major brick-and-mortar retailer. But it also now wants to be known as a major e-commerce innovator, helping to create and use the latest state-of-the-art technology that will bring the shopping experience into line with what modern shoppers demand of retailers.

Image: http://fortune.com 

These and other insights are from Deloitte’s 2015 Global Venture Capital Confidence Survey.  You can download a copy here (PDF, no opt-in, 70 pp.).  Deloitte has also produced and made available infographics of the key findings here (PDF, no opt-in, 4 pp.). Deloitte & Touche LLP and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) collaborated on the eleventh annual survey, which was conducted in May & June of this year. The study assesses investor confidence in the global venture capital environment, market factors shaping industries and investments on specific geographies and industry sectors.    Please see page 4 of the study for a description of the methodology.

The founder of the bow-tie line Mo’s Bows is a charismatic salesman with an intuitive eye for fashion. He’s also 13.

“He does have a C.E.O. of Mo, and that’s mama,” says Tramica Morris. “Mama makes the decisions.”

India reached a record high in venture capital fund-raising, deals and exits in 2014, says a new report. Deal-making activity in 2015 has been on a steeper growth path, powered by internet-led companies that are frontrunners in terms of number of deals and value of funds raised, and might exceed the amounts seen last year.

After June and July saw over $1.3B in funding, August saw a major pullback in both deals and dollars, falling below $1B for the first time since July 2014 on just 429 deals.

The report below details early stage — Angel and Series A — technology financings, and ranks some of the hottest early-stage tech companies funded in August 2015 based on momentum data from social media, news, and web traffic.

Image: https://www.cbinsights.com 

The passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980 has given universities and research institutes the right to retain titles to inventions resulting from federally sponsored research. As a result, many universities and research institutes have enhanced their capacity to effectively conduct patenting and licensing of technologies. The acceleration of technology transfer activities (TTA) are reflected by the increase in the membership of the Association of University Technology managers (AUTM) from 113 in 1979 to more than 3,200 currently. According to the 2011 AUTM Licensing Survey, 591 new products and 670 startup companies were created in one year alone under Bayh-Dole while 3,927 university spinoffs are in operation across the U.S. today. Since 1980, more than 8,788 new companies have been established to commercialize academic inventions and 3,927 startups are still in operation at the end of 2011, while university patent licensing has contributed approximately $836 billion to the U.S. gross domestic output and supported 3 million jobs between 1996 and 2010. Apart from economic growth, TTA have given rise to the commercialization of numerous green-technologies and drugs to treat various chronic diseases including breast cancer and Crohn’s disease, thus highlighting the societal impact of TTA.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) continues its 30 year history of injecting funds in China-based tech startups, with the chipmaker revealing a $67 million investment in eight companies, via its venture arm, Intel Capital. The fund, which was first reported by Tech Crunch, arrives shortly after a $60 million deal with Shanghai-based drone maker, Yuneec.

Although Intel hasn’t revealed the individual size of investments, the company said its new beneficiaries operate under numerous segments that include Internet of Things (IoT), smart devices, transportation and analytics. This means each investment branches out of Intel’s core operations to offer greater synergy against problems, and promote innovation.

Image: http://www.bidnessetc.com 

The United States is one of the most innovative nations in the world.  The foundation for our strength in innovation rests on our commitment to the rule of law and our strong system of protecting intellectual property (IP).  Our Founding Fathers recognized the critical value of intellectual property to our nation’s future and enshrined in our Constitution the protection of inventors’ discoveries (Article I, Section 8). They believed that America’s ability to invent the “next great breakthrough” required powerful incentives that included enforceable property rights. 

Since June, non-accredited investors have been allowed to make equity investments through crowdfunding portals under Title IV of the Jump Start Our Startups (JOBS) Act.  But several Securities and Exchange Commission rules are holding back that activity.  Among them is the definition of an investment company under the Investment Act of 1940, which has ensnared startups trying to use special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in crowdfunding efforts as a way to keep their capitalization tables clean.

The Dodd-Frank financial reform law was meant to prevent another collapse of the banking sector, and so far it’s been very successful…at preventing the opening of new banks. Becase the regulations from Dodd-Frank are so expensive and complicated, small community banks struggle against the large institutions that were at the center of the financial crisis.

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. Everyone on the startup team knows there is no buffer, and no personal isolation from impact based on your job description that can save you. Thus everyone has to make sure they are focusing on what is important, and making leadership decisions to save the business.

If you've been "downsized" or forced to quit your full-time job due to health or other reasons traditional retirement may not be the best thing for you. Filling the day with golf, gardening, playing cards, or watching reruns of Duck Dynasty is not an appealing prospect for everyone, especially those who have enjoyed a long, rich, and fulfilling career.

Every brainstorm session you will ever facilitate or attend, like any good movie you will ever see, can be divided into three parts: the beginning, the middle, and the end. No matter what the topic, who's in the room, or how stale the muffins, you will cycle through the same three phases again and again. How well you will cycle through these phases is another story.