Conforming to the stereotype that every trend that happens in the US arrives in Australia a couple of years later, crowdfunding has well and truly landed Down Under.

The concept is simple. An entrepreneur (or anyone, for that matter), posts a project online, asking for funds.

People then pledge as much money as they like towards the project. They only have to part with their cash if the entrepreneur raises their predefined funding target.

As early stage biotech startups advance their drug candidates into pre-clinical development, many must decide at some point whether to start working with a big pharmaceutical or biotech partner to continue to pursue their program through clinical trials.

It’s no small decision, and a topic of increasing industry interest, especially since initial public offerings (IPOs) by life sciences companies have fared poorly in recent years, curtailing their ability to raise cash and develop new drugs on their own. Of the 12 biotechs that went public in 2011, for example, 10 raised substantially less cash than they wanted to, according to the BIO industry group.

We have a greater capacity to change the world today than the kings and presidents of just 50 years ago. Whether you’re a programming prodigy or the office manager holding it all together, technology empowers small groups of passionate people with an astonishing degree of leverage to make the world a better place. Yet I fear that our industry is squandering its opportunity and its talent. In companies large and small, great minds are devoting their lives to endeavors that, even if wildly successful, fail to do great things.

We who work in technology have nurtured an especially rare gift: the opportunity to effect change at an unprecedented scale and rate. Technology, community, and capitalism combine to make Silicon Valley the potential epicenter of vast positive change. We can tackle the world’s biggest problems and take on bold missions like fixing education, re-imagining energy distribution, connecting people, or even democratizing democracy. And with increasingly severe threats to our survival — rapid climate change, an unstable international economy, and unsustainable energy consumption — it is more important than ever that we use these gifts to change the world, foster happiness and alleviate suffering, for us and our fellow beings.

The diversity of nanotechnology is far outreaching than other technologies. Nanotechnology is an enabling technology that presents new ways of manufacturing products, overwhelming the available methods in any conceivable technology discipline. Although the recent worldwide economic recession caused significant deceleration in growth momentum, the world market for nanotechnology-enabled products has successfully ridden the worst-ever downturn without recording hurting erosions in market value. This positive trend for the nanotechnology market can be primarily attributed to the demand for these products in Defense and Pharma & Healthcare segments, which displayed greater resilience to the economic turmoil than most of the other end-use markets. Government support for nanotechnology has been the primary motivating factor for the industry in the last few years. Following the resurgence in growth fundamentals such as improvement of business scenario in key markets such as semiconductors, electronics, chemicals, automotives, among others, and increase in government and private sector funding on R&D, the global nanotechnology market is recovering poise and is projected to witness robust growth in demand in the next few years.

Rates of early-stage entrepreneurial activity surged around the world in 2011, jumping nearly 60 percent in the U.S., according to a survey released this week by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. More than 12 percent of U.S. adults reported starting a business or running new businesses last year, up from just below 8 percent in 2010.

The GEM report reverses a trend toward declining startup activity that started in the U.S. in 2005 and persisted throughout the recent recession, says Donna Kelley, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College and a co-author of the report. The GEM’s international teams interviewed more than 140,000 adults in 54 economies and concluded that 400 million individuals all around the globe are engaged in entrepreneurship. Kelley spoke about the report’s findings with Smart Answers columnist Karen E. Klein. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow.

For too long, state leaders have crafted economic development plans that act like regions don’t matter. Resources have been spread thin across states, with decisions based on politics rather than pragmatism. Such efforts have produced lackluster results at best; the repeated failure to build on individual regions’ distinctive assets represents a series of opportunities missed.

Across the United States, a handful of governors and state legislatures have come to the realization that state economic development efforts must be attentive to the particularities of regions and metropolitan areas. These leaders are working with their regions to craft and implement innovative bottom-up economic development strategies that prize local knowledge and regional strengths over something-for-everyone approaches of the past.

There’s good and bad news to share about startup financing for a small business.  Keep in mind, we are only looking at debt options so think of loans and lines of credit that you pay back to a lender.  We are not looking at any equity solutions such as angel investors, venture capital, etc.  The good news is that there are options.  The bad news is that nothing is easy nowadays and if you have damaged credit or you’re looking for several hundred thousand dollars it’s much less likely to happen purely with debt.

I have split these 8 solutions into two parts based on the likelihood and value factors.  Simply put, likelihood just asks the question, “How likely is it that this type of financing can be obtained by a higher percentage of people?”  Value is all about how much value would each form of financing bring to business owners who utilized this form of financing.  So let’s get started.

An entrepreneur’s life can be a real roller coaster. Having started a few businesses in my career, I thought it would be useful to highlight some of the hard-won experience I’ve learned throughout the process — the kind of advice I wish I’d known when I started my first, or even second, business.

1. Don’t Underestimate a Business Plan

If you’re not seeking outside funding at the start, it’s tempting to forgo writing out a formal business plan. However, taking the time to write out your business plan, forecasts and marketing strategy is a particularly effective way to hone your vision. All planning should center around two essential questions: How is my business serving a particular need or pain point, and does this represent a major market opportunity?

In the life cycle of an entrepreneur, shutting the doors on a business isn’t necessarily a gloomy situation. The end of one venture often signals the start of something new and the beginning of the next exciting journey. This is particularly true in the fast-paced high-tech and software world, where only a small percentage of startups mature.

Yet to embark on the next project, you’ll want to properly close the books on your previous company. There are legal and financial ramifications at stake: Without formally closing a business, you can still be charged fees and required to submit tax returns to the IRS (including an annual report to the state).

Additionally, closing a business the ‘right way’ ensures the network, reputation, goodwill and momentum you’ve built with the first company can be gracefully transitioned to future projects.

These are the six countries that have the most innovative entrepreneurs as a percentage of total entrepreneurs, according to the 2011 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report released Thursday. To discover the data, GEM asked business owners in each of 54 economies whether their products were new to customers in the market and whether they faced competition. A new product and little competition were indicators of an innovative business.

Why do some startups succeed and others fail?

Paul Gompers, Anna Kovner, Josh Lerner and David Scharfstein put together a Harvard Business School working paper to answer that question, Performance Persistence in Entrepreneurship.

In it, they answer things like:

• Do first time entrepreneurs have it harder?
• What's in a VC's name?
• Is having a successful startup skill or is it luck?

After scouring the 35 page document, here are the fascinating answers to all of those questions and more.

Entrepreneurship is wrought with challenges, ranging from scaling up and administration to resource issues and succession planning. While most of these issues get the entrepreneurs' attention, succession planning often remains a blip on their radar. A dangerous mistake, one that can hamper the business' continuity in the long run.

Small business owners prefer to keep the ownership and business management under their control, extending it at most to family. This helps the owner manage the everyday affairs - compliance with government authorities, maintaining accounting records and formulating business policies and so on.

NEW DELHI: Impressed by the efforts of social entrepreneurs to make the public delivery service more effective, five African countries want to emulate the Indian models of development, said Sam Pitroda here Saturday.

"At least five African countries are looking at Indian models of development to solve the problems at the bottom of the pyramid" as Western models were not scalable, said Pitroda, adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on public information infrastructure and innovations.

Got a big idea? Think you're too old to create! Think again. Here are some incredible examples to inspire you to go for it! Click "full screen" (bottom right icon) for easiest reading.

Everything begins as an idea.

Whether you're in business, school, jail, or debt, that's how it all gets rolling. First there's the idea, then there's the manifestation of the idea -- assuming, of course, that the person with the idea has their act together.

If you have any doubt, take a look around you.

Everything you see began as an idea: The microchip, the chocolate chip, the fishing net, the internet, the company you work for, and the company you keep. All of it. Everything. Even the Universe, some say, began as an idea in the mind of the Creator.

If there is some kind of digital dogfight in Silicon Valley, chances are that Vivek Wadhwa is smack in the middle of it.

Name a controversial subject: immigration, investment bubbles, age discrimination, women and minorities in tech, Google's search results. Wadhwa, the most provocative voice in Silicon Valley, has likely staked out a controversial position that has everyone in Silicon Valley taking sides. And his penchant for straight talk and challenging the conventional wisdom about the valley being a meritocracy has catapulted him to national prominence online and on the airwaves.

Maybe you love him, maybe you hate him. But you can't ignore him.

"He tells it as he sees it," said Peter Diamandis, the co-founder of Singularity University, the school focused on the future impact of technology, who helped recruit Wadhwa to a faculty position there. "He doesn't dilly-dally or cherry-coat anything. I have a great deal of respect for him."

Robots, underwater phones, online busses, fast follows and powerful vertical supply chains showed me a different model for innovation.

It’s three in the morning in Silicon Valley, or maybe it’s four. I don’t know. I’m exhausted. It’s been a marathon day of meetings, tours, interviews and promotional videos. The clock on my iPhone is telling me numbers that doesn’t seem to mean anything. Whatever time it is back home in Silicon Valley, its dinnertime in Daejon, South Korea.

According to Reuters, the Texas congressman decided to pull the bill in the wake of mass online protests from people in the US and abroad. Smith’s decision comes shortly after US Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said, “in light of recent events” he would postpone a critical vote that had been scheduled for January 24.

Smith said that similar legislation would not be considered “until there is wider agreement on a solution.”

“I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” said the Republican chairman of the Judiciary house committee. “It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products,” Smith said.

Blueprint Mississippi is helping chart a course toward great opportunities in economic competitiveness, technology commercialization, educational achievement and resource management. Over the past year, business and community leaders across the state have been involved in the process of ensuring that Mississippi is taking the right steps to be successful in the future.

Our ability to better capitalize on existing possibilities is critical to the success of technology commercialization. By doing so, Mississippi will be able to further expand its technology footprint.

The Blueprint Mississippi report, which was released on Jan. 5, shows we are already headed in the right direction. We have seen tremendous growth of new technology companies in the state thanks to the creation of the Angel Fund at Mississippi Technology Alliance. The new technology incentives that were part of the Momentum Mississippi package have encouraged new investment in technology at companies of all sizes across the state.

Our region continues to lose private-sector jobs at an alarming rate. There is no greater solution to poverty than job creation.

What could Wisconsin and our region do to reverse our declining fortunes?

Ohio built its job growth strategy around innovation. The Greater Milwaukee Committee invited the leaders of the Third Frontier to tell their story because their job creation metrics are very impressive.

As Steve Jobs once famously said when he was brought in to reverse Apple Computer's decline: "The only way to survive is to innovate our way out of this."