Gaby, a high-end French restaurant in Manhattan’s Sofitel New York, launched a lunch idea earlier this summer: 30 bucks for a 30-minute meal.

Could this be ideal for the savvy entrepreneur looking to butter up more than bread with a potential client or investor? Maybe not.

More than ever before, the wide array of lunchtime options makes picking a venue a bit of a crapshoot. Do you opt for a longish, pricey meal that evokes the Mad Men era? How about those 30-minute briskly moving sit-down affairs? Maybe “trucking it” is a better choice to demonstrate your hipness factor. And, hey, what about just ordering in?

“Picking the best lunch option is about intent, location, and perception,” says David Leite, the publisher of Leite’s Culinaria, an online food publication, and the author of The New Portuguese Table. Leite, who has 18 years’ experience in the advertising business, says one of the biggest challenges facing an entrepreneur trying to advance a lunch deal is time.

When it comes time for promising grads to pick a place to look for their first job and put down tentative roots, some cities obviously have more appeal than others. The hustle of New York or brainy buzz of the Bay Area naturally attract talented young people. But what could induce bright grads to less celebrated cities like Providence, Rhode Island or Detroit, Michigan that are in need of an injection of youthful optimism and energy? (Though in all fairness to Detroit, the NY Times recently reported a surprisingly vibrant youth scene in the rusty city).

Blakely spent two years doing double duty as both a loyal employee and an intrepid entrepreneur. During the day, she sold fax machines for the firm Danka. On nights, weekends and during lunch breaks, she took steps to launch the Spanx body-shaping hosiery business.

"I had been thinking about a product I could come up with on my own," says Blakely, 40. "I liked to sell and I was good at it. But I (wanted) to sell something that I was really passionate about."

It was a 1998 fashion dilemma that helped her find that product. Blakely hoped to don a pair of white pants for a party, but she couldn't figure out what to wear under them so she would look svelte and not have visible panty lines. Her solution: Wear a pair of control-top pantyhose, but cut off the feet so she could wear skin-baring sandals.

I’ve been told a few times that I need “proof of concept” for my business before an investor will provide me with capital. What, exactly, constitutes proof of concept and how do I know if I’ve attained it?

I can’t know exactly what each of your potential investors had in mind when they asked for a “proof of concept” (POC), but I’ve asked for many POCs and I can certainly tell you what I am thinking.

In a nutshell, having a POC is about risk mitigation.

When an entrepreneur pitches an opportunity there are always a number of premises that underpin the rosy outcome.

Scientists and engineers as founders and startup CEOs is one of the least celebrated contributions of Silicon Valley.

It might be its most important.

———-

ESL, the first company I worked for in Silicon Valley, was founded by a PhD in Math and six other scientists and engineers. Since it was my first job, I just took for granted that scientists and engineers started and ran companies. It took me a long time to realize that this was one of Silicon Valley’s best contributions to innovation.

This past week was truly a “magical” one for me. Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the hall of fame basketball star, brilliant entrepreneur, and generous philanthropist joined my venture capital firm, Detroit Venture Partners, as our fourth partner.

Spending the day with Earvin reveals something much more than his legendary stats and accomplishments, however. His rarified level of achievement is actually overshadowed by his warmth, humility, and passion. He doesn’t talk of money, power, and fame. No words of crushing the competition, self-enrichment, or glory. In the place of typical boastfulness that oozes from so many celebrities lie words of encouragement and purpose. Beneath the surface, I quickly discovered a whole new kind of magic.

When it comes to term sheets, Bill Payne, a member of Frontier Angel Fund and Vegas Valley Angels sees two trends: "Angel groups are much more likely to have adopted a standard term sheet as a starting point for negotiations," Payne says, "and angel groups are tending to reject convertible debt deals."

Standard term sheets create efficiency and reduce contention

"Some entrepreneurs come to their first angel meeting with either a template of a term sheet or one that their attorney has created," Payne says. "Angels will hand their term sheet back, and say, why don't you and your attorney work through our term sheet and see what issues you have? Then we'll negotiate from there."

Due to some unforeseen personal issues, I have to end my tenure as editor of Xconomy Detroit far sooner than I would like. But in my relatively short time here, I’ve discovered no shortage of interesting and compelling stories in Michigan. Here are my top six takeaways from my six months in the Wolverine State.

Michigan has been, is, and will probably always be primarily an auto state. The state has tried hard to diversify into high-tech industries, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cleantech, and software. But despite the well-publicized troubles in the automobile industry, the business of making cars remains deeply ingrained in Michigan’s economy and culture.

MISSING your buddy in New York?

Instead of poking him on Facebook, simply tilt your egg-shaped Roly Poly device at home, and across the world, your friend's device tilts too.

Switch on the light on the device, and continents away, your friend's device will light up simultaneously.

"Think of it as bringing 3-D into social interaction and networking," said Associate Professor Yen Ching Chiuan, head of the Division of Industrial Design at the National University of Singapore.

"You can chat on the Net, Facebook, but it's very flat and virtual, so we experimented with design and ideas to see if we can translate interaction into the actual physical world."

Over the last two years, our department of journalism and mass communication has hired five new tenure-track faculty members. In reviewing the current job market, I pointed out to our doctoral students that despite our new colleagues' varied interests, research methods, and pedigrees, they have the following in common: an already burgeoning publication record, even though four of them are or were recent doctoral students; participation in the grant-making process; and a reputation as virtuosos of new and emerging communications technologies in research and teaching.

One of them, a job candidate at the time, came and presented to our faculty a summary of her study of social-network patterns in elections in Kenya. Using geo-tracking software and hardware along with social media, she showed how the participants she had trained locally were reporting voting violations and associated violence in real time and then creating interactive online maps that local and international media and election monitors could use to respond quickly to crises.

A survey of media reports on higher education might easily lead those of us working in the field to wonder: When did students and their parents start seeing college as a gantlet rather than as an exciting pathway to opportunity? When did policy makers stop seeing higher education as a valuable public investment? When did tenure become a guarantee only of a declining real wage? When did I start playing for a losing team?

We believe that the answer to these questions is "never," or at least "not yet." Traditional colleges and universities continue to play an invaluable role in our society, all the more so as the world changes. Three of their functions are, for now, irreplaceable.

By Rosemarie Truman

I have been doing private sector growth strategy for ~20 years, so when I came across the Kauffman Foundation’s book titled “” I was indeed intrigued. This analysis concentrates on understanding the links and influences among law, innovation and growth, as well as how to effectively advance growth. In addition, having recently completed a comprehensive assessment of all university technology transfer frameworks and performing a subsequent benchmark, I also was eager to review Kauffman’s critique of technology transfer offices. As a result, I focused most of my attention on the section, “Universities and Economic Growth.”

Let’s first discuss a couple key areas that Kauffman’s book very well articulates:

Key Takeaway 1: Kauffman’s book mentions that there are no perfect measures to judge university technology transfer success

Supportive Argument: My team performed a comprehensive assessment of different technology transfer performance management models for universities, examining measures such as FTE productivity only, financial efficiency only, and effectiveness only, and so on, and all of them have opportunities for improvement.  A comprehensive model to measure technology transfer success in universities is needed and also critical, or the wrong behavior will be encouraged, possibly leading to an undesired result, or “suboptimal performance,” as Kauffman references

On July 17, 1902 in the midst of a steamy summer, Dr. Willis H. Carrier developed and later patented the first modern system to provide man-made control over temperature, humidity, ventilation and indoor air. From there, his innovation created an industry dedicated to making the world a cooler place to live, work and play. In celebration of this historic anniversary, here a few facts about Willis Carrier, inventor and entrepreneur:

Even though it’s a people-pleaser, Carrier’s original invention was designed for paper — not comfort. A Brooklyn, N.Y. printing plant challenged Carrier to stabilize the temperature and moisture in the air so the dimensions of the paper would remain constant and the different color inks would line up correctly. This innovation gave birth to the air conditioning industry.

Diving in the waters off the Bahamas sounds idyllic, but a group of scientists isn't doing it to relax. They're on a mission to learn more about endangered whales, and they're doing it by collecting whale poop.

The team of snorkeling scientists is hoping to use whales' feces to learn how noise pollution in the area has affected these massive mammals. Their work is being funded by the U.S. Navy,  which for years has supported this kind of research into the environmental effects of its underwater activities.

Ocean noise could be a hidden danger to marine creatures. "Pings" from military and fishing sonar, the low-frequency drone of constant shipping traffic, the booming of offshore seismic exploration and the sounds of recreational boat traffic all make the ocean much noisier than it once was. For marine species that rely on sound to hunt and communicate, this background noise could be making it harder to find food or each other and could raise stress levels, affecting their health or reproduction.

In 2006, Harvard sociologists struck a mother lode of social-science data, offering a new way to answer big questions about how race and cultural tastes affect relationships.

The source: some 1,700 Facebook profiles, downloaded from an entire class of students at an "anonymous" university, that could reveal how friendships and interests evolve over time.

It was the kind of collection that hundreds of scholars would find interesting. And in 2008, the Harvard team began to realize that potential by publicly releasing part of its archive.

But today the data-sharing venture has collapsed. The Facebook archive is more like plutonium than gold—its contents yanked offline, its future release uncertain, its creators scolded by some scholars for downloading the profiles without students' knowledge and for failing

While the term “technology transfer” doesn’t exactly evoke images of celebrations and merriment, it’s nonetheless an exciting time for a field that, in Oregon, is growing.

Oregon Health & Science University will nearly double the number of staffers in its technology transfer office, from 14 to 27. Oregon State University is adding staffers in its office as well. And state leaders continue to provide cash, as opposed to lip service, to programs that encourage universities to commercial research.

The list below provides insight into what companies have grown from university research (the term “tech transfer” refers to the “transferring” of university-developed products from the laboratory to the commercial market). A quick glimpse reveals that several prominent businesses — among them: Home Dialysis Plus Ltd., Azuray Technologies Inc. and Gamma Therapeutics Inc. — launched from Oregon universities within the last few years.

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center opened submissions for its 2011 tax incentive program this month, through which it will offer up to $25 million in rewards to companies engaged in life sciences research and development, commercialization and manufacturing in the Bay State.

MLSC is a quasi-public created by Mass. State legislature in 2006, tasked with administering the $1 billion allocated by Gov. Deval Patrick's life sciences bill.

"The Program addresses the significant capital expenditures associated with the life sciences R&D cycle and the high costs of translating research into commercially viable products," according to the center's website. "To qualify, companies must receive certification from the Center and must demonstrate both the scientific and economic merit of their expansion plans."

Albany, NY -- Small business owners looking for financing to grow their operations will soon be able to look to New York state for funding.

On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation allowing the use of federal money for the Innovate NY Fund, the New York State Capital Access Program and the Bonding Guarantee Assistance Program.

The Innovate NY Fund, designed to provide venture capital to get early stage companies growing, is particularly promising, said Linda Dickerson Hartsock of the CenterState CEO Tech Center.

The 2011 Forbes Midas List ranked the top 100 venture capitalists based on M&A and IPO exits.

As one of the two women included on this year’s list, it was disappointing to see that only two had made the cut.

This begs the question: Why so few women on the list, and why so few women in venture capital in general?

Why is it important for more women to enter venture capital? The career possibilities are terrific and I believe that more women in venture capital will contribute to growing better, stronger, more sustainable companies.

Today, we are trying a special edition of Founder Stories; that we are calling Founder Office Hours. Inspired by Paul Graham’s Office Hours onstage at our last Techcrunch Disrupt, we brought together a group of startup founders in our NYC studio to get feedback and advice. Joining regular host Chris Dixon is Josh Kopelman, managing partner of First Round Capital.

In this first video above, Adam Neary, founder of Profitably, asks whether he should charge for a new product or go freemium. Profitably is a business dashboard for small businesses that pulls accounting data from QuickBooks and helps visualize it. The company is developing a new product around business planning and modeling that traditionally is only available to larger corporations. Should he charge a monthly fee for the new product, or go freemium—give it away for free and upsell to premium features?