You’re in business for yourself and it’s supposed to mean freedom. But sometimes it feels like you traded one boss for hundreds of them, because in a way, you work for each client. Without a plan for how to handle this workload, it can be impossible at worst and overwhelming at best.

So what happens when you find yourself in the role of the Irritated Consultant or the Frustrated Executive?

As a small business owner, it’s easy to be on either side of that coin. On any given day we are both paying for services and providing them. Think about it: You’ve paid someone to design your brochure; it doesn’t come back when you wanted; and you slip into the Frustrated Executive role, replaying in your mind everything that you told them and wondering how they managed to mess it up. On the flip side, someone pays you to set up their website, and 15 edits later you’re the Irritated Consultant, trying to figure out why your clients are taking advantage of you. Ultimately, both situations boil down to a communication issue.

In the ever-expanding search for returns, private equity sponsors are increasingly turning to new asset classes, geographies and investment focuses. In the past several years, we have seen established funds leveraging their brands to open offices in Asia, India and the Middle East; target specific sectors like retail, social media and healthcare; and raise debt (distressed or otherwise) and hedge funds.

Amid all the action, the asset class that seems to be among the hottest right now is growth equity. In many respects, growth equity is the old new thing. Successful funds such as Summit Partners, TA Associates and General Atlantic LLC cut their teeth on and then defined the success of growth equity investing. As credit became widely available, several growth-focused funds jumped into the land of leveraged buyouts and rode deal volume and easy credit terms into the middle market a few years ago. Recently, however, many of those growth funds have returned to what they know best.

3:37 p.m., June 10, 2011--The recipients of the University of Delaware Research Foundation’s latest round of grants will shed new light on a variety of topics relating to the environment, energy and health, from developing new techniques for assessing the integrity of aging bridges, to sorting out the causes of rapid weight gain in infants -- a risk factor for adulthood obesity.

Chartered in 1955 as a private corporation to support University research, UDRF annually awards funding to early-career faculty for high-priority science and engineering projects. Eleven grants of $35,000 each were awarded in the latest competition. The foundation provides $25,000 toward each project, which is matched by $5,000 each from the provost and the awardee’s college dean.

i2E Inc. is working to expand its reach beyond its dependence on state funding, which is helping to fuel its growth and ability to boost the fortunes of the emerging companies it works with, CEO Tom Walker said this week.

While most of the not-for-profit corporation's funding comes from the state through the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, i2E has been able to grow over the past two years by finding other resources, Walker said Wednesday.

i2E Inc. is a private Oklahoma corporation focused on wealth creation by growing the technology-based entrepreneurial economy within Oklahoma.

Here’s the latest from VentureBeat’s Entrepreneur Corner.

Demystifying the VC term sheet: Conversion Rights – Attorney Scott Edward Walker continues his ongoing series breaking down the often confusing language of venture capital term sheets, look at what conversion rights are and issues founders should keep in mind while negotiating them.

Improving IPO market could make it easier to secure financing – The successful IPOs of ZipCar and LinkedIn signal that a long-closed (well, mostly so) exit window for venture capitalists is finally open again. Robert Ackerman, founder and managing partner of Allegis Capital notes that this should make firms willing to invest in more companies – something that’s likely welcome news to startups in search of capital.

10 reasons to start a company (and 10 not to) – It’s a boom time in the startup world, which always seems to nudge entrepreneurial fence sitters into action. But before you make the jump, it’s good to assess your reasons. Investment banker Megan Lisa Jones runs down 10 ways to know if you should start a company – and 10 that should send you running the other way.

If this isn’t a classic American story, I don’t know what is. A self-taught inventor named Gary Cola has developed a process for manufacturing steel that results in the creation of a product that’s 7% stronger than the strongest steel – and 30% lighter. The steel is also incredibly ductile – meaning that it can crumple a great deal before reaching a breaking point. Even better? His heat-treating process only takes 10 seconds. Compare that to conventional steel manufacturing, where heat-treating can take hours or even days.

To test his steel process, Mr. Cola worked with Dr. Suresh Babu at Ohio State University, who specializes in refining steel applications. Dr. Babu and his students vistited Mr. Cola’s setup in Detroit, and tested samples of the metals. The tests confirmed Mr. Cola’s claims, and the research findings were recently published. The group at Ohio State is currently expanding its research scope into the steel to develop new applications and improvements to the process.

Experts across Northeast Ohio have been working for years to use technology to create growth and jobs. Impressive energy, money and intellect are being poured into clusters of activity such as flexible electronics, renewable energy systems, biomedical and biotech products, new materials and polymers.

Through concerted foundation, educational, business and government support, the Greater Cleveland region has strived to create an effective "ecosystem," or economic sys tem, for putting technology to work

"I know all the principals in the Cleveland regional ecosys tem very well and think it is the most robust region in the U.S. at this time," says Richard Bendis, president of Innovation America.

Technology is like a banana. Yes, you heard me right, a banana. Just like technology, a banana has very distinct phases. Understanding these phases and taking action on them could be the difference between your company being king of the jungle or being caged in a zoo scraping flattened Junior Mints off the ground for sustenance.

Eating a green banana

You know the drill. You head to the grocery store, snake up and down the aisles pretending that you are the one in control of your choices and not the marketers. When you finally hit the produce section, it’s a welcomed reprieve from the cardboard, plastic, and aluminum. When you get to the bananas, you say, “Hmm, these look a little green. No biggie. They’ll be ripe within a day.” So, you grab a bunch and off you go.

They say that all humans are basically the same, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or religion. What happens next is a ritual that transcends all of mankind – a self-indulgent lie that occurs millions of times every day in all corners of the Earth: You talk yourself into trying to eat an unripe, green banana. You struggle to peel it, but you succeed. As you take that first bite, you realize something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong. You were expecting a fine wine and you got vinegar. You try to stay composed, but you can’t control yourself. You burst into a fit of fury and curse the heavens. The anguish is unbearable. You wish you were never even conceived.

President Obama's historic visit to Puerto Rico next week will partly focus on how to generate economic growth in the small, four million person island that is so close to the mainland US market, yet so far from economic prosperity. The only way for Puerto Rico, and other smaller countries, to create sustained prosperity and sustainable growth is to generate a large number of export-driven enterprises. And to accomplish that, and to realize the ambitions of the upcoming generations of entrepreneurs, it is absolutely essential to get your ventures ready for global markets a lot sooner than you might think. In fact, it's best to start with a global entrepreneurship "DNA" from the very conception. Here are a few reasons why:

Although there are many examples of ventures that grow to scale in domestic markets (e.g. Russia's Yandex and China's Baidu), even in large markets such as China, Brazil or India, it is a risky bet to rely on language barriers, cultural idiosyncrasies, or special connections to protect you from competition from the big global players. When the GEs, Ciscos, and Wal-Marts of the world eventually enter your market, they will be resourceful, rich and ruthless. They play to win, not to be nice. Basking in the comfort of a small, cozy market is an illusion, and when it ends, it ends painfully, as many small retailers have learned when powerful chains came along.

Last fall, Evan Solida had reluctantly shelved his longtime dream of starting his own company and was planning to go back to work as an industrial designer.

A year earlier, he'd left a design job with Confluence Watersports, the kayak maker in Easley, to devote his full attention to building his own business around his idea for a "digital bicycle mirror."

Solida, a former bicycle racer who lives in Mauldin, had applied for a patent, created a website and made models of his product, a tiny camera and screen that gives cyclists a view from behind their bicycles without having to turn their heads or use clip-on mirrors.

By early November, however, Solida hadn't attracted any investors for his venture and so felt like he had to return to his previous career "to keep food on the table," he said.

His luck changed, however, on the very day he had scheduled an interview with Trek, a bicycle maker in Waterloo, Wis.

Business angel networks are dominated by “voyeurs” who have either no desire or ability to invest in small companies, a new report suggests.

The report, prepared by Professors Colin Mason of Strathclyde Business School and Richard Harrison of Queen’s University Management School, which was commissioned by a consortium led by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), claims that Just 10 per cent of the membership of angel networks actively backed companies seeking funding between 2009 and 2010, the research found. Only 40 per cent of those registered were classed as “actively investing”.

The report findings said the majority of angel network members were either “voyeurs” or were “up to their investment capacity” and would need an exit to start participating again.

Others were "very selective or yet to make their first investment," he added.

PROVIDENCE –– Imagine someone paralyzed from the neck down who could think about picking up a cup of coffee and could then, assisted by technology, lift the cup to her lips and savor the taste. That’s the work of John P. Donoghue, an internationally acclaimed scientist who has dedicated his career to understanding how the brain operates so he can improve the lives of people with severe disabilities.

As he and a team of scientists and engineers get closer to turning that research into reality, the Brown Institute for Brain Science, which Donoghue founded and directs, is strapped for space.

To reach the next level, where researchers spin off companies and create jobs to make commercial products, key scientists and engineers would benefit from working in a central location, Donoghue says. He has suggested to the university that the institute move from College Hill into what he calls the “big hole right in the middle” of the city.

You can call it Silicon Park.

A new tech corridor is emerging in the heart of Manhattan, reshaping the map of the city's vibrant Web 2.0 startup scene.

If you had to pinpoint the epicenter, Park Avenue between 32nd and 33rd streets would be a good place to look: the headquarters of Gilt Groupe, perhaps the only tech firm in the city that warrants a $1 billion-plus valuation.

That office -- which once housed Right Media, an earlier city startup success bought by Yahoo! in 2007 -- is in the hottest ZIP code for venture capital dollars and deals: 10016. NO FLASH IN PAN: Gilt Groupe co-founders Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank at their Brooklyn site. Victoria Will NO FLASH IN PAN: Gilt Groupe co-founders Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank at their Brooklyn site.

Gilt co-founders Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank, along with angel investor Doubleclick co-founder Kevin P. Ryan, started in 2007 with the concept of "Flash Sales."

The growth of businesses in Iowa owned by women ranks last in the nation, new data show.

Across America, businesses owned by women grew 20 percent from 2002 to 2007, U.S. Census data show, while female-owned companies in Iowa inched 3.8 percent higher. In all, Iowa businesses grew 10 percent.

The reasons female-owned businesses are slow to grow in Iowa are among the same reasons the state's overall startup rate is sluggish, experts say: Midwest aversion to risk. Lack of investment capital. Iowa's overall snail's pace economic growth.

How do you get kids ready to become entrepreneurs?

The classic answer, of course, is the lemonade stand: Encourage your kids to start a homespun business instead of just bugging you for money. But entrepreneurs and educators say the real solution goes much deeper than that. There are crucial psychological traits an entrepreneur needs to succeed, they say, and parents should help kids develop them at every opportunity.

Here's a look at those attributes—and how to foster them.

Adventurous

Parents should urge kids to explore their environment—and don't let them get too comfortable, advises Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot Inc. and owner of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons. That means urging them to ask questions constantly and develop an inquiring mind. For instance, "get them the right kind of toys—in which kids must figure out for themselves what to do," he says. And "on vacation, try different restaurants outside their comfort level."

Facebook and Google have the most talented pool of engineers and hackers when it comes to web-based technology. They compete head-on and are known to have delivered killer products that people love to use. However, with this growth, both these tech giants have become wormholes that suck up a bunch of talent every year and at times, focus it on the same tasks. I agree with Eran Hammer-Lahav on this article.

This is true even more for Facebook than it is for Google. Googlers have a number of side projects that allow them their private innovative space. It is a company crawling with innovation and the 20% projects bring enhancements to the existing web technologies every day. Both Google and Facebook contribute to open source technologies as well. Facebook itself contributes actively to the Cassandra database project and Google has a number of projects going on to speed up the web, especially the spdy protocol.

The global innovation community, at least that chunk represented by professional innovation managers, begins its annual get together today in Hamburg, Germany. One of the first presentations that passed my desk (courtesy of Chris Skinner in my LinkedIn network) was Tim Jones‘ Top 10 Innovation Challenges for 2020. Tim runs Future Agenda (as I write the link to Tim’s site seems to have been hijacked – so here is his company link). So what are the top 10 innovation challenges? Naturally I disagree with Tim’s choices so let’s open a debate about a few of them.

As insight becomes commoditized how do we generate differentiated knowledge without IP protection?

That’s a complex set of ideas. Let’s see if we can unpick them. IP protection is becoming less effective but we need more IP as the power of ideas to differentiate products and services over time, fades.

Mike Norelli, a 2010 MBA graduate from MIT, experienced a collegiate entrepreneur's dream when an investor pledged seed capital for the startup he and a few classmates had founded to convert food waste into fuel. Just as the venture was to receive that financial boost, however, Norelli backed out to accept a job at GE Energy, whose recruiter met with him after Norelli arrived at MIT's Sloan school of Management (Sloan Full-Time MBA Profile).

"No matter what I do afterwards, I'll be in a better position—and that includes doing a startup," Norelli says of his GE experience.

Like Norelli, numerous business students are experimenting with entrepreneurship while at school. But most of those who will do something entrepreneurial in their careers—join startups or venture capital firms, found their own companies, or become early stage investors in companies—are unlikely to do so until years after they have graduated. A growing number of large public companies are trying to appeal to this group, reframing job opportunities to align entrepreneurial ambitions with corporate interests and prompting schools to make entrepreneurial students more aware of those options as they decide how to pursue careers after graduation.

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. You shouldn’t be making this decision just because you are mad at your boss, you would like to be rich, or someone else thinks it’s a good idea. In these changing times, if you already have a startup, with no plan, maybe it’s time to think ahead for a change.

Formally, that’s called developing and maintaining a strategic plan. Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. From my experience, and the experience of other entrepreneurs, here are the key elements you should think about as part of the process:

Personal interests and aspirations. Do you love managing your own schedule, overcoming obstacles, starting a new adventure, facing financial risk, and relish the opportunity to change the world? Money should not be the big driver here.

Big or small, more companies are looking at letting their employees telecommute now than ever before. According to Telework, 20 million to 30 million Americans work from home at least one day a week. But many business owners still cling to the notion that you have to be seen in the office to really be productive. What’s your take?

Benefits to Working From Home

The biggest draw to letting employees work from home, especially for small businesses with small budgets, is the cost savings. Without needing quite so much office space and the overhead that comes with it, a company can put more money back into growing the business. But there are even more benefits.