The Governor of Michigan Rick Snyder recently announced a $3 billion initiative collaborating with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, state agencies and other Michigan based enterprises. The initiative is considered a combination of public & private due to the broad collaboration, and goes by the name Pure Michigan Business Connect.

The project will focus on early stage and second phase new businesses and follow an overall philosophy of growing innovation from several angles. Raising a climate conducive to small business and startup growth centers on bringing together thoughtful entrepreneurs, tech resources, established businesses and capital.

Sharing is big on the Web. We all know that. But exactly how big? ShareThis has some answers in a study it put together with Starcom MediaVest Group and Rubinson Partners. Looking across the sharing and clicking habits of the more than 300 million people a month who pass links with a ShareThis button on over a million websites (producing 7 billion pageviews a month), a few things stood out.

Overall, sharing now produces an estimated 10 percent of all Internet traffic and 31 percent of referral traffic to sites from search and social. Search is still about twice as big.

When it comes to sharing on the Web, Facebook rules. Facebook accounts for 38 percent of all sharing referral traffic. Email and Twitter tied for second with 17 percent each. Those are the percentages that actually clicked through. The raw sharing numbers are higher. Facebook makes up 56 percent of all shared content (up from 45 percent in August, 2010), followed by email at 15 percent (down from 34 percent) and Twitter at 8 percent (down from 12 percent). The difference between these two sets of numbers is that some content is shared that is never clicked on, thus the raw numbers are higher.

ock options are complicated; the paperwork that accompanies them can sometimes be a full inch thick of financial legalese. Most employees are just glad to get some ownership in the company — and maybe a lottery ticket if the startup does really well. But most employees don’t recognize what their options really are, nor do they understand that there are some catastrophic choices they can make with those options that could leave them bankrupt or worse.

For the executive summary: If you can afford it, forward-exercise 100 percent of your options the week you join a startup and file an 83(b) election immediately.

A good entrepreneur is not necessarily born a good salesman. In fact, they are often the opposite, more focused on building things rather than selling them. Yet, in today’s world of information overload, marketing and selling skills are critical to the success of every startup.

The alternative “If we build it, they will come” approach has long been relegated to the field of dreams, after Kevin Costner’s movie by the same name. In my own effort to keep up with the times, I just finished a new book by Julie Steelman, “The Effortless Yes: Demystifying the Selling Process.” Julie is known as the entrepreneur’s selling mentor, for both men and women.

One of the many sources of intellectual reward from running a venture fund is the wide variety of people I have the privilege of meeting and the spectrum of ideas they present. Despite the variety in the backgrounds, personalities, and ideas represented by the entrepreneurs I meet, they almost always fail to get two basic questions right in the pitch during our first meeting.

QUESTION 1: What are your expectations on valuation?

VCs ask this question for at least two reasons. First, we see more deals than we can process, so having a “Pass or Fail” question like this helps make quick work of the diligence. When I hear the CEO of an otherwise interesting company say “We expect $40MM pre-money”, and the business is a year or two away from revenue, I realize my work on that company is done. We log it in the database as something we’ve looked at and move on to the next prospect in the queue.

(Reuters) - California-based SVB Financial (SIVB.O), the parent of Silicon Valley Bank, is eyeing banking licenses in China and India, Asia's No.1 and No.3 economies, as part of its international expansion, its chief executive told Reuters.

The bank, which focuses on lending to the technology, life sciences, venture capital and premium wine industries, has moved into Israel, China, India and Britain as it looks to take its venture capital business model overseas.

The bank, valued at close to $2.5 billion, has a joint venture, which is subject to regulatory approval, in China with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co Ltd (600000.SS) and has invested in Chinese companies such as Zhejiang Uni-power Guaranty and Zero2IPO Group, and venture capital funds.

"In China, we've announced a joint venture, and our goal is to get a banking license there, and the same in India," Greg Becker said in a telephone interview.

When you are seeking angel capital, you're going to need a solid plan of action if you are to improve the chances of getting the investment that you need. Raising angel capital follows a similar action plan to that which you would use if you are raising venture capital. However, there are a few steps that are absolutely essential if you are to acquire the investment that you're seeking, and you should ensure that you follow these carefully to increase your chances of success:

1. Send a Teaser Email When you first want to make contact with an angel investor, there are different ways that you can go about this. The most effective way, however, is to send a teaser email to the angel investor to introduce yourself and provide a brief description of your company. This should contain only basic information about your company, rather than going into long and unnecessary detail, because if the investor is not interested then they will not want to read your whole business plan.

On the morning of December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright eyed another chance at getting their flying machine off the ground. The brothers and five other men lugged their 600-pound machine over a quarter mile uphill and placed it on a 60-foot monorail. They had done the same thing three days earlier but crashed, breaking several parts in their flying prototype.

This day was different. Undeterred by their failure a mere 72 hours ago, the flying machine made its way down the monorail and picked up speed. Wilbur ran along the side of the plane, steadying the wing. As the machine left the ground, a camera shutter opened, capturing one the most inspiring moments in human history. Twelve seconds and 120 feet later, what was previously impossible was now a reality.

That day, the Wright brothers finally arrived at an ultimate success, but the path was filled with disappointing detours and a daunting string of failures. Innovation and failure go hand in hand.

In the last three decades, college tuition has grown over 900%. It is one of the biggest burdens families face today. The inability to pay for higher education is even greater for families from underserved backgrounds.

Through the proven effectiveness of crowdfunding, Takeashine's online community platform will help students meet their financial needs for higher education. The platform will allow students to showcase their talents using a variety of assets like a portfolio, resume, a photo of a sculpture they made or even a video of them performing a soliloquy from King Lear to encourage donors to support them and their goal of achieving a higher education.

Students are not only able to attend college but they will also gain valuable business and marketing skills throughout the process. Takeashine is the ultimate learning-enabling technology. They have already reached their tipping point, which means they will be able to launch their website very soon for participating students.

Gov. Bill Haslam's job creation plan seeks to seed startups by pouring $50 million in federal and state dollars into an effort to get them off the ground.

Called INCITE, the initiative depends heavily on $30 million in U.S. Treasury funds allocated to Tennessee last October as part of the State Small Business Credit Initiative, aimed at increasing lending opportunities for small businesses.

The state is currently working with the federal agency to craft a program that could include anything 'from seed funds to loans to mezzanine financing,' says Bill Hagerty, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

Benjamin Disraeli, a 19th century British Prime Minister, once said, "Man is only great when he acts from passion."

For today's aspiring entrepreneur, exploring avenues of creativity to find your passion is likely the quickest route to increase your chances of launching a successful business. Where to start? Here, five exercises to help you uncover your passion.

Exercise 1 - Revisit your childhood. What did you love to do? "It's amazing how disconnected we become to the things that brought us the most joy in favor of what's practical," says Rob Levit, an Annapolis, Md.-based creativity expert, speaker and business consultant.

Levit suggests making a list of all the things you remember enjoying as a child. Would you enjoy that activity now? For example, Frank Lloyd Wright, America's greatest architect, played with wooden blocks all through childhood and perhaps well past it.

What motivates you to innovate?

There is a snare drum being played in the MaRS lobby. As any drummer will tell you, it’s not a regular drum, but a “collapsible drum” designed by James Paterson at Humber College start-up expanDrums. The drum has a removable segment that allows it to be played at a big, boomy rock show or an intimate jazz gig – a seriously useful invention for a professional drummer.

Entrepreneurs like Paterson pass through the halls of MaRS every day with a wide array of products and inventions – what motivates entrepreneurs like this?

Since a lot of folks (primarily policymakers) seem to think that small businesses don’t need anything at all but access to debt financing in order to thrive, it’s interesting that we have a couple of highly relevant bits of nongovernmental research on the subject this month.

But, if all small business owners need is access to debt financing, then it looks like we might be in trouble.

Starting and building a company is all about leadership – formulating an idea, building a unique plan based on vision and experience, and forging a path over and through all obstacles. Yet the image of leadership in business is at an all-time low, according to national leadership experts, considering the political debacles, record business bankruptcies, and executive fraud cases.

If the country is to recover financially and politically, new leaders will have to emerge to fill the leadership deficit – new leaders who understand that leadership is a privilege, not an entitlement, according to executive coach Michael Schutzler, author of the book “Inspiring Excellence – A Path to Exceptional Leadership.”

Entrepreneurs are well positioned to become the new leaders, because they perceive problems as opportunities, and have the mental mindset to innovate and execute. They have the required passion, perseverance, and work ethic. What they don’t have by default are the skills required, or the relationships. These don’t come automatically with the CEO title.

Some of us are naturally gifted networkers. We walk into a room of 50 strangers and giddily begin introducing ourselves to 50 new friends.

For those of us who are less outgoing, however, it helps to start with some sort of connection. However many degrees we are separated by, Sonar wants to map them out.

The iPhone app (iTunes link), which launched in May, shows you who is in the room by using data from social networks. After connecting accounts, you can see who else is checked in on Foursquare or Facebook Places, as well as which one of them shares your Twitter or Facebook friends. You can send a message to any of them with a click in order to make a connection in real life.

GrowLab, a “startup boot camp” for entrepreneurs, is giving five companies up to $25,000 in seed funding, four months of mentorship, free office space and the opportunity to pitch investors at the end of the program for follow-on funding. GrowLab aims to find the world’s smartest Internet entrepreneurs who are passionate about technology and changing the face of traditional business.

GrowLab is now accepting applications for its fall 2011 program at www.growlab.ca from entrepreneurs globally; winning teams will be based in Vancouver for the first three months, with the fourth month in San Francisco.

Deadline to apply is June 15, 2011. Five companies will be chosen for the first cohort beginning August 15, 2011.

With all the competing offers for hot-stone massages, dinner cruises and skydiving lessons flooding our inboxes today, it’s no wonder consumers have been complaining of a vague, anxiety-producing syndrome the media has dubbed “deal fatigue.”

But while the consumer space has become saturated with Groupon clones, the enterprise sector has barely been tapped.

This is changing. A handful of business-to-business deal sites have sprung up to offer big discounts on everything from search engine optimization packages to HR handbooks.

Within this group, Menlo Park, Calif.-based GroupPrice is aggressively trying to capture both the domestic and international B2B markets in order to cement its position as the “Groupon for businesses.” Launched domestically in January, GroupPrice recently went on a Canadian public-relations blitz to drum up business in the great white north. And on Tuesday, the startup will launch a new British deals site, GroupPrice UK.

In a changing market which is more demanding and competitive, entrepreneurs don’t pay enough attention to their markets, investors say.

Two decades since Israel’s high technology industry took off, many of the country’s start-up entrepreneurs have yet to develop the skills to position their products in the marketplace, devise effective business strategies and develop the management skills to build large and growing companies, investors and industry consultants say.

Speaking at the sidelines of the High Tech Industry Association conference in Jerusalem, the annual jamboree of Israel’s start-up industry, investors were unanimous is praising Israeli innovation. But many cautioned that technology is only half the story and that start-up entrepreneurs often fail to size up the market and its needs, competing technologies and changing conditions before they try to raise capital and develop their idea.

Often best places lists reflect as much on what’s being measured, and who is being measured as on the inherent advantages of any locale. Some cities that have grown rapidly in jobs, for example, often do not do as well if the indicator has more to do with perceived “quality” of employment.

Take places like Denver and Seattle. Both do well on what may be considered high-tech measurements – bandwidth, educated migration, entrepreneurial start ups – but have trailed other places in terms of creating jobs. Others, such as Oklahoma City and Raleigh, do better in terms of overall job creation and cost competitiveness.

There are effectively few truly objective criteria, and the Area Development list does tend to weigh a bit heavy on the factors that help more expensive – although not necessarily the most costly – cities. If cost of doing business, or regulatory environments were given more weight, some of the high fliers would not do as well.

We see entrepreneurs every day. They're actually pretty easy to spot.

Have you ever been stranded in the automotive purgatory of a highway construction zone? Do you secretly admire the driver who flies down the side of the road and then darts into the merge point at the last possible moment? Well, your rush hour hero is probably an entrepreneur.

This breed tends to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. They also see no problem using the other sex's restroom if the appropriate lavatory is otherwise occupied.

Entrepreneurs think outside of the box and have an incredible tolerance for risk. In his seminal textbook, "The Entrepreneur's Guide To Finance and Business," Steven Rogers points out that the average entrepreneur fails 3.8 times before succeeding.