The University of Michigan is among the nation's leaders in creating startup ventures based on university technology. To build on that success, UM technology transfer officials have created the new Michigan Venture Center, a one-stop hub for entrepreneurs, investors and faculty inventors.

The center will help faculty inventors create business plans, assess a technology's commercialization potential, deal with intellectual property issues, attract investors, and acquire gap funding to enhance the market appeal of a new technology.

In a classic episode of “The Simpsons,” the owner of convenience store Kwik-E-Mart, Apu, is being held up at gunpoint and shouts to a policeman in the store for help. The cop, Chief Wiggum, retorts, “Hey, I got problems of my own right now,” as his tie is pulled slowly into a hot dog rotating machine.

”Oh boy, this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” Chief Wiggum dejectedly declares.

I couldn’t help but think of that line this morning while listening to several veteran venture capitalists discuss the unsettling state of the venture industry in front of dozens of hopeful start-up CEOs at today’s VentureWire Technology Showcase.

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- House Democrats plan a renewed push to raise taxes on executives at private-equity and venture- capital firms to help pay for year-end economic recovery legislation, a top congressional aide said.

Matthew Beck, a spokesman for the House Ways and Means Committee, said the panel will revive an effort to raise the 15 percent tax rate on “carried interest,” a term for the share of a fund’s profit that is paid as compensation to executives.

Abu Dhabi, UAE - Growing businesses in a complex environment, leading enterprises to innovate and using technology for innovation were the key themes of discussion at Frost & Sullivan's flagship event -GIL 2009: Middle East- Growth, Innovation and Leadership: A Frost & Sullivan Global Congress on Corporate Growth. Held on 7th October 2009 at Hotel Beach Rotana, Abu Dhabi, UAE for the first time in the Middle East, the Congress saw attendance from senior dignitaries across industries at a single venue.

The highlight of the Congress was its keynote presentation, 'The CEO's Perspective on Growth in a Complex Business Environment' by David Frigstad, Chairman, Frost & Sullivan. Elaborating on the CEO's perspective of growth, Frigstad said, "Now more than ever, CEOs need a 360-degree overview of the business for making decisions. Through this powerful Congress, Frost & Sullivan offers insights to grow and sustain business in the current economic environment, seize opportunities for networking and forge new partnerships."

Arlington, Va. (PRWEB) October 13, 2009 -- On Columbus Day, Richard C. Litman, the Founder of the Global Academic Innovation Network (GAIN), announced GAIN's 2020 plan to help universities and businesses in emerging countries connect with their counterparts in more developed parts of the world.

Global circumstances have shifted in the last 500 years so that the New World and the Old World have become one world united by a more ancient type of discovery -- innovation. Twenty-first century explorers are not found on ships like the Nina, Piñta or Santa Maria, but are steering through uncharted waters in laboratories at universities and research centers, and at spin-off companies in business incubators and technology parks. In the current era, the quest for technology and entrepreneurship is more important than staking a claim to new territories.

The government this week announced plans to invest more than £80 million to encourage greater development of innovative technology in the UK.

In addition to a £82.5 million funding injection into the cause by the Technology Strategy Board, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, Lord Mandelson used yesterday’s Innovate09 conference to call on businesses to continue to be innovative even during the downturn.

Even in the best of times, venture capital was a dream for most small businesses, especially startups. Now it has dried up for almost everyone, so yes it is a pipe dream.

Angel investors are more interesting. Angel investors differ from venture capitalists because they are individual investors instead of a group, they invest their own money, and they can be more willing to take a flier on small and microbusinesses. Angels are people who invest in your business for a hefty piece of ownership. They do it usually because they are looking for a higher return on their money than they can get elsewhere, because they are interested in helping small businesses grow, or because they are looking for something interesting to do.

Tom Koulopoulos, president and co-founder of Delphi Group, here addresses the European Parliament. He highlights what he calls the “perfect storm” of opportunity for innovation today, consisting of:

“placeless work,” where work and knowledge know no geographical boundaries

“ageless work,” consisting of a multigenerational mash-up of available workers; and

“weightless work,” where electricity and phone service are the only requirements for work to begin.

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Venture-capital fundraising dropped to its lowest point in six years during the third quarter as financial turmoil continued to curb universities and pension funds’ investments in startup companies.

Venture firms raised $1.56 billion in the quarter, the National Venture Capital Association said in a statement. The number of dollars committed was the lowest since the first quarter of 2003, while the 17 investment pools raised were the fewest since the third quarter of 1994.

Oprah has over 2.3 million followers on social networking service Twitter. Steve Jobs? Zero. And yet, in a recent poll by youth organization Junior Achievement, the Apple CEO topped the talk show maven by a hefty margin as the entrepreneur that teens most admired.

It makes perfect sense, really. I mean, sure, Oprah once gave her entire studio audience free cars, but Steve Jobs has given the whole world the iPod and iPhone. I mean, granted, they have to pay for them, but come on--that's what entrepreneurship is really about, right?

Hassina Syed talks about how she finds opportunity in a war-torn country and why ''if a male businessman can do it, so can a woman.''

Ever since the collapse of the Taliban regime in the fall of 2001, Afghanistan's over-$20 billion recovery effort has been undermined by worsening security, corruption and mixed agendas by the international community. This, however, hasn't prevented a growing number of Afghan entrepreneurs from investing in ways that could be among the most effective tools for bringing peace to their country.

One of these is Hassina Syed, an outspoken 30-year-old former refugee and mother of two. Despite numerous obstacles, including threats by warlords, government officials and rival male interests who deeply resent a female in their presence, Hassina now ranks as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Afghanistan.