In my last Om Says, Why Some Apps Works and Some Don’t, I started to explore one of my core theses — the growing importance of the economics of attention and how it relates the success and failure of Internet (and mobile) applications.

I believe that the economics of attention is much more ruthless and unforgiving than the real economic underpinning of a product. What I mean is that you can find money for your company from an investor, but it wouldn’t really matter if you don’t have users’ attention.

This is a hard reality that has been obvious in highly competitive and somewhat subjective marketplaces. Hollywood movies, music and even fashion are markets where “attention” determines the outcome. As far as I am concerned, the Internet and mobile applications fall in the same category.

In this age of globalisation, outsourcing has become an integral part of the way large, multinational enterprises are managed. From helping to provide application support, processing claims, managing networks, billing systems or even customer service, the majority of large businesses are spending more on outsourcing now than at any point in the last few years. Research from Gartner shows that 53% of European organisations in 2010 were planning to outsource more with 40% due to increase their external IT services spending.

Innovation is increasingly becoming a vital element of outsourcers’ offering, and businesses are relying ever more heavily on their outsourcers to deliver  innovation capabilities. Research we recently conducted with Warwick Business School among 250 CIOs and CFOs across six regions (the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Benelux, France and the Nordics), reveals just how important this innovation is: 70% of European C-level executives believe the innovation achieved through outsourcing contributes to their organisations’ financial performance. But, worryingly, the research suggests that businesses are not getting most of outsourcers’ innovation capabilities. If only 35% are actually quantifying the financial value that innovation adds to their business, how can they prove its worth and make the case for future investment?

As the debate on a patent system overhaul moves to the the House this week, small inventors are raising concerns about two major shifts that a Senate bill proposes.

Alexander Poltorak, the founder and president of the American Innovators for Patent Reform, said has some serious reservations about the bill that passed the Senate. While he said he applauds the move to allow the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to keep the funds it generates from fees, he believes the Senate bill missed the point of patent reform. He says a shift to a first-to-file system is unnecessary and he is also worried that language that slipped into the Senate the bill will stifle innovation.

“The biggest problem with this bill is really not what it changes, but what it doesn’t,” he said.

Blogger outreach is something my marketing firm is passionate about. After all, bloggers are the voice for many brands (for better or worse) these days. With a positive brand review, your brand can receive a nice boost in Web traffic and sales.

Until now, my company has been manually visiting blogs and logging contact info for the blogger, traffic details, etcetera. It’s a lot of work. But then I discovered GroupHigh. GroupHigh is an online research tool that puts together all the information you could need for millions of the most active blogs online.

For startup companies with small budgets, gaining an advantage for your new business or a new product through advertising is both a challenging and risky venture. Once the initial budget is gone, there are seldom second chances.

A good public relations strategy is an alternative to advertising. Effective PR is a cost-effective way to gain editorial exposure for your product, get more leads, generate more sales and build a great brand.

What makes PR so powerful?

In a word: credibility.

People often see through advertising, but a product mentioned in the context of a news report or print feature story gives it a passive endorsement and third-party credibility advertising just can't buy.

I was intrigued to read a thoughtful and detailed account in Little India of how some Indian Americans are heading back to India to seek attractive career opportunities. The author, Naomi Abraham, tells the story of a successful young American Express executive, New Jersey-born Sapna Chadha, who shocked her Indian immigrant parents by moving to India to take a job as the marketing director of American Express. The move came when her husband, Indian-born and raised but a 20-year resident of the United States, was recruited to join a software start-up in New Delhi.

Today’s Indian returnees (like their diaspora counterparts from China and other countries), are actively recruited by the government, which is seeking all the talent it can find to keep its economy competitive. Thus, conventional trajectories are being reversed. Some immigrants have always returned home, of course. But as Abraham explains, earlier generations of returnees often came home because they were disillusioned by their new country, “notably because of discrimination and other obstacles.” By contrast, today’s reverse-commuters are returning home (or to their parents’ home countries) because fast-growing economies open up so many possibilities.

When SAP, the large business software provider, needs to complete a project quickly, it takes advantage of its global reach, along with collaboration tools that make it easier than ever for people in disparate areas to work together.

The approach is called "follow the sun." As the name implies, it's an around-the-clock operation. At the end of the workday in Germany, where SAP is headquartered, software developers and other project experts hand off work to counterparts in California. Eight hours later, the California teams hand the work over to teams in Asia. It's not ideal for every situation—such as when SAP is developing an application for use in one market. But it can be useful when time is short and SAP has to develop software that works all over the world.

Latinos started businesses in 2010 at a higher rate than whites, blacks, or Asians. The entrepreneurship rate among Latinos jumped the most during the recession.

Source: Kauffman Foundation

(The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity represents the percentage of working-age Americans who start a business each month. The data are derived from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.)

Remember the garage band you had in junior high, the gear you and your friends pulled together, the great sounds you created, bouncing ideas off one another?

Now go back further to your dreams of building structures bigger than your house with Legos or Lincoln Logs or Erector Sets and your big sister joining you in creating the tallest tower you ever made. Or remember having a mountain of crayons and a huge blank sheet - no lines! - of paper, and you swirled and zigzagged all of your tiny tot energy and creativity onto the paper in purples, greens, silvers, yellows and oranges.

Remember the fun you had.

"There is a euphoria to creating," says David Edwards, an educator and author of "The Lab: Creativity and Culture" (Harvard University Press, $22.95). "It's hard to understand from the outside ... but it's very hopeful and it has something to do with being young again, because at the end of the day, when we're young, we're all in the blank page mode."

The first step to making big bucks from your IP is to obtain the appropriate protection. Once that’s done, it’s time to reap the rewards from your hard work and sheer brilliance.

And remember: none of this information should be construed as legal advice. Always seek out a qualified professional in relation to your own circumstances.
1. Questions, questions, questions

There’s no right or wrong method to commercialise your IP. However, the route you choose must account for your individual circumstances. Before you embark upon a path, ask yourself some, if not all, of the following questions:

* Do you want to fly solo with commercialising your IP? Do you have the finances to do so? If not, then you’ll need to consider finding a source of finance.

Recently, I attended Anthill’s Entrepreneurs’ Night Out event in Sydney. The event featured four panelists — Domenic Carosa, Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin, Ian Lyons and Katey Shaw — and a room of enthusiastic entrepreneurs.

While many ideas were shared by both panelists and audience members, the night left me with some memorable lessons on startups and investment that deserve to be remarked upon. Here are five, in particular, that stood out:
1. People invest in people, not companies

Investors are presented with ideas and innovations to choose from. So, what typically raises one pitch above another?

The people who present it.

Business information analysts IBISWorld has compiled a list of several business sectors that are surviving and even thriving in the age of the internet, despite the doom-sayers.

“While many prophesied the death of cinema, human resources, travel agencies, postal services, and even department stores in the face of increased online competition, what we have actually seen is resourceful operators repositioning their offering in order to compete and flourish, “ said Robert Bryant, IBISWorld General Manager (Australia).
1. Cinema screens did not go blank

Cinema has found ways to thrive despite the threat of digital piracy. Some technological innovations were important to keep cinema competitive, like 3D, but the main difference, according to IBISWorld, is that cinemas have evolved to became a social destination, a place where people come to be together and not only to see movies. Costumer service also played a big role in the survival of cinema, by offering services like merchandising and online booking. This way, cinemas have distinguished themselves by providing an experience difficult to replicate at home.

The type of high-risk/high-gain research at the frontiers of knowledge that the ERC promotes since its launch in 2007 often generates new discoveries, but also unexpected opportunities for commercial and societal applications. By supporting outstanding research projects at the frontiers of knowledge, the European Research Council (ERC), which is the newest component of the 7th Research Framework Programme, already feeds into the EU’s Innovation Union. It is therefore committed to ensure the full exploitation of the excellent ideas it funds, in line with the Innovation Union's aim of strengthening every link in the innovation chain from "blue sky" to innovation.

To do so, the ERC is launching the “Proof of Concept” funding scheme, which will make available up to 150,000 euro per grant to researchers already holding ERC grants. This funding will aim to bridge the gap between their research and the earliest stage of a marketable innovation. ERC grant holders will therefore be given the opportunity to apply for additional funding to establish the innovation potential of ideas arising from their ERC-funded frontier research projects. This targeted new initiative will capture the maximum value from frontier research by getting good ideas to market.

AOL has built a cool office space right in the heart of the Valley, with Facebook and Twitter just around the corner (as well as the 100s of other startups you don’t know about). AOL are allowing other startups and entrepreneurs into their space and hoping some of their magic might rub off.

I wish AOL all the best and applaud their effort, however I don’t think it will work. Here’s why and what I’d do instead:

Silicon Valley starts with a state of mind. And that is where AOL should start.

I’d take the capital and rent they’ve forked out and hire a few entrepreneurs and product developers from the outside, who already have some kind of vision for what they would do with AOL or its products, and then create the environment for them to work in.

I’m not referring to the office space. I mean the management environment, and the culture. AOL needs to carve out an entirely new way of working and give these people the freedom and rewards to work within that.

Here's one of my favorite questions to ask entrepreneurs-turned-VCs: What do you now know about venture capital that you wish you had known as an entrepreneur?

The answers often are about the "business" end of venture capital, such as limited partner relationships or general partnership dynamics. A few weeks back, however, someone mentioned that he wished he had known that VCs like to collude on deals.

Not organized collusion, mind you, such as a dinner where everyone sets pricing limits (I kid, I kid). Instead, he was talking about scenarios in which one VC will call another and say: "Hey, I hear we're both working on the same deal. Why don't we team up, rather than bid against each other?"

This is particular true, he added, among VCs working in the same geographic market. Or among VCs in a relatively narrow industry vertical.

All the tools are already here. Emerging entrepreneurs, working alongside business veterans who know how to build a thriving business, can create new jobs.

Tuscarawas County has a wealth of resources — a talented work force, institutes of higher learning, and innovative entrepreneurs — to help lead Ohio’s economic recovery. But we need to connect these assets with budding Ohio’s businesses. That’s why business incubators, like the Tuscarawas County Business Incubator — which was mentioned in a recent Times-Reporter article (“New Phila. business a finalist for national honor,” March 23) — are vital to Ohio’s sustained economic recovery.

ASTRA has created the 2011 State R&D Sheet series for use by any and all.  Now in their 10th year, the 2011 State R&D Sheets contain approximately 49 innovation benchmarks and where possible, rankings for each state and the District of Columbia.  The individual State sheets show a given state's relative achievement in a variety of areas.  The sheets also detail how federal R&D spending affects private industry, academic institutions, job creation, and the overall innovation ecosystem within a State. 

The sheets are designed for quick reference and are used in visits with public officials who may not know what companies and universities play lead roles within their own state and local economies thanks to federal R&D spending.  ASTRA has created these for immediate use in the 16th annual Congressional Visits Day Program slated for April 5-6, 2011, which is co-sponsors with the Science-Engineering-Technology Working Group (see www.aboutastra.org/cvd/).  Coupled with ASTRA's State STEM ED Report Card series (current thorough 2010) these handy benchmarking tools are created from a number of public databases and several private organizations' research products.  Get your free download and learn more at www.usinnovation.org/node/21/index.php?q=state-sheets

Over 60 leading brands have pledged millions of pounds worth of support to new entrepreneurs under a major new campaign launched by the Prime Minister today.

StartUp Britain is a ground-breaking response from the private sector to the Government’s call for an ‘enterprise-led’ recovery. It will deliver the very best in support and advice for startup companies, led by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs.

StartUp Britain will be a champion for the UK’s 270,000 businesses that start up every year aiming to help drive growth by accelerating, inspiring and celebrating Britain’s start-up talent.

It is fully supported by Prime Minister David Cameron and HM Government and has so far gathered the backing of significant international brands including Barclays, BlackBerry, Experian, Intel, Microsoft, McKinsey & Co. and Virgin Media.

Pledges to date include services and benefits comprising advertising and marketing, office space, broadband, finance and mentoring support for start-up companies.

Herndon, VA (PRWEB) March 28, 2011

TechStorm, the first national event focused exclusively on matching innovative university technologies with entrepreneurs and seed funding opportunities, today announced its inaugural conference will take place June 2, 2011 in Fairfax, Virginia. In addition, event co-host Amplifier Ventures will provide up to $250,000 in seed funding for pre-vetted, attending entrepreneurs to launch startups around university technologies showcased at the conference.

At the inaugural TechStorm, attending entrepreneurs, corporate in-licensing professionals and investors will gain access to innovative university technologies being exhibited by many of the nation's most respected university technology transfer offices. TechStorm will feature pre-vetted entrepreneurs with an established track record starting successful businesses, a pre-event matching program and a first-of-its-kind seed funding program led by Amplifier Ventures to accelerate startup formation.

I am one of those people who has found a way to find the requisite balance between social media and a private life. Sure, it has taken a lot of work to get to that point (including nearly a month off from the Internet), but it can be done. Though, it does mean that now I am not one of the 20,000 elite users who produce 50 percent of all tweets consumed.

Anyway if you want to find out if you need a social media detox, check out this fun graphic from Column Five Media.