Here we highlight selected innovation related articles from around the world on a daily basis. These articles related to innovation and funding for innovative companies, and best practices for innovation based economic development.
Getting things done effectively in a startup requires total individual and team accountability. You can’t afford excuses and multiple people doing the same job. In my view, “taking responsibility” is the core element behind accountability. Many people hear responsibility as an obligation, but I hear it as “the ability to respond.”
It’s counter-intuitive: This time of year we should be taking time to enjoy life, but for many entrepreneurs, it’s the busiest season of the year. And that’s not just for those who work in retail. We’re busy with holiday party obligations, buying client gifts, volunteering, sending cards…the list goes on and on.
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I’ve heard this phrase many times throughout my life:
“Do what you said you’ll do, when you said you were going to do it.”
Over the past couple of years, I’ve pondered this advice further as I meet more job seekers ready for the workforce. Now, this advice applies to everyone. It’s particularly poignant to job seekers and networkers. Because so many people don’t follow this great advice, those who do immediately stand out. Here’s why…
Image: http://www.youtern.com
Seems like everyone is doing something on social media these days.
You’re texting with your friends, tweeting your random thoughts, instagramming your meals, snapchatting your selfies (speaking of, “selfie” was chosen as Oxford dictionary’s “Word of the Year” for 2013).
Social media, and its business component social media marketing, has seen a huge explosion in the past few years. So you may be thinking about a career in social media… or you may be wondering how to make social media work for you… and your job search
Image: http://www.youtern.com
5G, 1,000 times faster than Long Term Evolution (LTE), will be commercialized by the year 2020.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) announced on December 17 that it laid out the “Strategy to Implement 5G Mobile Communications,” which includes starting the world’s first commercialized 5G services in 2020.
Image: http://www.businesskorea.co.kr
Remember the adage, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”? This old saying certainly holds when making investing decisions; in fact, diversification—both between asset classes and within individual asset classes—ranks among the most powerful tools in your arsenal when it comes to reducing avoidable risk. As I’ve talked about before in this column, diversification is critical for any type of investing, in particular alternative investing. Equity crowdfunding is simply a mechanism to facilitate investments into private companies.
Image: Wikipedia
Innovation, defined as doing things differently and making it work, is the hallmark of Philadelphia’s past. Given its present trajectory, the city is poised to reclaim this brand going forward.
The four pillars of innovation are business models, process, product & services and culture — the last of which defines the spirit of innovation that can be brought to bear for an organization or a region.
Image: http://philadelphia.regionsbusiness.com
Dear participants of the Baltic Dynamics 2013 Conference in Riga,
Thank you very much for your participation and contribution to the Baltic Dynamics Conference. It was a great pleasure for me and my team to meet people which are really interested in innovation processes and create new personal contacts for further cooperation. I do hope that everybody get new ideas, knowledge and stimulus for your everyday activities. Thanks a lot for all speakers! See attached special issue of “Innovation America” – Thanks to Rich Bendis!
You can view the edition here: http://touchpoint.dmvg.us/issues/archive/e3d64fa7b5197fb05f89519130cb69f8
Google executives love to fly, and they fly a lot. A recent NASA report by the space agency's inspector general found chartered jets shuttling GOOG higher-ups received discounted fuel from the federal government that they weren't entitled to; there's now talk of Google paying some of that money back. But Google may get to experience every Fortune 500 company's wildest travel dream next month: A $82 million jet center dedicated to executives' private planes.
Image: http://www.fastcompany.com
Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce veteran Paul Rumler has been named chief economic development officer of the organization.
He will remain in his position as the chamber's executive vice president in addition to his new duties. He will lead economic development initiatives of the chamber to drive job creation and business investment.
Image: John Schultz, QUAD-CITY TIMES
Founders often talk about the benefits of crowdfunding a brand-new project: it's a unique opportunity to engage your community, build grassroots exposure and test an idea's longevity early. But what you don't hear as much about are the challenges -- and there are many.
To learn more, I asked 8 entrepreneurs from the Young Entrepreneur Council about the less-glamorous side of crowdfunding, and what advice they have for others considering it:
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Where is life best? Traditionally, the answer to this question has mainly been to ask another question: Where is the economy best? But recently economists have started to focus on how people are experiencing life, and everything that goes into making that better or worse, instead of just peering at the latest economic output reports.
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People should stop wasting their money on dietary supplements, some physicians said today, in response to three large new studies that showed most multivitamin supplements are ineffective at reducing the risk of disease, and may even cause harm.
The new studies, published today (Dec. 16) in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine —including two new clinical trials and one large review of 27 past clinical trials conducted by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — found no evidence that taking daily multivitamin and mineral supplements prevents or slows down the progress of cognitive decline or chronic diseases such as heart diseases or cancer.
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If you have sneakers, wine bottles, and gloves crowding your desk, then you may already be aware of the findings from Yale Medical School: clutter can be painful to get rid of. Literally.
In the study, researchers asked groups of both self-described hoarders (who answered a call for people with "clutter problems") and non-hoarders to sort through junk mail, old newspapers, and other items they typically get thrown away. Then they asked what to hold onto and what to toss, with their brain activity tracked throughout.
Image: http://www.fastcompany.com
As another year goes by, it's time for a true show of unity With the remarkable founders of the First Round Community.
In the past years, we celebrated with song, dance and spice. A weekend anthem and First Round Style made the holidays twice as nice.
We don’t choose these videos. They’re based on the year's top memes. Then we do our version — as silly as it seems.
America is getting healthier--or, to put it another way, it's not getting any unhealthier. According to a major new report from the United Healthcare Foundation, physical inactivity is down, smoking is down and obesity levels are flattening out. Infant mortality is falling nationally. Fewer people are dying from cardiovascular disease and from cancer compared to two decades ago, when the foundation first made its research.
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WHEN IT COMES TO DATA VIZ, 2013 WAS THE BEST YEAR YET. HERE ARE SOME OF THE BEST. One of the basic laws of quantum mechanics is that information can never entirely be lost, only assume other forms. One of the most exciting forms information can take is that of the infographic, and over the past 12 months, Co.Design has covered some of the prettiest, most innovative design permutations information can take as part of our Infographic Of The Day series.
Image: Pop Chart Lab
Although the ghost of the Great Man still haunts leadership studies, most of us have recognized by now that successful organizations are the product of distributive, collective, and complementary leadership. The first step in putting together such a team is to identify each member of the team’s personality makeup and leadership style, so that strengths and competences can be matched to particular roles and challenges. Getting this match wrong can bring misery to all concerned and cause considerable damage.
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ou can’t avoid peer-to-peer marketplaces. For transportation and housing, look no further than Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb. Skillshare and TaskRabbit are tackling education and task completion. Etsy and Shapeways have created handmade and fabrication marketplaces. They all facilitate integration into the economy without the need to secure employment from a large company.
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You’re an entrepreneur. You believe in the product or service that you’ve built. But then sales stall. What went wrong?
The truth is that over half of all small businesses are gone within five years, and only 30 percent ever make it to ten years. That’s because most entrepreneurs have great ideas for products and services, but they don’t know how to market them. Here are the five most common marketing mistakes to avoid:
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