“Consumer Internet entrepreneurs are like pro basketball players,” a venture capitalist told me recently while discussing the prospects for a thirty-something founder, “They peak at 25, by 30 they’re usually done.”

Why? Because young entrepreneurs are more creative and imaginative, and are willing put 100% of their lives into their startups, he said. “It’s not a guess, this is a data driven observation,” says the VC.

He had a number of caveats. First, this only applies to consumer Internet entrepreneurs. Enterprise and hardware startups tend to do better with older founders, where experience (and direct sales experience) matter a lot. And there are plenty of founders that, like Michael Jordan, can peak way beyond 25 (and the peak basketball age is really probably at least a 27). “Those tend to be the repeat success founders,” he said, “the rules don’t apply to them.”

Mike Shehan gets more calls from venture-capital firms than he can manage.

"When I have time, I try to get back to them, but there's just not enough time in the day right now," said the chief executive of Westminster-based SpotXchange, which operates a marketplace for online video advertisements.

The calls have been coming more often in the past year — partly because of Spot Xchange's success but also because venture-capital interest in Internet companies is heating up. Venture-capital competition has turned white hot in Silicon Valley, particularly for companies in the social-networking and mobile-application sector, prompting concerns of another tech bubble.

Courtney Scrib, 26, is studying for an MBA at the Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management.

Boston’s economy is rich in innovation and diversity. But compared to Silicon Valley, and some may argue New York, it is not the marquee destination for tech entrepreneurs and innovators.

Positioning Boston as a “place to be” for young entrepreneurial professionals requires an understanding of what these individuals value. It's more than just dynamic employment opportunities and competitive compensation. It's also having a culture that people want to be a part of.

Many entrepreneurs have great ideas but struggle to bring them to fruition due to a lack of funding.
Venture capital can be the answer, leading to success, and, ultimately, to the sale of the company, says Kenneth Levine, CPA, a director in assurance services at SS&G.

“There are advantages and disadvantages to venture capital funding,” says Levine. “But for the right company in the right situation, it can be a win all around.”

Smart Business spoke with Levine about what kinds of companies can benefit from venture capital and how it’s helping to change the Northeast Ohio landscape.

Effective communication is an absolute requirement for successfully starting a business, but it doesn’t come naturally to many entrepreneurs. Communication is considered a social skill, and inventors and engineers, for example, aren’t known to be social butterflies.

Founders have to communicate their ideas and products to investors, business partners, and the rest of the team. Then, hopefully, come customers, distribution channels, and going public or merging with an attractive buy-out candidate. Communication is not just talking, but also writing, body language, and “actions speak louder than words.”

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Crowdfunding is still not the accepted or the obvious choice for funding your startup, however. But news that the Austin, Texas-based MicroVentures has successfully raised its first $150,000 for three startups via its crowdfunding platform suggests that these alternatives might be viable after all.
Contributor comments:

MicroVentures isn't disclosing a lot of details about the first three deals that it's funded, but it says that these ranged from $2000 to $25,000 increments, with the average investment roughly $5000.

MicroVentures does the due diligence for investors, running a variety of checks on financials, forecasts, use of funds, burn rate and so on. Everything is disclosed fully to potential investors, who make their investments in exchange for equity in the companies.

Is your tech startup ready for an incubator?

Excelerate Labs, a Chicago-based tech company incubator, recently picked its 10 final tech startups for its summer boot camp. Read on to find out what its founders hope to see from applicants.

First of all, here’s what you get: last year's class raised $7.2 million and created 65 jobs. Excelerate gets its money from angel investors and two venture capital firms, The I2A Fund and Sandbox Industries. The companies will receive $25,000 from Excelerate in exchange for 6 percent ownership, after they complete a 90-day boot camp that grooms them for expansion. At the end of the camp, Excelerate gathers investors at the House of Blues to listen to eight-minute pitches from each company.

Paul Krutko has no interest in a passive strategy to creating jobs.

Krutko, the new CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK, the region’s economic development group, said he believes in an “intentional” regional approach to boosting the economy. That includes encouraging a network of incubators, helping startup companies attract investment and strategically luring outside companies to expand locally.

But Krutko said that “economic gardening” — which favors providing services to existing business and entrepreneurs instead of throwing expensive incentives at outside companies — is the best way to boost the economy.

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. Don’t be embarrassed, since even professional investors are often confused these days by the new terms, as well as old terms used with new meanings. In any case, it’s time to look again at the options you really have.

Recently I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups, which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups, the hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play.

Here’s a fact about China that you may not know: people in Shanghai today have a longer life expectancy than Americans.

A child in Shanghai is expected to live 82 years. In the United States, the figure is not quite 79 years. (For all of China, including rural areas, life expectancy is lower, 73 years — but rising steadily.)

The harsh repression in China these days rightly garners headlines, but health data reflect another side of a nation that could scarcely be more complex and contradictory.

The unveiling of the first building on Kansas State University’s Olathe Innovation Campus on Tuesday drew state and local legislators, students, alumni and K-State and Kansas fans alike.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a 1979 K-State graduate and former student body president, was on hand, along with U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, who is a KU alumnus and former student body president.

Although the two traded jabs at the other’s alma mater, they were in agreement that it was a momentous occasion for K-State, Olathe, Johnson County and the state.

In 2006, Utah passed a state bill that created USTAR, the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative, to invest in Utah university research technologies with the aim of commercializing them for the benefit of the state's overall economy. One concrete form this state support took was a $161 Million building fund, which, with a $40 Million contribution from the universities themselves, has lead to the construction of two large research facilities, one at Utah State University (Logan) and the other at the University of Utah (Salt Lake City): the Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building. The university donated the land (a caveat of the state funding), which lies strategically between the main campus and the health sciences campus. The Sorenson Legacy Foundation donated $15 Million to the project, lending the building the name of its famous (and generous) medical device inventor and entrepreneur founder, James Sorenson.

A Microsoft higher-up used a Seattle rock band reference Thursday while plugging a regional entrepreneurial program now looking for cash.

“I’m unbelievably impressed. I feel like one of the only guys from out of town who got to see Pearl Jam — they’re going to be big,” Cliff Reeves said of Kansas’ Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship program.

A few years back, I knew a guy who always had a great idea up his sleeve.

He’d share these ideas with anyone that was in his company, and tell of his grand plans for when his ideas made him rich. They would invariably involve Salma Hayek, a yacht and six months at sea…

Everyone smiled and asked him not to forget us when he was rich and famous. After all, we were the sounding boards for his ideas and we’d say which ones sounded good, and which ones wouldn’t get him Salma.

Jump forward a few years, and needless to say he’s not dating Salma Hayek for six months of the year. Nor does he have his yacht, or his millions in the bank. The last I heard, he was a baker in a small village just outside of London in the U.K.

NCBIO, a Durham, North Carolina-based trade group, presented the figures to state legislators at a briefing for North Carolina lawmakers. The group conducts the survey of investments each year to coincide with the annual briefing.

he report covering the 12 months ending April 25 includes equity investments, licensing payments, grants and investments for buildings and equipment. NCBIO compiles the report by tracking news stories of funding and investments. The $1.1 billion figure represents a 25 percent increase over the $924.5 million of similar announcements in the 12-month period ending April 25, 2010.

In a letter to lawmakers, NCBIO President Sam Taylor said that the figures reaffirm the economic impact of North Carolina’s life science cluster. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center estimates that life sciences generate $64.6 billion in economic activity annually and supports more than 226,000 jobs.

Vanderbilt University has hired an executive with Cleveland Clinic Innovations to lead its technology transfer efforts.

Alan Bentley will start with Vanderbilt on June 1 and hold the new (and long) title of assistant vice chancellor of technology transfer and intellectual property development, according to a statement from Vanderbilt, located in Nashville, Tennessee.

At Cleveland Clinic Innovations — the hospital’s technology transfer and commercialization arm — Bentley’s title was director of commercialization. In that role, he focused on commercializing cardiovascular medical devices developed by Cleveland Clinic doctors.

Germany's Speigel Online reports that Berlin may soon become the place to be for tech entrepreneurs. Berlin is home to an ever increasing number of innovative new technology start-up companies -- to the point that even Silicon Valley venture capitalists are taking notice. With a new focus on the country, many companies are beginning to innovate rather than simply clone successful American ideas.

The article notes that under-employed hipsters, exiled artists and wannabe punks -- Berlin's image has never been that of a capital of entrepreneurial innovation.

That, though, may soon change. While tourists still flock to the city to dance in Berlin's renowned nightclubs, computer programmers are also coming to the city in droves -- to work in the rapidly increasing number of high-tech startups that are now calling the German capital home.

I’ve long been an advocate of allowing employees to work remotely if at all possible. As a manger, I’ve found that enabling remote work at least part of the time boosts employee morale, loyalty and productivity.

The results of an experiment conducted this year bear me out. Telework Exchange, a public-private partnership that promotes telework, partnered with Cisco to establish 2011 National Telework Week, which encouraged organizations and individuals to pledge to telework for one week in February. Some 39,694 employees participated, and here’s what they and their employers learned, according to Telework Exchange’s recently released report:

* More Productive: Both organizations and employees reported increased employee productivity during Telework Week.

BY WILLIAM J. MCLAUGHLIN – Our nation is facing serious problems ranging from rebuilding the economy to multiple wars to potential environmental catastrophes and a financial crisis, mainly in the public sector. No one appears to be addressing them as a package, yet we live with them as a package. Where is the vision? Where is the leadership? Certainly we do not lack for commentators with 24/7 news and talk shows.

The economy cannot get rebuilt without investment and there is no investment without money—private money. It also does not get rebuilt without investor confidence. The federal deficit doubled during the presidency of George W. Bush. During his eight years in office, our national debt exceeded that of the first 42 presidents combined. During the first year of the Obama presidency, it doubled again and is now projected to skyrocket. Absolutely horrible! It is no wonder there is a Tea Party, the people are rebelling. President Obama campaigned for office as a political moderate, but once elected, he made a sharp left turn.

They’ve got the same big smiles, shining eyes, and passion to work and represent your service just as much as you do. Think of the intern as mini-me. Whether you’re an established start-up or a fledging small business on the rise, you will eventually begin to think about creating a team of professionals to work alongside you. While you will want to work with individuals that boast a healthy resume of experience, don’t discredit the intern. Today, they’re pulling their weight in unimaginable ways for small businesses and companies.

Interns, for those unfamiliar with what the term means, are generally college-age students who work an entry-level position within a company referred to as an internship for a specified amount of time. Internships range from a wide variety of duties and responsibilities and are generally unpaid, part-time positions.