Of late there has been a growing buzz in the early stage investments space – lots of seed stage funds, incubators and entrepreneur mentoring platforms have come up – which is definitely a very encouraging sign.

An interesting innovation in this area is the advent of crowd funding platforms for startups, which – simply put – allow the crowd (people like you and me) to participate in the early stage funding process. (You can give GrowVC a whirl in case you haven’t already – a global platform that connects entrepreneurs with funders and mentors. Another similar example is AngelList. In a way, SecondMarket also allows one to get a piece of the pie of private unlisted firms, although it is more of secondary sale)

I bet that title got your attention. Now on to the serious stuff. Here's the next question/request which came up in regards to blog topics:

From a purely selfish standpoint, I'd like to hear about your views on bootstrapping vs. VC. I know it goes against your business model :-) but it must tickle you that to some, the sign of success is funding and not a successful business.

This is a good one. I love talking about this. It's kind of funny that the majority of people coming to me are obviously looking to raise venture capital and don't have this discussion with me. Yet, after getting to know people or having had worked with them, we end up having just the conversation mentioned above....usually over a beer. The question is always asked: "So, as a VC, would you go out and raise money from a VC?"

Martin Hinoul, Richard Bendis, Dr. Mario Thomas, Doug Robertson

Ontario Centres of Excellence's (OCE's) Centre for Commercialization of Research (CCR) recently hosted a gathering of some of the world's brightest minds from academia, government and industry in a bit to better capitalize on the commercialization potential of publicly funded research and enhance the state of innovation in Canada and around the world.

This inaugural meeting of The International Commercialization Alliance was held on Marth 30th and 31st in Ottowa, bringing together experts from 18 countries.  The group examined exemplary practices in the commercialization of research outcomes internationally and focused on continuous global collaborations among its members by signing a formal declaration of intent.

Since its founding in 2002, the Russian Technology Transfer Network (RTTN) has worked with the global business and research community to tap into the scientific and technological advances made in R&D centers and universities across Russia. Based in Obninsk in the Kaluga Region, RTTN is an association of over 70 Russian innovation centers from more than 30 regions of Russia and the CIS that aggregates information on R&D offerings in Russia and neighboring states and serves as an entry point for potential industry partners and investors. Given Russia’s vast territory, its potential language barriers and information gaps between Russian regional and foreign entities, RTTN’s work is a critical element to developing the country’s national innovation infrastructure.

A few nonprofit groups have recently announced plans to wind down, not over financial problems but because their missions are nearly finished.

Most notable, perhaps, is Malaria No More, a popular nonprofit that supplies bed nets in malaria zones. Its goal is to end deaths from malaria, a target it sees fast approaching.

The charity has announced plans to close in 2015, but it is keeping its options open in the unlikely event that advances against malaria are reversed.

At a startup it’s painfully hard to make time for recruiting. Any time not spent advancing the product feels like a distant secondary priority. However, getting the right team in place is the most important thing you can do to make your startup successful.

Your first few hires set the tone for your culture. What’s more, it’s often said that A-level hires get you more top quality hires in the long run. You don’t just need to make time for recruiting — you have to be great at it.

What follows are my tips and tricks for finding and closing all-star hires on a startup budget.

There’s no denying that an incubator rebirth is taking place, thanks in large measure to Y Combinator.

Y Combinator clones are everywhere. Several dozen of them already exist and insiders expect more than 100 such incubators will be operating nationwide before long. And they’re busy churning out plenty of startups. This past week, AngelPad held a demo day for its startups to pitch VCs, its second demo day in less than six months.

On April 7, Dave McClure’s 500 Startups Accelerator is holding two demo day sessions at its event.

The University of Minnesota has finalized a license agreement for Commerce and Search for Technology Transfer (CaSTT), an online tool that makes technologies available for licensing through an online database. CaSTT allows universities and research institutions to upload technology descriptions of intellectual property, which makes it easier for others to find through advanced search engine optimization (SEO). It allows users to submit inquiries about intellectual property electronically. Some nonexclusive license agreements can even be completed online.

Darren Cox, CaSTT founder and chief evangelist, originally built the technology to reduce the cost of paper licensing for items such as the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire. “We figured out that we were losing money on every license because of all of the manual processes of paper processing, so we thought there could be a better way. Then we thought, why don’t we just put it online and sell intellectual property the same way that you buy a book on Amazon?”

The initial public offering market for venture-backed companies in the first quarter was the strongest since 2007, according to a report by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association.

Fourteen VC-backed IPOs occurred in the first quarter, with companies raising an average of $98.3 million. The total amount raised was $1.37 billion. Coupled with a strong acquisition market, the results showed that venture capitalists are finally getting some decent exits as the tech industry recovers from the recession.

During the quarter, 109 venture-backed companies were acquired. Of the 45 deals where the acquisition price was disclosed, the total purchase prices added up to $5.9 billion.

As the University of Florida's Innovation Square project begins to take shape, a similar development in Atlanta provides an indication of what might be coming.

This past fall, UF announced plans for the Innovation Square development at the former Shands at AGH site and surrounding neighborhood east of campus. The project is expected to include 1 million square feet of building space and create as many as 3,000 jobs. Plans include a business incubator, offices for science and technology businesses, and places to live, eat and shop.

"I think we're going to create a very exciting livable, sustainable neighborhood of

innovation," said Ed Poppell, UF's vice president for business affairs and economic development.

Being an entrepreneur obviously isn’t an easy, which is why most people shy away from trying to be one. There are tons of services and programs for you to use that will make your entrepreneurial life a lot easier. So before you throw out the idea of becoming an entrepreneur, make sure you check out the following free services and programs:

Microsoft Biz Spark

Whether you love or hate Microsoft, as an entrepreneur, you’ll need their software. For example, I always find myself using Excel, Word and PowerPoint. There really isn’t a day that goes by in which I am not using one of those 3 applications.

AR: How are entrepreneurs currently using social media to get their startups noticed by angels?

BW: In general, entrepreneurs are using social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook for outreach both to angels and to the wider community. More specifically, they are using these channels to share information about their ventures and to generate buzz. Mostly, it is the web-based companies that are the early adopters of social media as an outreach tool, I find.

For startups, social media encompasses a wider range of online platforms, such as AngelList, Tech Crunch’s CrunchBase, and StartupIndex. These platforms are social in that they allow entrepreneurs to share information about their ventures with investors. On the investment-opportunity-intake side of things, sites like AngelSoft, unlike widely used social media platforms, are secured and closed systems involving only individuals in the angel capital community. Entrepreneurs and investors are using these platforms to share and receive business information and manage deal flow.

It’s been some fun filled years as a ‘digital’ entrepreneur. With a couple of good hits, some misses and a few big bets, I have chuckled, cried and framed these 11 learnings to carry with me all my life.

1. Just an ‘Idea’ is worth a ‘dropped cricket catch’

An idea by itself, despite its greatness, is worthless. Nada. Zilch. It’s all about massive and backbreaking execution. When I founded Contests2win in 1998 (first ever brand contesting site in the world), I thought that my idea would take the world by storm. Nothing of the sort happened. It took me a good 2 years just to convince people to meet me so that I could explain the idea!

Revitalizing Canada’s innovation policy requires broadening the definition of innovation to embrace social innovation. By doing this, innovation can be more effective in sustainably generating both economic and social value for Canadians. It will demonstrate the relevance of innovation for tackling complex and intractable challenges facing our society. Innovation can no longer remain the domain of a few. Rather, its success calls for a national innovation strategy leveraging the creativity, competencies, and involvement of all sectors – government, industry and community – collaborating together in new ways. Succeeding at this requires new enabling policies, an expanded and networked innovation ecosystem (including innovation labs, hubs, and clusters as well as training and educational capacity building for strategic, collaborative leadership across sectors), and a robust finance marketplace serving all parts of the innovation cycle. To enable public sector’s innovation, at least one percent of each department’s budget should be dedicated to innovation.

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Thursday, May 5, 2011
7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Polk County Convention Complex in Des Moines
Conference Highlights Include

* Considered a business “Renaissance Man,” Ira Blumenthal will be the 2011 SMART Conference luncheon keynote speaker.
* Richard Bendis, President and CEO of Innovation America, is an internationally renowned innovation leader.
* Mark J. James, a very popular speaker at state, regional and national economic development events, will present his expertise through “Social Media for the Practical Economic Development Professional.”
* Dave Ivan of Michigan State University discusses both research and application in his “Small Town Success Strategies” presentation.
* In addition to these featured speakers, the conference will include workshops on local government financing, community improvement, website development, marketing, regional cooperation, organizational management and more!

View the full agenda.

Our guest this week is Rich Bendis, the founding President and CEO of Innovation America (IA), a Global Innovation Intermediary focused on accelerating the growth of the entrepreneurial innovation economy in America.

Mr. Bendis is a distinguished and successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, investment banker, innovation and technology based economic development leader, international speaker and consultant in Innovation and Economy Building.

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HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced six winners of round two of the HHSinnovates program, saying that innovation must become “our way of life at HHS.” The HHSinnovates program was launched last year to recognize exceptional innovation efforts throughout all the agencies of HHS.

“Only innovation and a welcoming attitude to new ideas will enable HHS and its partners to succeed in today’s challenging environment,” Secretary Sebelius said in announcing the awardees. “Our round two winners show how innovation can support both our short-term and long-term goals and these innovations also show how new approaches can actually leverage one another to greater success.”

In the HHSinnovates program, innovation candidates are invited from throughout the department in an open nomination process. In round two, nearly 90 qualified candidates were submitted. After an initial review process, the best candidates were put up for a vote by HHS employees. During round two, over 10,000 votes were cast by HHS employees. The final six awardees include three “Secretary’s Picks” and three honorable mentions.

Earlier this year, the Obama Administration released an updated Strategy for American Innovation which seeks to promote innovation-based growth that will “bring greater income, higher quality jobs and improved health and quality of life to all U.S. citizens.” We at CTIA were pleased – but certainly not surprised – to see that the Strategy prominently highlighted the importance of the wireless industry for American consumers and the U.S. economy. The Strategy gets it right on the mark when it states that “the wireless revolution provides great promise for America’s future prosperity” and concludes that more spectrum is needed to maintain our global technology leadership.

So, when the U.S. Department of Commerce sought comment on the Strategy, we thought it was important to weigh in. In our comments, filed today, we documented the essential role that the wireless industry plays in developing new services, capabilities, products and applications. The continued success of the mobile wireless industry – as a direct contributor to the U.S. economy and as an indirect input into businesses of all sizes – represents one of the crowning accomplishments of U.S. communications policy. It is nice to see that recognized.

A new robotic flying drone, styled like a seagull, has arrived on the scene. It doesn't squawk, poop or steal french fries from your hand, but it's an example of incredible bio-mimicking design that could be the future of airborne robots.

We've met a Festo robot before--a robotic manipulator/gripper arm with a design that's heavily inspired by elephant trunk muscles--and so we know about the company's penchant for using bio-inspired thinking in its robot engineering. Festo actually has a whole suite of innovations under its Bionic Learning Network umbrella, but the Smart Bird is the most eye-popping among them.

In fact the robot is so astonishingly convincing in flight it really could pass for a genuine seagull from a distance--a feat of biomimicry that Festo is clearly proud of. The company notes: "Festo has succeeded in deciphering the flight of birds."