It used to be that software companies could become very large – and very successful – by putting a bunch of “shelf ware” into the market. In other words, it didn’t matter whether the customer used the software. As long as the customer paid that fat licensing fee, the vendor was happy. In the old enterprise software world, many large companies were built on this model.

Web-based software (hosted, SaaS, on-demand, in the cloud, etc.) is different. If the customer doesn’t use the software, the vendor is unlikely to achieve success since the customer pays on an ongoing basis instead of paying a large licensing fee. If the customer doesn’t get value, the customer stops paying. Simple as that. This model is great for aligning the interests of the customer and the vendor, which is why it has become the norm over the past 10 years.

As the American economy struggles to recover, its greatest advantage lies with its diverse population. The U.S.’ major European competitors — Germany, Scandinavia, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Italy — have admittedly failed at integrating racial outsiders. Its primary Asian rivals, with the exception of Singapore, are almost genetically resistant to permanent migration from those outside the dominant ethnic strain.

In contrast, America’s destiny is tied to minorities, who already constitute a third of the nation’s population and who will account for roughly half of the population by 2050. Younger and more heavily represented in the labor force, minorities are poised to become the primary source of entrepreneurial growth.

Everyone has greatness in them. The challenge is how we express it. We can push ourselves to rise to the challenge, or we can encourage others to greatness (and, in turn, encourage ourselves at the same time).

Everyone also has an ego. Some are kept in check – some are left to rage uncontrollably. Some have a happy medium in-between. Are our ego’s stopping us from being remarkable?

Often we don’t like to admit we don’t know something. We want people to think we’re invincible, that their trust in us is warranted. That we are the fountain of knowledge to their stream of questions. But we’re not. None of us.

The Toronto Board of Trade's Scorecard on Prosperity ranks 24 cities based on economy and labour attractiveness

President Obama seems to understand the role that startups play and the contribution that skilled immigrants make to U.S. economic growth. He has talked a lot about the importance of science and engineering, and expressed fears that, unless we improve our game, China and India will out-innovate us. He even visited Silicon Valley recently to talk to its elite. And he has had his Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, make several trips here to the Valley.

I commend the President for putting a spotlight on entrepreneurship with his Startup America initiative; but I can’t help wondering whether this is just a giant press release. It needs more substance: a way for foreign-born entrepreneurs to start companies here and a leveling of the playing field for entrepreneurs wanting to solve government problems.

Founders almost always cite lack of money as the reason for failure, but if you look deeper, I believe the reason is more often about dysfunctional people and leadership. Sometimes it comes right back to the founder, in terms of a malaise often called “Founder’s Syndrome.” A few years ago I was intimately involved with a promising startup that taught me about this issue.

I’ll be short on specifics here, to protect the guilty, but I hope you get the idea. It’s not a disease, but it can kill your startup. You can find a more complete discussion of Founder’s Syndrome on Wikipedia, but here are a few of the “symptoms” I observed in the Founder and CEO in this case:

* Advisors and staff hand-picked from friends and connections. Personality and loyalty are apparently the key criteria, rather than skills, organizational fit, or experience. The executive is looking more for cheerleaders, rather than people with real insights and ideas.

Do you have trouble getting peanut butter out of the bottom of the jar? A jar with screw on lids on both ends might solve the problem.

The European Research Council (ERC) is moving higher up the R&D feeding chain with a new grant scheme to help researchers it has funded previously translate their research to market. The first call for these proof of concept grants opens tomorrow (29 March).

Scientists already holding ERC grants will be eligible for further funding of up to €150,000 to bridge the gap between their work and “the earliest stage of a marketable innovation.” The call is open to all principle investigators with a current grant, or one that ended less than 12 months ago. There is €10 million available under the first call, which will run into 2012.

Good news for candy and chocolate lovers: they tend to weigh less, have lower body mass indices (BMI) and waist circumferences, and have decreased levels of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic syndrome, according to a new study(1) published in Nutrition Research.

The findings are positive, but lead researcher Carol O’Neil, PhD, MPH, LDN, RD, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, cautions it is all things in moderation. “We certainly don’t want these results positioned as eating candy helps you to lose weight,” she said. “This study adds to the evidence base that supports candy’s role as an occasional treat within a healthy lifestyle.”

Industry research shows that the market for collaboration software used by corporations—commonly called Enterprise 2.0 technology—is growing, despite the sluggish economy. Gartner, an information technology industry analyst group, began tracking revenue growth of social business software in 2009. Gartner predicts the market for enterprise social software technologies will continue to grow from $664 million in 2010 to $1.3 billion in 2014.

New York (Vocus/PRWEB) March 30, 2011

Creative industries have shown more resilience to the impact of the global economic crisis than traditional manufacturing industries, according to the Creative Economy Report 2010 launched, today, at the United Nations.

Global exports of creative goods and services-ideas and creativity-centred industries such as arts and crafts, audiovisuals, books, design, films, music, new media, visual and performing arts- have more than doubled from 2002 to 2008, reaching nearly US$600 billion, according to the Report.

Of all the controversies now raging in Washington, the one I find most endearing is the fight over federal regulation of light bulb efficiency.

“Instead of a leaner, smarter government, we bought a bureaucracy that now tells us which light bulbs to buy,” complained Representative Michele Bachmann in her Tea Party response to the president’s State of the Union address.

Bachmann has strong opinions on this matter. She is the author of the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act, which would repeal a federal requirement that the typical 100-watt bulb become 25 percent more energy efficient by 2012.

Research universities face a long list of seemingly intractable problems.

Faculty too often work in subject-specific silos. Taxpayer-supported basic science doesn't get converted by industry into useful products and jobs. The vagaries of federal financing play havoc with laboratory projects and staffing. And now, making it even worse for some universities, Congress is cutting off budgetary "earmarks" reserved for many big-picture projects.

One possible solution­—known as interdisciplinary science, or "team science"­—is ripe for a surge in growth. An early sign: a new group of campus-based grant experts, known as the National Organization of Research Development Professionals, has ballooned from 32 to 232 members in the past two years, with what its leadership sees as a focus on promoting interdisciplinary science.

Google just announced Kansas City, Kansas -- pop. 145,000 -- as its first city for building out a super-fast fiber optic network, to offer Internet access that is supposedly "more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have today."

The network will launch in 2012. No word yet on pricing, or whether the operator will offer unlimited access or metered access.

Why is Google doing this?

As we noted a year ago, when Google first announced these trials, it's not because Google really wants to become a telecom company.

Every once in a while it’s a good idea to sit back, take stock and assess how some of today’s current trends could benefit your business. Here are four to consider that have both marketing and operations implications for your company.

1. Going mobile. Mobile marketing is becoming increasingly important as consumer adoption of smartphones increases. Whether you market to businesses or consumers, your customers are increasingly accessing the Internet and using phones as shopping tools. But according to the fifth Small Business Success Index survey released recently, few small business owners currently use mobile marketing methods such as texting promotions to customers, creating a mobile site or mobile application, and advertising on mobile sites. Just 15 percent of entrepreneurs surveyed said these activities have the potential to be “extremely” or “very valuable” to their businesses. I think this is a big mistake. Young people are an obvious market for mobile marketing, but with smartphones becoming essential tools for everyone from soccer moms to businesspeople, no business can afford to ignore this trend.

“When I grow up, I want to be a software developer.”

U.S. chief technical officer Aneesh Chopra on Wednesday announced the winners of the National STEM Video Game Challenge, a competition for primary school-aged kids to develop educational video games for their peers.

The point of the competition is to motivate interest in the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering, and math.

There were two separate competitions: one for students, and one for experienced developers. The 12 winners of the student competition — in grades 5 through 8 — were selected for their original game designs from a pool of more than 500 entries.

The barriers for starting a company have come down.

Today the total available markets for new applications are hundreds of millions if not billion of users, while new classes of investors are popping up all over (angels, superangels, archangels, and even seraphim and cherubim have been spotted.)

Entrepreneurship departments are now the cool thing to have in colleges and universities, and classes on how to start a company are being taught over a weekend, a month, six weeks, and via correspondence course.

If the opportunity is so large, and the barriers to starting up so low, why haven’t the number of scalable startups exploded exponentially? What’s holding us back?

Not a fan of infographics? Be gone!

For I felt compelled to share with you this infographic made by the folks over at Webhostingbuzz, visually showing how fast the Internet has made its way to the people of this world in the past 15 years – and how fast the Internet has become in some parts of it.

Here’s what stood out for me: the United States leads the world in broadband penetration, with Americans consuming way more gigabytes per month than Europeans or people in Japan and South Korea.

The United States only ranks 30th when it comes to downloads speeds, however, thus trailing countries like South Korea, Latvia, Andorra and the Republic of Moldova. Surprisingly, downloads speeds in the US still surpass those in the UK, Canada, Australia and Israel.

Colorado Springs and other communities throughout the nation are trying to attract innovators, but attracting innovative people is a different process from luring businesses, said Daniel K.N. Johnson, a Colorado College economics professor and director of the college’s Innovative Minds Program.

Johnson will discuss “Where Innovation Lives” in a speech to the Colorado College Business and Community Alliance at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Antlers Hilton hotel, 4 S. Cascade Ave. Cost of the luncheon is $30; registration is through the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.

Johnson is the Gerald L. Schlessman professor of economics and associate chair of the Economics and Business Department at the college. He specializes in the economics of innovation and technological change, and frequently advises and lectures internationally on public policy related to intellectual property rights.

Are you an entrepreneur, inventor, or working for a start-up?

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This launch platform will take place in July at the World Future Conference in Vancouver, Canada. The audience will be an enthusiastic and sophisticated group of customers, investors, forecasters, political figures, early adopters, engineers, and more!