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.
For years people have recognized that industries cluster geographically, and that the clustering can lead to superior firms. For example, the best watches come from Switzerland, cars from Germany, and pharmaceuticals from the U.S. Back in 1880, economist Alfred Marshall noted that industrial districts benefit from labor market pooling and spillovers.
In today’s era of ruthless competition and continuous innovation, people don’t want stodgy, confining job titles. Rather than calling employees by a traditional moniker, many leading companies opt to use more playful titles for their employees. This energizes team members. Because we’re in a creative economy, your people are your differentiation – if you want them to think outside the box, why should they have an “in the box” title?
Small businesses in Canada can be forgiven for not knowing about Rule 506(c) of the U.S. Securities Act, which allows for the sale of private company shares online (also known as equity crowdfunding). The act opens doors for both Canadian and U.S. companies to tap into a vast sea of money to take their operations to a new level.
The five-year-old ride-sharing app, Uber, is valued at US$40-billion while the three-year-old photo messaging app, SnapChat, is worth an estimated US$10-billion. The latter only recently started introducing some revenue-making features and was worth billions to Facebook last year. How do startups determine their value? Especially when they don’t have a regular income.
Slowly but surely, sustainable technologies are challenging business and transforming our outdated industrial model which is no longer fit for purpose. As examples from the agri-food, chemicals and metals sectors have shown, removing barriers to the sharing of existing technologies is just as important as coming up with new and better tools. So how does this work in practice?
Although Austin is blazing an economic path that is the envy of the country, its future success depends on how leaders in its three main industry sectors — technology, creative/arts and health care/life sciences — are willing to collaborate and, in turn, create new business opportunities. That was the biggest takeaway from a downtown luncheon Thursday titled 'Economic Outlook: Austin's Innovation Economy," presented by the Austin Chamber of Commerce.
Self-made billionaires didn’t get that way by genetics, and usually not by luck. They’re focused, and work hard. Let these insight on the world of business be a motivator to you.
Whether we are talking about a football game, an election or an entrepreneurial journey, one thing is certain -- there are going to be winners and there are going to be losers.
Want to stack the odds of being a successful entrepreneur in your favor? You can start by taking note of the following 10 things that you should never do.
Entrepreneurs are expected to do everything and be everything at all times. It’s part of business, especially when you’re first starting out.
However, there are some seemingly productive habits that you may have formed that are actually killing your success in the long term. The candle that burns brightest, burns fastest, and while it’s crucial for you to be productive with your time, you also need to focus on not burning out.
As I look back to the 2014 tax trends I discussed, I see that things haven’t changed all that much. In fact, the trends in taxes that I foresaw for 2014 continue to be largely the same for 2015, even though Congress has changed and the economy continues to brighten.
While there's certainly something wonderful about the holiday season, it can also make life pretty crazy. Whether you're wrapping up a semester at school, trying to finish a project at work before the end of the year, or stressing out about what present you're going to buy for your sister who has everything, it can feel impossible to find time for yourself.
The Einstein Papers Project, the decades-long effort to compile and preserve the scientist’s professional work and personal writings, is today opening to the public as a free searchable database containing thousands of documents. The launch of the Digital Einstein Papers includes more than 5,000 documents that span the first 44 years of Albert Einstein’s life. As the organizations collaborating on the project -- the California Institute of Technology (the project’s home), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (which houses the Albert Einstein Archives) and Princeton University Press -- work to sort through tens of thousands of articles and letters, the website will grow to one day feature what the publisher said may be the first free digital collection of a prominent scientist’s complete works.
Image: https://www.insidehighered.com
In the spring, Web designer Anand Sharma saw his doctor for an annual physical and became worried upon learning he had a low level of vitamin D. To fix this, he committed to running more often—an easy way to soak up sunshine—as well as something a little more drastic: monitoring everything he could about himself and posting it online, in hopes of motivating himself to improve his health.
Image: http://www.technologyreview.com
It’s hard for recent generations to comprehend that there was a time before the internet.
But, I remember it.
And, I remember when I first began using it. I remember the invention of HTML for use on the World Wide Web. Everything had capital letters back then.
Yes. I am that old.
Apparently, in 1995, you could be considered an anti-social geek for being online.
My. How times have changed.
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I loved reading this Forbes article by Erica Dhawan, founder and CEO of Cotential, a global innovation firm in New York City.
It touched upon a discussion NJBIZ colleague Andrew Sheldon and I often have when coming up with ideas for Millennial Minded: Is it really still about “what millennials want” or how to “understand millennials”?
Meh. Not exactly.
Google vice president Robert Alan Eustace has broken the record for the highest parachute jump in history, smashing through the sound barrier in the process. Eustace jumped from 130 000 ft (nearly 40kms up) over the southern New Mexico desert. That’s just a little higher than Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner during the Red Bull Stratos expedition back in 2012. Eustace took two hours to reach drop height but his descent from space to earth lasted a mere four and a half minutes and stretched 42 km. At peak speed, the middle-aged exec was falling at speeds in excess of 1 322.00 km/h.
Image: http://memeburn.com
Call them trolls, aggregators, sharks, or what they actually are — nonpracticing entities (NPEs) — groups that snap up patents with the intent of leasing them to other firms are bringing big money. Groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation have identified them as a significant threat to online speech as well as overall American innovation, and they're also a potential hazard to consumers who bear the brunt of frivolous lawsuits that drive down the quality of goods and services while driving the costs up. Many people seem to agree the patent system is broken, but they can't agree on the relative evil of NPEs, and the best way to reform patents.
Vitamin D deficiency is not just harmful to physical health—it also might impact mental health, according to a team of researchers that has found a link between seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, and a lack of sunlight.
“Rather than being one of many factors, vitamin D could have a regulative role in the development of SAD,” said Alan Stewart of the University of Georgia College of Education.
Who does not like it with the barista at their favorite café remembers them by name, knows their regular order and has it ready for them without them even needing to spell out their order? Want to let off some steam by lazing in front of the television? Netflix is all set to recommend a bunch of movies or TV shows perfectly tailored to your preferences.
Image: http://memeburn.com
How long should someone stay at a job?
Answer by Quora user Michael O. Church, programmer and engineer.
It depends on how much you're learning and what the job is doing for your career.
In general, the numbers you want to remember are 8, 18, 48 and 72.
Future employers may perceive staying at a job for under eight months as a negative mark on your resume, unless you can point to an objective reason for your short stay (such as a large corporate action).
