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innovation DAILY

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.

Carillo Pinto

Similar concepts, some that make little sense, some that are defined as if they were the same will be discussed in this paper and one will see that understanding the differences between a salesman and an entrepreneur is not that difficult.

An entrepreneur is one that primarily invests his or her money to realize a project. What is a project? A project is nothing but a commercial vision conceived by an entrepreneur in order to be brought to reality, however, what is the reality? The ability to execute a project.

 

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NewImage

Most technical entrepreneurs cringe when they finally realize that marketing is still king, despite the power of technology, and they are up against competitors who have a hundred times their spending power. Luckily, the digital revolution has been a great equalizer in the marketing world, if used effectively to target the audience, engage the customer, and measure results.

 

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NewImage

When we talk about children’s access to digital technology, we often focus on “screen time,” but that term is a bit antiquated. Across the industry, the Internet is escaping the screen.

Today thermostats, bathroom scales, automobiles and even slow cookers can be controlled and updated through a live connection with the online world. Tomorrow, our toys will have similar powers, too. And that digital connection may forever alter how we think about play.

Image: Stuart Goldenberg

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Incubators were once a niche enterprise — in 1980, there were really only a dozen or so in the entire United States. Now there are thousands— not just in Silicon Valley, but all over the world. Despite their rapid rise in popularity, incubating is still fairly risky business. By some estimates, the success rate is no better than the companies that they are nurturing — around 10%.

Image: Free Digital Photos

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Providence Health & Services, the largest health provider in Washington state and one of the largest in the Pacific Northwest, announced this week it will work with Sprint and Techstars to support mobile health startup companies. Through its venture capital arm, Providence will provide mentorship to early-stage companies with products that focus on increasing access to quality health care. That mentoring will happen at the Mobile Health Accelerator next year.

Image: BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO | Marcus R. Donner The Sisters of Providence Providence Health & Services headquarters building in Renton. Providence announced in September it would launch a $150 million venture fund to invest in startups.

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Startup nation continues to be mired in stagnation. American entrepreneurship has been on a decades-long decline, one that’s belied by the rise of new household names like Google, Facebook and even Uber. Starting a new business has supposedly never been easier, yet more businesses are dying than are being created and new businesses keep shrinking as a share of all companies. As a result, just as the American population has been aging, American businesses have as well.

Image: Free Digital Photos

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NewImage

What is Steve Jobs’s legacy? Here’s one measure: since his death in 2011 from pancreatic cancer, the former Apple CEO has won 141 patents. That’s more than most inventors win during their lifetimes.

Jobs was closely involved in the details of many Apple products, and some of his inventions are still working their way through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The large number of them reflect Apple’s intense efforts to patent every aspect of its products, no matter how small, something Jobs himself encouraged.

Image: http://www.technologyreview.com

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What drives you as an entrepreneur — ambition or obligation? - GeekWire

Corporate innovation efforts at large companies often lack a clear mission and framework. At one European energy company we looked at, no less than four different groups were supposed to be working on innovation, yet none were supporting what was actually going at the business unit level.  To make matters worse, the groups involved were competing internally for space and resources while duplicating each other’s work.

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In order to truly make progress on this front, it is important to understand that cities and urban areas are complex ecosystems that require sustainable development initiatives to provide quality of life to citizens. Over the last decade, with the spread of technology and the all encompassing power of the internet, many cities are looking towards technology and innovation to create a modern infrastructure that fuels sustainable economic growth for cities, while ensuring quality of life for residents through wise management of natural resources.

Image: Free Digital Photos

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thanksgiving

Entrepreneurs talk much about smashing the status quo and taking risks. But when it comes to the holidays, tradition still rules.

We asked Chicago innovators if they were as maverick with their Thanksgiving celebrations as they are with their businesses. While a few executives have broken with tradition, most stick with the tried and true.

 

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google

Two and a half years after Google cofounder Sergey Brin unveiled Google Glass with a group of skydivers jumping from a zeppelin above San Francisco, the computer you wear on your face is falling to its death. It’s still not a finished consumer product. It’s not even close to being something people yearn for, at least not beyond the Glass Explorers who each paid $1,500 for early access.

 

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NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GGI's sixth primary research study of the Top 100 R&D and Product Development Metrics in North America, published on March 3, 2014, found notable shifts in Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for R&D and Product Development in the past five years.

Innovation functions have been increasingly measured in business terms since the late 1980s, but the balance of the Top 25 KPIs remained internal to the function and were not business-focused. In 2008, the balance became roughly even. In 2014, the balance tipped. Industry now measures the product portfolio as it evolves in the pipeline with ten metrics that span end-to-end. Three metrics measure ROI, IRR, NPV, or Payback. Three metrics measure revenues.

Image: Free Digital Photos

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The Thanksgiving Recipes Googled in Every State NYTimes com

Like many other readers, we were fascinated by the 50-dishes-for-50-states Thanksgiving mega-menu that our colleagues in the Food section recently produced. The piece – and the many reactions to it – got us wondering what a democratic version of the project might look like. That is, if the residents of every state could vote for distinct Thanksgiving dishes, what would each state’s dish be?

 Image: http://www.nytimes.com

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Kauffman Foundation

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) Nov. 19, 2014 – Female entrepreneurship, especially in high-growth fields, could be the catalyst for economic growth in America, according to a new Kauffman Foundation research report.

"Sources of Economic Hope: Women's Entrepreneurship," released today to coincide with Women's Entrepreneurship Day during Global Entrepreneurship Week, suggests that accelerating female entrepreneurship could have the same positive effect on the U.S. economy that the large-scale entry of women into the labor force had during the 20th century.

 

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Ralph Jennings

Taiwan has spawned global high-tech giants such as the world’s largest contract chip maker TSMC and Apple AAPL +0.95% device assembler Hon Hai Precision. One day they needed cash to get going, and today the island dubbed a hub for high-tech hardware has its share of startups such as a 3D printing outfits and people building apps with help from Facebook. Strange then that the Taiwan Venture Capital Association reports a quickly declining total pool of capital. The total comes to $4.78 billion now, with $1.3 billion in dry powder and the rest under management, compared to a total $7.76 billion in 2000, the association calculates.

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On Thursday, November 20th, the 2014 SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation met at the SEC headquarters in Washington, D.C. The forum was attended by SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White, Commissioner Gallagher, SEC staff (the “Staff”) and featured presentations by lawyers, an Arkansas state securities regulator, and the SEC’s Senior Financial Economist, among others. Stanley Keller, a partner at Edwards Wildman Palmer led the panel, “Secondary Market Liquidity for Securities of Small Businesses.”  He stressed the importance of liquidity in promoting capital formation, permitting the redeployment of capital, providing benefits to employees and giving companies more time grow. Mr. Keller noted that while the emergence of secondary market trading platforms has led to increased liquidity, there are concerns about investor protections and the adequacy of information provided by such platforms, which affects both investors and the transparency of the trading markets.

Image: Free Digital Photos

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Most 13-year-olds spend their time playing games and just trying to get through middle school. But not Shubham Banerjee. Instead, he founded his own company, Braigo Labs Inc. The company, a producer of Braille printers, just received funding from Intel Capital, making Banerjee the youngest-ever recipient of venture funding from Intel. And he’s quite possibly the youngest-ever recipient of funding from any VC firm.

Image: http://smallbiztrends.com

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Along with temporary deportation relief for millions, President Obama's executive action will increase the number of United States college graduates from abroad who can temporarily be hired by U.S. corporations. That hasn't satisfied tech companies and trade groups, who contend more green cards or guest worker visas are needed to keep tech industries growing because of a shortage of qualified American workers. But scholars say there's a problem with that argument: The tech worker shortage doesn't actually exist.

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As we slide into that time of year where we’re encouraged to give thanks and be grateful, it’s a good idea to take that advice to heart. While developing an "attitude of gratitude" might seem like just another platitude, there’s science indicating it’s actually good for us.

The formal study of gratitude’s benefits is relatively young, but researchers have found that gratitude can enhance well-being and improve romantic relationships, among other benefits

Image: Free Digital Photos

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