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.
Ten years ago, the idea that Colombia would become a burgeoning hub for any dynamic industry beyond its notorious drug trade would have struck most observers as far-fetched.
As recently as the turn of the century, conventional wisdom had it that the tropical, Andean nation was on the verge of becoming a failed state. Fast forward to the present day and Colombia already boasts one of the region’s stronger startup ecosystems, with huge potential upside still waiting to be explored.
Raising venture funding may have just gotten a little tougher. A major investor recently announced that venture capitalists are “taking on an excessive amount of risk right now – unprecedented since ’99.”
Marc Andreessen recently said that valuations seemed to be getting “warm.” Add to this the public market jitters, with stocks hitting a two year low last month before bouncing back, and there’s a touch of nervousness in the air.
Image: Free Digital Photos
Outlining the various legal steps that a startup will have to go through and the importance of founders having a good legal advisor
Having now sat on both sides of the table, first as a qualified lawyer inEversheds and now as a COO of Soundwave, I thought it might be helpful to talk through some of legal requirements that I’ve come across over the past few years. Of course every startup is slightly different to the next but from my experience, the overall legal life-cycle of a startup is quite uniform and follows a set path that can (and should) be understood by founders in advance of starting up.
A new partnership between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the advanced manufacturing industry, and the innovation collaborative space movement will create new synergies that can connect local startup companies with manufacturers.
The partnership includes MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency; the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP), an organization seeking to strengthen the state’s advanced manufacturing sector; and Greentown Labs in Somerville, one of the state’s success stories in creating innovative collaborative space for mixed-uses.
Image: (Caption: Greentown Labs Executive Director Emily Reichert, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, Secretary of EOHED Gregory Bialecki, MassDevelopment CEO Marty Jones, Principal at Tyson Associates Mitch Tyson, and MassMEP Director of Operations Jack Healy) Photo Courtesy of Greentown Labs
Most entrepreneurs are so convinced that they are the disruptive element, they fail to anticipate that unknown facts or events can and will occur to disrupt their own well-laid plans. While it’s true that there is no way of know specifically what might happen, you need to anticipate the worst, and actually build a Plan B. People who haven’t thought about a Plan B often don’t survive the shock.
An international team of scientists has developed a fast, low-cost way of making low-cost medical electronic touch sensors by printing conductive silver nanowire inks directly on paper, using a 2D programmed printing machine.
Anming Hu of the University of Tennessee Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering and colleagues point out that paper, which is available worldwide at low cost, makes an excellent surface for lightweight, foldable “paper electronics: that could be made and used nearly anywhere.
Image: Paper-baaed touch pad on curved surface (credit: (credit: American Chemical Society)
Entrepreneurs enjoy a special place in today's world (especially this week as it's Global Entrepreneurship Week!). They are the ones that take wild dreams and make them into reality. Due to the success of famous entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Thomas Edison, and Oprah Winfrey, there is a certain mystique related to making a business dream into a real company.
Could the federal government finally be creating something like the startup visa, the long-stalled immigration reform that would make it easier for entrepreneurs from foreign countries to start companies in the U.S.?
The door to that possibility might have opened slightly on Thursday night, following President Barack Obama’s speech about immigration reform. Obama used the address to outline actions his administration would take that would change how immigration laws are enforced without waiting for an agreement with the soon-to-be Republican-controlled Congress.
Image: http://www.xconomy.com
As an associate at Morgan Stanley MS +0.40%, Jonathan Lehr met every year with hundreds of startups that wanted to do business with the financial services firm, which strove, he said, to be on technology’s “most bleeding edge.” Now he is helping to build those types of startups as the venture director of Work-Bench Ventures, a New York-based accelerator for enterprise tech startups.
Image: Jonathan Lehr of Work-Bench Ventures Work-Bench Ventures
Thursday, November 20 the important role angel investors play in helping startups grow is being celebrated as part of the first ever Global Business Angels Day, part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. Angels are often a hidden hero of the startup and innovation economy – so it is important to unveil and celebrate the important contributions angels make.
What makes someone ordinary become extraordinary? Is it their intellect or good luck? Is it their charisma and leadership qualities? There’s no definite formula, but there’s also no denying that there are common traits that make successful people stand apart from everyone else. There are ways of doing things and thinking about the world that people at top just do differently.
Image: Free Digital Photos
We are thrilled about the upcoming 12th annual Academic Entrepreneurship Conference and Awards with more than 40 leading experts. The conference will be combined with the Best Knowledge Based Incubator Awards. We have already participation in the survey from 5 continent - send in your submission before 25 November to rank your incubator!
Wayne Gretzky was talking about hockey when he said, "I just skate where the puck is going, not where the puck was," but the idea also applies to improving the standard of living in cities, says Lee Fisher, leader of CEOs for Cities. "That is probably the best definition of economic development I've ever heard," Fisher told attendees of Wednesday's annual meeting of the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District and the Discovery Special Improvement District.
Image: CEOs for Cities chief Lee Fisher served many years in public service in Ohio, including lieutenant governor.
When I started Kinnek with my co-founder in early 2012, a lot of people told me that I was taking a big risk. I was quitting a lucrative hedge fund job, and it seemed on the surface that I was throwing away a chance at stable career progression. And yet I was very comfortable with my decision.
Image: Free Digital Photos
Data scientists are in high demand: McKinsey estimated that we will be facing a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 data scientists by 2018. Employers have to be on top of their game to keep competitors from poaching their hard-won data science talent. At the The Data Incubator, we work with dozens of companies eager to hire data scientists from our fellowship program. But, as we explain to those employers, attracting and hiring great data scientists is only the first step: they also need to motivate and retain them. We’ve drawn up some best practices both from our own experiences as well as from those of our hiring partners. They fall into three main categories: Support, ownership, and purpose.
Let me pose a question: What’s more valuable?
Basic theory says the first option is more valuable. I can expect to accrue 10 million in profit on an initial investment of 10 million. In the second scenario, if I can find 10 similar investments, I can expect to receive 5 million in profit — since I am losing the principle on half of my investments.
In 1969, half of American schoolchildren walked or rode their bikes to school. These days, relatively few do. Just 13 percent of kids walked or biked to school in 2009.
But there’s one Ohio community that has steadfastly resisted that change. In the town of Lakewood, almost everyone still walks to school. That’s because Lakewood doesn’t have any school buses—and it never has.
Image: Lakewood, Ohio, is the most densely populated place between Chicago and New York City. Flickr/Joshua Rothhaas
SBA and AARP are again teaming up to host National Encore Entrepreneur Mentor Month, targeting entrepreneurs over the age of 50. Building on last year’s successful strategic alliance, the two organizations provided nationwide mentoring and training to over 119,000 individuals. Throughout April, SBA district offices, state AARP offices and SBA resource partners will host more than 100 events (workshops, conferences, seminars, etc.) to help entrepreneurs 50+ start or grow a business. In addition, visit http://www.sba.gov/encore for free online courses and other resources to help you start, grow and succeed.
We've got a great piece of content for all you thinkfluencing disruptors out there.
Silicon Valley is no stranger to parody, given the startup culture's rapid creation of buzzwords and unusual job titles. The Silicon Vally job title generator Tumblr is a solid example of how many are fed up with the high-vocabulary, low-meaning nature of some of the industry's cushier jobs.
Image: Free Digital Photos
If you're having trouble getting funding for your venture under the right terms, or under any terms at all, you’ll be glad to know about the existence of angels in the investment world. Angels are individuals who invest their own money, as opposed to institutions or professional money managers, who invest other people’s money. Many angels are well-off professionals, such as doctors and lawyers. Some are retired but have tremendous expertise to share in a specific field. Others are successful small-business owners who have made a bundle with their own entrepreneurial efforts and are now interested in letting their money work for them in someone else’s venture.
