Despite being characterized as the “Carrot Top of Academics” by Twitter’s CEO, Vivek Wadhwa has continued to challenge what he calls the “boys’ club” of Silicon Valley. Wadhwa began his career as a software developer, and has held leadership roles in both the startup and corporate technology worlds. He has been a vocal advocate for more inclusion and diversity in Silicon Valley, penning numerous academic papers and columns for worldwide publications about the issue.

Image: Vicki Thompson 

I would say the first is to try to generate ideas that are truly radical. Companies can no longer hope to significantly grow revenues by coming up with a slightly improved version of the same old thing and then selling it to the same old customers through the same old channels in the same old way. I consider an idea to be truly radical if it has the power to dramatically reset customer expectations and behaviors; or to change the basis for competitive advantage; or to change industry economics in some significant way.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Who knew there was so much money in dark energy?

Two teams of astronomers who discovered that the universe is apparently being blown apart by a mysterious something called dark energy had already shared a Nobel Prize and the $1 million Shaw Prize, among other honors. Now they have won the richest science prize of all.

Startup founders need to get out of Australia and see the standard set by entrepreneurs in successful tech hubs around the world, according to Startup Victoria’s Scott Handsaker, but that does not necessarily mean they should move there.   “No matter what kind of business you have, Australia focused or globally focused, you need to spend time in successful ecosystems like New York, Silicon Valley, London, Berlin, those kinds of places,” he says.

We do a lot of strange things to stay motivated. Could meditating on our own mortality be the final push we need to get going?

Steve Jobs knew that time was of the essence. In his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, he gave the graduates a somber reality check: “Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."

Image: Free Digital Photos

During a late-night TV binge, I landed on Hell’s Kitchen. Watching celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay spit out fiery insults at his apprentice chefs—a tactic he justified as helping them to improve their skills in the kitchen—I laughed at the absurdity of his comments.

Then I was struck by a terrifying thought. Is this really how some bosses motivate their staff? Ramsay’s tactics certainly make for entertaining television, but here in the real world, there’s mounting evidence to show the tough-boss approach is not the way to achieve results.

Image: Free Digital Photos

Whether in business or in your personal life, a lot can be gained by learning when to keep quiet.

Once you’ve landed the sale, it’s time to stop talking, says Eric Chen, a business professor at the University of St. Joseph. “All you can do at this point is lose the business. So, clam up,” he says.

Image: Free Digital Photos

We all know that funding markets have changed for startups. The trends are well understood: more angels, more seed funds, more crowdsourcing and so forth. We all can intuit the benefits to founders of these trends so there’s little reason to elaborate. What is less understood are the consequences of these changes.

The following answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Review Your Billing Statements

If you are suddenly short on cash, I would recommend seeing exactly where your money is going. By looking at your transactions you may notice there is something you are no longer using like a subscription service. By cutting even small costs you can save yourself some cash. – Phil Laboon,Eyeflow Internet Marketing

Working out loud is a way to ensure others know what you are doing and to be conscious of your own work. It is being mindful of your work and how it may influence others. But working out loud is nothing if there is no time taken for reflection. Learning out loud takes you to a different level; one that may seem even more precarious. It’s sharing your half-baked ideas with the world. But these ideas, combined with others over time, can build a resilient web of innovation.

Image: http://jarche.com

There’s a stage when, after travelling too much, or meeting too many people from the emerging markets, your perception of the world shifts. At this stage, there are no more big Western technologies nor are there thousands of small players from the emerging markets. No, there are just two worlds who don’t know each other too well, each of the same size and importance.

Nazareno Mario Ciccarello used to be a professional sportsman – but 25 years of diving in Speedo’s ended with a splash in Italy where he took the vice-national champion title for the 10-meter platform. Now he is a master of entrepreneurship, working out of Bolzano, Italy where his start-up business Functional Gums is chewing into the consumer goods market across Europe.

Image: Nazareno Mario Ciccarello is the founder of consumer goods company Functional Gums - http://www.businessbecause.com

I’m not a fan of pop music but I am an innovation junkie. My daughter Alyssa, a self- professed Swiftie, has been pestering me to pay attention, if not to Taylor Swift’s music at least to her business model. She wore me down. Turns out, there’s a lot we innovation junkies can learn from Taylor Swift. Whether her music is your thing or not (I have to admit its growing on me!), you can’t help but be impressed with Taylor Swift’s business savvy during a time when the music industry is being disrupted to smithereens. I’m most impressed with her social media presence to catalyze a growing army of Swifties and her aggressive stand against Spotify as the business model war between mp3 sales and streaming services rages on.

International Business Machines Corp.IBM +1.21% is trying to lure startups to its cloud. The tech giant will announce Monday that it is offering up to $120,000 in credits–$10,000 per month–to entrepreneurs who are willing to use IBM’s cloud software to launch their companies or develop apps and services. Entrepreneurs will also be introduced to IBM customers, receive advice on how to go to market and get tech support.

Image: IBM’s Bluemix Garage in San Francisco, a space for startups and enterprise developers to familiarize themselves with the company’s cloud development tools. IBM

On October 27, 1994, the first online banner ad appeared, a 468 x 60 image for AT&T across the top of Wired Magazine’s HotWired site. Twenty years later, we’ve been through web 2.0, social media, and the mobile revolution — and yet the banner ad format persists.

From something the size of a bookmark on our old screens, the banner has shrunk to a tiny sliver as we play our mobile games, interact on our mobile social media apps, and use our mobile messaging.

Image: 'Half an hour of web ads' Image Credit: Daniel Oines

In an age dominated by technology, why are we still seeing businesses – and startups especially – printing, copying, faxing, scanning and then filing trillions of pieces of paper? Did you know that globally businesses continues to use paper printouts to archive 62% of all their important documents? So why is it so difficult for businesses to make the switch from printed paper to digital archiving and storage?

Image: Free Digital Photos

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. They know leadership is all about managing their own complicated, illogical, and fallible human foibles, as well as the people they depend on. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep.

A Houston-based venture capital firm that has raised more than $100 million for its newest fund is to announce Monday that it has opened an office in Ann Arbor and recruited Adrian Fortino, formerly a vice president at Invest Detroit, to run it.

Blair Garrou, a partner and co-founder of Mercury Fund, said that his firm has big plans for the Michigan office. He said that not only will the new fund invest in local early-stage high-tech companies, but it plans to move here other Midwest companies in which it invests.

Image: Adrian Fortino

Deloitte global CEO Barry Salzberg has built his career on consistency and preparation rather than ambition, writes John Cremer.

For much of Barry Salzberg’s 38-year career, the prospect of leading a 210,000-strong professional services firm never crossed his mind. Having qualified as an accountant, his main goal early on was simply to make tax partner in the local office and build a respectable client base. But his talents were spotted, one thing led to another and now, as global chief executive of Deloitte, he heads an organisation with a truly worldwide reach. 

Barry Salzberg - Photo: Deloitte

On Thursday, November 6, 2014, Jay Waker, the Founder of Priceline.com, gave what can only be described as an inspiration keynote address at the 2014 IP Dealmakers Forum in New York City.

Speaking without notes, Walker was in rare form. This is the presentation that all Congressional Staffers and every Member of Congress needs to hear. Walker spoke about everything from job creation to the need to allow innovators to benefit from the fruits of their labors. The common thread throughout his speech was simple— attracting more customers leads to job creation, the way you attract more customers is to solve problems in innovative ways, and then you patent those solutions, thereby creating a competitive advantage.

Image: Jay Walker sits with Jon Ellenthal as he listens to his introduction as keynote speaker at the 2014 IP Dealmakers Forum. - http://www.ipwatchdog.com