Influential alliances can help grow your business fast. It’s never too early to start building your global network.

Henrik Nielsen knew he was on to a good thing when he directed members of the Nielsen Innovation team to design a hand-held espresso machine back in 2005. When Fiat came on board eight years later, unveiling a bespoke version of the innovative drink-maker in its 500L model at the Paris Motor Show, interest sky-rocketed.

Image: http://knowledge.insead.edu 

There is an old saying that good lawyers run away from risk, while good businessmen run towards risk. Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” In reality, all risks are not the same. Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure.

Helping start-up companies with grants, loans and larger venture capital investments is among the highlights of a strategic plan being proposed by the Lawrence chamber of commerce and the Lawrence-Douglas County Economic Development Corporation. ...

 image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

FlexReceipts CEO Tomas Diaz was left at the venture capital altar twice — and you couldn't blame the ones offering the money. FlexReceipts — a Windermere-based tech firm that helps turn receipts into digital marketing tools for retailers — has raised $1.4 million to date from venture capital and angel investors, but getting there was no easy task. And mistakes were made.

Image: Abraham Aboraya - FlexReceipts LLC CEO Tomas Diaz has raised $1.4 million so far from venture capital and angel investors. But it was a hard road getting there. 

There are significant lessons from the Cambridge success story: the city is arguably the most successful technology cluster in the UK with £13Bn revenue from hi-tech and a Gross Value Add per job of £54,000 (40% higher than London)

Innovation drives productivity and economic growth, so it is unsurprising that successive UK Governments have promoted innovation. On many measures the UK’s performance is impressive – for example, 3rd place in the recent Global Innovation Index (behind Switzerland and Sweden and ahead of the US).

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Robo Brain is currently downloading and processing about 1 billion images, 120,000 YouTube videos, and 100 million how-to documents and appliance manuals, all being translated and stored in a robot-friendly format.

The reason: to serve as helpers in our homes, offices and factories, robots will need to understand how the world works and how the humans around them behave.

Image: Robotic arm placing an object in a specific location (credit: Saxena Lab) 

If you're a founding member of a tech startup, the odds are good that at some point you will find yourself pitching a venture capital firm to raise money. Over the years, I've seen a broad array of these pitches, ranging from the cringingly bad to fantastically good. Here are a few simple tips to help you prepare for and improve your pitch to potential investors.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Entrepreneurship's ups and downs can have a devastating effect on your family. What is one practical tip you have for entrepreneurs who are falling short in this department?

No. 1: Schedule Your Life, Too

From Doug Bend of Bend Law Group, PC: Reserve set times in your schedule for activities that allow you to recharge and that add value to your life, such as daily exercise, a weekly date or social night, family activities and vacation. You will look forward to it, and a vacation also provides extra motivation to manage your time well so you do not have to cancel on others — or yourself!

The fear of looking dumb is a nearly universal human emotion, one that often translates into a staunch refusal to seek advice. Because doing so is just an admission of incompetence, right?

Dead wrong, at least according to a series of studies by researchers from Harvard Business School and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, which finds that while most people hesitate to ask for advice out of a fear they'll be judged poorly for it, the opposite is true: Ask someone for advice, and he or she is likely to view you as more competent.

Image: http://www.entrepreneur.com/ 

FG Press recently released its third book, Accelerate: Founder Insights Into Accelerator Programs.

If you want to understand how an accelerator program works from the inside or are considering applying to an accelerator, this is the book for you. Luke Deering interviewed 150 entrepreneurs who have been through a variety of accelerator programs to get their insights. He originally did this as a Kickstarter campaign which I supported and wrote the foreword for.

Greater Cleveland ranks 8th nationally in the percentage of 25- to 34-year-olds in the labor force with a graduate or professional degree, ahead of such “brain hubs” as Chicago, Seattle, and Austin. The analysis speculates as to whether or not this is a leading indicator to broader economic growth. Comparisons are made with Boston and Pittsburgh—two metros further along in the economic restructuring process.

Image: http://www.newgeography.com 

Harvard University and MIT are among the top schools in the country producing the most female entrepreneurs, according to a report by Fortune. Nearly 60 female founders from Harvard Business School have received investment funding over the past five years, according to Fortune.

Image: Fashion Project, a Boston-based e-commerce site for second-hand clothing that benefits charities, is led by co-founders Anna Palmer, right, and Christine Rizk. They met at Harvard Law School. - http://www.bizjournals.com

Vermont has picturesque villages, apple orchards, and amazing fall colors, but it’s losing one important thing – young, talented workers.

But Vermont is not alone. States with rural areas and smaller cities struggle with the problem of “brain drain.” Students frequently attend local colleges and then take their degrees to big cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago.

Image: Vermont may by idyllic, but that alone won't keep young professionals in the state. Credit: Ryan Taylor / Flickr Creative Commons

Bloomberg Philanthropies will award $45 million in grants to large U.S. city governments to help improve urban life. Specifically, the foundation hopes to encourage the adoption of the “Innovation Delivery” model in big cities, an approach that relies on in-house innovation consultancy within city halls to deliver data-driven solutions to urban problems. Bloomberg and Nesta released a report on the model earlier this year. The foundation has invited 80 cities to apply. Eligible applicants must have more than 100,000 residents and mayors with at least two years left in office. Awardees will be selected in the fall and will receive $250,000 to $1 million annually over three years.

Many cities aspire to be a Silicon-something. We started with Silicon Valley, and in NYC we now have Silicon Alley; in LA we have Silicon Beach. I live in Arizona where we have a growing eco-system that has been dubbed Silicon Desert.

I was recently asked to moderate a panel at a statewide Phoenix event in August (and if you’ve ever been to Arizona in August, you can appreciate that, as temperatures hover in the triple digits, Silicon Desert is an appropriate name!) where five CEOs, from companies ranging in size from a recent startup to a 20-year-old private company generating a hundred million dollars in annual revenue, shared their journeys.

Some entrepreneurs have lots of time and flexibility to plan their new venture. Others have to get to market as quickly as possible. Modern technology has made it easier than ever to start your company quickly. The folks at TechRepublic even claim it could be possible to launch a new venture in 24 hours.

Can that really be true? Maybe a better questions is, "Should you really do that?" There are many tools out there that can certainly expedite the process:

Image: Free Digital Photos

Two years ago, I asked a college-bound 18-year-old what kind of job she’d like to have after earning her degree. “I don’t know,” she told me, adding, “I don’t think it’s been invented yet.”

Turns out, she was probably right. Though the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects health care and construction jobs to grow as baby boomers age in greater numbers and the economic rebound gives people the confidence to build new homes, the jobs of the future aren’t so easily defined.

Image: Free Digital Photos

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug. 25, 2014) - Five new commercialization centres will receive significant support from the Government of Canada to help bring health and communications products and technologies to market faster. The Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology) made the announcement at the Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator, which will receive $14.5 million over five years to support new companies whose products result from Canadian health sciences research. Accel-Rx will help these businesses grow by providing access to investment capital, potential partners and business services.

About a third of first-time, first-year undergraduates will enroll in at least one other college over the next six years, and nearly four out of 10 will do so without transferring any credits if trends seen in a new study by the National Center for Education Statistics hold true.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

In July, Twitter reported that only 10% of its tech jobs are held by women. This report joins a host of recent demographic disclosures by tech firms, from Google to Facebook, that together reveal a disproportionately white, male workforce. Now, a new book co-authored by entrepreneur-turned-academic Vivek Wadhwa, Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology, with journalist Farai Chideya, attempts to address the discrepancy of women in the tech field by sharing their personal and professional stories.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net