Now more than ever, entrepreneurs need to be cognizant of the importance of mobile marketing to millennials. The millennial generation is driving the biggest changes in how companies develop and market products and services in industries across the board.

While it may seem basic at the core, many companies are still missing out on opportunities to better understand the reasons why millennials buy certain products, identify strongly with certain brands or shop in certain ways.

With the rise of a trillion-dollar crowdfunding market, angel investors bundling their investment offerings, and family offices doing more direct investments, venture capitalists are no longer the only available source for entrepreneurs seeking funding.  Now that anyone can benefit from the global growth of entrepreneurial activity, venture capitalists need to show their true added value more than ever, in order to attract the most capable entrepreneurs.

I became an entrepreneur in 1993, launching a business when I had no reason to believe I could do such a thing. I had absolutely no experience in the wholesale/retail/manufacturing world but lack of experience doesn't stop determined entrepreneurs. We takes risks and have an unusual sense of confidence or in my case, I refer to it as eternal optimism. It's just something that I was born with, I believe things will work out if you work hard and are persistent.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Is a worm conscious? How about a bumblebee? Does a computer that can play chess “feel” anything?

To Christof Koch, chief scientific officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, the answer to these questions may lie in the fabric of the universe itself. Consciousness, he believes, is an intrinsic property of matter, just like mass or energy. Organize matter in just the right way, as in the mammalian brain, and voilà, you can feel.

Image: Christof Koch 

CEOs agree that there are some essential traits and competencies fundamental to success.

In our last post, we explained how an interesting notion had recently been put to us by an executive in the classroom: whether there should be a CEO school to train high performing executives for the top job. Intrigued, we conducted a study that sought an answer from the leaders of industry.

Image: knowledge.insead.edu 

Whether you are in conversation with presidents or shopkeepers, the Chairman or those that keep the factory floor running, the same you should show up in all situations.

This article follows on from and goes hand in hand with my last article.

Genuine authenticity is not restricted only to when you are in conversation with your boss or your clients, or aiming to secure that lucrative contract, or being interviewed for your dream job, or when you are presenting at a conference, or participating in a meeting. It is not a tap on, tap off quality.

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A few weeks ago, the Small Business Innovation Research program announced its Fall National SBIR/STTR Conference on Nov. 11-13 in Austin. The conferences are generally sold out but registration numbers were really low for this one, said Robert Allen Baker, SBIR Policy and program analyst.

Image: Robert-Allen Baker, SBIR policy and program analyst speaking to a group of Austin technology leaders about the SBIR program. 

The RV Kaharoa motored out of Wellington, New Zealand on October 4, loaded with more than 100 scientific instruments, each eventually destined for a watery grave. Crewmembers will spend the next two months dropping the 50-pound devices, called Argo floats, into the seas between New Zealand and Mauritius, off the coast of Madagascar. There, the instruments will sink and drift, then measure temperature, salinity and pressure as they resurface to beam the data to a satellite. The battery-powered floats will repeat that process every 10 days — until they conk out, after four years or more, and become ocean junk.

Image: An Argo float. Credit: Alicia Navidad/CSIRO

A formerly abandoned warehouse in Youngstown, Ohio is home to the latest 3D printing technology; at North Carolina State University next generation power electronics are being developed; in Chicago a consortium of companies, non-profits and research institutions is working on digital manufacturing and design innovation; in Detroit new processes to make lightweight metals are being developed.

NORTH CANTON, Ohio, Oct. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Collegiate Inventors Competition announced today its 2014 finalists, up-and-coming leaders and the future of American innovation. Established in 1990, this nationwide Competition encourages innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity by recognizing and rewarding undergraduate and graduate college students for their cutting-edge inventions. The Collegiate Inventors Competition is a program of Invent Now and the National Inventors Hall of Fame and sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and AbbVie Foundation.

Image: Free Digital Photos

For more than a century, the United States has been the dominant global force for innovation. But China and other Asian countries are now testing that dominance, and the West should welcome the challenge. China’s move from imitation to innovation has been a matter of national policy in recent years. In 2011, for example, the government established a set of ambitious targets for the production of patents. Almost immediately, China became the world’s top patent filer.

As a startup advisor, I see many aspiring entrepreneurs whose primary motivation seems to be to work part time, or get rich quick, or avoid anyone else telling them what to do. Let me assure you, from personal experience, and from helping many successful as well as struggling entrepreneurs, that starting a business is hard work, and doesn’t come with any of the benefits mentioned.

With the introduction of the Apple HealthKit late last month and other digital health solutions coming onto the market, digital technology is on the verge of disrupting medicine in profound ways.

In the design world, we are excited about using technology to impact so many lives. We are obsessing over visual interfaces: What is the best screen size in smartphones? Do we like the thickness of the Apple Watch? What are the ethics of wearing Google Glass?

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This morning on an investor call, Hewlett-Packard officially addressed its plans to split into two companies, HP Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.

The split came as a slight surprise to investors. In 2011 when the company first considered dividing into two companies, CEO and President Meg Whitman said breaking the company up didn’t make sense.

Image: pousseurdecailloux/Flickr

How many times have you heard the expression, you’re preaching to the choir? As if engaging with people who share your values and relate to your point of view is a limiting or bad thing. The adage implies that we should find other people, not yet indoctrinated, to engage with. It took me a while to figure it out, but the age-old adage is wrong. You should preach to the choir because that’s the only way to mobilize transformational change. If you want to transform anything find people who want to change, connect them with each other in a purposeful choir, and enable them to create an entirely new song. Proselytizing doesn’t work. You can’t make people join the choir if they don’t want to. Focus on people who want to be in the choir and make it easier for them to sing.

The National Academies' Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy will host a workshop on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) & the Role of State Programs in Washington, DC, on 7 October 2014.  This workshop is being held under the auspices of the National Academies’ study of the SBIR and STTR programs, led by Dr. Jacques Gansler of the University of Maryland, formerly Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. 

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When asked to define the legal definition for obscenity, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously quipped "I know it when I see it." For most of us the same applies to a working definition for innovation. We have a general sense of what it is but we know that under cross examination of the evidence it probably wouldn't hold up.

Think about what you take to be the most innovative organization in the world and why: Apple, Genentech, any stalwart global brand, obscure NGO or fashionable start-up or will do. Contained in your answer is your belief and confirmation bias that reveals what you really take to be innovation:

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This weekend was Yom Kippur, holiest of the Jewish holidays and the day of atonement. It’s also the day when most Jewish minds are least focused since one needs to fast for 24 hours. I sat in schul listening to the rabbi’s sermon and given my mind is prone to ADD anyways I must admit that my consciousness often floats around the room but even more so on Yom Kippur. But our rabbi captivated me this year and reminded me of one of the most important lessons I learned myself 15 years ago.

Becky Hancock was so impressed with the results Knoxville startup Survature produced for the Tennessee Theatre she gave the company the opportunity to put on a show.

Image: http://www.knoxnews.com

Obesity is a risk factor for many health problems, but a new Penn Medicine study published this month in the journal Sleep suggests having a larger tongue with increased levels of fat may be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in obese adults.

The researchers examined tongue fat in 31 obese adults who had OSA and 90 obese adults without the condition. All subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging and the size and distribution of upper airway fat deposits in their tongue and upper airway muscles measured.

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