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.
Companies make headlines when they outsource manufacturing or—as is occurring more frequently—when they bring it back home to the U.S., a practice known as reshoring. What generates far less news is the potential impact on American innovation and productivity when companies outsource something as critical as research and development.
OLEAN — There’s good news and bad news for three local projects that were in the running for state economic development funding. Late Friday afternoon, the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council (WNYREDC) announced 18 projects that are receiving priority designation for funding through the Empire State Development Corp. Of those projects, the Olean Business Incubation Center is one of them.
Using CB Insights data, we compiled a decade-long list of firms that have invested in the most unique companies ever year.
While there are many repeat names between years such as New Enterprise Associates which has consistently remained in the number one or number two spot with the exception of 2013, the activity league tables also help to highlight some of the changes that have occurred in venture.
The cable companies have been far more excited about selling broadband than selling video for a long time now. One cable exec, Cablevision CEO Jimmy Dolan, even suggested that his company might get out of the video business altogether.
Why? Because while broadband is a high-margin, low-competition business for the cable guys, selling video is a pain in the ass. TV and movie rights holders like Viacom and Warner Brothers are very hard to deal with. The cost of video content continue rising, and cable companies are stuck trying to raise cable prices at acceptable rates to cover the costs.
Image: http://venturebeat.com
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is not nimble. That’s more of a problem than ever in an era where even terrorist groups can increasingly download, buy, or steal sophisticated technology. So how can America’s bureaucratic military stay ahead? While Congress is wrestling with acquisition reform, some experts both inside the Pentagon and out argue that there’s more freedom to innovate within the existing system than most people think.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
The venture investor that has backed the most startups in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco area in the past five years is 500 Startups.
But the one with the most exits of companies it has backed is Sequoia Capital, and the company that has bought the most local startups isn't Yahoo or Facebook — both of whom have been on an acqui-hiring tear recently. It's Google.
Image: iPhoto: Cromwell Schubarth 500 Startups, led by co-founder Dave McClure, has made the most investments in startups in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco area since 2009, according to a new report from CB Insights.
A team of students in the College of Law’s Technolog
y Commercialization Law Program (TCLP) spent their summer working with entrepreneurs, startups and inventors to provide information on the legal and regulatory issues involved with bringing new technologies to the market. Students researched intellectual property and market landscapes for over 25 new technologies.
Image: Luke Finch L’15 inspects a newly patented trimmer head during a client meeting as part of the Technology Commercialization Law Program.
EBAN, in collaboration with Lourdes Moreno from Deusto University and its associated angel network Crecer+, presented the output of the latest reasearch on angel investments' economic impact.
The research collected the impact of investment in 1661 businesses from 37 countries in Europe and concluded the following:
Amazing ideas can spring from the most mundane events. A few months ago, my lawn mower broke. I decided it was time to hire a landscaper to help me whip my yard into shape. As many people do, I grabbed my laptop and began searching the usual review sites for recommendations. The problem was, I kept running into the same issue — many of the entries seemed phony, as if the business owners themselves had written them. I kept wondering, “Who can I trust?”
Image: http://ventureburn.com/
Are you a B2B professional who wants to make a standout impression with your expertise and build your personal brand? Want to meet and engage with other quality professionals in your industry? Want to stay up to date on interesting information shared by peers in your field? Then LinkedIn is the professional party you should attend when it comes to your social media mix.
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HBR: Marc, are there any other Barksdale sayings you can think of with key strategic implications for today’s business leaders?
Andreessen: Well, how about this one? “In the battle between the bear and the alligator, what determines the victor is the terrain.”
Barksdale: I heard that from somebody, somewhere, way in my past life, and used it repeatedly in trying to push people to figure out the right terrain to take on a competitor.
HBR: What do you mean by the terrain, then?
Entrepreneurship can empower ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Yet a huge disconnect exists between what is being taught about entrepreneurship and what they are really doing, said Gary Schoeniger, co-founder and CEO of the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative.
Image: Photo courtesy of Gary Schoeniger
Ten years ago, an odd request landed in my email inbox. It was a message from my sister, Anne, sent to me through a company called Friendster, prompting me to join her friend network. I puzzled over the missive for several minutes, trying to determine what she was asking me to do. Was this some new peer-to-peer file-sharing service, like Napster? Why would Anne want me, her sibling, to identify as a friend? We were close, but not that kind of close. And wasn’t I already part of her network? We shared the same parents, after all. I mulled over the message a little longer before hitting delete.
Image: Joyce Hesselberth for The Chronicle Review
Over the last few years, a myriad of online platforms for lending money, funding projects and sourcing information have popped up across the Internet. With so many surface similarities, it’s easy to see why you might get a little confused.
Is Kiva a crowfunding platform? What does LendingClub do? What is crowdsourcing and is that the same thing as crowdfunding? They may seem alike, but there are big differences between these new platforms that you should know.
Gov. Scott Walker announced the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) will provide $1 million in funding to entrepreneurs through a new program aimed at commercializing high-tech innovation.
“SBIR Advance is one more way we can help build the economy and grow jobs in Wisconsin,” Walker said. “This is a tool that will help young, innovative companies with the assistance they need to bring their products from conception to market.”
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Venture capital is notoriously difficult to come by in Canada. The best way for entrepreneurs to find an investment partner is to put themselves in their shoes, understand what they’re looking for, and find a way to fit in to their overall strategy.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
People have always commented on the fact that I am highly driven – a “Type A” to a T. I set personal goals, manage multiple projects at once, and run at the speed of light. Sometimes, I feel like I am already in 2015. But what comes with this high-performing personality is the tendency to – let’s just say it – piss people off or push them away.
In my day job helping CEOs build winning cultures, I have witnessed the effects, positive and negative, that Type-A traits have on others. And I’ve discerned three behavioral tendencies of Type-A high performers, which I refer to as the High D curse.
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The word "influencer" gets thrown around a lot in business, but how does the power of the persuasion really work? An infographic from U.K.-based virtual phone service Everreach, explains the elements companies can utilize to impact their customers and get to "yes." The list is based on the teachings of Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of the popular book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Somehow I blinked and it was August, which means we’re in the home stretch of summer. If you’re one of the many who chose to spend your summer interning, your time grabbing coffee, running errands, and (let’s hope) doing meaningful work and gaining great experience is also coming to an end.
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An entrepreneur learns by doing, creating, failing, and eventually succeeding. Great entrepreneurs are elite athletes in their chosen field of play. They don’t need CEOs, organizational charts, or superfluous titles to score. They need a good team and a solid coach to break through their own barriers/internal challenges and innovate.
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