This article delves into the goals every organization should work toward to boost product development performance, looks at how these goals further a product organizations ability to bring innovative products to market, and outlines the ways that a Product Portfolio Management (PPM) Solution helps companies reach these goals.

I read recently that 81% of CEOs feel that speed to market in product development efforts is a critical business innovation tactic.¹ The only thing that surprises me about that number is that it’s so low. I think it should be closer 100%.

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Escape from the corporate world is just a click away in the crowdfunding era. Nicola Kemp asks whether the industry is facing up to a creative exodus. Chances are that you, or someone you know, owns a pair of jeans designed by Beau Lawrence. As a director of product development at Guess, Lawrence was at the heart of LA’s vibrant denim industry. Yet, when he was inspired to create a new brand and its first sweatshirt product, he turned to Kickstarter, rather than his boss or a rival brand, to bring the product to market.

Do your fingers ache when composing a Facebook status update? Dream of a version of Twitter free of clutter? Not ready to reduce the full range of your emotions to ‘Yo’? You may be interested in Emojili. Emojili, like the name suggests, is an emoji-only social network. It claims to give you a way to communicate with your friends without the hassle of troll-dodging or scrolling through a stream of memes, hashtags and spam — after all, emoji are hardly offensive (yet).

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Average Internet speeds have steadily increased internationally over the last few quarters — but the U.S. isn't keeping up with the growth, a new report suggests.

According to cloud services provider Akamai, the average connection speed increased globally 1.8% to 3.9 Mbps in the last quarter. The growth is part of an ongoing trend, as the average connection sped up 13% globally from this time last year; on pace with expected rates.

(Reuters) - Initial public offerings for venture-backed companies slowed in the second quarter but the value of the transactions climbed to nearly $5 billion on the back of some outsized deals, making it one of the strongest quarters in recent years.

Data from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) showed 28 venture-backed IPOs last quarter, down from 37 in the first quarter. But they raised a total of $4.93 billion, up from $3.4 billion in the first quarter and more than double the $2.25 billion in the year-earlier period.

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(Reuters) - 500 Startups, the $100 million Silicon Valley venture fund perhaps best known for its incubator program for young companies, said on Thursday it would tap a new source of cash for its latest fund: the public.

Such a move would have been illegal until late last year, when a new law kicked in that allows private companies and funds to use advertising to find investors. Its adoption by 500 Startups, founded by respected entrepreneur and investor Dave McClure, signals growing acceptance of public fundraising in Silicon Valley.

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Innovation Union Within the Europe 2020 strategy, the Innovation Union takes a central place. It was established in 2010 and focuses on strengthening Europe’s capacity to innovate during a strategy that will be executed for a period of ten years. The Innovation Union is a successful in regional as well as national policy.

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Venture capitalist Tim Draper won the U.S. Marshals Service auction for nearly 30,000 bitcoins that were seized from Silk Road, the black market website busted last fall.

In a statement issued by Vaurum, Draper explained that he bought the bitcoins to further a new joint venture that will provide liquidity to people in emerging markets.

Image: Goh Seng Chong | Bloomberg  - Venture capitalist Tim Draper and startup company Vaurum will use the 30,000 bitcoins Draper bought from the U.S. Marshals Service to expand bitcoin trading platforms in emerging markets. 

They’re fetching coffee for movie studio executives, or handling millions of dollars’ worth of rare art and antiques. Some are writing stories for major magazines and newspapers. Quite a few can be found working in the White House.

Often, no matter how high-profile their responsibilities, these interns are not paid for their efforts. In recent years, the venerable system of the American intern has grown into a shadow labor market — becoming what many call an exploited talent pool that persists while mostly drawing nothing more than a wink and a nod.

By Gintautas Dumcius, State House News Service

The Senate on Tuesday voted 37-1 to pass a $76 million economic development package that supporters say will lead to job and economic growth through a focus on new industries and workforce training.

The bill includes the establishment of a "Big Data" innovation and workforce fund, $10 million for an advanced manufacturing and information technology workforce training trust fund, $10 million for "transformative development" in the Bay State's "Gateway Cities," $10 million for a brownfields redevelopment fund, $5 million for an international tourism marketing campaign, and $100,000 for an online business portal that would provide a how-to guide for starting a business.

Image: The Massachusetts State House in Boston. (JOE DEBURRO / THE REPUBLICAN FILE) 

One of the main reasons I love the TV show Shark Tank is because I learn so many nice ways to tell people no. The sharks have the uncanny way of letting entrepreneurs (people) down while building them up.

The phrase “and for that reason I’m out” have become a regular member of my vernacular.

Being direct and identifying why you won’t work with or for someone is a skill that can save you time, money, headaches, heartaches and so much more.

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It has become clear that impact sports like football and boxing can cause long-term brain damage. Now soccer is coming under scrutiny. As evidence mounts that excessively heading a soccer ball can injure a player’s brain, professional players such as Brandi Chastain, a star of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, are using this year’s tournament to call attention to the health risks facing young players. To learn about the latest science on soccer heading and brain injuries, Scientific American spoke to Robert Cantu, professor of neurosurgery at the Boston University School of Medicine and co-founder of the Sports Legacy Institute.

The age of experimentation with digital is over. In an often bleak landscape of slow economic recovery, digital continues to show healthy growth. E-commerce is growing at double-digit rates in the United States and most European countries, and it is booming across Asia. To take advantage of this momentum, companies need to move beyond experiments with digital and transform themselves into digital businesses. Yet many companies are stumbling as they try to turn their digital agendas into new business and operating models. The reason, we believe, is that digital transformation is uniquely challenging, touching every function and business unit while also demanding the rapid development of new skills and investments that are very different from business as usual. To succeed, management teams need to move beyond vague statements of intent and focus on “hard wiring” digital into their organization’s structures, processes, systems, and incentives.

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Millions of Americans turn to acupuncture each year to treat chronic pains and even depression. Recently, researchers at Rutgers University reported that combining the acupuncturist’s needle with an electric current could yield a new treatment for severe inflammation. Yet many scientists look skeptically at the practice.

Image: Recently, researchers at Rutgers University reported that combining the acupuncturist’s needle with an electric current could yield a new treatment for severe inflammation. Yet many scientists look skeptically at the practice. Credit: Wonderlane via Flickr 

Heidi Roizen is one of those names in Silicon Valley that everyone learns at some point. That’s what happens when you spend 14 years running your own company, then building developer relationships as a VP for Apple. Today, she’s an investor with DFJ Venture and teaches a class called the Spirit of Entrepreneurship at Stanford’s School of Engineering. Generally speaking, she’s someone who knows everyone (there’s even a Harvard Business School case about her) — and she’s wielded that influence gracefully.

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Our world is powered by software.

Nearly all devices or gadgets we use on a daily basis – from our smartphones to our vehicles – run on sophisticated lines of code that allow us to be more efficient, connected and engaged.

Software is fueling the renaissance of our manufacturing sector and companies like Siemens are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to teach the next generation of workers  how to use software in careers like robotics design and computer-aided engineering.

The word “doge” means nothing beyond its association with a viral internet meme. So why does a company best known for making plastic protectors for your Magic: The Gathering or baseball cards want to trademark that word?

Ultra Pro International LLC is in line to control the use of the word “doge” with any clothing if its trademark application goes through on July 8. The move to trademark the word has the Dogecoin community and its meme lovers baring their teeth. The case of whether or not the company can (and will) succeed in trademarking the name of the continuously happy meme has become a messy clash between law and perception.

The heart is more forgiving than you may think — especially to adults who try to take charge of their health, a new Northwestern Medicine® study has found.

When adults in their 30s and 40s decide to drop unhealthy habits that are harmful to their heart and embrace healthy lifestyle changes, they can control and potentially even reverse the natural progression of coronary artery disease, scientists found.

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We know that entrepreneurship is a complex path, full of twists and turns, successes and failures, brilliant right choices and frustrating mistakes. We believe in putting money in the hands of our student entrepreneurs so that they can claim this path for themselves, owning both the successes and the mistakes. That’s why we gave away $401,750 to student entrepreneurs in the past year in grants, prizes, and in-kind services. And we didn’t take a cent of equity in return.

WHILE IT MAKES SENSE THAT MEDITATION WOULD BE LINKED TO GREATER WILLPOWER, WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT PROCRASTINATION COULD ALSO DO THE TRICK?

One of the key parts of our culture at Buffer is a focus on self-improvement. We each pick an area to improve on each week and share our daily progress and challenges, making it a social, supportive way to adjust, create or change our habits.

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