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.
There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. Yet, according to many sources, over 90 percent of all businesses are started and grown with no equity financing, and many others would have been better off without it.
In order to get a picture of the crowdfunding environment for 2014, I reached out to some of the most prominent leaders in the world of crowdfunding for causes and mission-driven businesses. (Disclosure: Return on Change sponsored the Social Enterprise and Crowdfunding Conference I organized in September 2013.)
Image: http://www.forbes.com
A few months ago, I reported that premiums on employee health insurance rose faster than inflation once again this year, with single coverage going up 5 percent and family coverage increasing 4 percent. In that post, I explained how the rising cost of employee health insurance has led to a declining fraction of small businesses offering coverage.
Image: http://smallbiztrends.com
Do you say, “Hello, it’s nice to meet you”?
Do you tweet, “ #MomIsGay. She’s going to hell”?
Do you text your best friend, “If I survive Xmas, it will be a miracle”?
Image Courtesy of Felixco, Inc. / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
As Google moves toward a semantic approach, focusing more on the big picture of a search as opposed to keywords, producing creative content is going to be more important than ever. This is where the idea of reverse guest blogging comes into play, and it’s a big reason that I suspect this will be a huge business trend in 2014.
Image Courtesy of Jomphong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Q: My colleague and I have volunteered to create a one-day course on entrepreneurship at a school where I am currently a student. We think that entrepreneurship isn’t just a label for start-up companies and their CEOs, but an attitude and approach that helps a person to take or make opportunities and develop them further. What do you think?
— Noelle Decuypere
A: As a label, the word "entrepreneur" really is fascinating. When my friends and I were starting up our first Virgin businesses in the early 1970s, no one seemed to understand what we were doing. Some important people called us entrepreneurs, but they used the word in a derogatory way, hinting that we were adventurers, out to upset the order of things, and perhaps not to be trusted. We certainly didn’t describe ourselves as entrepreneurs at that time, because that would have been met with some strange looks.
Q: My colleague and I have volunteered to create a one-day course on entrepreneurship at a school where I am currently a student. We think that entrepreneurship isn’t just a label for start-up companies and their CEOs, but an attitude and approach that helps a person to take or make opportunities and develop them further. What do you think?
—Noelle Decuypere
A: As a label, the word “entrepreneur” really is fascinating. When my friends and I were starting up our first Virgin businesses in the early ’70s, no one seemed to understand what we were doing. Some important people called us entrepreneurs, but they used the word in a derogatory way, hinting that we were adventurers, out to upset the order of things, and perhaps not to be trusted. We certainly didn’t describe ourselves as entrepreneurs at that time, because that would have been met with some strange looks.
Image Courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
As a French woman with a degree in philosophy, my first job out of college brought me to the United Kingdom. After going back home, it seems I wasn't the only person thinking it was a good idea to leave France for career reasons. A lot of my friends see their future in France as gloomy and view going abroad as the best decision young graduates can make to kick-start their career.
Image Courtesy of sscreations / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The next time you get ready to open a soda or beer can, you can thank Ernie Fraze.
Ernie was attending a picnic one day when he realized that he had forgotten to bring his can opener. It resulted in him having to open his drinks using the bumper on his car. A few months passed, and the problem was still on his mind. So he decided it was time to create a solution, reports Business Insider.
Image: http://www.business-opportunities.biz
A reader wrote:
My partner and I have a great Facebook page and a (relatively) popular (in our niche) Twitter account. But we don’t have a website. In 2013 (and beyond) is there any incentive to focus our (limited) time and resources (growing, hopefully) on a website when we could be focusing all of our attention on FB and Twitter?
I’m going to tell you a secret. You’ve been sold a bad bill of goods, and because you’ve been neglecting your website, your business is suffering. Maybe not a lot, but it is.
Image: http://www.business-opportunities.biz
BREAKING NEWS out of Washington DC as the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today issued a movement permit to Mr. S. Claus of the North Pole, a broker with Worldwide Gifts, Unlimited. The permit will allow reindeer to enter and exit the United States between the hours of 6 PM December 24, 2013 and 6 AM December 25, 2013, through or over any northern border port.
Image Courtesy of noppasinw / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
We're in the midst of another Industrial Revolution, and it's all thanks to 3D-printing. While there are several startups working to expedite adoption of the innovative technology, MakerBot is the household name looking to get 3D-printers in the hands of the masses.
The startup funding world was rocked in September, when U.S. startup platform AngelList launched its revolutionary AngelList Syndicate service. Angels, as well-heeled individual investors are known, could now recruit others to join them in investing in so-called...
Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Consumer internet continues to get most of the venture capital dollars, with two e-commerce firms and a classifieds player occupying the first three spots. Flipkart continued with its fundraising spree, followed by Snapdeal, another e-tailer. Digital food guide Zomato also surprised the consumer internet market with its large round of funding.
Image Courtesy of mistermong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Building a startup is hard work for low pay, it’s risky, and it requires total responsibility to make it work. Yet, many entrepreneurs are the happiest people I know. On the other hand, I know many unhappy individuals who are always partying, have minimal commitments, and little responsibility. I suspect the real parameters of happiness have eluded these people.
To date, scientists have confirmed the existence of more than 900 exoplanets circulating outside our solar system. To determine if any of these far-off worlds are habitable requires knowing an exoplanet’s mass — which can help tell scientists whether the planet is made of gas or rock and other life-supporting materials.
Image Courtesy of Keerati / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
White layer cakes can be made with more fiber or less fat, without significantly undermining many of the qualities of this favorite treat. These improvements can be made to cakes that are prepared at commercial bakeries or to the boxed mixes sold for home bakers, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food technologist Mukti Singh.
Image: http://scienceblog.com
Numbers. They can be so hard to read and make sense of. Thank God intrepid designers are constantly turning those numbers into beautifully designed maps, charts, and graphics for us to feast our eyes on. We love infographics for their ability to take the complicated concepts we're often discussing here and break them down so that they're digestible.
Image: http://www.fastcoexist.com/
THESE BUSINESS LEADERS FOUGHT AGAINST THE CRITICS, FOR IDENTITY, AND IN ONE CASE ACHIEVED THE IMPOSSIBLE. ALL TOGETHER THEY MAKE THE BEST BUSINESS LESSONS OF 2013, IN VIDEO.
A lot changes in a year, and it's easy to let the best pieces of advice slip away.
Don't worry, there's good news: over the past 12 months we've documented conversations with dozens of entrepreneurs and business owners from across the country about the trials and triumphs of their careers.
Image: http://www.fastcompany.com/
