Broad changes in the dynamics of the venture capital are leaving early-stage tech entrepreneurs high and dry when it comes to mentorship and true assistance. With the rise of mega-funds and a massive influx of capital into the tech sector over the past decade, the vast majority of vanguard firms in the VC industry are shifting their focus downstream in pursuit of later-stage, larger dollar investments.

Image: The rise of mega-funds like Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Vision Fund are helping contribute to a growing "seed gap" in venture capital. (Credit: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg)© 2018 BLOOMBERG FINANCE LP

In 2014, Sphero made the critical decision to take three crucial members of their team to California for a four-month commitment to a corporate accelerator with Techstars and Disney. It didn’t quite sit well because they had already made this commitment in 2010 when they had gone through the regular Techstars accelerator. Additionally, they were netting $20 million in sales, which, in their own words, did not qualify much as a “start-up”. So why did Sphero make this decision?

California Life Sciences Association (CLSA), the trade association representing California’s life sciences industry, and PwC US, are proud to release the 2019 California Life Sciences Industry Report. With over 350 data points, this 2019 Report provides a snapshot of California’s life sciences community, and how the world’s largest life sciences cluster remains a global hub for innovation, creating high-wage jobs, bringing new therapies and technologies to patients, and attracting significant investment from venture capitalists, the NIH and more.

For over 20 years, this annual report has been used by lawmakers, legislative staff, business leaders, educators, media outlets, developers and others to make key decisions and learn more about the life sciences sector in California. The 2019 Report is available as a free download thanks to the support of our statewide membership. Click here to learn how you can become a part of our diverse community of 1,000 life sciences members.

NVCA is working to allow banks to invest in venture capital funds again. As part of this effort, we recently filed a comment letter proposing two solutions for how the various federal agencies can accomplish this priority while still adhering to the broader goals of the Volcker Rule. Through this post, our aim is to share some background on the current regulation and provide an overview of what our proposal seeks to accomplish and why. 

ANN ARBOR - The University of Michigan's undergraduate entrepreneurship program captured the No. 1 spot in rankings published by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.

U-M's graduate-level program also ranked in the top 10 on the list.

"This No. 1 ranking reflects the collaborative, broad and diverse nature of entrepreneurship across the University of Michigan," Jonathan Fay, the Dixon and Carol Doll executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship in the U-M College of Engineering, said in a statement. "We’ve seen tremendous growth in the interest of our students, and we’re incredibly proud that they’re taking what they learn and making an impact in the community."

Image: Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy (Flickr)

What do Mickey Mouse, vacuum cleaners, air travel and light-bulbs have in common? More than you’d think , especially if you look to the originators of those widely different things. All of their innovators spent a great deal of time being knocked back, living through failures and generally struggling to take their ideas forward. None of them have a history of instant success- it was hard work and persistence.

Image: https://www.innovationexcellence.com

In a fishing village south of Tampa called Cortez, a new community of small homes will run on solar power to reach a “net zero” energy footprint–using Google Home to help optimize how the power is used.

“It’s going to be a grid-interactive, grid-optimized virtual power plant,” says Blake Richetta, senior vice president and head of U.S. operations at Sonnen, which is making batteries that will store solar power for the 148 new homes in the new development, called Hunters Point. The company designed its software to work with Google Home devices and interact with its system, which sends extra power into batteries or into the grid at ideal times.

Image: Pearl Homes

Smoothies have a health glow about them. They’re often an integral part of cleanses, and they’re ubiquitous at health food stores and health-centric restaurants. And the smoothie trend is still going strong. Workout studios serve them up post-class, dietitians preach their powers and fit celebrities tout their nutritional prowess.

In this fast-paced world where exists undying competition, the emergence of start-ups or entrepreneurship is definitely not a piece of cake. The business world and the markets are undoubtedly experiencing an upsurge in the knowledgeable and experienced experts who are looking out for opportunities to create their own name in the market.  

So here is how, the last few years have seen an increase in the ‘Start-Up Trend’ where everybody calls themselves to be an Entrepreneur, as they seize to be the minds behind their own origination of businesses. But, there are a few characteristics or traits that one must possess to be an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs need to be prepared when pitching their startup companies to angel investors by anticipating the questions they will receive. The failure to have thoughtful and reasonable answers to these questions will decrease the likelihood of the entrepreneur’s company getting funded. The following is a list of key questions all entrepreneurs should be well prepared to answer during their investor pitch:

Utah is one of the nation’s leaders in long-term science and engineering (S&E) workforce growth, according to a new analysis released by SSTI (the State Science and Technology Institute), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving initiatives that support prosperity through science, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

From 2003 to 2017, the time period covered in SSTI’s report, Utah was no. 3 in the nation for overall growth of its science and engineering workforce, growing by 60.9 percent, just behind Arkansas (67.2) and North Dakota (66.2 percent). Most recently, from 2013 to 2017, Utah led the nation with a 26.5 percent increase.

Employees around the world yearn for freedom and flexibility. The most common form of flexibility that companies offer is the ability to work remote. In a new study by my firm and Virgin Pulse, we found that a third of employees globally work remote always or very often. Compared to a decade ago, the number of remote workers has increased by 115%. I’ve personally worked from home for almost eight years and have benefitted from the independence, autonomy, and five-second commute time.

BOSTON—MBA students at Harvard Business School (HBS) who are interested in entrepreneurship and looking to start new ventures are able to seek guidance and access expertise from various resources on the HBS campus, including more than 30 faculty experts in the field, 21 Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, and this year’s Venture Capital Partners, all based at the School’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.

Image: Kent Dayton

What working parent hasn’t felt guilty about missing soccer games and piano recitals? When there are last-minute schedule changes at work or required travel to a client site, it’s normal to worry that you’re somehow permanently scarring your little one.

50 Inventions marking the world a better, smarter and even a little more fun.

Image: http://time.com/

Innovation is vital to the evolution and sustainability of the American healthcare system, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is working to be part of the transformation, according to its administrator.In a speech on Thursday to the Alliance for Connected Care Telehealth Policy Forum for Health Systems, CMS Administrator Seema Verma spoke about how "relentless innovation is a crucial driver in creating value across all industries."

We invented peanut butter, artificial pacemakers and IMAX. But according to this year’s Bloomberg Innovation Index, Canada doesn’t rank among the top 10 players in the global ideas economy — or even the top 20. In fact, we’ve slipped two spots. What needs to change?

Every summer evening 1.5 million bats emerge from underneath the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas, on a quest for their favorite meals of mosquitoes and other insects. To track their tiny flying prey, the bats emit high-pitched sounds that deflect from an insect back to bat’s large ears. The information from this process of echolocation tells the flying mammals the precise path of their fast-moving food.

Image: A Harris’s hawk equipped with a camera and mic (see a close-up and video of this “biological drone,” below) flies among a swarm of bats as part of research on the animals’ sonar abilities. Credit: Laura Kloepper

If you peeked behind the curtains of the average self-employed entrepreneur’s office windows, what would you see? A pajama-clad couch potato eating Fruit Loops and watching cartoons while pricing flights to Fiji, or a stressed-out dynamo simultaneously juggling three conference calls, answering emails, and trying to keep two toddlers and a dog quiet?

Chinese entrepreneurs are growing from passive learners into leaders in innovation, a leading venture investor has said.

Kai-Fu Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of Sinovation Ventures, a leading venture capital in China, told Xinhua in a recent interview that in general Chinese entrepreneurs have experienced three phrases in innovation.

In the first phrase, Chinese entrepreneurs mainly followed the footsteps of other tech or market leaders, said Lee, who used to work for top tech companies including Apple, Microsoft and Google.