What distinguishes the world’s most effective leaders of innovation? It’s not just being creative or the quality of their ideas. Nikola Tesla was arguably a more brilliant inventor than Thomas Edison, but Edison realized tremendous commercial success while Tesla died penniless. Edison not only developed world-changing ideas, but he also acquired resources in a competitive market to execute and commercialize them. So what did Edison have that Tesla didn’t? Innovation capital. Innovation capital is an intangible capital, like political capital, that helps you win resources to commercialize novel ideas.

Image: How innovation capital worksALL IMAGES: NATHAN FURR, JEFF DYER AND MIKE HENDRON.

Brian joined the MdBio Foundation in November 2012 after serving as Executive Director of the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation. He has spent most of his professional career creating and working for several entrepreneurial endeavors at the intersection of the for-profit and nonprofit worlds.Brian joined the MdBio Foundation in November 2012 after serving as Executive Director of the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation. He has spent most of his professional career creating and working for several entrepreneurial endeavors at the intersection of the for-profit and nonprofit worlds. 

You can be sure that governments and investors are funding the most profitable and malicious uses of technologies. That is why it is so important to teach India’s entrepreneurs about the advances and to inspire, motivate, and support their efforts.

Image: https://www.hindustantimes.com

It’s technically still summer, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it’s already time to think about flu season 2018-2019.

All adults and children older than six months should get a flu vaccine by the end of October 2018, the CDC says. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recently made a similar recommendation.) While the shot is still effective for those who get it later in the fall or winter, getting vaccinated before flu season is in full swing offers the best protection, the CDC says.

Julia Smith, a public defender in a major city in the northeast, has made every major life decision over the last few years based on the cost of childcare.

When she and her husband, who works as a carpenter, decided to have a baby, they realized that their salaries would not cover the cost of daycare, which came to more than a thousand dollars a month. So Smith quit her job in state government to work at a corporate law firm, where she would earn more money even though the work was less fulfilling to her. (She’s asked to use a pseudonym to speak openly without any fear of career repercussions.) “Getting a higher-paying job was absolutely part of my family planning process,” she tells me. “I had to quit a job that I loved to have enough money to pay for my daughter’s daycare.”

New research explains why the United Kingdom has been experiencing historically low productivity growth and what can be done to return to long-run averages.

Declining labor-productivity growth characterized many advanced economies after a boom in the 1960s, but since the mid-2000s that decline has accelerated. Against that backdrop, the United Kingdom stands out as one of the worst productivity performers among its peers. Its absolute level of productivity has persistently ranked toward the bottom of a sample of advanced economies.

The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) has a new report describing steps states are taking to make the most of their Opportunity Zones. One common strategy is assessing how other incentive programs can be combined with Opportunity Zones to maximize investor interest.

According to the report, 33% of states indicated they are considering creating incentives for Opportunity Fund investments, including Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Oregon. In Colorado, the Office of Economic Development and International Trade specifically hopes that additional incentives will help its more highly distressed communities compete for investment.

Image: https://smartincentives.org

2018's bullish economy is reflected in venture capital and private equity investments. Software drives the majority of deals since software powers just about everything now. Here's where the money is flowing and why. 2018 is a strong economic year, as reflected in venture capital and private equity investments. According to the 2Q Pitchbook-National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Venture Monitor, $57.5 billion was invested in U.S. VC-backed companies in the second quarter. Ninety-four of the financings involved at least $100 million and 42 unicorns closed deals with valuations of at least $1 billion.

The news headlines about what perks or elements of office design make for a great employee experience seem to be dominated by fads — think treadmill desks, nap pods, and “bring your dog to work day” for starters.

However, a new survey by my HR advisory firm Future Workplace called “The Employee Experience” reveals the reality is that employees crave something far more fundamental and essential to human needs.

What if we were able to help young people discover their inherent talents to BUILD?

Thomas Jefferson University and the Monell Chemical Senses Center announced Wednesday that they have entered a formal agreement to collaborate onSubscribe to read more!

Image: JONATHAN TAKIFF

Jeff George, VP of Research & Development at Campbell Soup Company, gave a captivating talk at Spigit's Ignite conference that detailed the company's innovation program and its use of crowdsourcing to DRIVE BUSINESS IMPACT.

From business saving ideas from employees to how the team plans to scale the program, he covered it all.

Whether your innovation program is just getting started or has been running for a number of years, there are a ton of valuable lessons in this video. Check it out!

It may not be as sexy, but starting a new business which builds on an existing technology or business model is usually less risky than introducing that ultimate new disruptive technology. There are many levels of innovation that go beyond copying someone else’s idea, but stop short of pushing the leading edge (bleeding edge).

Many of the major business successes started this way. McDonalds didn’t invent the fast food model – they simply improved on the cookie-cutter White Castle process. Before Wal-Mart made the low-cost high-volume business model famous, there was Ben Franklin and Two Guys who touted it way back following World War II. And we all know Facebook didn’t invent social media.

Having habits can often be a good thing. When you drive to work for example, you don’t need to wonder whether you should turn left or right; the route becomes habit.

“We want the brain to learn how to do those things without energy and effort,” says Russell Poldrack, a professor of psychology at Stanford University. “Habits are an adaptive feature of how the brain works.”

More women around the world are patenting their inventions. That’s what the World Intellectual Property Organization reported earlier this year on World IP Day. Of the 243,500 international patent applications published in 2017, 31% included women — nearly 10% more than a decade ago.

Interestingly, half of all PCT applications filed by the academic sector included women inventors, compared to only 30% for the business sector.

Entrepreneurs seem to have blinders on when looking at competitors. Generally they are so focused on killing competitors that they fail to see the positive potential of a strategic partnership or some other type of collaborative relationship. Sometimes you have to put aside the emotion and the passion, and just look at what is best for your business.

Having a well-crafted resume can be the key to getting your foot in the door at the company of your dreams. But figuring out how to make your resume fully representative of your experience and also stand out is easier said than done. After all, hiring managers and recruiters generally only spend about 7 seconds reading your resume before deciding whether to move forward or not. Most people know the basics of how to put together a decent work history, but here are some tips you probably haven’t heard before that can help your resume stand up to the 7-second test.

At some point in your journey to drive innovation, you’ll want to take a deep breath and ask – what happened here? What have we achieved? And, what do we need to do now to keep the momentum?

Momentum is critical. I’ve seen too many innovation programs get off to a fast start only to fizzle out later. People go back to their old ways, or they move on to the next new “shiny object” – some other big bang initiative.

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business.