Oliver Hanisch is a German entrepreneur, business developer, and consultant based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also Vice President of Business Development & Operations of the German Silicon Valley Accelerator (GSVA), an initiative that provides three months of intensive support and mentoring programs for selected German ICT start-ups in Silicon Valley. In this GCRI interview, Oliver discusses GSVA's approach to enhancing German-American business relationships, entrepreneurial cultures in Germany and the U.S., key ingredients for a successful start-up, and the impact of university-industry collaboration on entrepreneurship. To read the interview, click here.  

Oliver has founded several companies and launched numerous initiatives and projects, such as the Founder Institute Berlin, a training and mentorship program for entrepreneurs. He was co-founder and CMO at SnipClip, a social applications and games company, and Director of Business Development at Red Herring, a Silicon Valley-based publisher providing products and services for the start-up and venture capital community.   

When he isn't advising organizations and governments on entrepreneurial programs and incubation models, Oliver likes to scout for the latest innovations and emerging trends in ICT. 

Heat, carbon dioxide and air pollution are already having significant effects on trees, plants and crops, and for most plant scientists, the debate over climate change ended long before the arrival of extreme weather like Hurricane Sandy.

Now, some of those scientists have moved beyond political questions to explore how rising levels of heat and emissions might provide at least some benefits for the planet.

“There is a lot of emphasis on the mitigation of global warming, and we need that,” said Lewis H. Ziska, a plant physiologist for the Department of Agriculture, who is one of a growing number of scientists studying how plants react to elevated levels of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. At the same time, he added, “we need to think about the tools we have at hand, and how we can use them to make climate change work for us.”

The world is currently operating at 25 percent of its entrepreneurial capacity, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Barometer (GEBAR) released by Mason’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Public Policy (CEPP).

GEBAR was developed from an analysis of world economic data in the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index and provides an annual global forecast for productive entrepreneurship. The barometer details the world’s status in fostering entrepreneurs that are innovative, create jobs, expand markets, export goods and spur economic growth.

How important is networking when trying to impress potential customers, investors or product launch platforms like Daily Grommet? Extremely important! With connections behind you, you’re likely to be noticed and move toward the top of the list. Whether you’re looking for a job, or trying to get your product noticed, the rules stay the same.

Our fearless leader, Jules Pieri, gave an illuminating talk at the Boston Startup School last week on Networking: Do’s and Dont’s. Her experience and advice is great for students, job-seekers and entrepreneurs alike. Below are 5 major takeaways.

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” Many entrepreneurs stumble at this point, losing the deal or most of their ownership, by having no answer, saying “make me an offer,” or quoting an exorbitant number.

I’ve written about this before, but it’s a mysterious subject, and I’m always learning more. This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points.

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. The founders now need a $1M Angel investment to do the marketing for a national NewCo rollout, build a team to manage the rollout, and maybe even pay themselves a salary.

Every day, dozens of people walk through it.  Hundreds of people stroll by.  Countless thousands drive right past.  And virtually all of them think nothing of it.

What could such a totally ignorable object be?  Only the birthplace of Silicon Valley.

Recently, while I was getting my car repaired and walking around the neighborhood, I stumbled across this place.  Totally by accident.  You’d think it should feel like the center of the universe.  That you ought to feel the gravitational force.  Yet, along San Antonio Road in the city of Mountain View, just north of El Camino Real, you’d have to be lucky to notice the little sign or the little plaque stuck in the sidewalk…

Recent data from a survey commissioned by Better Homes and Garden Real Estate (BHGRE) suggests a pent up desire among 18-35 year olds to own a home of their own that could easily fuel a real estate boom for at least the rest of this decade. 

In contrast to predictions from some futurists that the Millennial generation, born 1982-2003, will be content to be lifelong renters, BHGRE’s survey found home ownership still ranked as young Americans’ most important definition of personal success.  Overall, three-fourths of those surveyed named home ownership as an indicator of having succeeded financially, more than seven times the number who named other major expenditures such as taking extravagant vacations, buying an expensive car, or owning designer clothing. Even among those living in the Northeast or in cities, seventy percent identified home ownership as the best indicator of having made it financially. This is fully in line with earlier studies by Pew Research that found home ownership was among the top three priorities in life for members of the Millennial generation.

Nerds are no longer the only ones benefiting from the innovation boom.

Having left the heavy-lifting to technology companies until early this year, San Francisco’s non-tech employers are playing a growing role in the city’s labor recovery. Positions in everything from retail to construction to hospitality now comprise about 75 percent of the city’s job growth, helping the Northern Californian hub add jobs at among the fastest rates in the nation and reduce its unemployment rate to 6.5 percent.

San Francisco’s experience is also seen in broadening expansions in other U.S. technology centers such as Seattle and Boston, easing concerns that innovation would create work for only the most highly-skilled and highly-paid while others get left behind. Every new technology job in a city creates five additional local jobs outside the sector over time, according to an analysis by Enrico Moretti, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

ROCKVILLE, MD, Nov 27, 2012 -- The MdBio Foundation, Inc. today announced that it has named Brian Gaines as its CEO. Gaines brings more than 25 years of leadership, philanthropic and management experience to the MdBio Foundation. He has spent the majority of his professional career working for and creating several entrepreneurial endeavors in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. He will be responsible for advancing MdBio's overall mission, as well as day-to-day operations, fundraising, development and launch of MdBioSphere(TM), and supporting all educational programs, including the MdBioLab. The MdBio Foundation will continue to work closely with the MdBio Division of the Technology Council of Maryland to support the bioscience industry in Maryland.

"We are thrilled to have Brian on board at the helm of MdBio," said J.J. Finkelstein, chair of the MdBio Foundation. "His work in the philanthropic community, combined with his experience in finance and operations, and his entrepreneurial background, will make him a great asset in helping grow the foundation and supporting our mission."

Business Luminaries from three states -and new location for event- reflect Pipeline’s focus on geographic expansion

Kansas City, Kan. (November 27, 2012) ― Entrepreneurial high performers take center stage as the Region’s most promising high-growth entrepreneurs share the spotlight at Pipeline’s Innovator of the Year on Jan. 24 at The Midland in Kansas City.

Pipeline has aggressively executed on a new Regional plan this year to take its successful model for high-growth entrepreneurs across a much larger geographic footprint. The geographic expansion was made possible by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and matching funds from private sector supporters. Pipeline has now announced Innovator of the Year Regional Honorary Chairs who represent the Region Pipeline encompasses.

Leading the event are:

• Sandy and Christine Kemper, Kansas City, Mo.
• James and Karen Linder, Omaha, Neb.; and
• Brian and Tron Williamson, Wichita, Kan.

WASHINGTON — Meghan Hill knows how to operate a specialized camera that reveals the secrets of ancient manuscripts from Egypt's Sinai desert, but she still has to deal with the occasional photobomb.

"We had a fly," Hill said. "Since it was in the dark room, and we turned off all the exterior lights, it flew to the only source of light it could find. It landed on the document, stayed for the entire imaging, and then flew away right after. So when we were developing all these images, we had these incredible, high resolution images - of a fly."

Hill, a hyperspectral imaging technician at the Library of Congress, had to repeat the photoshoot, this time ensuring the lens was pest-free.

We are writing to advise that the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) announced today the names of 65 emerging biotechnology and other high-tech companies that have been approved to receive $60 million through the Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program under the State's 2013 Fiscal Budget Year.

Conceived of and advocated for by BioNJ in 1999, this competitive program enables companies to sell New Jersey tax losses and/or research and development tax credits to raise cash to finance their growth and operations.

"Access to funding, particularly in the continuing difficult economic climate, remains the most critical issue affecting the growth of biotechnology companies," said Debbie Hart, President and CEO of BioNJ. "We are pleased that the Governor and the Legislature continue to support the Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program, which supports companies that are working in New Jersey to discover and develop innovative medicine and therapies directed at meeting unmet medical needs."

Please CLICK HERE to read the EDA Press Release.

Yours in BioNJ,

Debbie Hart

President and CEO

What's the difference between outputs and outcomes? Some think the question is merely semantic, or that the difference is simple: outputs are extrinsic and outcomes intrinsic. I think otherwise; the difference between outputs and outcomes is more fundamental and profound.

In the non-profit world, outputs are programs, training, and workshops; outcomes are knowledge transferred and behaviors changed. In the for-profit world, the distinctions are not always so clear. Let's define outputs as the stuff we produce, be it physical or virtual, for a specific type of customer—say, car seats for babies. And let's define outcomes as the difference our stuff makes—keeping your child safe in the car. Borrowing an example from the Innovation Network, a highway construction company's outputs are project design and the number of highway miles built and repaired. Outcomes are the difference made by the outputs: better traffic flow, shorter travel times, and fewer accidents.

The University of Arkansas and University of Arkansas System’s Division of Agriculture have reorganized the Fayetteville campus’ technology office, which will now be known as Technology Ventures.

Under the restructuring, which took effect Monday, Nov. 19, Jeff Amerine will become director of technology licensing for the university. He succeeds Lisa Childs, associate vice provost for research and economic development, who will assume a full-time position as a manager of the intellectual property portfolio for the Division of Agriculture.

Nearly two years ago I wrote an article about how Towson University in Maryland was one of the first residential colleges in the region to enact an all-out ban on smoking anywhere on campus.

Since then, these bans have become trendy on college campuses across the country. All of the schools in the University System of Maryland will be smoke-free by the start of next school year, as will be George Washington and American universities in the District. Nationally, more than 800 schools have banned smoking — and more than 600 of those schools forbid all tobacco products.

(Chris Goodney - Bloomberg) Most schools cite the same reason in enacting a ban: They want to protect students, faculty, staff, campus visitors and others from harmful second-hand smoke. The bans obviously also make it more difficult for smokers to continue their habit.

When “Queen of the Net” Mary Meeker landed at Kleiner Perkins she added a new initiative: help people understand how certain trends were negatively impacting America. Her first report, USA Inc. contained a 468-slide presentation detailing these shifts. Meeker provided an update on October 24 in San Francisco, and it was yet another eyeopener.

In true Meeker style, USA Inc. is a meticulously crafted, chart-heavy presentation. This one, though, paints a bleak picture. Most startling: America’s entitlement costs accounted for 56% of spending in fiscal 2011, 40 years ago it was just 25%. Here is more food for thought:

• Expenses have exceeded revenue in all but five of the past 47 years. 
• 1 in 50 Americans needed Medicaid when it was created in 1965. Today, 1 in 6 do. 
• Unfunded and underfunded entitlement liabilities now total $66 trillion.

What did I want to be when I grew up? An explorer.

Mercantilism, huge risk, huge reward, glory and fame, enormous leadership opportunities, the chance to make your mark on the world. It’s all a young entrepreneur’s dream.

Sadly, uncharted waters, and the days of risking your crew’s life to discover new trade routes are gone…

Enter Exploration 2.0: The Age of Information

What really motivated the pre 18th century explorers? Adventure.

Yes, you’ve heard me say before– life is all about the adventure. You’ve heard it a million times– it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. All of my life I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur. Why? For the thrill.

Invention can be the gateway to success--but implementation is even more vital. A look at the wheeled suitcase and the limits of innovation.

Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors; and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon, there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile. Let us call it "antifragile."

Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better. This property is behind everything that has changed with time: evolution, culture, ideas, revolutions, political systems, technological innovation, cultural and economic success, corporate survival, good recipes (say, chicken soup or steak tartare with a drop of cognac), the rise of cities, cultures, legal systems, equatorial forests, bacterial resistance...even our own existence as a species on this planet. And antifragility determines the boundary between what is living and organic (or complex), say, the human body, and what is inert, say, a physical object like the stapler on your desk.

The U.S. Department of Education has released a first-ever list detailing state-by-state four-year high school graduation rates.

The data reflects figures from the 2010-2011 academic year, the first year for which all states used a common, more rigorous measure. States last year dumped flawed measurement formulas that often undercounted dropouts and produced inflated results, making cross-state comparisons inaccurate and volatile.

"By using this new measure, states will be more honest in holding schools accountable and ensuring that students succeed," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement Monday. "Ultimately, these data will help states target support to ensure more students graduate on time, college and career ready."

It’s no secret that the U.S. economy is in a tough state, with mile-high deficits and slow growth in jobs. Other countries are pulling ahead, but some cling to the hope that startups and the spirit of entrepreneurship embodied in Silicon Valley could save the country. That’s one of the conclusions reached by a team of Harvard Business School professors who toured the valley this fall.

Their report included a survey of 10,000 HBS alumni across the economy. About 71 percent of respondents expect U.S. competitiveness to decline over the next three years, with workers’ living standards under greater pressure. About 1,700 of the respondents had to personally make decisions about whether to leave the U.S. for jobs overseas.