TechWomen is a program designed to empower the next generation of women and girls by providing access to opportunities that support a career in technology. Emerging women leaders in technology sectors from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions engage in a mentorship and exchange program at American leading companies.  In 2012, 41 Emerging Leaders participated from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, and Yemen.

The TechWomen team is made up of diverse women who have found success in a variety of technical careers. For five weeks, they share their experiences, challenges, and best methods. The first three weeks focus on professional work and cultural enrichment ,while the last three involve panel discussions and breakout sessions centered on leadership skills, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

What if pregnant women in poor, remote regions of Pakistan could be fitted with wristbands that monitor their vital signs and send an electronic alert to a doctor at the first sign of trouble?

Would impoverished farmers in Kenya be more diligent about getting their children vaccinated if they were given a bar-coded card redeemable for seeds and fertilizer each time they bring their child in for a scheduled shot?

Many startups spend more than $10,000 on legal bills over the course of their first year. For a bootstrapped startups, that can amount to more than 25 percent of the company’s startup capital.

Starting up your company should not put such a dent in your early capital. Here are a few tips that can help entrepreneurs save thousands of dollars while still getting high quality legal services.

For many people, their broadband connections are their lifelines. So what is the state of broadband in the U.S.? Well, when it comes to speed and price and adoption, we’re certainly not a leader — “middling” is a better way to describe our position.

Currently 119 million people that live in the U.S. don’t have broadband connections (for many reasons, including not wanting it or not being able to afford it) while 19 million don’t even have the option to get it. Our rate of broadband adoption (62 percent) lags behind countries such as South Korea, the U.K.,and Germany, according this year’s Federal Communication Commission report. (We’re closer to the penetration rates to Japan, Finland, and Canada.) These numbers are not likely to change soon, given that broadband growth is slowing and providers are moving away from wireline infrastructure.

Ask any mobile operator, and they’ll tell you their networks will become the backbone of the future internet of things. All of those connected meters, cars, medical devices and other assorted gadgets will need an always-on and ubiquitous available network, making today’s cellular network ideal for the task.

So far, carriers’ confidence is well founded. Mobile operators are using their 2G and mobile broadband networks to connect everything from jukeboxes to ice machines, and as mobile phone penetration nears 100 percent, a good deal of carrier growth is dependent on these new machine-to-machine (M2M) subscriptions.

Less than a week after Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter announced a public-private venture fund, a Philadelphia university said it will launch a venture fund next year.

Drexel University president John Fry mentioned the venture fund as part of a presentation mapping out the university’s plans for transforming a section of the surrounding neighborhood into an “innovation neighborhood.”

The fund will be managed as a subsidiary of Drexel University and will support not only Drexel University’s faculty, students and alumni, but also entrepreneurs in the region.

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. and Rich Bendis were recently featured in the “Why Rockville” ad campaign which runs in The Gazette of Politics and Business. This campaign is sponsored by Capital Bank and serves to introduce the businesses and business owners that are located in Rockville.

TAMPA -- For years, local economic boosters — and workers — have had to live with an ugly reality when it comes to the area's wages: Salaries are painfully low.

U.S. Census figures show the median household income for the Tampa area was just under $44,000 in 2011. That's almost $500 less than the median Florida household income and a whopping $6,600 less than the U.S. median.

What's more, the trend is going the wrong way. The median household income last year was 13 percent lower than in 2007.

I get stacks of resumes from recent graduates from many expensive universities. When I review them, however, I really feel for these kids. They have done what they were told: they got good grades, they joined clubs and they graduated on time.

But even with all that, what I see in front of me blurs together, and the sheets of paper simply end up in my desk drawer.

To read the original article: 4 Reasons Why College Is The New Business Incubator - Forbes

Silicon Valley Venture Firm Announces the

World’s First Course on Designing Innovation Ecosystems

Los Altos Hills, California – November 13, 2012 – T2 Venture Capital (T2VC), a Silicon Valley venture firm, announces Rainforest Architects, the world’s first course designed to teach people how to build innovation ecosystems. Rainforest Architects delivers a unique learning experience—combined with practical tools—to help participants develop skills for constructing entire communities that generate high levels of innovation and productivity. Participants will learn:

• What makes ecosystems like Silicon Valley function? • How do you design and build such ecosystems in the real world? • Which practical tools and leadership skills are necessary?

The first Rainforest Architects workshop is in Silicon Valley, January 9 – 11, 2013.

I'm sure you are a reasonable person -- thoughtful, analytical, and rational. Nothing wrong with that now, is there? Indeed, these very popular mental faculties can come in handy. But there is something beyond them that needs more breathing space in your life. Reason, no matter how reasonable, can only take you so far. Anyway, here's my fun list, on the Huffington Post, of why we need to go beyond reason.

Despite all the talk from Peter Thiel and others about how college is a poor investment, a new study from McKinsey finds that one of the biggest employment trends in coming decades will be a shortage of high-skill, college-educated workers for all advanced economies. An intensifying global war for talent means that there will be as much as an 18 million worker shortfall in the world's richest countries. They'll be producing too few of the workers businesses really need, and too many with only high school or vocational training.  

Ask any successful entrepreneur or investor what attributes are critical to building a successful business, and it's a safe bet that "perseverance" will be near the top of the list. And there's no better illustration of this than the stories of two of the country's original successful startups -- the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies. In those days, of course, "surviving" as a startup meant something different than it means today.

The age-old “my dog ate my homework” excuse may not fly in this paperless startup age, but there are plenty of other excuses you can use when didn’t finish all your work. Especially if you’ve earned your MBA.

There’s an endless number of to-dos at a startup, but I am a big proponent of that elusive work-life balance, AKA sometimes skipping out of the office before 8PM to go get an acupuncture or meet friends for a Grouper.

Six months ago I called the Director of Business Development for a well-respected angel group in California and told him about my company, CircleUp, an equity-based crowdfunding platform that would allow his angels to invest into private companies.  He had no interest in talking, saying “our angels wouldn’t be interested in something like this.”

30 days later, several of “his” angels invested through our platform (they had heard of CircleUp through word of mouth). As it turned out, his angels loved us because we gave them access to quality dealflow they would not have otherwise seen.

Communities currently foster their economies through recruitment, small business development, and workforce development. However communities are missing out on one of the most important tools for sustained growth in an economy, growth company development. These companies are second stage entrepreneurs that are job creators for your community and have needs that are different than the start up companies. These companies also bring in outside dollars to your community from having national or global markets. 

Most small businesses are missing an opportunity to become the only or preferred source of their offering to leading-edge boomers and seniors (LEB/S) simply because they've assumed that differentiation can't be done. The reality is that virtually all offerings can be made different in a way that matters to LEB/S.

So what should your messaging to LEB/S do to differentiate you from every other perceived competitor? Here's a list of seven differentiators to apply to your marketing.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it provides the opportunity to step back and really appreciate everything you have and everyone you love. That and the pie – I love the pie.

Image: Bob's Blog: www.bobgarontraining.com/pecan-crusted-grain-free-pumpkin-pie

This year, in honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what entrepreneurs in particular have to be thankful for. There is so much, but here are my top five. I hope you will share yours!

Helping people deal with emotions is a key leadership skill, especially in times of crisis. Your tone may effectively quell negative emotions or promote beneficial emotions, and improve camaraderie, trust, and team performance.

But recent research into the field of social regulation shows us that how you support your people can make a real difference. It turns out that caring delivered in an indirect, implicit manner tends to have a greater positive impact than support delivered in a direct, explicit manner. In other words, people get more out of compassion when they don't know they're getting it. (I presented these findings at the recent Neuroleadership Summit held in New York in October; you can view it for free on the Summit website.)

If you are looking to give the gift of gadgets this holiday season, the hottest items on the market are tablets.  It is no longer just an iPad world, this year, there are more and better tablets to choose from than ever before. But that means there is no longer a one-size-fits-all tablet that you can confidently present to every member of your family.

In my family, for instance, everyone has diverse interests and different needs. It would not do to just give each of them an iPads, it would not match their particular personalities.