Earlier this week, half the eligible neighborhoods in Kansas City had enough customers wanting Google's super-high-speed Internet and cable TV service. Although Google officially launched its Gigabit Internet service in July, it is using a clever model to build it out to actual neighborhoods, which Google calls Fiberhoods. Enough residents in each of these Fiberhoods must first tell Google that they want it. When the Fiberhood reaches a certain number of pre-registrations, Google will build them the service.

Four medical startup companies participating in the ZeroTo510 Medical Device Accelerator program in Memphis, Tenn., have received $100,000 in funding, according to a Memphis Business Journal report.   The companies receiving the funding are BioNanovations, EcoSurg, Nanophthalmics and Urova Medical.   It is the second round of funding for the companies. In return for an equity stake, each participating company in the accelerator program initially received a $50,000 investment to work on developing a business plan and designing prototypes of devices. In August, the companies presented their products to potential investors and were selected to receive the additional $100,000 investment, for an incremental equity stake.

Crowd funding began as a way to support the arts on the Internet. Artists could go online to pitch a new album, for example, in the hope that thousands would give small amounts. But now it's expanded to entrepreneurs, and the rules aren't quite as clear.

On Kickstarter, the largest crowd-funding site, a handful of entrepreneurs have raised millions of dollars more than they'd expected, by selling the concept of products they have yet to make. But financial backers have no clear way of getting a refund if the young businesses fail to deliver.

Danny Sullivan dreams of gardening and spending time with his grandchildren, but that's just a fantasy. Retirement is out of his reach, at least for the foreseeable future.

The 62-year-old founder of a small catering company spends his days helping stock bars with beer and ice, wooing potential new clients and juggling the 20 to 30 different events his firm handles daily.

"I am so tired," he says. "I don't know that I'll ever be able to retire."

Every first-time entrepreneur, or even an experienced founder stepping into a new business area, needs a mentor. Nothing you have ever done raises so many questions, or has the potential to be so fulfilling, or so risky, as starting a new business for the first time. A mentor is a confidant who has been there and done that, and is willing to guide your steps.

In case you think mentors are only for “wimps,” you should know that most great entrepreneurs are quick to give credit to their mentors. Bill Gates always revered the early guidance he received from Dr. Ed Roberts, creator of the Altair 8800. Later, the great Warren Buffet became his mentor on many corporate matters.

One result of the side effects of cancer treatments is that patients often can't tolerate or survive a combination of different drugs at the same time—which can limit a doctor's ability to knock out the disease. The head of a Boston-area biotech called Cerulean Pharma thinks the solution is nanoparticle-delivered drugs, which have fewer and less severe side effects. They could make it easier for doctors to mount a multipronged attack on tumors and kill the cells before they can develop a resistance to any one compound.

Cancer cells can develop resistance to individual drugs very quickly, says Oliver Fetzer, CEO of Cerulean. And he points to recent studies showing that different cells within the same tumor can have different genetic mutations. In some cases, that means that a drug that kills cancer cells in one part of a tumor may not work in other parts. This tumor diversity suggests that it would be best to hit cancer cells with multiple drugs at once to make it extremely difficult for the tumor to develop resistance to all therapies.

The internet has created untold opportunities for marketing and creative industries. The capacity to reach millions of people across a global audience in all manner of mediums has allowed, and in some ways necessitated, marketers to push the creative boundary

For every potential market that the internet creates, it also provides means to best engage and exploit it. This is best exemplified by the proliferation of crowdsourcing in recent years. In its most basic form you could describe the entire content of the internet as a form of crowdsourcing, a central hub populated with information from multiple users. Take for example Wikipedia, a central database updated with the world’s knowledge. Crowdsourcing in the sense that we are concerned with has more specific applications, but is essentially the same model, many people contributing to one location or idea.

Student innovators, start your engines. Registration's now open for Microsoft's annual Imagine Cup, the world's biggest technology competition for students. Entering its 11th year, the competition invites high school and college students to use their tech skills to solve the world's biggest problems. Student teams from around the globe have created everything from a smartphone app that diagnoses malaria to an app that reduces food waste by connecting leftover meals from restaurants with homeless shelters.

Although the talent demonstrated by the 1.65 million students from more than 100 countries who've competed in the Imagine Cup over the past decade is pretty phenomenal, this year the competition will be even more attractive, with increased prize money and new categories. 

About 15 years ago, this environmentally conscious state with a fir tree on its license plates began pushing the idea of making renewable energy from the ocean waves that bob and swell on the Pacific horizon. But then one of the first test-buoy generators, launched with great fanfare, promptly sank. It was not a good start.

But time and technology turned the page, and now the first commercially licensed grid-connected wave-energy device in the nation, designed by a New Jersey company, Ocean Power Technologies, is in its final weeks of testing before a planned launch in October. The federal permit for up to 10 generators came last month, enough, the company says, to power about 1,000 homes. When engineers are satisfied that everything is ready, a barge will carry the 260-ton pioneer to its anchoring spot about two and a half miles offshore near the city of Reedsport, on the central coast.

The Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management has announced that they are joining the Arizona Furnace Accelerator. Furnace is a first-of-its-kind statewide business accelerator program that encourages entrepreneurs globally to find and commercialize innovations developed within the Arizona's universities and research institutions. Partners already include Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Dignity Health Arizona. Thunderbird’s partnership will add a wealth of talent and know-how to the initiative that is aimed at getting Arizona-sponsored technology off the shelf and into the marketplace, in the form of new high-potential startups.

The addition of Thunderbird as a partner expands the pool of entrepreneurial business talent to global proportions. Thunderbird is ranked #1 in the world for international business and their alumni base is one of the most entrepreneurial in the world. With more than 40,000 alumni in more than 140 countries, Thunderbird’s partnership with AZ Furnace will help expose the competition to an international audience.

Walk into the atrium of the University Technology Park at IIT near downtown Chicago and you’ll see a cutting-edge facility. Natural light pours into the common area. Take a stroll down the hallway and you’ll see wet and dry lab space and offices that are home to emerging companies. The building, on the historic Ludwig Mies van der Rohe campus, is busy with Illinois Institute of Technology undergraduates, entrepreneurs and researchers.

A stark contrast from this once abandoned lab.

In 2006, the IIT and its private developer partner, Wexford Science and Technology, turned the 1959 chemistry research building into a mixed-use, multitenant, life sciences-focused facility. The Technology Business Center is now home to the 3.5 floors of new and emerging companies as well as sophisticated multi-disciplinary IIT research centers and IIT’s path-breaking “Idea Shop.”

If America, and American workers, had an official alcoholic beverage, it would probably be beer. According to the Brewers Association, the overall U.S. beer market was worth $96 billion in 2011, when some 200 million barrels of beer were sold (1 barrel equals 31 gallons of beer). In the same year, 1,989 breweries in the United States were fermenting everything from light lagers to chocolaty stouts.

In that spirit, and in salute to Labor Day, LiveScience proposes a toast to beer, that sudsy beverage that humans have brewed for millennia.

Washington, D.C. is known for many things, but startups are not one of them.

It is the center of the United States’ government, a nexus for political figures from around the world, and a hub for nonprofit, security, and healthcare enterprises. The D.C. metropolitan area has one of the highest concentrations of Ph.Ds per capita in the country, as well as many of the nation’s wealthiest counties. The district itself is a city filled with universities, young people, and fun things to do.

The region is also home to a powerhouse technology community. AOL began there and it was at the center of the ’90s dot.com boom. Now, hi-tech internet and telecom companies, software and hardware manufacturers, and government contractors line the Dulles Technology corridor in nearby Virginia. Across the river in Maryland, the National Institutes of Health and security behemoth Lockheed Martin foster development in the biotech, health, and security spheres.

A recent conversation with a young entrepreneur—followed by a closer look at some recent data—got me thinking. When it comes to starting a new business, who has the greater advantage? The 25-year-old upstart or the seasoned 52-year-old entrepreneur?

Statistically, older entrepreneurs have the advantage. However there are unique advantages to starting a business at every age.

Forbes contributor Liz Kammel gives some interesting perspective in her recent article Start A Company When You’re 25–Not When You’re 52. Liz points out that the younger entrepreneur may have the greater advantage in many respects – 1) you’re already fairly poor, 2) energy and motivation will never be higher, and 3) you have no fear about challenging the “status quo.” All great points. However, Liz cautions that if a young founder’s company succeeds in qualifying for a large Series A or B round of funding, the VC will most likely replace the entrepreneur with a more seasoned executive.

A baby born in the U.S. this year is likely to live to blow out 78 birthday candles—a far longer average life span than someone born even in the 1960s. Heart disease is still the biggest killer but it, along with fatal infectious diseases and infant mortality have all fallen to much lower levels in the past half century. Researchers are now hard at work tackling the growing afflictions, such as nervous system diseases and Alzheimer's, which are far more likely to attack the ever more senescent population.

Whether of companies or countries, to lead across cultures means knowing when to adapt, integrate, or override their differences.

Cultural agility is the ability to respond quickly, comfortably, and effectively in a different culture and with people from other cultures. Cultural agility is not cultural adaptability. In fact, there are times when cultural adaptation is counter-productive, when maintaining the organization's standard or creating a new approach is critical. My research has found that the most effective culturally agile professionals toggle across these approaches, knowing when to adapt, when to override, and when to integrate diverse norms, practices, or perspectives.

The Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting Thursday was all about local innovations.

A video highlighting some of those innovations had a little of everything, from John Deere and Alcoa products to sliced bread (the first bread-slicing machine was invented in Davenport).

More than 700 attended the Thursday meeting at Davenport's RiverCenter to hear about innovation and the chamber's accomplishments during the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

Richard Bendis, founder, president and CEO of Innovation America, was keynote speaker. Innovation America helps clients define strategies to engage in the world economy.

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Early birds get all the credit. Research indicates that morning people tend to be more active and goal oriented, and such larks as Steve Jobs, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, and 25-year old David Karp, founder of the Tumblr blogging platform suggest that climbing the ladder of success is easier before breakfast.