I’ve always been a bit confused about the difference in a business context between a coach and a mentor. According to many pundits, a mentor shows you the right way based on experience, while a coach brings out the best in you, then let’s you find your own way. Based on my own experience on both sides of the fence, we can all benefit from either, and need the best of both.

Many in the Lehigh Valley might be unaware that Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania has been launching businesses since Ronald Reagan was president. But they’re probably familiar with the innovative companies the nonprofit has nurtured.

A very short list includes Bethlehem-area companies OraSure Technologies and Rea.deeming Beauty Inc.; Ciclon Semiconductor Corp., which is now part of Texas Instruments at Ben Franklin’s TechVentures facility; and organic toothbrush-maker Radius Corp.

Image: R. Chadwick Paul Jr., president and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, stands outside organization's TechVentures incubator building. Paul says state funding cuts have hurt Ben Franklin in growing more new, high-tech companies. (Courtesy photo / Ben Franklin Technology Partners)

Venture capital dollars are flooding into biotech, totaling $8.5 billion in 2017 alone. But there’s no one way to fund a startup.

Biotech’s boom has given rise to disparate funding and investment models within the venture capital world, and those nuances have an outsized impact on exactly what kinds of scientific advancements will progress, what kinds will flounder, and how fast any potential treatments can come to market.

Image: ADOBE

Decision makers fed up with slow or subpar results take heart. Three practices can help improve decision making and convince skeptical business leaders that there is life after death by committee.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma on Thursday unveiled new steps the agency is taking to bolster Medicare coverage of emerging medical technologies.

During remarks at the Medical Device Manufacturers Association's annual meeting in Washington, Verma said the agency is removing what she called government barriers to innovation.

What is an opportunistic entrepreneur? Thought leader and speaker Jesse Torres has described opportunistic entrepreneurs as people who are prepared for any opportunity, don’t aim to be flawless, find opportunities to exploit and are ready to work hard.

I’ve found that some of my best opportunities and successes have come from my ability to jump into new situations without hesitation. Overthinking an opportunity or waiting for the perfect chance can end up hurting your entrepreneurial spirit.

Innovation drives productivity, and productivity is what drives jobs growth and the wealth that pays for our health, education, defence and social security systems. In short, innovation really matters. Governments, businesses and academics obsess over it. We need to know what works, what doesn’t and why – and that means turning to measurements and metrics. But can we really measure innovation today? Are we doing it right, or are our metrics more suited to Industry 2.0 and 3.0, rather than 4.0?

Image: https://europeansting.com

What is most valuable agricultural commodity in each USA state?

The United States has an incredible amount of geographic diversity.

From the fertile farmland of the Great Plains to the volcanic islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, each state has been dealt a unique geographical hand.

Each geographical setting can be the source of economic opportunities, such as tourism or the development of natural resources. It also partially dictates what kind of agricultural choices are available for farmers and local economies.

Image: https://www.linkedin.com

Hannah Wilkinson Slater is often celebrated as the first woman to receive a U.S. patent. In 1793, she received a patent for a new method of producing cottonsewing thread. She was inspired in the mills run by her husband, Samuel Slater, who had left England as a young apprentice, undeterred by a ban preventing textile craftsmen from emigrating to the United States (Cameron, 1960; White, 1836). Interestingly, the United States issued Hannah Wilkinson Slater’s patent to “Mrs. Samuel Slater,” which has created some ambiguity regarding whether she was indeed the first American female patent inventor.1 Some historians prefer to award this merit to Hazel Irwin for a cheese-press invention in 1808 (Khan, 1996) or to Mary Dixon Kies, who in 1809 was granted a patent on a new technique for weaving straw with silk and thread to make hats (United States Government, 1888). All these women, without a doubt, were exceptional for their era. Only 72 U.S. patents were credited to women inventors between 1790 and 1859, while men obtained 32,362 patents (Khan, 1996).

Image: https://www.uspto.gov

Young and old alike can rejoice in a new finding by researchers at Ohio State University and the University of Chicago. There is hope for us all when it comes to creativity, they say.

“Many people believe that creativity is exclusively associated with youth, but it really depends on what kind of creativity you’re talking about,” explains Bruce Weinberg, lead author of the study and professor of economics at Ohio State University, in a statement.

In September 2015, Molly Graham shared a new article with her Twitter followers, writing that it contained “All the things I know about scaling and how to try to do it well.” As it turned out, this collection of lessons from her experiences building teams at Google, Facebook, and Quip would strike a chord in the startup world. Her mandate charging readers to give away their Legos is still one of the Review’s most widely read articles — and it’s become a timeless, oft-cited metaphor for how to thrive inside of a rapidly scaling company.

Seaweed is a staple in many Asian cuisines, but many Americans still only encounter it when they go out for sushi. As a result, many diners don’t know what to make of it: Is seaweed healthy? Does it count as a vegetable? Are all kinds nutritionally the same?

Miho Hatanaka, a Japanese-born registered dietitian who is based in Oregon, says the sea vegetable is worth getting to know. In the Japanese tradition, “people really attribute their health and longevity to seaweed, and even healthier skin and hair,” she says.

MELBOURNE, Fla., April 30 (UPI) -- The new era of space exploration needs more innovation and more investment, AOL co-founder Steve Case said at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday.

Case and his investment company, Revolution, brought their "Rise of the Rest" bus tour to the Space Coast, stopping at the space center and aerospace companies like OneWeb and Rocket Crafters.

Image: https://www.upi.com

Over 500 multinational corporations (MNCs) from some 35 countries are active in Israel, a majority of them seeking to enhance their core capabilities through open innovation in the “Startup Nation,” according to a new survey published on Tuesday.

The report titled “The State of Innovation,” and released by Start-Up Nation Central (SNC) and PwC Israel (PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Ltd), offers a comprehensive look at the status and evolution of multinational activity in Israel as a leading innovation destination and the home of the highest concentration of startups per capita in the world.

Image: http://nocamels.com

The European Commission has announced grants worth €33 million to be funded through the European Innovation Council (EIC), its new technology funding agency.

The grants are for 13 projects that will receive €1.5 - €3 million each to develop “disruptive” technologies. The projects include windows that function as solar panels, an artificial limb that provides sensory feedback to the wearer, making their gait more natural, and a new technology for recycling old rubber tyres to make new ones.

Many regional economic development strategies emphasize employment in manufacturing or high-tech, as these industries tend to provide well-paying jobs. Through an analysis of American Community Survey five-year data for 2013-2017, SSTI assessed state-level employment concentration within these sectors.

Scientists have found that a portion of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica, the world’s largest ice shelf and an important contributor to future global sea level rise, is melting 10 times faster than the rest of the shelf, according to a new studypublished in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The melting, the scientists say, is being driven by warm, ice-free ocean surface waters heated by the sun. As E&E News reports, while the process sounds simple, it is one that hasn’t been well-documented or studied until now. Most research has focused instead on the influence of deep-sea currents on Antarctic melting, rather than surface water.

Image: https://scienceblog.com

Innovation drives productivity, and productivity is what drives jobs growth and the wealth that pays for our health, education, defence and social security systems. In short, innovation really matters. Governments, businesses and academics obsess over it. We need to know what works, what doesn’t and why - and that means turning to measurements and metrics. But can we really measure innovation today? Are we doing it right, or are our metrics more suited to Industry 2.0 and 3.0, rather than 4.0?

Starting a business is tough work. There are countless obstacles that stand in your way of fulfilling your entrepreneurial dream.

Your personality can’t be one of them.

No, I’m not telling you that you have to fit a certain mold to start a small business. However, there are some essential characteristics successful entrepreneurs possess.

As a mentor to many small business owners, I always caution them that you can never relax completely, just because your initial solution or product set appears to be getting traction, and the market buzz is positive. Unfortunately, your next stage of scaling the business is fraught with potential oversights that can lead to the downfall of even the best-laid business plans.