How do you capture the present state of design in one single chart, with only 50 names? You don't. But, inspired by the effort of those 50, we gave it a shot in Fast Company's 2011 design issue.

In Fast Company's 2011 design issue, we focused on American design: What it means, where it stands, and where it's going. And so naturally, we thought it necessary to create a list of the country's most influential designers. We could have left it as a list, and that would be fine. It would have enraged a few people, enlightened a few more, and that's it. But instead, we wanted to gave readers a bit more insight into what "design" actually means today. Say it with me now: Infographics, to the rescue!

Looking to raise some money, but not sure where to go? Trying to make sense of the venture capital space? This chart from LUMA Partners should help. It lays out all the venture money investing in the digital industry.

Advanced energy as an economic development opportunity is a relatively new paradigm.  Until recently, the industry was focused on regulatory and environmental issues and was not thought of as a job creator.  Within the last 5 -7 years it has become a huge economic opportunity that regions, states and the nation as a whole are trying to capture. But, how do we make sure that we are harnessing the entire system of regional, state and federal efforts to create that economic impact?  By creating  an organization from the bottom up!  It may sound a little glib but the effort is turning into a great opportunity to collaborate nationally and accelerate competitiveness in advanced energy.

Today, NorTech and seven of Ohio’s energy focused business organizations announced that we have formed a new statewide partnership. This new organization, Advanced Energy Economy Ohio (AEE Ohio), will seek to drive the development of advanced energy to boost Ohio’s economy and competitiveness. The purpose of this collaboration is to increase our capacity statewide to accelerate the energy economy, to have good reliable data and to advocate for effective policies.  AEE Ohio is one of the first regional advanced energy organizations in the country that will feed into an emerging national coalition focused on growing America’s energy economy.

Are you an entrepreneur? Are you consumed with a great desire to create a company, create value or change the world? If so, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve created today’s roundup with you in mind. Read up on tips, resources and news important to you as we explore the journey into the world of entrepreneurship.

Basics

Is entrepreneurship all it’s cracked up to be? It all depends on how you approach it. To many people who decide to start their own business, disillusionment and disenchantment can easily and quickly set in. They find their new endeavor causes them more stress and less satisfaction than they expected. They work longer hours, make less money, and are more isolated than in their previous work. This article emphasizes why they do what they do, recognizing the sacrifices they must make. Huff Post Small Business

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Employees shouldn’t be surfing the Web when they’re in the office, right? It’s just common sense. Some recent studies are turning that bit of management wisdom on its head. Turns out that the most productive workers are the ones who get to read the news and make Amazon purchases from their desk.

Recently, PC World reported on a study out of the University of Singapore, which found that giving office workers the ability to Web surf at work allowed them to “restore resources that are drained as a result of work.”

WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, President Obama signed the America Invents Act, historic patent reform legislation that will help American entrepreneurs and businesses bring their inventions to market sooner, creating new businesses and new jobs. In addition, the President announced additional steps that will help convert the ideas from America’s universities and research labs into new products, expanding our economy and creating 21st century jobs.

“I am pleased to sign the America Invents Act.  This much-needed reform will speed up the patent process so that innovators and entrepreneurs can turn a new invention into a business as quickly as possible,” said President Obama. “I’m also announcing even more steps today that will help bring these inventions to market faster and create jobs. Here in America, our creativity has always set us apart, and in order to continue to grow our economy, we need to encourage that spirit wherever we find it.”

Amidst an increasingly connected world, globalization is the order of the day. The concept poses both great benefits and significant challenges to entrepreneurs. However, while the benefits are many (including more efficient communication and greater potential for collaboration), today’s digital age can put increased pressure on young businesses to expand globally — and to do so quickly.

There is something to allowing your business to grow organically and not to push expansion too rapidly. On the other hand, it’s important to consider the realities of today’s business environment. If you’re a startup entrepreneur, you risk facing a competitive disadvantage if you wait too long to expand your operations.

The first step in the process of expansion is identifying which markets are of the most strategic significance to your business. Once you’ve targeted a market, however, things can quickly become convoluted and overwhelming.

Scientists examined a mass of EU-funded research on the impacts of climate change on Europe's marine environment and identified the gaps and priorities for future work.

"Change has been clearly visible and is much more rapid than we thought was possible," said Carlo Heip, chair of the CLAMER project and lead author of the report.

Over the past 25 years, sea-water temperatures have increased as Arctic sea ice has melted. The combination of rising sea levels and increased winds has contributed to the erosion of 15% of European coasts, the report said.

As noted in a previous entry (‘Visualizing the globalization of higher education and research’), we’ve been keen to both develop and promote high quality visualizations associated with the globalization of higher education and research. On this note, the wonderful Floating Sheep collective recently informed me about some new graphics that will be published in:

Graham, M., Hale, S. A., and Stephens, M. (2011) Geographies of the World's Knowledge, London, Convoco! Edition.

While the rest of us were at leisure, it’s been a busy time in European biotech, with a string of new company formations, funding rounds and licensing deals announced over the past five to six weeks.

These have ranged from big ticket partnerships like that between the Austrian antibody engineering specialist F-Star and pharma company Merck Serono which boasted a headline value of €492 million, to small financings such as the €2.5 million follow-on round announced by Pharnext, a French start-up that is applying systems biology to find new uses for marketed drugs.

The F-Star deal, under which it will work to discover novel antibodies against inflammatory diseases targets supplied by Merck Serono, highlights how pharma’s R&D productivity problems and the ongoing restructuring of research operations continue to dominate partnering activity in the sector. Antibodies are now established as a valuable class of drugs and pharma companies are anxious to bolster their pipelines with novel formats that are emerging from research-based companies like F-Star.

Researchers, authors and funding bodies are challenging the traditional journal publishing model, with open access becoming the preferred route to publishing and accessing research results, according to a paper published today in the journal ecancermedicalscience.

The paper, “An Open Access future? Report from the eurocancercoms project” analyses the results of a survey carried out as part of the Framework Programme 7-funded Eurocancercoms project, looking at researchers’ attitudes towards open access publishing. Open access business models to challenge the traditional subscription models are also examined.

The survey, by the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR), found that 59 per cent of researchers say their work is often hindered by a lack of free access to research findings.

Change is about the only thing constant in the world of startups. Despite their own focus on changing the world, they often forget that they too have to change rapidly and often as the market evolves. Too many find that out too late, and are left chasing a rabbit that is long gone.

The solution is to establish and maintain a culture and processes that don’t view change as a discrete event to be spotted and managed, but as an ongoing opportunity to improve competitiveness. Chris Musselwhite and Tammie Plouffe, in an HBR article last year on change readiness for large companies, define it as “the ability to continuously initiate and respond to change in ways that create advantage, minimize risk, and sustain performance.”

I read a blog post (via Hacker News) this morning that suggested three slides is enough.

I've written that six slides is what got it done for us.

And the best presenations I've seen lately used no slides, but started with a live demo of a working web app and went from there.

(Reuters) - Last winter, President Barack Obama, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and a small posse of White House officials made a big show as they swept through Northeast Ohio to kick off their Startup America initiative that promised to help seed new ventures and create jobs. Eight months later, Ray Leach is still waiting.

"Everything is moving too slowly," said Leach, chief executive of Cleveland-based JumpStart, a regional accelerator focused on business development. "We need to make progress."

Many retiree’s today are not happy with that status. They may be of age, but they are not ready to stop. That is why so many people are escaping retirement and starting a business.

Mature entrepreneurs differ from their younger counterparts in several critical ways. For one, they are usually in a much better financial position than younger entrepreneurs. Their bigger financial cushion—retirement packages, nest eggs, or home ownership—affords them flexibility in the initial stages of a start-up, where funding is often critical. Because they can often rely on other sources for current income, they are in a better position to take entrepreneurial risks.

Washington Post:

Most prospective college students submit several applications. Allen Gannett fired off just one, to George Washington University, then threw up his hands and crossed his fingers.

Looking back, what frustrated me was there were so many schools I could have gotten into … but I was so overwhelmed,” said Gannett, now a senior at GW. “That’s solely based on the fact that information gathering is so hard for college search.”

Q: Apple recently surpassed Google as the most valuable brand in the world. How do you think the rivalry will play out in the future?

It's an exciting time to be in the technology space. I believe that the technological revolution we're in the midst of now will be remembered as one of the greatest in the history of mankind, if you consider both the pace of innovation and the effect it's having on people's lives. But in terms of our competitors, as I've always said -- I'm more worried about the two guys in the garage coming up with the next Google than our big competitors today! In the meantime, we'll stay focused on our users and fostering the kind of innovation that can change the world.

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For a while, I was optimistic that 2011 would be a good year for venture capital-backed IPOs, and it wasn’t just wishful thinking. There were 72 VC-backed IPOs last year—six times as many as in 2009. The year ended with a bang and 2011 got off to a good start. In the first half of 2011, there were 36 IPOs, right on target for at least a replay of 2010.

Lately, however, I have parked my optimism at the side of the road.

Our high jobless rate has not budged, housing remains in the tank, and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe now threatens the United States. In addition, the U.S. government’s debt load grows more out of control every day. And, of course, we have stalemate over fiscal policy in Washington.