If many of us are regularly imparted advice to build a solid network and cultivate our relationships, it’s because there is a lot to gain in doing so. In fact, a good deal of research shows that people benefit from being in contact with a larger, diverse crowd, as it creates greater access to novel information, better job opportunities and higher salaries. Indeed, the footprint of individuals’ social networks reveals a lot about their current professional and personal situation. If you nurture your network, the network will nurture you back.

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Who has the time for batteries these days?

Ann Makosinski, a 15-year-old high school student from Victoria, British Columbia, designed a flashlight that's powered entirely by body heat — specifically, heat produced from the palms of your hands.

The device, which she calls "hollow flashlight," uses Peltier tiles to transform hand warmth into usable — and battery-free — energy. A typical light beam can last up to 20 minutes once it's produced.

This is not the right kind of 1-percenter.

Less than 1 percent of venture-backed startups feature a Latino founder or co-founder, according to the San Jose Mercury News. That's why Google is backing an effort to help "Latinos break into tech startups."

The example of Edward Avila is "sobering": as the tech veteran was promoting his startup a few years ago, he noticed "I was the only Latino in the room," the newspaper reported.

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THE TRANSCENDENT LAB IS A NEW INCUBATOR, AFFILIATED WITH THE VA, DEDICATED TO "ENGENDERING EXPONENTIAL BENEFITS FOR HUMANITY" THROUGH BETTER HEALTH CARE, EDUCATIONAL, AND LINGUISTICS TECH. THEIR FIRST PLAN? MAKE YOUR HOSPITAL STAY BETTER. 

A new tech incubator launched this week with a mission: funding and developing tech for people who need it the most. The Transcendent Lab is a startup incubator devoted to, as they put it, “engendering exponential benefits for humanity.” Right now, the incubator--which offers funding and assistance--is seeking entrepreneurs working in the health care, education, and social service spheres.

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Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, Inc. and BioHealth Innovation, Inc. of Montgomery County have been awarded a combined $520,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Commerce's (DOC) Economic Development Administration (EDA). The federal funding will be used to establish the Healthcare Regional Innovation Cluster (H-RIC) initiative which will combine the strengths of Maryland's cutting-edge health research institutions and unique federal assets to speed the development of new treatments and cures, supporting Maryland jobs and keeping families healthy.  

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We take breaks at work whether we’re aware of them or not.

Here’s an unconsciously chosen break: clicking away from a report you’re supposed to be writing to read headlines that haven’t changed much since you checked them 15 minutes before. Unfortunately, the headlines just make you tense, and thanks to the interruptions, writing the report takes twice as long as it should.

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The Park Geun-hye government is embarking on an national agenda to not only integrate Korea’s economy more deeply in the global innovation ecosystem, but to be one of its leaders too—to increase the prosperity and well-being of not only Korean citizens, but residents of the world.  Park challenged global leaders to use creativity, technology and innovation as the growth engines for the creation of new and unheard industries for the 21st century.  This is a theme espoused by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil, the visionaries behind Singularity University—which inspires and trains global leaders to leverage exponential technologies to impact a billion people—& solve global challenges.

From the 1950s roughly through the 1980s, major corporate labs like Xerox PARC and Bell Labs, and government research centers like DARPA, were nearly synonymous with “American innovation.” Then in the 1990s, the primary locus of innovation shifted to VC-backed startups, university incubators, and accelerator programs.

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Basic chemistry teaches that dissolving carbon dioxide in seawater will increase acidity. With atmospheric CO2 levels rising—touching 400 parts per million for the first time in millennia this past May—it is therefore a safe bet that the world's oceans are becoming more acidic. But just how much more? And how much do those levels change from place to place—at the coast or out in open waters, or at the surface versus in the depths?

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The greatest lessons you'll ever learn will most likely be from your own experience. But entrepreneurs can also learn a lot from the advice and experiences of others, as long as we allow ourselves to be teachable.

Perhaps you were in grade school the last time you heard this but it's as true today as it was back then: one of the best ways to gain information, inspiration and education is by reading books. As an entrepreneur, I've read a number that I've found invaluable to my professional success.

For an unprecedented 17th consecutive time, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Babson College's undergraduate school #1 in Entrepreneurship. 

Babson continues to set the standard for entrepreneurship education, followed by a strong group of institutions, including University of Southern California, MIT, Indiana University and University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, U.S. News ranks Babson No. 34 among the top undergraduate business programs in the country. Babson's presence in the Top 40 of a list dominated almost entirely by large, national universities is further evidence of the College's leadership position in business education. 

Much has been written about the impending Series A crunch for angel-backed companies. Some say up to 1,000 companies (with up to $1 billion dollars in angel investment) won’t be able to get their next round of financing and will either cease to exist or become acquired.

While no one knows how many companies will be affected, this is a real phenomenon and many companies will face it. Why? The democratization of raising angel capital via platforms like Kickstarter and others, combined with the relatively low dollar amounts needed to start a business, has led to an abundance of angel-backed companies.

Underwriters are not parties to the registration rights agreement, but counsel who have been through the mill understand what the underwriters want and, indeed, demand. Piggyback (and sometimes demand) provisions, accordingly, routinely provide that the underwriters can cut down–"haircut"–the amount of stock included by secondary sellers. Moreover, demand rights are not exercisable for some period (usually three to six months) before a planned primary offering or for, say, a year thereafter in order to avoid multiple offerings at the same point in time; this is often called the "stand-aside" or "stand-off' provision. Finally, at the request of the underwriters, all investors who are party to the registration rights agreement, or at least all significant investors, may be asked to agree to "lock up," that is, not to sell shares under Rule 144, for a period from three to six months after a primary registration becomes public.

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Ask every startup founder how much time and money they spend on public relations, and the usual answer is “Nothing.” With a limited amount of both resources, entrepreneurs worry about building product and doing sales rather than getting buzz. However, a review of Marissa Mayer’s time at Yahoo! thus far should reveal that not only is PR important, it is vital for early-stage companies to survive.

There is some activity going on that could have major impact (mostly negative) on the small businesses that participate in the SBIR and STTR programs. A new commercialization benchmark could put you in an SBIR Black Book (perhaps better described as an SBIR Penalty Box). We'll explain.

There is also fallout for SBIR and STTR programs due to the condition of our country's budget, or lack thereof, and our elected officials being more interested in letting things crash, than trying to fix the situation.

To listen to many economists, pundits and policymak- ers discuss the economics of growth it would be easy to be confused by the commonly used terms: com- petitiveness, innovation and productivity. These terms are often used almost interchangeably and with little precise meaning. To remedy the situation, this policy memo defines these terms and explains how each is important in driving economic prosperity.

On Aug. 13, three members of the Wisconsin legislature held a news conference to announce that they planned to introduce new legislation that would permit equity crowdfunding in Wisconsin.

Recently, this eagerly awaited legislation was introduced in the Wisconsin Assembly. If the proposed bill, known as the CASE (Crowdfunding and Securities Exemptions) for Jobs Act (AB350) (the "Act" or the "CASE for Jobs Act") is passed, Wisconsin would join only two other states - Georgia and Kansas - that have amended their state securities laws to permit equity crowdfunding.

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Information technology has become a pivotal tool for government agencies trying to improve services, even as budgets slide steadily backward. Continuous advances in technology, from mobile applications to cloud computing, are helping federal, state and municipal government agencies develop new approaches to delivering better services to the public -- and more efficient tools to government employees. Each year, InformationWeek Government sets out to identify the best examples of how agencies are applying IT in creative ways. After reviewing dozens of submissions, we selected 10 standout examples of IT innovation in government as InformationWeek's 2013 Government Innovators.

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WHEN WHARTON BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR RICHARD SHELL WAS FACED WITH A LIFE-THREATENING ILLNESS, HE WAS FORCED TO THINK ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE. WHAT WAS SUCCESS TO HIM? SINCE THEN, SHELL HAS DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO HELPING FOLKS FIND TRUE MEANING IN THEIR OWN LIVES AND WORK. 

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.

~ Henry David Thoreau

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I frequently find myself thinking about whether I am an artist or an entrepreneur.

I am simply trying my best to create my own unique path.

It is safe to say that more and more entrepreneurs are artists, and artists of all kinds are entrepreneurs. And the trend is only on the rise as all things (art, science, technology, business, culture, spirituality) are increasingly converging.

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