Taipei, Aug. 13 (CNA) Economics Minister Chang Chia-juch called Tuesday for the cultivation of more young entrepreneurs, saying that start-ups and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were the main drivers of job creation, inclusive growth, and innovation.

SMEs account for 60 percent of the workforce in the Asia-Pacific region, Chang said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Start-up Accelerator Leadership Summit that kicked off in Taipei on Tuesday.

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For telecoms and their tier 1 vendors, the pace of innovation is daunting. There is no longer an option of competing in the marketplace using only in-house technologies, or else “over the top” (OTT) companies and competitors will leave the slower players eating their dust. The solution, which has become increasingly obvious over the past half decade, is to partner with the fast movers in an effort to capture the benefit of the latest technologies without the costly and slower in-house R&D. But innovation capture is also difficult. Which companies should be brought in as partners? How small is too small? Is there an established, predictable process for evaluating smaller companies and coming to a yes/no decision in a reasonable time? The best-of-breed large companies have set up a “funnel” process, much like that used by VCs, to evaluate as many companies as possible, and to make good decisions fast with limited knowledge. This is the only way the telco or tier 1 vendor of 2013 stays on top.

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As a Venture Partner at XSeed Capital, sitting on the other side of the table from bright entrepreneurs with really intriguing ideas is a lot of fun for me. But, I’ve also been the one raising rounds for my startups. Here are some tips that have become a lot more obvious and important to me, now that I’ve seen hundreds of presentations:

First, put the details on the table As one of our executives-in-residence says, “Tell me in your first minute how much you’re raising, how much you have committed, and what you’re going to do with the money.” That may seem to an entrepreneur like a detail for later in the presentation, but you’re pitching people whose job it is to put their Limited Partners’ money to work. They see far more deals than they fund. They care about the details of this round a lot. This is a simple, quick way for you to put yourself ahead of most presenters while establishing empathy and respect with your audience.

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Last week I talked about five key reflections to consider as you build out a strategic framework and measurement strategy for your innovation ecosystem.  If you followed through on these suggestions, you reached a critical point:  You are not looking at the output of your organization and you are not looking at existing measures or conventions regarding measurement.  You are focused on organizational, cultural and structural issues and you are being intentional about finding new, useful innovation indicators. Essentially, you are in the T. S. Eliot place:  you’ve circled back around to where you started (no clear direction or ideas) —  but with the aid of strategic reflection, you now “know the place.”   What you know is:  You need to look at your organization through a different lens.  The choosing of this lens is a critical step in moving in the right direction.

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A recent study has suggested that sea levels could rise by up to 23 feet within 2,000 years if we don't drastically reduce emissions before 2100. Though effects aren't visible immediately, the greenhouse gas emissions of today doom us to increasingly more extreme levels of sea level rise with every passing decade.

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Research by Deloitte and National Venture Capital Assoc (NVCA) optimistic in IT sector, a declining confidence in capital markets. Global investor confidence has increased in the United State over the past year with international decline in China, Brazil, India and other emerging markets according to the 2013 confidence survey.  Domestic stocks have substantial gains but even so consumer confidence has declined due to a lack of faith in the government’s ability to pass and enact pro-venture capital policy.

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Venture capitalists world-wide are more confident about both the global and U.S. economies, but U.S. VCs had doubts about their home turf.

The Global Venture Capital Confidence Survey is a joint project by Deloitte & Touche LLP and the National Venture Capital Association. This year’s survey was conducted during May and June, receiving 403 responses from general partners in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The U.S. generated 35% of the responses.

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As businesses continue to embrace digital tools and technologies—especially when engaging with customers—C-level executives in a recent McKinsey survey1 say they are stepping up their own involvement in shaping and driving digital strategies. This is vital to the success of digital programs, as survey respondents most often cite a lack of senior-management interest as the reason for an initiative’s failure. Respondents also suggest that organizational alignment is critical to seeing real business impact from digital.

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On July 10th, the Securities and Exchange Commission released rules allowing entrepreneurs to publicly advertise their investment opportunities, finalizing a portion of the JOBS Act of 2012. These included a final rule lifting the ban on general solicitation and provided guidance on how issuing entrepreneurs could “reasonably” verify their investors are accredited; a final rule disqualifying “bad actors” from investing in private offerings; and a proposed rule requiring entrepreneurs to submit multiple reports and information for solicited offerings. The Angel Capital Association (ACA) has taken a strong stance on these rules, stating that these rules could greatly reduce entrepreneur access to angel investment, as they require investors to provide their private wealth or income information to issuers or third parties, and also may require entrepreneurs to submit considerable information to the SEC with harsh penalties for missing filing dates.

You can’t get through a semester of business school or a meeting with a loan counselor without learning the so-called unbreakable rules of business.  And, yet, some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs ignored accepted business conventions.

Bill Gates, for example, attributes some of his success to reading, thinking, researching and being quick to call a dumb idea dumb.  But he’s never written a playbook for business success.  And Donald Trump, a perennial member of Forbes’ list of billionaires, suggests that rules don’t matter when he says “Everything in life is luck.”

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An effort to build a first-of-its kind, drug-discovery company in Cleveland is coming together behind a confluence of cash and expertise.

BioMotiv, a biotech startup launched last year from University Hospitals, has already raised $46 million in operating capital--toward a goal of $100 million. Today it will announce a partnership with a California drug developer with global reach.

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The man behind Tesla and SpaceX has released the plans to his highly anticipated new mode of transportation that can take you from L.A. to San Francisco in under an hour. Will this change transportation, or should we call it a "don’t believe the hype-r loop?" 

Last year, entrepreneur Elon Musk described an idea that would sound like an elaborate joke coming from anyone else: a self-powered transportation system that moves twice as fast as an airplane, is completely immune to weather-related disturbances, and can’t crash. This system, which Musk calls the Hyperloop, could purportedly whisk passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just half an hour, mainly following the I-5 freeway that runs across the state.

How can I determine if I am a good leader, or perhaps even a great one? What are my strengths, and do any rise to the very highest levels? I know I have some weaknesses (as everyone does), but are any of them so appalling as to derail my career?

Many people have asked us those questions over the years. For a truly comprehensive answer, we always recommend a well-constructed 360 evaluation, in which your own views of your strengths and weaknesses are enriched by those of your boss, your direct reports, your colleagues, and other associates.

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Ideas don't grow on trees—especially the kind of ideas that lead to successful startups. So where do entrepreneurs turn for some good, old-fashion inspiration? Do they look for problems to solve, or run right into them and take the plunge?

To find out, we asked 12 successful entrepreneurs from YEC what inspired them to found their current companies.

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The seating capacity of the University of San Diego’s Church of the Immaculata is approximately 900, and it is telling that the memorial service held late Friday morning for Connect CEO Duane Roth was standing room only.

The Spanish style church on the USD campus is one of the biggest in San Diego. Somber guests stood in small groups within the 20 side chapels along the central nave. People also spilled out of the doorways. They lined the walls of the cross-shaped church, which is 200 feet long and 148 feet wide across the transcept. Former U.S. Senator Pete Wilson was there. So was Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs, Gateway founder Ted Waitt, UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, and hundreds of other CEOs, scientists, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who came to pay their respects.

Knowing the difference between Steve Jobs I and Steve Jobs II could affect your fortune.

If you are seeking venture capital, ask yourself whether you expect the funding to act as your crutch to help you move forward, to be the catalyst to transform lead into gold, or as the fuel to help your venture burn brighter and grow faster.

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This autumn will be rich of the startup roadshows! Not only Startup Lithuania is organizing a tour to investors in Tel Aviv, Berlin, London and Stockholm, but also our neighbors from Belarus are working on the similar project. Baltic bay area startup Roadshow is a study trip and Vilnius is ready to host startups on the 9th of November at the event “Silicon Valley comes to the Baltics”, which will be organized by Startup Lithuania for second year in a row. More information is coming soon.

The agency created to oversee New Orleans' biosciences district has failed to hold required hearings on its spending plan and had received only about 10 percent of its projected budget, a state audit reported Monday.

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"The lack of certain funding of the BioDistrict's operations raises substantial doubt to allow it to continue as a going concern," auditors for Postlethwaite & Netterville wrote in a report for the state Legislative Auditor's Office.

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My first gig after college was a year-long internship on the op-ed page of USA Today. My official job description involved fact-checking columns and getting quotes from famous people on whatever topic the late Al Neuharth wrote about in his column that week.

I had been uncertain about taking that job, versus trying to find one at a small daily newspaper where I could write frequently. But eventually I had a realization: Getting in the door counts for a lot. Once in, you may be able to change your job description. I asked to start writing headlines and began doing so. As I fact-checked columns, I saw what kinds of columns got accepted. I started submitting columns that looked like the accepted ones. By the time I left that internship a year later, my job had morphed into a gig regularly writing columns, and I was named a member of the paper’s Board of Contributors.

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