Here we highlight selected innovation related articles from around the world on a daily basis. These articles related to innovation and funding for innovative companies, and best practices for innovation based economic development.
Toronto-based Omers Ventures announced this week that it is bringing on an entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) in former CEO of Intel-acquired CognoVision, Haroon Mirza.
The newest EIR addition to a Canadian venture capital (VC) firm is one in a slew in the past few years. Investment firms are increasingly looking to bring on experienced, successful entrepreneurs to examine deal-flow. The EIR can use the position as a springboard to their next challenge, thus it’s a win-win for both sides.
Growth equity, a somewhat murky investment category residing between venture capital and buyouts, has matured to the point where it deserves to be considered an asset class, says investment adviser Cambridge Associates.
The firm said Wednesday that it will start issuing quarterly benchmark returns for the new class along with those for U.S. venture capital and private equity.
I recall sitting bored in my grade school science class decades ago, and wondering… Instead of giving us so many lectures, wouldn’t it be better to teach us how to build something cool instead? I felt that, by making real objects, we could learn in ways that were more memorable, interesting, and tangible.
It turns out I wasn’t alone. What educators call project-based learning has become a major movement. And now, one elementary school in Silicon Valley is taking this idea to an even higher level.
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As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in his short story "The Rich Boy" in 1926: "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are very different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand." Most of Fitzgerald's works revolved around the "rich" vs. the "poor." Specifically, he was intrigued by what we would now call "wealth inheritors" vs. others which are known as "wealth creators."
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People trying to lose weight may not always be able to tell whether a new diet or exercise regime is having the hoped-for fat-burning effects. Researchers at Japan’s NTT Docomo, the country’s largest mobile-phone provider, may have a solution—a smartphone-connected device that measures acetone in the breath as a sign of fat-burning.
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To create a computer as powerful as the human brain, perhaps we first need to build one that works more like a brain. Today, at the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks in Dallas, IBM researchers will unveil a radically new computer architecture designed to bring that goal within reach. Using simulations of enormous complexity, they show that the architecture, named TrueNorth, could lead to a new generation of machines that function more like biological brains.
The announcement builds on IBM’s ongoing projects in cognitive computing. In 2011, the research team released computer chips that use a network of “neurosynaptic cores” to manage information in a way that resembles the functioning of neurons in a brain (see “IBM’s New Chips Compute More Like We Do”). With TrueNorth, the researchers demonstrate a way to use those chips for specific tasks, and they show that the approach could be used to build, among other things, a more efficient biologically inspired visual sensor.
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Be it Ben Franklin or Steve Jobs, everyone is intrigued by the entrepreneur. Not all entrepreneurs are wildly successful. Most, in fact, will never attain the fame and fortune of a Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. The vast majority will not actually change the course of history like Edison or Einstein. But whether outstanding or obscure; whether basking in the limelight or just a barely visible nightlight, all entrepreneurs seem to have several traits in common. I don’t know if some people are just born this way. I do know that many a man or woman have some of these qualities. But when all or most of them are exhibited in the same person, you can almost always be sure you’ve found a true E.N.T.R.E.P.R.E.N.E.U.R.
Here’s a story: A sharp young man graduates from college, works in the financial services industry, quits to build his own company, then buys the Washington Post.
Jeff Bezos? No,Eugene Meyer.
The Amazon.com CEO may seem to some like an unlikely owner of the Washington Post given his lack of journalistic chops. But for all the hand wringing about this momentous and uncertain changing of the guard, his path isn’t all that different from that of the person who bought the Post 80 years ago.
The 2013 University Economic Development Association (UEDA) Awards of Excellence finalists have been chosen and the competition this year is at an all time high. Each year various UEDA member universities around the country submit nominations for their innovative programs involving economic prosperity. The UEDA awards are designed to help accelerate their programs by recognizing cutting edge initiatives and promoting their adoption by other UEDA universities. Program categories include: Community Connected Campuses, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Collaboration, Research and Analysis, Talent Development. Normally the committee chooses three finalists in each category to present their programs for consideration at the Annual Summit; this year there are four nominees in each category. The finalists in each category are as follows:
It might stem from the dot-com crash, the increased popularity of certifications and onsite employer training, or various other reasons. Regardless, the key finding from EMSI and CareerBuilder’s analysis of higher education degree output over the last decade is still eye-opening: Computer and IT degrees completed in the U.S. have declined 11% since 2003.
The decrease in computer-related degrees comes at a time when the number of related computer and IT jobs grew 13% nationally, and while the number of degrees in other major fields — health, business, liberal arts and humanities, and engineering — has soared.
Young, spirited, and dynamic – these are the common traits of any young executive today. However, despite the plethora of energy-inspiring things that young executives face and experience on a daily basis, profession burnout keeps on lurking at every corner and angle. The mantra of many young executives is “make your passion your profession” in an aim to beat burnout from the get-go. However, even the most passionate business executive can still suffer from burnout from time to time.
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It‘s not just the volume of IPOs that is making this summer a victory for hibernating private biotechs and their VC backers; it is the details of the offerings in terms of price, performance, and type of biotech making the leap onto the public stage. In the past five years, we have not seen average offering prices land above expectations, but 2013 is breaking this trend. Price performance is also impressive, with a number of IPOs hovering near 2x the offering price. Rounding out these two positives for valuation is the return of the formerly taboo Phase I and Pre-Clinical IPOs � a qualitative signal of strength.
PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association are the leaders in surveying venture capital investment deals and statistics. And the State Science & Technology Institute is the best at putting the numbers in perspective.
Below is part of the analysis from a strong second quarter of this year. Also, SSTI has a spreadsheet that breaks down investments by quarter over the past six years.
Proof of Concept grants are intended to enhance the commercial viability of health-related technologies or concepts developed by non-profit organizations or enhance the competitiveness of early-stage companies for private equity investment. The maximum award is $250,000 in total costs.
Submission and review process:
We are very good at following and perhaps even spotting trends in their infancy. We are seeing massive global cultural shifts happening and the web has made them accessible to all.
In researching and creating the 2013 program for Foresight & Trends (#FT13), we narrowed it down to these five trends that will affect everything from Innovation & R&D, to Market Research & Insights, Futuring & Forecasting, Brand Strategy & Design to overall Marketing & Strategy.
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It’s only the beginning of August, but it already feels like summer is ending in New York City. That’s certainly true for DreamIt Ventures, which is capping off the season with a demo day for its summer class of NYC startups.
15 startups entered the three-month program in the middle of May, covering things like energy optimization in buildings, mobile game creation without any code, and technology that lets any physical object interact with touchscreens. In addition to the usual accelerator perks of office space and business advice, all of the companies also received $25,000.
In a short and readable paper published through the Council on Foreign Relations’s “Renewing America” project, Thomas Hilliard makes some sensible recommendations about better training Americans for the “middle skill” jobs that the current trajectory of American industry is placing front and center, in both the manufacturing and service sectors.
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If you’re planning to buy new smartphones for your business this summer, better hang on. Motorola is expected to introduce four new phones soon including its new “flagship,” the Motorola Moto X, and three Droid phones specifically for Verizon Wireless. All four phones represent a significant milestone. They are the first phones to be introduced by the mobile pioneer since it was acquired by Google last year.
No shortage of "client alerts" from law firms, famous and obscure, summarizing the massive changes coming to the federal exempt offering rules.
These rules have incredibly broad application. If you work in East Coast finance, you're likely to say they have to do with private equity and advertising hedge funds to retail clients. If you work in the tech sector on the West Coast, you are more likely to fuss over the Impact of the new rules on startup and emerging growth company financing.
Working far from your hometown, doing long-distance business trips and travelling the world are not exceptional in the business life any more. The global virtual team and/or virtual management is now part and parcel of almost every growing business. Sometimes it is necessary to have outsourced staff. Or, the manager has to travel frequently. But being on the move or far away should not be a barrier to keeping a great team together any more.
