Realize the innovation potential of your people

In an organization innovation needs supporters. Who might they be?

Is it your Board of Directors? Is your Board a group of people open to change, who recognize the importance balancing the future and the present and who will support risk-taking with open eyes? Or is it a bunch of old fogies (or young fogies) intent on squeezing maximum profit now and ready to blame you for everything when you do not deliver next quarter?

I remember attending some sort of sales seminar where we had to craft an elevator pitch. You know, a short summary of who you are, what you do and why it’s the best thing since sliced bread.

I know a lot of people worked really hard on distilling something great from pages and pages of material. But I’ve always been choosier about my words anyway. So it came fairly easily to me.

Small business owners received some good news this week as it was reported that lending to them has increased for the first time in 10 quarters.

According to a report at Inc.com, the U.S. Small Business Administration released its quarterly report this week showing the loans to small businesses have increased for the first time in more than two years, a potential sign that some companies are coming out of the economic recession.

Overall, lending to small businesses increased by four-tenths (0.4) of a percent, from $584.1 billion in September last year to $586 billion by the end of 2012. Less restrictive standards for commercial and industrial (C&I) loans led to the increase in lending to small businesses. Commercial real estate (CRE) lending continued to lag, according to data from the Small Business Administration report. Demand for both loans continues to be high, a sign that businesses are recovering from previous economic downturns.

Small business may be the most popular institution in America. According to a 2012 poll conducted on behalf of the Public Affairs Council, 88 percent of Americans view small business favorably. In fact, 68 percent of us would rather pay more to do business with a small business than a big one. Could America's love of small business help broker a deal between Republicans and Democrats in Congress?

Related: 10 Questions to Ask Before Quitting Your Job to Start a Business

Few institutions can compete with small business in the eyes of Americans. A 2010 Pew Foundation survey found that Americans view small business more positively than they perceive churches and universities.

Together with Silicon Valley Bank, I just held an interesting session with a group of senior people from corporate venture units and R&D teams from multinational companies with labs in Silicon Valley.

I shared my thoughts and perspectives through this presentation and we also got into some good discussions. In this blog post, I would like to highlight some of the insights and lessons I took away from the session.

You need to work in parallel tracks:

It is always a big question to which extent a company should open up their innovation efforts. This is a question of resources available (prioritization) as well as making some strategic choices.

Who is the world's most innovative company? The editors of Fast Company say Nike. Last year, number crunchers at Forbes found that Salesforce.com is the company with the highest "Innovation Premium" baked into its stock price. MIT Technology Review didn't pick a winner, but on its recent list of top 50 "disruptors," the magazine mixed stalwarts such as General Electric and IBM with up-and-comers, Square and Coursera.

The difference of opinion isn't a new thing — in fact, if you look back a few years at similar lists you'll see less than 50% overlap. Why? Perhaps a company's ability to innovate doesn't last long. Or perhaps it is difficult to really tell how well a company's innovation engine is functioning — so magazine editors are susceptible to the latest hot product or service.

A new law being proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives will stabilize the amount small businesses can deduct for machinery, equipment, vehicles, furniture, off the shelf software and other qualifying property.

An official IRS release on the proposed law explains:

The section 179 deduction enables small businesses to deduct up to $250,000 of the cost of machinery, equipment, vehicles, furniture, and other qualifying property placed in service during 2009 ($285,000 for qualifying enterprise zone property and qualifying renewal community property).

- Multiple SBIR/STTR Submission Deadlines Quickly Approaching -

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, March 25, 2013 – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland, announced today the launch of its Commercial Relevance Program (CRP). BHI’s CRP is designed to help life science companies navigate the complicated process of preparing applications for federal funding, inclusive of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), and other federal government awards.

“The federal grant application process can be very complex. Based on 2012 data released by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Maryland ranks 32nd out of 50 states with regard to SBIR award success rates. We would like to improve on this – and are confident that the CRP will help companies be more successful with their submissions,” said Ethan Byler, Director, Innovation Programs, BioHealth Innovation, Inc.

By 2018, mobile operators will take more revenue globally from pure data than from their traditional voice services as the world moves towards hyper-connected cities, industry analysts predict. But technological standards remain scarce, EurActiv reports from the the GSMA conference in Barcelona.

A new industry report, published yesterday (25 February) at the Global Mobile Congress in Barcelona, predicts that mobile services will revolutionise people’s lives over the next five years.

The mobile data explosion is being driven by a surge in demand for connected devices and machine-to-machine communications in health, education, energy metering, and carbon emissions, according to the report by GSMA, the global mobile operators association, and developed in collaboration with consultants PwC.

Warren Buffett was once the richest man on the planet. He’d still probably hold, or at least be close to, that spot if he hadn’t started giving away large portions of his wealth. The multi-billionaire is deservedly looked to as something of a guru by many when it comes to investment and, perhaps even more deservedly, as voice of reason when it comes to the global finance sector. The way Buffett lives his life and runs his business interests also contain a number of important lessons that can be applied to every startup. Ventureburn has identified 13 of the most significant lessons from the magnate, investor, and philanthropist and how you can apply them to your startup.

The Cloud is without a doubt the trending buzzword of this decade. While it will be an ongoing drive to teach and learn more about the potential that cloud technologies have in store for us, they have already started to integrate into almost every facet of our digital lives. To date, business has been the key driving force behind the incredible growth we have seen with cloud services. But as companies explore new avenues to monetise or perhaps revolutionise cloud services, we are seeing some innovative uses for The Cloud emerge in the consumer market. We are also seeing incredible growth in the number of social media interactions between consumers, businesses and indeed the interaction between companies and consumers.

Each Thursday at 12pm EST (US) there is a Twitter chat using the hashtag #innochat.  Recently the admirable duo of Sarah Caldicott and Drew Marshall led us through a discussion entitled “Innovation stalls without Collaboration”.  You can find the framing post and tweet output here.  We didn’t address the topic of Open Innovation per se but it set me thinking.

Open Innovation seeks to expand innovation potential by accessing ideas, technology, products or routes to market from outside a company’s borders.  There are many ways to do this, from technology scouting through competitions to crowdsourcing.  Much has been written about the different options available to companies, which includes competencies, but it seems that there is relatively little about the mindset and approach.

When you’re first getting your startup off the ground, finding and reeling in awesome team members can be one of your biggest challenges. Once you’ve found the right employees, how do you convince them to drop what they’re doing and join your company?

There are a few key factors that matter most to early stage startup employees, and these are often the reasons that employees join startups in the first place. So, if you can show your top candidates how you can offer them those things, you’ll have a much better chance of people coming on board.

Before I get on my soapbox and begin waving the women-can-do-all-things flag I would like take a breath and point you all to some well thought-out advice. I was hopping around the web as one does on a Friday morning and I picked up this piece by Kathy Leake, Co-founder and President of LocalResponse, on AllThingsD. Based in New York’s emerging startup scene in trendy Chelsea, LocalResponse claims to be the first platform to help marketers respond to social intent, defined as a social media moment: a tweet, a status update on Facebook, a photo on Instagram and a check-in to Foursquare.

Many professionals in business, from startups to multi-nationals, assume that team leader or executive is an appointed position, and the skills come with the title. In reality, leadership is best demonstrated while not in a position of authority, and is a skill that must be sharpened every day of your life.

Most experts agree that leadership, as perceived by people around you, is more about behavior than it is about specific skills or knowledge. Darryl Rosen, in “Table for Three?” illustrates this with humor for each of fifty dumb mistakes that smart managers don’t make. The leadership one is setting a poor example by your own actions (“Do as I say, not as I do.”)

This week I have a perfect story about leading, not with your resume, but with YOU.

I have a client who submitted a resume for consideration for a job that looks perfect for her.

Rejected from contention

When she sent her resume to the HR person for a job she was interested in, she was immediately dismissed out of hand.

It turns out one technical requirement was missing from her credentials. The HR person believed this to be essential and eliminated the candidate.

Think about how many seconds you ride in an elevator at any one time. Your trip might take 10 seconds, it might take as long as 30. It definitely won’t last longer than a minute. So what is an “elevator pitch” and what are some examples?

Imagine that the CEO of the company you dream about working for steps into an elevator with you. Here’s your chance to get your foot in the door and make a great first impression! Will you be able to rise to the occasion or will you get so flustered and tongue-tied that you choke?

Innovation is the name of the game in government today, as leaders are tasked with fueling government efficiency and interagency collaboration, and delivering impactful citizen services through various technologies.

With some of the world’s most well-known technology corporations and scores of start-up businesses — and cities and surrounding areas that are tasked with supporting a culture that is constantly changing — California’s Silicon Valley is considered by many as the heart of innovation.

HIGHLIGHTS: $60 million allotted to fund incubators; NRC to “transform” and launch commercialization program for entrepreneurs; SR&ED consultancy fees examined

Innovative entrepreneurs were given a leg up in the federal budget tabled Thursday, with increased opportunities to access funding and services aimed to bolster their success.

Sequoia Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of software development solutions to the U.S. Intelligence Community, is teaming up with Washington DC area private equity and venture capital firms to launch an accelerator focusing on new cyber security and analytic startups. Based in Reston, VA, Sequoia Apps, LLC will concentrate on helping local entrepreneurs create and launch successful startups and connect them to DC area venture capital, private equity and angel investors for additional funding opportunities.

In addition to seed funding, mentoring and coaching, Sequoia Apps is designed to help capitalize on the successful past performance and unique skill sets of all IC focused developers and engineers and help build viable and disruptive commercial applications. “Sequoia Apps is a great example of how companies can leverage the successful past performance of their employees and connect them to the intellectual and financial scene of the DC startup community,” said T. Richard Stroupe, Jr. Sequoia Holdings co-founder. “For years, our development staff has designed and built world class applications for various IC customers, and now we would like to create a new disruptive platform to invest in those engineers in order to help them achieve similar success in emerging markets”.