As a marketer executing a social media marketing strategy, LinkedIn should be one of your top priorities. And with the social network attracting over 100 million business professionals to its user base, you can't be wrong.

Last week, we published "The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Mastering LinkedIn," which serves as a helpful guide to some of the most hidden, under-utilized tricks for taking advantage of all LinkedIn has to offer. But if you still need convincing that LinkedIn is a social network where you should be spending some of your social media marketing time, the awesome statistics and data in the following 2011 infographics could serve as a wake-up call.

Kai-Fu Lee has a fairly unique perspective on the tech industry, having spent years in high roles at Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Lee spent six years as VP of Apple’s Interactive Media Group, before moving on to be chosen as the guy to forge first Microsoft’s and then Google’s inroads into China. Then, in mid-2009, Lee left Google (where the former professor and computer scientist had been involved with Google.cn and beyond for over four years) amidst the growing criticism in Western media of China’s Internet policy, specifically in regards to the Golden Shield, or the Great Firewall of China, as it is fondly known.

Where does the ideal startup founder come from? Whom is he or she connected to?

LinkedIn was curious, so the business social network decided to find out. It mined the data of its more than 115 million users to understand the background of entrepreneurs. The result is an infographic that dives into the educational and corporate characteristics of the typical startup founder.

It turns out, more people ages 30 to 39 start companies than those ages 20 to 29. Education is a strong indicator of your likelihood to start a company. Prestigious business schools such as Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Berkeley and Dartmouth top the list of most-entrepreneurial schools. Engineering, physics and computer science majors were the most likely to start a company, while nursing, administration and social work majors were the least likely.

While all of the details of the entire budget plan have NOT been approved by the Ohio Third Frontier Commission as detailed in this document, all of the entrepreneurship programs have been approved as of this meeting.

Important takeaways for JumpStart and the entrepreneurial ecosystem from this information can be found on pages 9-19 including:

• An increase of 2-3x the amount of resources available from the state – all of which require a 1:1 match from non-state resources
• $76M total for entrepreneurship support
  • $40M for entrepreneurial services, these resources are only available for the six regional ESP’s including JumpStart (over two years)
  • $36M in investment activities
    • $1M for micro funds ($5-25k loans)
    • $25M for pre-seed and seed funds, up to $3M per fund (up from $2M per fund and this is what JumpStart has typically accessed in the past)
    • $10M for growth funds ($5M investments in 2 funds that would have to be at least $20M in total capital to invest

This is all great news for entrepreneurs in Ohio

Download the PDF

Everyone is talking about the need to stimulate the depressed economy through job creation, but no one has developed a workable plan that can be implemented quickly. Innovation America, in co-operation with some bright industry and workforce development experts, respectfully submits a potential INNOVATIVE partnership that engages industry, academia and government.

The following white paper describes the "American Innovation Corps" a plan to create 200,000 to 400,000 jobs for unemployed or underemployed recent college graduates, America's next generation of knowledge workers.

It’s highly unlikely that they are legit. I’ve never heard the specific term “VC broker” before and generally don’t think much of people who represent to early stage companies that they “can raise money from VCs for you for a fee.”

There is definitely a category of consultants that prey on early stage companies. These are people who offer to “do something for you for a fee.” You should approach all of these conversations with skepticism if the person wants to charge you money for this.

When Wall Street folks mention the “IPO window” most people understand that to mean a period of time when public investors are receptive to buying shares in newly public companies. What many people don’t appreciate, however, is how abruptly that window can fly open or slam shut.

Rarely is there a question of whether the IPO window is open or closed.  But for the first time in a long time, I find myself asking that question.  The major US stock market indexes have plummeted — and then leapt back — only to fall again in the past two weeks.   A dozen IPOs have been delayed this month.  Yet last Thursday, a relatively small company named Carbonite successfully completed its IPO and finished up 29% for the day.  So, is the IPO window open or closed?

Innovation is the lifeblood of any organization, and value creation is measured by a company’s intellectual property portfolio. As a business leader, you are responsible for protecting your company’s IP portfolio through patents. What exactly is a patent? A patent is a legal document granted by the federal government that gives the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, and importing the claimed invention. Essentially, it is the property right to the inventor. Virtually anything made by man can be patented, such as “a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement,” according to Fleit Gibbons Gutman Bongini & Bianco PL.

Why patent, you ask? To make profit from your invention! In order to succeed in business, you must protect and manage your innovation. Remember – the wolves are always at the door, just waiting to pounce on your ideas. Patents are part of an offensive and defensive strategy. Intellectual property law keeps your competitors from copying, using, selling or importing your idea. Patents protect your trademark against counterfeiting and unauthorized use.

Job-seekers are often told that getting a job is all about networking, but at some point in the job search, almost everyone hears something like, “Well, send me your resume, and I’ll make sure it gets in front of the right person.”

Will you be prepared?

There has been tremendous agonizing over Steve Jobs resigning from Apple and speculation of about what will happen as the company loses the great leader who has shaped the Apple brand so dramatically for so many years. In contrast to Steve Jobs, great leaders can also turn into bad leaders. A leader you’d have followed anywhere because of their confidence, strong communication skills, and self-confidence CAN lose the handle on leadership…in a major way.

Having witnessed leaders undergo this unfortunate unraveling up close, it’s worth sharing twelve ways a great leader turns into a bad leader:

The fundamental good news: the financial health of our clients improved in fiscal 2011, despite the slowness of the economic recovery. Our Economic Recovery Loan helped 3,700 clients kick-start their success in the post-recession economy. We did a comprehensive review of Canada’s venture capital industry, and refined our approach. We now serve 29,000 entrepreneurs across Canada.

Many of us know that social media marketing is an important part of a solid inbound marketing strategy. However, sometimes we need some backup when speaking with others who might still be struggling to understand how social media fits into the overall marketing mix. This post is for them -- and you. Even if you are a veteran inbound marketer, these stats will get the gears in your head turning about the still limitless possibilities that the internet provides.

MedImmune President Peter Greenleaf will chair a new authority that will oversee investments state government makes in technology startup companies.

Greenleaf was one of nine members of the Maryland Venture Fund Authority sworn in Wednesday. The group was created in anticipation of about $18 million coming into the fund via the state’s developing InvestMaryland program.

Gov. Martin O’Malley signed InvestMaryland into law in May. The program auctions off tax breaks to insurance companies and provides that money to private venture capitalists and the state venture fund to invest in startups based in Maryland.

Another round of funding has arrived to the doorsteps of five United States Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy companies to the tune of $100 million from private sector financing, according to Vice President Joe Biden.

The financing covers five companies that received sums between $1.5 million and $6 million totaling $15.5 million from the Energy department under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 and 2010 to develop advancements in clean energy technologies namely, North Carolina-based Phononic Devices, California-based Primus Power and Transphorm, Colorado-based OPX Biotechnologies, and research center Stanford University.

It’s no secret: Times are tough and there’s economic uncertainty on the horizon. And when that happens, everyone – from consumers to businesses to lenders – tend to tighten the grip on their dollars. For small business owners looking to gain some traction in the market, these conditions can be disastrous. Still, it doesn’t have to be this way. Business owners can market their companies and spark some interest around it – but they’ll need to be willing to take some risks on out-of-the-box ideas.

This way of thinking takes me back to the early days of my company. When Geebo was born back in 2000, it was pretty much limited to the Sacramento region, a place that I called home at the time. I operated out of my bedroom in a home that I shared with a roommate (which was also a good money saver) and had to come up with ways to get listings on the site, get people to visit the site and maintain a balance that would help it grow. And I had to do it all with a very small budget.

From September 18 to 24, five promising French startups, laureates of the 2011 National competition NETVA (New-England Technology Venture Accelerator -www.netvafrance.com), will be in Boston to participate in a unique and customized coaching and business development program prepared by our office. The ultimate objective of NETVA is to connect these innovative companies with Boston based corporate and academia partners.

The NETVA program, initiated by the French Embassy Office for Science and Technology (OST), has been awarded “Best Research and Innovation program” at the 7th edition of the Economic Initiatives Competition, held in Paris on May 28th, 2010. NETVA ultimately aims at the development of innovative French startups in the U.S.

Today I attended one of those entrepreneurship meet-ups, TechAviv, the Israeli startup scene at its finest. Founders, VC’s and everything in between attended. I saw founders in different ages, ideas, pitching capabilities, experience, and technical and networking capabilities.

As three companies went on stage to present their kick-ass ideas I started wondering to myself if I could define the perfect founder. What characteristics would I say make a perfect entrepreneur?

Everyone is talking about the need to stimulate the depressed economy through job creation, but no one has developed a workable plan that can be implemented quickly. Innovation America, in co-operation with some bright industry and workforce development experts, respectfully submits a potential INNOVATIVE partnership that engages industry, academia and government.

The following white paper describes the "American Innovation Corps" a plan to create 200,000 to 400,000 jobs for unemployed or underemployed recent college graduates, America's next generation of knowledge workers.

Aviation and agriculture seem as distant as two professions can be. But they have something in common: technology so impressive that it can be hazardous if skills aren't maintained. I was moderately optimistic about the flying outlook two years ago. That might have been premature. ABC News reports on the aviation latest safety hazard, "automation addiction," the decline of emergency skills through overreliance on autopilot.

It's Wednesday, or Hump Day, as some call it. You're just about halfway through the workweek at this point. How about an extra little push? No, we're not talking about a second -- or third -- cup of coffee. What about some funnies?

Over the past few years, we've published 45 marketing cartoons. To be honest, it's actually one of our favorite types of content to publish. After all, cartoons are...well...fun! So to help you cut back on your caffeine intake today, give you a few little chuckles, and offer you some social media marketing knowledge along the way, here are our top 10 marketing cartoons.