The most active venture capital firm of 2009-2010 is New Enterprise Associates.

Last week, we initiated our series on the Top 30 VC firms presenting to you top venture capital firms ranked #11 to 30.   As a reminder, the 30 firms in aggregate participated in 663 unique deals (24.4% of all deals), which yielded $8.67 billion in aggregate investment (37% of all investment) from July 2009 through June 2010.

Now, we turn our attention to the Top 10 most active venture capital firms from Q3 ‘09 to Q2 ‘10.  These 10 firms led the pack with at least 28 deals each. Taking the crown in this period was New Enterprise Associates, with an impressive 59 deals.  Here’s the list:

We will be looking into where the top 30 are making their investments by sector in subsequent posts with a specific focus on the top VCs’ activity in the healthcare, internet, and greentech/cleantech sectors.

Last week, we caught Christopher Walken, the Oscar winning actor, hosting an NYC talk radio show for a day. This week, we have him ”covering” Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” in a funny short minute. The Walken reading originally aired last year on the BBC’s Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. The clip comes to us via Jason Kottke.

On Friday the White House announced four recess appointees to key positions in the Obama regime, the official press release missed a few important details. Maria del Carmen Aponte was appointed Ambassador to El Salvador in spite of her past romantic involvement with a Cuban spy and Richard Sorian was tapped to become the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at Health and Human Services in another coup for the NGLCC and their Presidential Appointments Project which helps recruit LGBT candidates for the Obama regime.

It takes a filming speed of 200-to-500 frames per second to capture the fast-moving world of the hummingbird at a level where we can really see what's going on. So what are hummingbirds up to? Videographers for a Nature documentary caught hummingbirds foraging for insects, bonking each other on the head in order to get access to a tasty flower, and living happily in high mountains where they hop along the ground to feed off plants growing close to the soil.

Filmmaker Ann Prum explains the nifty technical nitty gritty behind making a movie about hummingbirds and how new ways of observing the birds are teaching us new things about their lives.

"An appetite-control agent that requires no prescription, has no common side effects, and costs almost nothing? Scientists today reported results of a new clinical trial confirming that just two 8-ounce glasses of the stuff, taken before meals, enables people to shed pounds. The weight-loss elixir, they told the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), is ordinary water."

The rumors spin ever faster about Apple's iTV device--it'll apparently change everything, including how we communicate with remote family members, and now there's some evidence that Apple is prepping its in-store employees for "something big."

iTV Will Change Everything

Digg's Kevin Rose stirred up lots of irumors with his latest proclamation about the refreshed Apple TV. Rose's leaks are not fabulously reliable, but he has a source, or possibly several, inside Apple--so it's worth paying some attention to what he says. And this time he's saying we should "expect to see the iTV launch in September."

This is a continuing series of articles on how to write a Business Plan or Information Memorandum to raise capital, Part 10 discusses the business plan content specifically ‘Financial Information’.

Financial Information

This section is important as it represents the ‘gelling together’ of the business plan in the form of financial projections. It should include:-

1. Details of any previous financial record explaining briefly, historic trends and hiccups if any. If available, the past 5 years’ results should be summarized and the audited accounts together with latest management figures included in the appendices.

2. A summary of projected results for the next 3 to 5 years concentrating on the principal features of the projections, trends, rising and falling margins, fluctuations, commitment to R&D, major capital expenditure and key assumptions. Detailed projections together with the assumptions on which they are based should be provided in the appendices and should include:-

(a) Profit and loss accounts by month for at least 12 months, preferably 3 years, annually thereafter. The breakeven point should be clearly identified.

(b) Cash flow projections, monthly and yearly as above

(c) Balance sheets, monthly and yearly as above

By far the biggest drag on tech workers is the number of hours worked - ComputerWorld puts the average workweek at 71 hours for IT staff. IT staff are often expected to work late into the night to fix problems, and still show up at 8:00 AM the next morning. Also, tech workers are frequently contacted at home and on vacation. At my first IT job after college, my boss told me "Forty hours a week is part-time."

ComputerWorld article asked why women leave careers in IT. The real question should be why anyone actually stays in the profession under these conditions.

Cutting hours for IT staff may sound like an impossible task, but it may actually lead to more productivity in addition to better morale. As the 37 Signals Book Rework points out: "Working more doesn't mean you care more or get
more done." According to a recent survey by Microsoft, the average worker is only productive for about 30 hours of their 46 hour work week.

Today is the first day of classes for me here at Belmont University. I love the rhythm of the academic calendar. The start of a new academic year offers a sense of renewal. But, there is something special about this one.

As those of you who are regulars readers know, 2010 has not been the best of years for me personally. Early in the year, my wife and I lost our oldest dog Keb, who died much too young at the age of eight. Soon came the loss of my father to a stroke, which happened at the same time as our daughter and her husband had been flooded out of their home in the Great Nashville Flood of 2010.

While life seems to be getting back to normal, we can't help but being haunted by the ghost of "what's next?"

So the fresh start that comes with every fall semester is particularly welcomed this year.

The fresh start is also exciting to me as after many years of teaching entrepreneurs, I am in the middle of a renaissance in how I help my students learn about planning for their entrepreneurial ventures.

Richard Bendis is an expert in the field of innovation, with experience as an entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, investment banker, innovation and technology-based economic development leader, international speaker and consultant in the technology and healthcare industries. Mr. Bendis has provided global consulting services to over 16 countries and 22 states, several cities and regions, along with international organizations. Mr. Bendis currently serves as the founding President and CEO of Innovation America.

From an economic development perspective, the economic development trends have gone through many transitions. Especially in Iowa, the agricultural economy was Iowa's primary growth engine, and remains the framework through which the rest of the world sees Iowa. How does the innovation economy change that and should it?

Bendis: The agricultural economy is still key to employment in Iowa. Most outside of Iowa rarely recognize how that agricultural basis developed into a very strong manufacturing economy. That manufacturing growth was once the key pillar to growth in the state. While manufacturing is still a very large and very important industry to Iowa, manufacturing is not the avenue through which Iowa will experience its next emergence of growth opportunities.

European governments are stepping up their efforts to boost innovation ahead of the publication of the EU's research and innovation strategy, which is due next month. EurActiv's network looks at how small businesses across Europe can be part of the innovation ecosystem.

Governments have introduced a range of schemes to help small firms, including tax credits for research investment, the development of "innovation centres," support for business angels and schemes to link SMEs with universities and industry.

The EU's innovation strategy – expected in September – is likely to address several of these issues, although there is much debate as to whether the plan will be a blueprint for business or a researchers' charter.

In a highly competitive grant process, a research consortium led by Penn State won up to $129 million in federal funding to develop a "energy innovation hub" at the Philadelphia Navy Yard aimed at saving energy and cutting pollution.

"This will have a huge impact on Philadelphia and the region, just in the amount of job creation that should come from this alone," said Henry C. Foley, vice president for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at Penn State.

Foley, who will lead the Penn State research team also including researchers from Princeton, Rutgers, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel and other institutions, said the project will focus on creating more energy efficient buildings and training workers to both retrofit and do new construction in the efficient ways.

We must ensure that our economy is given all the necessary tools for successful innovation, from investments in research and development to the human, physical, and technological capital needed to perform that research and transfer those innovations. Below are examples of Obama Administration initiatives that invest in the building blocks of American innovation.

Restore American Leadership in Fundamental Research

• 2011 Budget
  The 2011 Budget sustained the President’s pledge to make investments in innovation to create the industries and jobs of tomorrow.
  Learn more.
  Watch web chat with White House officials.
   
• Research and Development Investment
  In a speech at the National Academies of Science Annual Meeting in April 2009, the President pledged to double the R&D budget of key Federal science agencies.
  Read the remarks.

This Web-only article is a special rich-media presentation of the feature, "How Much Is Left?," which appears in the September 2010 issue of Scientific American. The presentation was created by Zemi media. Find all our other interactive offerings here.

What's Left?Powered by Ergo:Ux

As an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist, Jeff Bussgang sits in a unique position that allows him to provide advice that is both relevant and helpful to young companies. Such was the case this morning on his aptly named "Seeing Both Sides" blog where Bussgang discussed what he and investors like him look for in startup teams. As we've mentioned before, a VC invests just as much (if not more) in the entrepreneurs themselves as they do in the idea being pitched - and Bussgang has an interesting perspective on why this may be true.

As he sees it, its not just the experience or skills of a given team that make them viable candidates for investment. Team chemistry, he says, plays a large role in the ultimate success or failure of a startup.

The Global Forum / Shaping the Future

• an annual & independent non for profit international event dedicated to Business and Policy issues affecting the successful evolution of the Information Society
  
• supported by organizations around the world, interested in sharing and influencing global IT agendas, and enabling business and government leaders from all ICT sectors to meet, exchange and create projects and PPP partnerships
• bringing together, since 1992, each year, more than 300 high level key actors from the Information Society, from all over the world
  
• providing an arena for the exposure of divergent points of views
  
• presenting a great opportunity for the participants to develop imaginative solutions in partnership with each other during both formal and informal face to face discussions and after the Forum by electronic networking
• enabling its participants to keep abreast with the latest developments in technology, regulation, markets and applications of communications and broadcast (interactive TV, telephony, etc...)

The Global Forum is now in its 19th year. It has been held in numerous cities around the world and is sometimes referred to as the “Davos of IT.” It has the support of the European Commission, many governments and most of the major Western ICT corporations.

Dates: Global Forum 2010, November Monday 8th & Tuesday 9th, in Washington DC
Place: Washington DC, USA
At the Marvin Center, the George Washington University

The 19th edition of the Global Forum is organized by Items International, an international consulting firm based in Paris, France; the Sophia Antipolis Foundation, a science park recognized internationally as one of the most dynamic and fastest growing technological and scientific hubs in Europe, the George Washington University and the support of the US Department of State and the US General Services Administration (GSA).

The focus of the Global Forum 2010 is:

Innovation America and Items International are collaborating in establishing a session on Innovation “OPEN INNOVATION: STRATEGY & POLICIES” The objective of this session is to strengthen the EU and the USA Innovation Dialogue in order to accelerate the efforts to spur growth, productivity, and entrepreneurial activity, including by sharing best policy practices and identifying steps that will improve the policy environment for innovative activities that draw talents and ideas in both markets.

Richard A. Bendis, President and CEO Innovation America will make a presentation and give us his valuable insights in this session.

To participate in the think tank, please contact: Dr. Sylviane Toporkoff, President & Sébastien Lévy,Vice-President, Global Forum / Shaping the Future. Tel: + 33 1 4642 4876, Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more information, visit our website: www.items-int.com
ITEMS International, 16, rue Kléber, 92442 Issy-Les-Moulineaux, France Tel: +33. (0)1.46.42.48.76    Fax: +33. (0)1 41.08.94.27; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Being an entrepreneur can be extremely rewarding. After all, you get to build something of your own — and possibly watch it grow. However, when you are an entrepreneur you have a great deal to do. Personal time for entrepreneurs is constantly in short supply. When you are your own boss, you can’t take vacation days, and there is always something to do, especially when you are just starting your business. While some of these pressures may ease as your business expands, allowing you a little more breathing room, you will find that, at the beginning, you are pressed for time.

It is important to realize, though, that personal time is essential to your health and wellness. You need time to relax and recharge in order to be a good entrepreneur, as well as to keep up with the important relationships in your life. Without some personal time, you will find that the stress in your life can quickly become overwhelming.

The Office for Science and Technology (OST) of the Embassy of France (Boston section) organizes each year a full-day seminar called “French American Innovation Day” (FAID).

FAID is designed to emphasize a specific topic having a huge impact in terms of science, therapeutics and innovation.

In collaboration with the MLSC (Mass. Life Sciences Center), the 2010 FAID seminar will be addressing « Alzheimer ’s disease: Towards the Personalized Medicine ». It will be held the 6 of December at the Broad Institute.

Two prominent experts will lead this seminar:
Prof. John H. Growdon, Clinical Core Co-Leader and Founding Director at Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center & Director, Memory and Movement Disorders Units at Massachusetts General Hospital & Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School
Prof. Philippe Amouyel, CEO French National Foundation on AD, General Director of the Institut Pasteur de Lille and Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University Hospital of Lille in France

For this purpose, the OST launches a call for sponsorship to organize the 2010 FAID seminar.

Sponsorship presents an opportunity for leading companies in this field to contact with hundreds of French and American experts in the unique bilateral seminar on AD in Boston of the year.

→ Find more information, In the 2010 FAID presentation :

→ And the sponsorship opportunities in the document below:

For more information,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., deputy attachée – Biotechnology and technology transfer

Previous editions
FAID2009
EAID2008 the E for European, renamed to put the emphasis on the French Presidency of the European Union
FAID2007

There is a general consensus that web startups are being created at a faster rate than ever. The impact of accelerator programs like Y Combinator, Techstars, Seedcamp, and dozens more are one factor. The expanding pool of angel, seed, and super seed funds is another. And the most important factor is how cheap it is to build and launch a web service these days. You can bootstrap your way into existence.

I like to think of the venture capital business like parenting. When I invest in a company, I am committing to the care and feeding of the company until cash flow breakeven (the startup equivalent of adulthood). That care and feeding includes the decision to call it quits and give up on the project sometimes, but honestly that doesn't happen that much in our portfolios.

So when I look at this expanding birthrate, I think "who is going to house, feed, school, and send all these kids to college?"

Or, based on this sole-source contract announcement from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Google now owns, at the least, visualization of the planet.

NGA says it needs a secure system that will provide Web-based access to geospatial visualization services and Open Geospatial Consortium compliant Web-service interfaces. It says only Google can do the job.