Access to funding is often mentioned in meetings about how to enable high impact entrepreneurship. We are always reminded that bank lending to small businesses remains tight. Even loans subsidized by the Small Business Administration have dropped off in recent months. Venture capital was prominent historically for its role in financially catalyzing high-growth companies, but has over the years become less significant in spurring entrepreneurship. In recent years (1997-2007) even among those that made it to the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies, less than one-in-five companies had venture investors. So what are angel investors up to this summer?

Syndication in angel investment is a hot topic of debate lately, even among angels themselves who discussed it in May at the 2010 Angel Capital Association's (ACA) annual Summit along with earlier exits, angel/VC co-investment and working with new early stage incubators and accelerators. According to the Angel Capital Education Foundation (ACEF), syndication is about more than just pooling funds. Angel groups make due diligence more manageable and enable education and coaching, which can attract many more potential investors into the angel capital market. The negative side is that some see syndication as having made many angels groups “cliquey” and has arguably decreased the variety of investments.

Part 1 of our Venture Capital Human Capital report examined the race of individual founders and the racial composition of founding teams along with the age of founding teams and the number of founders per company.  The entire downloadable report is available here.

Below are some statistics and graphs of our data related to race of founders and the racial composition of founding teams.  This data is also broken down by state for California, Massachusetts and New York within in the report.

Entrepreneurs may sometimes think angel investors use a Magic 8-Ball to come to investment decisions based on which companies are, or are not, ultimately subjects of investment. Angel investors may sometimes think they might as well use a Magic 8-Ball to make investment decisions based on the high percentage of failures, versus successes, in early stage investing. Perspective is everything!

In fact, after 10 years of angel investing, I can offer a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer for those entrepreneurs approaching angel investors (and probably VCs as well):

“Caution: Investors may, or may not invest for reasons we have yet to be able to ascertain from years of empirical data. Don’t let a lack of interest, or extreme interest, have any bearing in your perspective with the chances of failure or success of your enterprise. Consider this an investing version of the Magic 8-Ball, where each shake may yield: “INVEST,” “PASS!” or “TRY AGAIN!” Good luck!”

Two pilot programs by start-ups in Silicon Valley are testing ways to bring to market a long-promised innovation of the Internet era: the digital wallet.

In one, eBay’s PayPal online payments business is equipping some 2,000 of its own employees in San Jose with stickers from a company called Bling Nation that turn any phone into an instant payment device just by tapping it on a sensor. (The sticker tags have small chips in them that can be read by a machine that looks like a normal credit-card swiper.)

Bling Nation is outfitting all of the cafeterias on PayPal’s campus, as well as about 35 other merchants in the area, with readers for its system. PayPal doesn’t have a financial interest in Bling Nation, but the company is using PayPal accounts and technology to fund purchases made through its system.

How often do we hear about how many millions of dollars a startup raised in this round or that? Venture capital is likely the most oft-cited figure for measuring the potential for a new business' success, but research firm CB Insights aims to change that misconception in a new report measuring human capital--not venture capital.

"When we ask venture capitalists what gets them excited about the young, emerging, and often unproven companies in which they invest, we never hear about deals and dollars," reads part I of the report, released this morning. "Rather, the first answer is frequently 'the team' or 'the founders.'" In their first-ever VC Human Capital Report, CB Insights attempts to apply the "same rigor we apply to our quarterly tally of deals and dollars to provide an objective, data-driven perspective into the people dimension behind the deals and dollars we so often read about."

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - What does it take to make it as a technology entrepreneur?

A great idea and the skills of a "Ninja assassin," according to venture capitalists.

The passion and focus associated with the Japanese discipline goes a long way in impressing would-be investors.

"What I'm looking for is what I call a Ninja assassin -- a creative, fearless, nimble, focused entrepreneur," said Ann Miura-Ko, a 33-year-old partner with newly formed venture firm Floodgate Fund in Palo Alto, California. "They're the kind of person who's taking a different path and is singularly passionate about a particular idea."

Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. Many become one briefly and then revert to the fixed monthly pay package of a secured job. Reports show that most entrepreneurs are over the age of 30. Some reports also state that in knowledge-centric industries, being older translates into greater success as an entrepreneur.

While being a young entrepreneur is often glamorized, it isn’t everyday that you get a Mark Zuckerberg (of facebook.com) running a multi-million dollar enterprise in a short span of time. In the Indian context, there are fewer such examples over the past six decades since Independence as so many of those born in the 1950s and 1960s chose the comfort of a government job. Only a handful left that comfort to create the Reliance and Infosys-type companies of today.

It’s no secret it’s been a daunting period for entrepreneurs seeking venture capital. While the market is easing a bit, it will remain tough for the rest of the year and probably well beyond that. So what’s an entrepreneur to do?

Look for money inside corporations.

Odd as it might sound, the case for a startup/corporate collaboration is actually quite compelling. Startups are renowned for their creativity and efficient innovation models, but they often find it difficult to introduce their product or service to the market because they lack an established brand identity (and, thus, have minimal distribution and customer support infrastructures). On the other hand, corporations have recognized brands, established distribution channels and strong customer relationships. What they lack is a culture of innovation that can keep pace with chronically changing markets.

Recently, I received a copy of a colorful white paper by Rod Stevens, called "The New Urban Workplace".  It's looks at why major corporations are moving back to the city, and should be interesting reading for anyone interested in the battle for brainpower and the importance of place.

Click here to download a free PDF copy

Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham today offered an overview of how he has seen the angel and startup world evolve in the last year. Among other trends, he argued that the traditionally structured venture round is becoming irrelevant.

Speaking at AngelConf today, the angel investing event hosted at Y Combinator’s office in Mountain View, Calif., Graham compared the traditional venture model to the classic children’s book Are You My Mother? Startup entrepreneurs raising funding are like baby birds, asking every venture capitalist, “Are you my lead investor?”

Now, however, more venture rounds aren’t being led by a single investor, and they don’t have an official close date or amount, Graham said. There may be an official lead, but that’s in name only, and they don’t dominate the process like they used to. This benefits the startups because the lead investor has less power to screw them over. Even if the investor is well-intentioned, the startup isn’t held back if the lead isn’t moving fast enough to raise money. And rather than distracting itself with intense fundraising, a startup can keep raising money in the background as needed.

1) Dennis Crowley — CEO Foursquare

Foursquare is a location-based social networking website, involving an application for mobile devices and a game intended for registered users. Through mobile websites, text messaging, or device-specific applications, people are able to update their location and connect with friends, while earning rewards for their online activity. The company is “so hot right now” because it is in the process of adding on a new promotion. Barbie, the iconic fashion doll manufactured by Mattel (NYSE: MAT), will be used by Foursquare to advertise location-based scavenger hunts. Text, photo and video clues for the hunts will be provided by Barbie through the use of Twitter. This promotion, officially happening on July 20th, 2010 is an example of how Mattel has been able to expand into the digital and social media world of the 21st century.

How About We, a months-old dating service built around proposing and accepting specific date ideas, has been generating an impressive amount of buzz for such a young company, with major write-ups in mainstream media publications including The New York Times and Time Out.

Normally, we don't pay much attention to online dating startups. There is plenty of money to be made in online dating, but the market is incredibly saturated, with huge, post-IPO incumbents and, as a result, very high user-acquisition costs.

But we think How About We is a company you should actually pay attention to. Here's why:

• Differentiation. As crowded as the dating industry is, there hasn't been much innovation in the nature of the basic product. Companies compete by tweaking their matching algorithms or going after particular market segments (from the extremely popular Jdate to the ridiculous Cupidtino). How About We's focus on activities rather than online profiles is genuinely different, and so far it appears that people take an instant liking to it -- hence the mainstream media coverage.

Remember the first time you rode a rollercoaster? You waited in line with trepidation, smiling nervously to your family, friends or those around you, hoping that no one could sense the butterflies in your stomach. As you got in the car and strapped in for your ride, you wondered how secure the safety belt really was. You were scared and excited about what would come as the car slowly inched up the hill before the first big drop. You wondered if it was really such a good idea getting on this ride, and maybe even said a quick prayer. When the car started downhill and picked up speed, you let out your best Hollywood scream as you sped over bumps and turns and flipped head over heels. You alternated between feelings of delight and feelings of horror and everything in between. You felt more terrified and exhilarated than you ever had before in your life. By the time your car slowed down and stopped at the terminal, your cheeks were flushed by the rush of it all. You barely knew where you had been, but you were happy you did it and wished it weren’t over so quickly. As a business advisor, I know that the emotional rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship can be tough, but just like an actual rollercoaster, there are unexpected twists and turns, thrills and excitement to be gained from entrepreneurship that make it all worth the ride. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve already established a business of your own, here are some things to keep in mind on your ride.

When the temperatures are climbing Mount Everest, and the heat becomes intolerable, all what people want is to cool down at a pool with an exotic cocktail in their hand. Even better if it's in a place worthy of their most extravagant dreams.

The real estate blog Zillow selected some of the best oasis-like swimming pools that you can find in luxury homes for sale all over the country. Here is their selection.

On my three year startup journey that lead to Yipit, I had over 30 other completely unrelated ideas.

Each time I got the idea, I would immediately start sweating profusely for three straight hours in a ridiculous state of unbridled excitement and optimism. Sounds great, right? Not really. Those new ideas and the emotional frenzy were a serious distraction.

To be clear, the “ideas” I’m referring to are the ones that have nothing to do with your current startup. Switching your startup’s focus to a related area based on what you’ve learned (i.e. pivoting) is a winning strategy and one that Yipit employed twice.  This post also assumes that you are and have been actively working on an idea.  If you haven’t started yet, experimenting with new ideas is a great way to start.

As a seed-stage investor, First Round Capital typically funds powerpoints.  Not only are the majority of our investments pre-revenue, but most of the time we are investing in pre-launch companies.  While these companies might have an alpha/beta version of their site, it's usually early enough that we can’t base our investment decision off of any market traction.  Instead, we typically make our investment decisions based on three key areas:  the size of the market, the strength of the team, and the product vision.   This is often made even more difficult by the fact that we know that many of the businesses we fund end up with (one or more) pivots -- since their business plan is always wrong. 

Graphic designers have to eat, too, so they often spend their time marching to the orders of corporate clients. Last year, seeing the need for a noncommercial creative outlet, Nick Hallam, a Melbourne-based designer, founded Positive Posters, an annual poster competition aimed at supporting graphic design that simply inspires and encourages people.

This year, the theme for the Positive Posters competition is "A Glass Half Full." The submissions will be narrowed down to 30 finalists before an international panel of judges selects the winner. The winner will get a pack of prizes and the winning poster will be printed, put up all over Melbourne, and shipped abroad as well.

What better way to celebrate summer than by taking a road trip? Nestled between Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, Alcatraz Island and dozens of other destinations are these nostalgic, gaudy, run-down and kitschy locations. TIME takes a look (in alphabetical order) at 50 of the greatest.

The House Ways and Means Committee in Congress is considering a bill sponsored by Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland that would provide a 25% credit to investors in some types of technology.

The credit would apply to equity investors who invest in a company that has already qualified for a grant under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The Federal government provides grant funding under the SBIR program to support some high priority technology and biotech research. SBIR grants typically range from $100,000 to $750,000. The credit for investors would also be capped at 50% of the SBIR grant award in a particular company, and would also be limited to a total of $500 million in tax credits per year.

The bill, which was introduced on July 15, 2010 and co-sponsored by three other House members, is called the Innovative Technologies Investment Incentive Act. SBIR grants are directed toward small businesses, so the impact of this bill would be seen at the small business level.

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Tech Coast Angels (TCA), the largest angel investment network in the United States, today announced the Angel Capital Entrepreneurial Fund (ACE) 1, a unique fund giving both private and institutional investors the opportunity to access diversified, early-stage, game-changing entrepreneurial company investments that would otherwise be available only to experienced angel investors. According to Dave Berkus, Chairman Emeritus of Tech Coast Angels, "The ACE Fund opens a whole new world of exciting investment potential to investors in California. The Fund is designed from the investing members' point-of-view. It incorporates many features that give members a chance to benefit from the collective wisdom of TCA at a small investment rate and with liquidity provisions and planned earlier returns than are generally offered in comparable funds. Equally important, it allows investors to diversify their portfolios. Plus, it's beneficial to entrepreneurs as it simplifies their process of raising funds."