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innovation DAILY

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.

entrepreneur hard at work.

BioHealth Innovation, Inc., (BHI) a non-profit organization which strives to facilitate the development of commercially viable health IT products and companies by connecting market relevant research assets to appropriate funding, management and markets, is seeking a Health Information Technology (IT) Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

POSITION DESCRIPTION – Health IT Entrepreneur-in-Residence

The Health IT Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) will lead in the evaluation of early-stage health IT technologies, advise BHI on opportunities for new ventures, and build a portfolio commercially relevant health IT opportunities. The Health IT EIR influences the BHI organization by managing and providing information, intelligence and insights that drive critical business decisions. The Health IT EIR will work with early stage companies to launch and validate those companies while providing recommendations and insights on the direction of potential technologies. The Health IT EIR has the potential to also serve in a co-management role in a health IT accelerator.

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antartica

Like Alaska's mighty Yukon, a broad river once flowed across Antarctica, following a gentle valley shaped by tectonic forces at a time before the continent became encased in ice. Understanding what happened when rivers of ice later filled the valley could solve certain climate and geologic puzzles about the southernmost continent.

The valley is Lambert Graben in East Antarctica, now home to the world's largest glacier. Trapped beneath the ice, the graben (which is German for ditch or trench) is a stunning, deep gorge. But before Antarctica's deep freeze 34 million years ago, the valley was relatively flat and filled by a lazy river, leaving a riddle for geologists to decode: How did Lambert Graben get so steep, and when was it carved?

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Mike Miliard

After McKesson, Cerner, Allscripts, Greenway and athenahealth made news at HIMSS13 this past week with the launch of the CommonWell Health Alliance – putting aside their competitive instincts, for a moment, to pledge their common commitment to interoperability and data liquidity – Healthcare IT News spoke with McKesson CEO John Hammergren about the road ahead.

Joining Hammergren in the discussion were David McCallie, vice president, medical informatics at Cerner, and Arien Malec, vice president, data platform solutions for McKesson's connectivity business, RelayHealth (and, in his former role at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, the driving force behind the development of the Direct Project).

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not cool

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower" –Steve Jobs

Behind every sociological movement is a psychology. The ever-growing creative classification of America is no different. The following teases the psychology of the movement apart.

Why do this?

Because it is needed. The costs of blindly acquiescing to copycat community building are too great. These costs are not simply aesthetic, even economic, but are costs in the ability to distinguish creativity from repetition, and ultimately: truth from fiction.

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ecosystem

Economic progress comes from the “rainforest recipe,” where an innovation ecosystem allows each person to play an equal and important role, said the managing director of T2 Venture Capital.

Innovation is what happens “when ideas have sex,” Greg Horowitt said. He told the audience Friday at the University of San Diego's Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate 17th annual conference that their role is to “build and manage brothels where innovation happens.”

People apply linear thinking to actions, which creates borders and boundaries that limit connectivity, said Horowitt, who contributed to the book, “The Rainforest: The secret to building the next Silicon Valley.”

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hoops

Pickup basketball--like business--requires a few simple ground rules if you're going to have a good game. A few tips from a seasoned baller.

Whether March comes in like a lion or a lamb, there’s always madness of the basketball variety. I suppose there are some great leadership stories playing out right now among the high-profile NCAA college coaches. But I believe in taking leadership lessons where you can--and I have learned a lot of mine from the local hardwood. There is a lunchtime pickup basketball game that has been going strong for 30 years. Three days a week a group of taped-up and liniment-covered former jocks and non-athletes get together in a local college gym. These self-titled Geezers go at it like they are playing for a spot in the Final Four.

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knowledge

Over the last 20 years we have discovered one another – sharing insights, priorities and aspirations. It has been a journey across 6 continents and you represent 43 of the most extraordinary women I have met. You come from 24 countries and your own networks span dozens more.

  • Some of you have been with me since the beginning.
  • A few have served as ENTOVATION Fellows.
  • Most of you have shared quality face-to-face interaction with one another.
  • All have talents I admire, experiences I envy, and standards I seek to emulate 
  • And each of you has touched me in very special ways…and I have grown.
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Brad Feld

I’ve been on a lot of boards. I’m still on a lot of boards. And I’ve been thinking about boards a lot as I work on my next book Startup Boards: Recreating the Board of Directors to Be Relevant to Entrepreneurial Companies.

I used to think every board needed a chairman and early in my investing career I was often this chairman (or co-chairman). At some point I began feeling like the chairman role in a private company both undermined the CEO and sent the wrong signal to the employees of the company, and I preferred that the CEO be the chairman. I also started disliking being the chairman, as it seemed to create a view that I had some kind of ultimate power and responsibility for the company that I rarely had, and that almost always belonged to the CEO. So I stopped being chairman and in a number of cases refused to be called it, even when I played the role of it. The one exception I made was non-profits, where chairman seems to have a somewhat different connotation. And since I’ve decided not to be on public company boards, I don’t have to make a decision in that context.

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Vinod Khosla

Entrepreneurs should like their venture capital investors as people, but VCs aren’t supposed to be their friends.

That’s according toVinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, and former cofounder of Sun Microsystems and former investor at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The straight-talking, self-described venture assistant (don’t ever call him a venture capitalist) spoke in a talk at South By Southwest with 500 Startups’ Dave McClure.

Instead of partying with their entrepreneurs, investors should be pushing them as hard as possible and helping them solve their toughest problems, Khosla said.

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working

While starting your own business can be a rewarding venture, it’s wise to take a step back and formulate a checklist of costs before you take the plunge. Credibility is everything to a new company with an as-yet unproven reputation. Bearing that in mind, it’s best to come forewarned and forearmed with knowledge of the costs you will incur and should have earmarked for at least the first 90 days of operation. Here are just a few of the initial expenses to consider when starting your own business.

Cost of Formation

Even a small company can benefit from incorporating. Doing so can help enhance a fledgling business’ credibility while providing protection of personal assets from lawsuits or claims by creditors. Additionally, incorporation affords businesses a lower tax rate, as well as obtaining a credit rating and ability to sell stock in the company.

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principles

Businesses fail all the time. SBA likes to throw statistics at you such as a 95% failure rate within a year of operation and so on. (But see the definitive small business failure rates.)

The reasons as to why businesses fail can be many. Here’s what I think. The reason most businesses fail is because entrepreneurship is a lifestyle shift, which most entrepreneurs do succeed in. It is, however, the mind shift that’s an integral part of entrepreneurship that remains incomplete. Most entrepreneurs do make mistakes during the startup phase.

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Patent

Inventors from across the UAE need no longer worry about the tedious process of single-handedly filing for patents for their ideas, as an innovation support programme has now been extended to accept applications from across the country. Following this expansion, the programme, called Takamul, will offer advisory and financial support for international patent application processes.

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Gand of Four

Every startup, as well as mature business, needs to learn as much as possible from Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, who have set the standards for fast growth and success in today’s business world. These companies, designated the “gang of four” by Eric Schmidt a couple of years ago, are clearly driving a consumer and business revolution on the Internet today.

According to many technology pundits, including Phil Simon, in his book “The Age of the Platform,” these four exemplify the rise of platforms with applications as a business model, rather than a single product or service. Whether you believe his conclusion or not, you can learn a lot from the lessons he offers on how to build a competitive business model today:

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Josh Haner/The New York Times Thomas L. Friedman

Thomas L. Friedman’s breathless New York Times column on the potential of massive open online courses envisioned remote villages in Egypt enthralled with lectures on Plato and nuclear physics, and thereby a large-scale democratization of what used to be the purview of the privileged few: higher education. Friedman did mention the online revolution’s potential disadvantages—“Yes,” he conceded, “only a small percentage complete all the work, and even they still tend to be from the middle and upper classes of their societies.” But the general tone of the piece betrayed giddy anticipation for the gleaming new delivery model of education that will arise from the rubble of the old Ivory Tower.

The blowback to Friedman’s piece in the professorsphere was considerable (and Richard Wolff’s rejoinder one of the best reads). And this has prompted Friedman to publish a second column in praise of the MOOC, one that doubles down on his earlier assertions with the added bonus of ad hominem insults to the professoriate.

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crowdfunding

On the Good.is website right now is an appeal from Tyler Alterman, a matriculating neuroscientist and self-described scientific detective, seeking cash support for The Think Tank, his lab-on-wheels. This rolling experimentation station will travel the New York metro area to teach the masses about cognition and to draw them into studies about brain function.

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Bin Laden Raid

Every decision has consequences. We often don’t fully perceive the consequences because they are often hidden by the compromises that make us feel better.

Every step forward requires a decision. Or the inverse – indecision. Or as I call it, “decision, by indecision,” which is insidious. It rots the core very slowly until you don’t realize you’ve accepted mediocrity.

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crack

Researchers have demonstrated a way to give concrete surfaces the ability to heal when small cracks appear, an advance that could allow bridges and other structures to last longer.

Even the tiniest cracks on the surfaces of concrete structures can lead to big problems if they aren’t immediately repaired. Now researchers have demonstrated a sunlight-induced, self-healing protective coating designed to fix cracks on the surface of concrete structures before they grow into larger ones that compromise structural integrity.

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nest office

Most leading companies understand the need for innovation; the challenge is finding ways to cultivate it. Julie Crabtree, author of Living with a Creative Mind, is a consultant to businesses that want to foster creative innovation.

Crabtree has spent 25 years researching ways to nurture and manage creative people. Her research reveals that the creative process is typically misunderstood by leaders, but creativity’s importance to business has never been greater. “Our workplaces are shifting so rapidly,” she says. “Developing creative thinking is a key part of the future of business; establishing people who have the ability to be flexible, adaptable and manage ambiguity is exactly what we need for the next 50 years.”

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energy innovation tracker

A report published by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) argues the American energy innovation ecosystem is underfunded and heavily focuses on deployment incentives over research and development, demonstration, and manufacturing. It further states that the federal government has failed to create a comprehensive energy policy that provides robust and consistent support for innovation from research through deployment.

A report published by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) argues the American energy innovation ecosystem is underfunded and heavily focuses on deployment incentives over research and development, demonstration, and manufacturing. It further states that the federal government has failed to create a comprehensive energy policy that provides robust and consistent support for innovation from research through deployment.

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