While some job seekers are simply satisfied with a lackluster cubicle as an ideal workplace, more and more candidates are seeking employment from successful startups. But every entrepreneur, no matter what the scale of their business is, can testify that they’re constantly looking for a specific kind of applicant.

In order to find yourself employed by a successful startup, you’ll need to bring more to the table than just your resume. You have to prove your creativity and innovation, sometimes before you’ve even booked an interview. Stay away from boring templates and “To Whom It May Concern” cover letters.  Who says a resume is even necessary at all?

Y Combinator, a leading seed investment incubator, recently announced that it would be accepting startup applications for this years fund from startup founders WITHOUT an idea.

Here’s how the incubator describes itself on its website:

Y Combinator does seed funding for startups. Seed funding is the earliest stage of venture funding. It pays your expenses while you’re getting started.

Some companies may need no more than seed funding. Others will go through several rounds. There is no right answer. How much funding you need depends on the kind of company you start.

Memeburn recently featured a story explaining why your PC is dead. It made some interesting points. It made some valid points. Cloud. Virtualisation. Abstraction of application and data from device. But it missed the point.

Sure, smartphones and tablets will take over from PCs for many. The PC will return to its place as a powerful tool for those that know how to use it. Those that used it at the start: the geeks, the nerds, the hobbyists, the musicians, the architects, the gamers, the engineers, the designers, the layout artists. The people who need to get real work done.

British universities have become spineless lackeys of central government, lickspittles at the trough of subsidy. They plead they are a "golden investment" in the nation's future, yet they cry "higher purpose" when this claim is challenged. Those who went to university, including captains of industry, go along with this confidence trick to justify the advantage they gained from the experience, and hope their children can benefit too.

This caricature may explain the latest spat between universities and the government at the start of the new Research Excellence Framework, on which each university's research grant will be fixed. If the student fees row is over for the time being, the row over the third of the university budget devoted to research is about to be joined.

After the idea, it’s all about execution. In fact, it’s not clear that even the idea is all that important. Most investors tell me that an A entrepreneur with a B idea is much more fundable than a B entrepreneur with an A idea. It’s great to be a visionary, inventor, thinker, or a dreamer, but none of these matter in the business world if you are not also a do-er.

According to Professor Sean Wise, who claims to have worked with more than 15,000 entrepreneurs (including many with the popular TV shows Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den), no matter how great the idea and the opportunity, in the end it is only the execution that creates change and generates wealth.

Looking for inspiration and guidance on how to make your company more conducive to innovation? Here's some food for thought and action -- Idea Champions' ten most popular postings on the subject.

HOW TO FOSTER A CULTURE OF INNOVATION

1. The Garden of Innovation

2. 50 Ways to Foster a Sustainable Culture of Innovation

3. 56 Reasons Why Most Innovation Initiatives Fail

4. Innovation: It's About Time

5. The Paradox of Innovation

What is the future of medicine? The distinguished cardiologist and author, Dr Eric Topol, believes that the 20th century medical industry is about to be creatively destroyed by today’s digital economy. We are at the end of the era of doctor-knows-best, Topol told me when we Skyped earlier this month. The “ossified” and “sclerotic” medical establishment, Topol explained, is being replaced by an industry that will radically empower the consumer and patient. And at the heart of this new industry, he explained, is the digitalization of medical data which will enable doctors to know our “operating systems” from the beginning of our lives.

Governor Martin O’Malley and Peter Greenleaf, chairman of the Maryland Venture Fund Authority, today announced that $84 million has been raised for Maryland’s Innovation Economy through InvestMaryland – an historic initiative created by the Governor and passed by the General Assembly last year to invest in the State’s promising start-up and early stage companies. The $84 million raised far exceeds a goal of $70 million and was generated through an online auction of premium tax credits to insurance companies with operations in Maryland. While other states have sold tax credits to fund similar venture capital initiatives, Maryland is the first state to use an online auction to raise the capital for such a program. The inaugural round of investments will be made in innovative companies this summer through several private venture capital firms and the State’s successful Maryland Venture Fund (MVF).

“Today, we are pleased to announce that Maryland has taken a significant step forward in generating capital for our businesses and creating jobs,” said Governor O’Malley. “For the first time in our nation’s history, a state has successfully held an online auction to raise funds for a venture capital program and as a result, Maryland will infuse $84 million in venture capital into our Innovation Economy to create jobs. Our State is well-positioned to be a leader in the new economy as a global hub of innovation – a leader in science, security, health, discovery and information technology. That’s why last year, together with business leaders from across the State and the General Assembly, we chose to invest in our diverse and highly-educated workforce and the skills and talents of our people for the jobs and opportunity of tomorrow.”

Yesterday the House passed the Jumpstart our Business Start-ups (or JOBS) Act, in a rare demonstration of bipartisan good feeling. The bill’s wide support (it passed 390 to 23) indicates just how well-loved start-ups are now in the popular imagination.

The idea’s time has come, it seems: Some sort of crowdfunding bill also seems certain to pass the Senate, and President Obama, who called for removing regulatory barriers to capital access for small businesses in his State of the Union Address, is all but certain to sign it into law.

What does the House bill actually do for you?

Creativity, as a subject, has been of growing interest over the past few decade. What is it? What factors contribute to its creation? What strategies can be used to induce creative ideas? These are just a few of the questions that researchers have sought to answer.

Well-received popular books - like Edward De Bono's Use of Lateral Thinking - have pushed forward the importance and power of "thinking outside the box" in all facets of daily life. More recently, books such as Tom Sawyer's Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation have demonstrated how creativity is harnessed within a variety of disciplines - and not just the fine arts - and the principles that facilitate creative thought.

Yet despite all the interesting work being done, rarely is innovation and creativity discussed in the context of cities. Aside from a handful of books and texts - one of the most popular being Sir Peter Hall's Cities in Civilization - this aspect of creative thought has largely remained undiscovered territory. This fact makes Charles Landry's The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators that much more significant in our times where culture and imagination are showing us definitive solutions to the challenges of the future.

Kids are natural innovators with powerful imaginations. And creativity offers a bounty of intellectual, emotional and even health benefits.

One study found that kids’ imaginations helped them cope better with pain. Creativity also helps kids be more confident, develop social skills, and learn better. Below, three experts share how parents can encourage their kids’ creativity.

1. Designate a space for creating. Carving out a space where your child can be creative is important, said Pam Allyn, executive director of Lit World and Lit Life and the author of many books, including Your Child’s Writing Life: How to Inspire Confidence, Creativity, and Skill at Every Age.

The reign of the personal computer as the sole access device is coming to a close, and by 2014 the “personal cloud” will replace the computer at the centre of users’ digital lives.

“Major trends in client computing have shifted the market away from a focus on personal computers to a broader device perspective that includes smartphones, tablets and other consumer devices,” said Steve Kleynhans from research company, Gartner.

Most states have historically offered some sort of incentive programs designed to attract major business development — often a combination of tax breaks, job training, or infrastructure investments.

One of the most aggressive states in terms of awarding tax abatements for targeted industries in recent years has been Michigan. But in 2010, Michigan elected former Gateway Computers CEO Rick Snyder as

According to the 2012 Boston Indicators Report, the state’s innovation economy needs to be reinvented. The report is published every two years and brings together information from public agencies, civil institutions and community-based organizations. The 2012 report shows that Boston is enjoying three decades of sustained building, increased ethnic diversity and solid job growth, but challenges remain.

First, the good news: Greater Boston’s economy has been resilient during the recession and it’s outperforming the rest of the nation in recovery. The metro area has one of the most highly educated work forces in the country and leads in innovation.

Woohoo! The Business Model Innovation Factory is off to the printer and will be published on April 24th.  You can learn more about the book and even download the intro for free at www.bmifbook.com. I am so glad that the writing part is done and the fun part of putting the ideas out in traffic, improving on them through active conversation and applying them in the real world can soon begin.  I can’t wait.  The writing part took the better part of a year and gave me newfound respect for those who have authored several books and make a living by writing them.  Not me.  One and done. I did it because writing a book was on my bucket list and I wanted to share my point of view that R&D for new business models is the new strategic imperative for all leaders.  I never actually thought I would do it and probably still wouldn’t have if Richard Narramore, Senior Editor at John Wiley & Sons, hadn’t called and asked me to.  Of course Richard offering an advance and a contract complete with publication dates didn’t hurt.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I agreed.

The Association of University Research Parks invites you to share your knowledge, expertise and experience with your colleagues and other professionals at our 2012 International Conference. We offer professional development to innovation professionals seeking to accelerate job creation and drive economic growth.

Proven engines for economic growth and development, university research parks influence their communities in significant ways - by creating innovation leading to high-wage jobs. In today's shifting climate, university and research park executives look to AURP for innovative, cost-effective and impactful ways to grow their community and region.

Angel, freemium, MVP, value proposition — there are a lot of buzzwords that get thrown around in the startup world. As an entrepreneur, it’s your job to know, understand and sparingly use them.

I stumbled upon a beautifully designed infographic today that seemed like a promising find — it was indeed, but wasn’t quite what I expected.

Entitled “The Founder’s Dictionary,” and jammed packed with a ton of buzzwords I have heard in boardrooms and coffee shops, the infographic was created to uncover “the true meanings” of these terms.

After the idea, it’s all about execution. In fact, it’s not clear that even the idea is all that important. Most investors tell me that an A entrepreneur with a B idea is much more fundable than a B entrepreneur with an A idea. It’s great to be a visionary, inventor, thinker, or a dreamer, but none of these matter in the business world if you are not also a do-er.

According to Professor Sean Wise, who claims to have worked with more than 15,000 entrepreneurs (including many with the popular TV shows Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den), no matter how great the idea and the opportunity, in the end it is only the execution that creates change and generates wealth.

When an executive at Goldman Sachs resigned yesterday, he did so in a public and high-profile way that most poor working schlubs could only dream of. Greg Smith wrote a much-shared op-ed in The New York Times explaining his decision and--within the first paragraph, no less--described a corporate culture that is "as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it." He further shared his displeasure with many of the staff at the top-tier investment bank, revealing that in the past year he's seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as "muppets." After almost 12 years with the company, he writes that he "can no longer in good conscience say that I identify what it stands for." As a final twist of the knife, he specifically blames CEO Lloyd Blankfein and president Gary Cohn, who he says "lost hold of the firm's culture on their watch." Ouch.

Many on Twitter are calling Smith a hero, applauding him for doing the right thing. The article currently sits at the top of the "Most E-mailed," "Most Viewed," and "Most Blogged" lists on NYTimes.com. Perhaps The Wall Street Journal has the most fitting title, referring to the resignation letter as "the fantasy job exit." Fantasy indeed.

For startup accelerator programs, teaching wannabe entrepreneurs time management skills is critical. These camp-like incubators have one of the steepest learning curves of any professional environment, and making sure entrepreneurs stay productive is the key to success. For startups, managing time is a matter of sink or swim, and infant companies can only succeed if they stay on task.

Of course, balancing your time isn’t reserved for startup founders tackling the first part of their business plan. It applies to anyone who’s eager to work smarter--not longer--hours. So we asked founders and partners at the world’s top accelerator programs for time management tips they always share with bleary-eyed entrepreneurs.