When it came time to generate a little “buzz” for its latest initiative – Deals on Wheels – the Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer office (JHTT) turned to the popular BioBuzz biotechnology industry happy hour series in Montgomery County. And they weren’t disappointed… January’s happy hour drew more than 100 biotech industry professionals who wanted to learn more about the Deals on Wheels program and have an opportunity to network with colleagues.

Deals on Wheels is an innovative program designed to bridge the geographical gap between Johns Hopkins University’s researchers in Baltimore and biotech companies and entrepreneurs in Montgomery County. Through Deals on Wheels, technology companies and entrepreneurs in Montgomery County will have the opportunity to connect one-on-one with Johns Hopkins representatives to discover potential partnership opportunities that include, licensing agreements, start-ups, core facilities, sponsored research, material transfer agreements, research collaborations, and clinical trials.

Every engineer who has invented some new technology, or is adept at creating solutions, believes that is the hard part, and it should be a short step to take that solution to market as an entrepreneur. In reality, that short business step embodies far more risk, and a poor technology solution is not near the top of most lists of common reasons for business failures.

In fact, a recent Duke and Harvard survey of over 500 technology companies showed that only 37% of their leaders even have engineering or computer science backgrounds. Clearly, engineers should think twice before assuming they have an advantage over the rest of us toward being an entrepreneur.

Despite what appears to be a dismal outlook, global happiness is actually on the rise. But some countries are clearly happier than others? Where are people the most satisfied? Not necessarily where you would think.

Sometimes it seems like the world is a scarier place than it used to be, with floods, earthquakes, nuclear meltdowns, and deadly flu viruses popping up like we’re in a planetary game of disaster Whac-a-Mole. And yet the world is a happier place than it was four years ago--at least in some lucky parts of the world.

Global research company Ipsos recently released results from its annual world happiness poll, which talked to 18,687 adults in 24 countries about their happiness. Surprisingly, 77% of people polled in November 2011 said they were "happy," while 22% reported that they were "very happy." In 2007, 20% of people reported that they were very happy.

Frank Moss of the MIT Media Lab and director of the New Media Medicine group discussed some of the projects the lab has undertaken to help people manage their own health and speed up the development of digital health apps and devices at Social Media Week in New York.

“We dramatically underestimate the power of ordinary people to take control of their health using digital technology,” Moss said.

A collaborative platform has been under development by lead researcher John Moore in the New Media Medicine group. Collaborhythm was initiated to address the issue of the diverse number of unconnected technologies being developed for mobile health. The rationale is that applications that share some of the same core technologies could speed up the rate of app development and the growth of the mobile health market.

Entrepreneurs and manufacturing companies in Alberta will soon have access to a new leading-edge facility for developing new composite-based products as a result of funding from the Government of Canada.

A federal investment of $3.5 million, announced today by the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, will enable the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT Polytechnic) to establish and equip a centre for innovation to support companies working to create new products that use composite materials.

VentureSpur, a firm designed by three entrepreneurs who returned to their roots to nurture early-stage companies seeking to mature and attract capital, launched Wednesday in downtown Oklahoma City.

The venture accelerator company follows a model of firms in other parts of the country that have successfully helped develop fledgling firms that have a business plan and perhaps a prototype, but haven't yet earned their first round of venture capital, VentureSpur co-founder and managing director Kraettli L. Epperson said.

(IN)cubes, the INcubator & accelerator for Canada’s most INnovative INternet entrepreneurs, is giving a behind the scenes look at what goes on within its startup space during its INtensive Day on February 08, 2012. Tune(IN) for a rare live-broadcast via video streaming and Twitter updates under the hashtag #INcubes, with the INnovative startup founders and world-renowned mentors. It will all happen live on http://INcubes.ca from 9am to 5pm.

“This is not like any open house day you’ve seen; it’s no party. This is an uncensored look into what it’s like to be an aspiring entrepreneur inside an Internet incubator, including Pitch Practice and preparation for Demo Day," said Ben Zlotnick, founder of (IN)cubes.

On Monday (February 13), President Obama released his budget request for the 2013 fiscal year, totaling $3.8 trillion. In the science sector, he requested a 1 percent increase in research spending across the board.

However, as economic policy columnist Ezra Klein noted in the Washington Post, “Like the 2012 budget, (the 2013 budget) has no chance of being adopted by Congress.” Nevertheless, here’s how the various science-related agencies would fare if the science budget were approved as written.

Early on in The Start-up of You, Reid Hoffman takes on the sacred cow of career advice books, making it clear that the timeworn exhortations of What Color is Your Parachute? won’t fly in this economy.

“That’s the wrong question,” Hoffman, the co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn writes (with the help of coauthor Ben Casnocha). “What you should be asking yourself is whether your parachute can keep you aloft in changing conditions.”

Over much of the last decade or two, the subject of work-life balance has been a hot topic in the business world. Such well respected businesses as Google, Apple, and Microsoft have invested heavily in a variety of initiatives to help create a healthy, balanced lifestyle for their employees.

With such high profile corporations leading the way, it is not surprising that many small and mid-sized businesses are following this example and investing in their own work-life balance initiatives.

And while it is great to see that employers are concerned about the well-being of their employees, the unfortunate reality is that many businesses are wasting huge sums of money on work-life initiatives that don’t work for the majority of their employees, or do much of anything to enrich the broader corporate culture.

If you are new to the startup space and Angel investing, you probably don’t realize that some groups of Angel investors charge entrepreneurs a fee to pitch to their groups. This practice has caused a rousing debate among key players, with some calling it a scam, and others defending it as necessary to cover expenses.

Jason Calacanis, a well-known entrepreneur and Angel investor, opened the debate a while back in a strongly-worded article on his blog which attacked the practice on ethical grounds, and called out popular Angel groups charging fees ranging from several hundred dollars to $5,000 or more. He calls these a scam, and “Angel group” payola.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) announced the creation of the Maryland Entrepreneurs Resource List (MERL), a listing of Maryland entrepreneurs available to take on a management role with a start-up company within the next 18 months or those interested in mentoring start-up companies. Compiled with the goal of fostering entrepreneurial activity in the State, MERL serves as a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs interested in joining a start-up opportunity or entrepreneurs willing to provide advice and guidance on a pro bono basis. TEDCO is looking to grow the list, which already includes entrepreneurs in the areas of biotechnology, chemistry, medical devices, network and wireless solutions, physics, engineering and software.

"The Maryland Entrepreneurs Resource List will be a tremendous asset for this community as it will nurture new entrepreneurs and start-up companies," said Robert Rosenbaum, president and executive director of TEDCO. "Maryland is fortunate to have a rich network of entrepreneurs spanning various disciplines and industries, and now these individuals have an invaluable resource when looking for guidance, direction and opportunity. With Governor O'Malley's proposed Maryland Innovation Initiative slated to provide additional and much-needed funding to entrepreneurs, we hope this unique and credible list will further connect the entrepreneur community and facilitate growth for an innovation-driven economy."

During the past 25 years I've seen a lot of innovation councils (aka "innovation task forces") come and go.

Some of them looked good at the beginning and died a slow death. Some of them looked bad at the beginning and died a quick death.

And some of them actually succeeded.

Before diving in, pause, take a breath, and consider the following guidelines.

They will save you time. They will save you headaches. And they may even save your company.

One of the chief architects of the Obama administration's bottom-up innovation strategies, U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary for Economic Development John R. Fernandez to return to private sector to promote innovation, job creation and global competitiveness.

U.S. Commerce Department Assistant Secretary for Economic Development John R. Fernandez has spent the last two and a half years–amid the most severe economic downturn in generations–successfully guiding the Economic Development Administration (EDA). In this role, he has led the Federal economic development agenda by promoting innovation and helping America’s communities build the foundation for long-term growth. He announced his decision today to return to the private sector, where he will continue to foster innovation, job creation and global competitiveness.

PHOENIX, Feb. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In a joint effort to end lawsuit abuse and ensure that businesses receive the fair, efficient, and consistent justice system they deserve, the Public Policy Committee of the Arizona Technology Council and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry today voiced strong support for recently introduced Arizona Tort Legislation that the two organizations recently worked together to define.

"We support the principal that it is important to fairly distribute awards to those who are truly harmed, but not unfairly distributed to legal counsel who often use the tort system as an industry in and of itself," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council.  "By reforming the current legislation to lower tort costs and litigation risks, we are committed to having Arizona's system of tort viewed by business as a key reason for locating in our state."

Gus Sentementes' recent article noted that Lookingglass Cyber Solutions, one of our region's technology companies, had received $5 million in venture capital from sources on both coasts ("To find investors: Go west, young startup — but come back," Feb. 12). This is no small feat, since less than 1 percent of all companies receive this type of funding.

Venture capital requires a perfect combination of strong management, a compelling product, a large market and little real competition — and, as Lookingglass CEO Derek Gabbard noted, good timing and luck.

The reasons 99 percent of companies aren't attractive for venture capital have less to do with where they are located and more to do with the realities of their business models.

With one month down in 2012, it's a good thing we waited until February to put this out. One of the four sites below wasn't even on our radar until late last month. All four are heading in the right direction in a segment of the Internet that has most saying Facebook has muscled everyone else out.

With the possible exception of Google+, most believe that the big dogs have the social media market cornered. Facebook owns networking. Twitter owns news and blabber. YouTube owns video. With the lines drawn, it seems as if everyone else old and new has to settle for attempting to dominate small niches within the industry.

If you mention venture capital most people immediately think of Silicon Valley in California.  Even now, long after the dot-com bust, Silicon Valley still attracts the most dollars.  The National Venture Capital Association reported that, in the fourth quarter of 2011, Silicon Valley attracted nearly half of all venture capital in the U.S.  By comparison, the Midwest attracted three percent.

When it comes to capital, having access to public and private funds is ideal for regions and entrepreneurs, according to David Morgenthaler, founder of Morgenthaler Ventures, and one of the nation’s most respected venture capitalists.

Small businesses were spared nearly $12 billion in regulatory compliance costs thanks to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy’s role in the rule-making process last year.

That’s according to the office’s annual report on what it does to make sure that federal agencies consider how their regulations affect small businesses. The office’s job is to enforce the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), which requires agencies to analyze the effects of their rules on small businesses and consider less-burdensome alternatives.

Reid Hoffman is a nice-guy billionaire who founded LinkedIn, was an early backer of many of the most important Internet companies of the last decade and now also invests professionally as a Sand Hill Road venture capitalist.

Now, he wants to be a business book guru, too. Hoffman’s “The Start-Up of You,” which was released today, is an accessible how-to guide written for people looking to improve their careers.