I’ve had a post in my head for months – maybe longer – about the role of a CEO.   It originally appeared on TechCrunch as a guest post but just in case you missed it there.  My primary role was “chief psychologist” and as I’ve learned over the past few years the same has been true as a VC.  Both are basically people businesses.

I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does.  He says it basically comes down to three key functions:

• Sets the overall vision and strategy of the company and communicates it to all stakeholders
• Recruits, hires, and retains the very best talent for the company.
• Makes sure there is always enough cash in the bank.

Many people link the idea of creativity with being an “artist,” meaning someone who has a natural talent for expressing what they see through writing, art, dance, music or song. Art is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as human creativity. This need to create is an expression of our soul that reaches back to the very beginning of time. The ancient yogis called it pakritti, the universal energy that makes up all forms of matter. Creative energy is the cycle of birth, growth, and dissolution, a never-ending cycle to which we are all intimately connected. In other words, art is a metaphor for life, and life is a metaphor for living. Expressing yourself creatively is a recognition, integration, and understanding of what it is to be human.

One of the big debates in the venture capital industry lately has been the growing argument between so-called "super angels" and traditional VCs - the former being prone to mention how they feel the latter "sucks." As one would expect, many voices in the industry have made themselves heard in the form of VC blog posts and passionate, profanity-laced shouting matches. But when the fog of war clears, what should startups take away from the debate? Should they seek investment from VCs or super angels? Or both? Thankfully, some level-headed perspectives have emerged that are aimed at helping young startups interpret the lessons to be learned.

VP serves franks to the troops, yucks it up with Stephen Colbert Wednesday night on Comedy Central.

Energy efficiency has only recently become a popular concern among vehicle owners, but some people have been thinking about it for a long, long time. Craig Henderson and Bill Green designed the Avion, a fuel-efficient sports car, in 1984. Two years later, the vehicle set the Guinness World Record for fuel economy, getting an average of 103.7 mpg all the way from the Mexico border to the British Columbia, Canada, border. Now Henderson has revived the Avion for another jaunt from Canada to Mexico.

The latest iteration of the vehicle is just 1500 pounds and features an aluminum monocoque frame, a carbon fiber, kevlar and fiberglass body, and Goodyear "Fuel Max" tires. After receiving a sponsorship deal from Goodyear, Henderson decided to go from border to border once again--this time, on a single tank of gas.

I recently published an e-Book, “Building the Marketing Plan: A Blueprint for Startups” Summarized in it are some considerations – with respect to messaging, infrastructure, demand generation, process, budgets and timelines – that I’ve found useful across a bunch of markets and companies. [I was amused that in a couple days, it generated more leads for HubSpot – thousands – than I generated in the first year of each of my two startups. A lesson for me in market timing and reach. :) Build Plan OnStartups ]

In the spirit of Dharmesh’s “Startup Triplets: Startup Advice In Exactly 3 Words”, here are some of the take-aways from the e-Book.

The response to the original post of three interesting innovation contests was so positive, I’ve decided to start collecting contests and then posting them on the blog and on the twitter stream.  I’m not sure why there is such a strong interest in contests.  Maybe it has something to do with wanting to have some validation of our creative ability.  At the same time, rejection of our ideas can be a challenge to our psyche.

Here are three more innovation contest that you may be interested in.

Most organizations are so incompetent that they’re best described as flat-out stupid. Does this label apply to the place where you work? Take the Logan Organizational Stupidity Exam (LOSE) and find out. Every time you say “Yep, that’s where I work,” give your company a point.

As 56 million children return to the nation's 133,000 elementary and secondary schools, the promise of "reform" is again in the air. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has announced $4 billion in "Race to the Top" grants to states whose proposals demonstrate, according to Duncan, "a bold commitment to education reform" and "creativity and innovation [that are] breathtaking." What they really show is that few subjects inspire more intellectual dishonesty and political puffery than "school reform."

I have been studying recession for years. The current Great Recession, while highly unfortunate, is not an unprecedented event. We have had many recessions in the past. Based on my study of them, I can make several observations. First, expansion always follows recession and lasts longer than recession. For instance, a 16-month recession after the dot-com debacle was followed by seven years of expansion. Second, after the recession is over, the competitive landscape fundamentally changes—there are new winners and new losers. That leads to the third observation: The winners invest in innovation during recession, while the losers fail to do this. The best time to prepare for expansion is during recession.

True, these are tough economic conditions. Resources are scarce. I recommend a three-pronged strategy for pursuing innovation, even during extraordinarily difficult times. First, set aside a percentage of resources (both people and dollars) for innovation, and ring a fence around these resources. Second, take a hard look at all the projects under way in your company and stop the ones that show little future prospect. You can release resources by shutting down "low-probability-to-succeed" projects. Third, be very disciplined about implementing innovation initiatives. It is the third step—making innovation happen—that seems to be the most difficult.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso yesterday (7 September) unveiled plans to create a "vacancy monitor" intended to fill four million vacant jobs across the 27-member bloc. The move signals the EU executive's intent to play an active role in boosting job creation.

In his first 'State of the Union' address to MEPs in Strasbourg yesterday, Barroso said that while responsibility for employment policy and job creation is primarily the preserve of member states, his EU executive will not "stand on the sidelines" in the battle to restore European economic growth, create jobs and reform pension systems.

Instead, the president foresees an activist Commission that will "help its people to seize new opportunities". To that end, he proposed a number of new initiatives, chief among which was a so-called "European Vacancy Monitor" that will show people where jobs are available in Europe and which skills are needed in any given country.

As an entrepreneur building a startup, there is no fail-safe recipe for success. Chances are good that you are experienced in your field, you have vetted your idea enough to know that there is potential, and you are feeling pretty confident that you can make the startup work.Why You Need a Business Mentor

As confident as you may be, you may not even realize what you don’t know. This is why it is so important to bolster your knowledge from experts around you. Finding experienced advisors or mentors can be invaluable to helping you navigate the waters. Whether they can help you avoid unnecessary obstacles, learn more about an industry or discipline, they can be a priceless resource for entrepreneurs.

Welcome to the rest of the year!

Hope you enjoyed a slow, relaxing August, and long Labor day weekend. Now it's time to get back to business.

The fourth quarter is just around the corner, and we expect the rest of the year to be jam-packed with important story lines that shape the technology landscape for years to come.

It's painful enough to see your team lose the season. But the sheer agony of watching your star fantasy quarterback get pummeled to the ground is almost unbearable.

You watch in disbelief as he clutches his leg. He's probably out for the season, taking your fantasy team down with him.

Henry Olszewski, Vice President of Sales at Intermarket Insurance Agency, has felt this pain. In 2008, he drafted New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Eight minutes into the first game, Brady tore two ligaments in his knee and was out of commission for the season. As a result, Olszewski's fantasy football team was a wash.

The nation’s leading venture capital trade association is forming a subgroup to advocate for policies and regulations that it says would bolster medical innovation in the U.S.

The new group, the Medical Innovation and Competitiveness (MedIC) Coalition, is open to members of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and their portfolio companies, according to a statement from the NVCA.

The new group lists three major goals:

• Bring the importance of medical innovation to the forefront as the country implements healthcare reform

• Establish new and preserve existing incentives for investors and entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize medical innovations in the U.S.

• Achieve broad-based reform of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

One of the most common criticisms of VC investors making seed investments is something that has become known as “the signaling problem.” The explanation of this problem is that VCs create a “negative perception” about a company if the make a seed investment but then don’t follow through and make a next round investment. Another way to say this is that a VC creates a “signaling situation” with their seed investment – if they don’t follow on in the next round they are “sending a signal” that something is wrong with the company (hence the label “signaling problem.”)

Last week I spoke with a partner at a large VC firm whose firm has been around for a long time. They have a new seed program (as of a few years ago) after eschewing seed investments from 2002 to 2008. The partner that I talked to told me that they are doing 30 seed investments out of their newest fund.

I was surprised on two levels – the first is that they have a very visible anti-seed reputation. I pointed out that their market reputation was that they didn’t do seed investments nor did they do many Series A investments. He said “we changed that a few years ago.” I suggested that their web site didn’t talk about their seed program; he responded “yeah, we need to work on our web site.”

I love Jackson Hole, Wyo. It is one of the most extraordinarily beautiful settings in the world.

One cannot help being in a good mood when observing the breathtaking wildlife, open sky and the awe-inspiring Grand Tetons.

Thus, reading the reports from last weekend’s annual economist confab in Jackson Hole could not have been more depressing. If the practitioners of the dismal science sound this pessimistic amidst such an uplifting setting, what will their attitude be when they trade in their cowboy boots for green eye shades and return to their drab offices to stare at spreadsheets?

On a Thursday night in August, some 750 people crammed into a high school auditorium in Minneapolis to discuss the future of the Internet. Most of them went to beseech members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to act to protect Internet neutrality, the premise that all data on the Web should be treated equally. During the three-hour forum, organized by the pro-Net-neutrality coalition Save the Internet, an array of speakers warned that without safeguards in place, corporate behemoths would cut lucrative deals to prioritize some kinds of content and throttle others, turning themselves into the unofficial gatekeepers of the world's best leveling force. Net neutrality, said Senator Al Franken, is "the First Amendment issue of our time."