There has been a lot of pressure in recent years for cities to emulate Silicon Valley. If you Google “the next Silicon Valley,” you will find hundreds of articles listing different cities as the next Silicon beach, desert, forest, etc.

Being the mayor of a city is like being the CEO of a startup in a constant cycle of iteration, failure and success. Just like business leaders, mayors have to look at market trends and high impact opportunities while adapting to constant change, stakeholder pressures and unexpected crisis.

Recently, Jason Wiens, policy director for the Kauffman Foundation, and I presented a webinar on startup activity in America joined by federal and state policymakers from across the nation. We discussed both trends on the newly released Kauffman Index of Startup Activity and what policy can do for entrepreneurship in the U.S.

Below is the slide deck from the presentation, as well as additional resources.

Jyväskylä, Finland -- The 11th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship was held last week at this picturesque university town in the central Finnish “Lake District.”

9 ways to bend Windows 10 to your will Customize Windows 10 to your liking, not theirs. READ NOW Stanford University’s Henry Etzkovitz gave the opening keynote on “Triple Helix Innovation in a Crisis.”

Etzkovitz originated the concept of “Triple Helix,” for the combined efforts of government, industry, and academia in regional economic development. He declared that in the knowledge era, the academic strand of the helix is the critical component.

Within 5.5 miles between the upscale neighborhood Westover Hills and the much poorer Gilpin in Richmond, Virginia, there's a 20-year difference in average life expectancy.

Richmond is far from unique, as these maps dramatizing life-expectancy differences across cities show. In Philadelphia, you can travel five miles from Society Hill to North Philadelphia and get 20 years taken off your life. Or what about Chicago? Just seven stops on the "L" train will produce a 16-year difference.

Image: https://www.fastcoexist.com

As biotechnology gains prominence among investors, two hubs have emerged as hotbeds of innovation for the resurgent industry.

While the two-square-mile patch of South San Francisco bustles with over 70 biotech firms, including Genentech, Amgen and Exelixis, an equally influential geography has grown along the Lemanic Arc of Switzerland and into the heart of Basel, where pharma giants like Novartis, Actelion and Roche (which acquired Genentech in 2009) have their headquarters.

Image: https://techcrunch.com/

We are reaching a new critical shortage in the workforce. In addition to the health care sector’s impending lack of qualified nurses (and enough teachers to educate new ones) industry experts are sounding a similar alarm for cybersecurity experts.

Since the massive breach at Target in 2013, many other organizations have fallen prey to cybercriminals. The next year saw hacks into UPS, Goodwill, JP Morgan Chase, Sony, and others. Forrester Research predicted that 60% of brands would experience a breach of sensitive data in 2015. That estimate may have been conservative considering that last year, those organizations successfully targeted by cyberhackers included the FBI, Trump’s hotel chain, Experian, and Scottrade, among others.

Image: Flickr user allen

If you won’t take Price Intelligently Co-founder and CEO Patrick Campbell's word on the grand consequence of pricing strategy, heed the wisdom of Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet: “The single most important decision in evaluating a business is pricing power,” says the Oracle of Omaha, ranking it above good management. “If you’ve got the power to raise prices without losing business to a competitor, you’ve got a very good business. And if you have to have a prayer session before raising the price by 10 percent, then you’ve got a terrible business.”

College is stressful—balancing exams, extracurriculars, social life, OCR, and family time is no easy task, especially at Penn. Despite these pressures, the best time to start a company is during these 4 years. Whether you’re an incoming freshman or a senior, Penn offers you a unique set of resources to experiment with your ideas and build something impactful.

In March, two years ago, I walked out of Starbucks, with the very first check from an accredited investor. It was only $40,000, but it was enough to prove myself that I could actually make a decent living out of my startup. I had quit my full-time job that day after bootstrapping my startup for months with nothing, but the passion to turn my knitting website into one of America’s largest community and marketplace. You can say I have never looked back since. Although I have never studied entrepreneurship or finance, I could manage to enjoy the exhilarating entrepreneurial roller coaster ride because of my very, very thick skin. My friend, Scott Wilhelm has a different story to tell. He has netted little revenue for his professional sports mobile app and faced at least a hundred rejections

Image: https://www.industryleadersmagazine.com

Silicon Valley has been and continues to be one of the world’s most important centers of innovation and technology disruption. Given the Valley’s nearly unique set of assets—the presence of technology giants, world-class universities, abundant venture capital, and a hypercompetitive yet collaborative culture that celebrates both risk and failure—the Northern California region’s recipe for innovation has rarely been replicated. Large enterprises are increasingly venturing into the Valley to draw upon “outside-in” innovation, but they often stumble due to cultural, structural, and regulatory hurdles. To be able to harness Silicon Valley’s innovation ecosystem to their advantage, enterprises should have clearly stated objectives and direction, as well as a deep understanding of the local environment.

Image: http://dupress.com

Anyone can be a venture capitalist. At least that’s a common take on new SEC regulations removing the “accredited investor” requirement for taking equity shares in private companies. More than a dozen crowdfunding sites are scrambling to connect would-be VCs with startups seeking capital, according to the New York Times. The change may democratize finance, but there are no guarantees of that. The Times article points out that “the most promising companies—the high-growth ventures delivering the monster returns that keep the entire venture-capital industry afloat—may also be the ones least likely to bother raising money in small dribs from the crowd.”

Image: http://insights.som.yale.edu

William Crane, founder and CEO of IndustryStar Solutions LLC, is quietly building an amazing team – and fast growth business – in Ann Arbor.

IndustryStar’s innovative Supply Chain as a Service - virtual supply chain team enabled by patent-pending cloud software - lowers staffing costs, provides a variable cost structure as opposed to fixed, and allows companies to instantly scale and ramp down real time. The company’s recent client wins include electric bus OEM Proterra, powertrain Tier I supplier Blackburn, and consumer electronics company Cycleboard.

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. (BIVI) recently opened a new research and development facility at Iowa State University Research Park in Ames, Iowa and ZimmComm’s own Jamie Johansen had the opportunity to tour the facility prior to the official kick off of the 2016 World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. The Health Management Center (HMC) is also located on the same campus and was founded to enable deeper investigation into debilitating swine diseases such as Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and Porcine circovirus Type 2 (PCV2).

Image: http://agwired.com

The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurship series offers in-depth measures of the people and businesses that contribute to America’s overall economic dynamism.

The series consists of reports and accompanying interactive data visualizations presenting entrepreneurial trends nationally, at the state level, and for the 40 largest metropolitan areas in these categories:

KELSEY CAMPBELL-DOLLAGHAN 06.24.16 9:00 AM In some ways, Columbus is the every-city. It’s at the very center of a state known as the "heart" of America. It is not home to the country’s technological nexus, like San Francisco. It’s not a creative hub the way Portland is. It’s not hosting a thriving experiment in the marijuana industry, like Denver.

Yet Columbus managed to beat out all of these cities—and some 80 others—to win an enormous amount of money that will help it shape itself into something else: the first truly "smart" city.

Ah, the art of the pitch. It’s probably the subject you’ll see more articles dedicated to on entrepreneurial sites than any other. Small wonder too: a great pitch aimed at the right investor can get you the funding you need to accelerate and grow your startup.

And, depending on what kind of pitch you’re doing, a great pitch deck can make a massive difference. It can help you stick in the mind of potential investors and illustrate what sets you apart from your potential competitors.

Image: http://ventureburn.com

Wait, can this be true? From a new report by 1776, “a global incubator and seed fund,” comes this startling claim: “Boston is the #1 city in the U.S. for fostering entrepreneurial growth.”

Boston, not Silicon Valley? Really? This chart from the reports seems to say otherwise:

Image: http://www.aei.org

Tech jobs are some of the most in-demand so far this year, so it’s not a big surprise that the top ranked U.S. city for jobs in 2016 is San Jose, according to the latest analysis by Glassdoor.

"Situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose is home to high-profile companies such as Facebook, Google, and PayPal," Glassdoor community expert Allison Berry tells Fast Company. "San Jose has the highest score for three of our factors: hiring opportunity, job satisfaction, and work-life balance," she says, even though it comes with a high cost of living.

Millions of dollars in planned investments along with job creation and retention were once again touted during Ann Arbor SPARK's annual meeting on Monday May 16, 2016 at The Eagle Crest Hotel in Ypsilanti Township.

Now in its 11th year of existence, SPARK released its 2015 annual report in which the company says $130 million in new investments were announced last year, on top of 891 announced jobs and 5,010 jobs retained in the region.

"Our economy has really involved in tandem with the startups that have chooses to call this region home," said SPARK board chair Cynthia Wilbanks. "The keys to that success are the abilities to attract talent and capital."

Image: Ann Arbor SPARK CEO Paul Krutko. (File photo | The Ann Arbor News)

You may be bored with your current job, longing for the day when you can be your own boss. There many be a business idea, a product, a solution rattling around in your head, and you may have the intention of creating a startup around it. The question is, how do you make money out of your idea?

Funders & Founders have put together a small infographic on just how to achieve your goal. It’s not in-depth, and some may want to look at their previous infographics, such as doing things that don’t scale and how to nab that investor, but it’s, at least, a pathway to get you on the right track. The steps include prototyping, selling your product, and listing your company on a stock exchange — all in a tongue-in-cheek way, of course.

Image: http://ventureburn.com