Venture capitalists and company chief executives both expect higher levels of venture capital investment in 2014, according to a survey by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Dow Jones VentureSource. The results of this year’s Venture View predictions survey showed both a greater mix of optimism and some concern for the venture ecosystem next year.

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There’s crowdfunding and then there’s crowdfunding. While most startups who set up pages on Kickstarter, Indiegogo or a host of other crowdfunding sites are looking to hit a specific goal and then get started making their project a reality, a new crop of businesses are using the platform for as a wholly different business model: selling their product before it exists.

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It’s been a challenging business year, but I hope you are all taking some time off this long holiday weekend, to celebrate with the family. Even those of you who are not Christian and see Christmas as just another day should still enjoy the holiday spirit, take a break from work, and enjoy your loved ones.

WHETHER YOU'RE SERGEY BRIN OR AN UNKNOWN ENTREPRENEUR, DEADLINES ARE DIFFICULT. THAT'S WHY YOU NEED A SIMPLE, TOUGH APPROACH, LIKE THE ONE USED BY GEORGE LOIS, THE LEGENDARY AD MAN AND DESIGNER. HIS WAY? "DON'T BE A PUS--." . . . HERE'S WHERE THE BLUE STREAK STARTS.

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With the generic cliff receding, R&D pipelines continuing to improve and FDA approvals of biopharmaceuticals up, opportunities outweigh the risks for investors in the biopharmaceuticals industry. The key for the industry going forward will be to continue to improve R&D productivity and commercialize drugs that represent a true advance to current treatment.

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Is sleep good for everything? Scientists hate giving unqualified answers. But the more sleep researchers look, the more the answer seems to be tending toward a resounding affirmative.

The slumbering brain plays an essential role in learning and memory, one of the findings that sleep researchers have reinforced repeatedly in recent years. But that’s not all. There’s a growing recognition that sleep appears to be involved in regulating basic metabolic processes and even in mental health. Robert Stickgold, a leading sleep researcher based at Harvard Medical School, gives a précis here of the current state of sommeil as it relates to memory, schizophrenia, depression, diabetes—and he even explains what naps are good for.

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Kate and Dan met on the job in Boston, when they were in their early 20s. He thought she was attractive; she thought he was an arrogant jerk. At a work party, it came out that both had lost a parent in recent years, and a mutual feeling of “you must really get me” washed over them. A few years later, when they both found themselves in New York and single, the friendship ramped way up, into multiple-phone-calls-per-day, soul-baring, belly-laughing territory.

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2013 was a remarkable year for digital health.

Health technology was one of the hottest sectors in Silicon Valley in 2013, with investors pouring $1.5 billion into the space by the end of the third quarter. Entrepreneurs jumped into health care to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other health reforms. And in 2013, doctors proved far more willing than ever before to adopt digital technologies, partly thanks to federal cash incentives: Under the government’s “Meaningful Use” guidelines, doctors who shift from paper-based records to electronic health records are eligible to receive large checks in the mail.

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The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 3309, the so-called “Innovation Act.” In reality, it is patent legislation that could dramatically diminish the protection given to inventions, and thus negatively impact our economic future and our country’s ability to lead the world in innovation. And Congress passed the legislation in just 43 days, not enough time to truly understand its impact.

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If 2012 was the year that 3D printing expanded and found its dark side, 2013 was the year that it found its sugar daddy.

Between big-bill acquisitions, surging stock prices, and major interest from investors, this was a year of financial success for the industry. Newbies entered the market, big companies got bigger, and some of the word’s biggest brands finally got interested.

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As 2013 winds down, we asked several venture capital investors to reflect on the past year and give us their outlook for 2014. Next in our series is Tracy Warren, general partner, Battelle Ventures.

Ms. Warren speaks about how life sciences needs to redefine itself, continued regulatory challenges and how the Affordable Care Act is creating opportunities for investors.

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Challenge:

Most organizations are structured around control and predictability; thus, innovation can trigger a negative response at many levels.

Quick Tip:

Strengthen the “driving forces” that can help an innovation project survive obstacles and make it to the finish line.

It’s no surprise that Detroit’s civic problems would resonate most clearly with people around the Great Lakes region. And in Milwaukee, the discussion has been pretty pointed at times—questions about the city’s urban poverty, how Detroit’s bankruptcy might affect Milwaukee, and whether state policies could drive public employees into the suburbs.

One thing they definitely have in common: a desire to foster a new, innovative slice of the local economy, built on high-growth technology companies.

It’s always tempting at this time of year to try to make a definitive list of the best ideas from the past 12 months. But then we end up debating what counts as best — important? useful? original? all three? — and compiling extremely long lists, struggling to shorten them, and over-thinking it all, when the point should just be to gather some really good reading for you for any free time you happen to find over the holiday. So this year, instead, we thought about the pieces that most surprised us or provoked us to think differently about an intractable problem or perennial question in management, we reviewed the whole year of data to remind ourselves what our readers found most compelling, and we looked for patterns in the subjects our authors raised most frequently and independently of our editorial urging.  The result, I think, is a set of ideas that together are important, useful, and original, and that feel like quite an accurate account of the management concerns many of us shared in 2013.

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Seven million viewers watch ABC’s “Shark Tank,” a reality show that pits four savvy venture capital investors—the “sharks”—against wide-eyed entrepreneurs who need funding to expand their companies. The entrepreneurs’ challenge: to raise as much money as they can while not giving up too much equity to the sharks. It’s fun to cheer against the toothy critters. But seeing as it’s the holidays, let’s show them some compassion by putting this game in better perspective.

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Borrowing concepts from 3D printing, scientists in Australia say they’ve come up with a device and a technique that could allow surgeons to precisely deliver live cells and growth factors directly onto damaged bones to help regenerate bone and cartilage.

Entrepreneurs are a resilient bunch; when a venture doesn’t work out, it is only a matter of time before they regroup and try another but, occasionally it may be necessary to find “traditional” employment in the interim. Presenting your special entrepreneurial skillsets to a potential employer may seem a daunting task initially, but in reality, the experiences and characteristics of an entrepreneur would be an asset to any organization. Here are 5 traits common amongst entrepreneurs and how to sell them to potential employers:

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Anyone who has watched ABC’s Shark Tank knows that pitching your business idea to a venture capitalist, let alone four of them, is no joke.  Before going into the meeting, you need to know your product better than the back of your hand, including the financial numbers behind it.  You better have your number of sales to date ready, as well as a deal to start negotiations with.  All this comes before you can worry about diction, posture, or any other public speaking skills.  Unfortunately, there are some amateur CEOs who weren’t quite prepared enough for the experience.  Let’s learn from their mistakes:

In 2011 The World Economic Forum had focus on the Nordic Model as a case of a region, which had came out the financial crunch better than most other regions. In February 2013 The Economist had a feature article titled ’The Nordic Countries – The Next Supermodel” stating that politicians from both right and left could learn from the Nordic countries. The question is would Schumpeter agree today?

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For most entrepreneurs, their current business is not where they intend to stay until they die. At the right time, they all intend to make a graceful exit, and leave while still perceived to be on top of their game. The challenge is how to know and exit gracefully when the right time has come, without trauma to either the company or themselves.