Here we highlight selected innovation related articles from around the world on a daily basis. These articles related to innovation and funding for innovative companies, and best practices for innovation based economic development.
In 2007, Clayton Christensen co-founded Rose Park Advisors, a hedge fund devoted to investing in disruptive companies. The idea was to transform his theory of disruptive innovation into an investment thesis. Disruptive innovation can take several forms, and the market understands some types better than others. But do markets really follow the logic of an academic theory?
Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
APPLE is the new most valuable brand in the world, according to a closely followed annual report.
The report, to be released on Monday, is from Interbrand, a corporate identity and brand consulting company owned by the Omnicom Group that has been compiling what it calls the Best Global Brands report since 2000. The previous No. 1 brand, Coca-Cola, fell to No. 3.
Companies spent $294 billion on research and development performed in the United States during 2011, compared with $279 billion during 2010 (table 1). Funding from the companies’ own sources was $222 billion during 2010 and $239 billion during 2011; funding from other sources was $57 billion in 2010 and $55 billion in 2011 (table 2). Data for this InfoBrief are from the Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS), which was developed and cosponsored by the National Science Foundation and Census Bureau.
In 2012, the Wall Street Journal and Citi announced their finalists for the most innovative “City of the Year” contest: New York, Tel Aviv, and a surprising third selection, Medellin, Colombia.
The city of Medellin, which Time Magazine 20 years ago referred to as the “coke capital of the world” and 10 years ago had a homicide rate 12 times that of Chicago, was selected as the winner.
Image Courtesy of nattavut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Raising money and spending it wisely are two different games.
In startup-land, people seem to think raising money is a signal that their business is sound and they should start scaling as soon as possible.
But in my experience, raising money has no bearing on whether you’re ready to scale or not. All it says is that the CEO is a charismatic salesperson who gets investors to buy into his or her vision.
Image Courtesy of foto76 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
1. Dr. Presser - first of all, tell us a bit about yourself! What led you to HR studies?
I never actually studied HR, although I did run a couple of HR departments in the past. I’m a behavioral scientist by trade, and from my early days I was interested in one big question: what really happens when people team together? I got to do a lot of observation in the various jobs I had, from being an advanced practice psych nurse to president of a sheet metal manufacturing company. Then, in the mid-80s I was very lucky to meet Dr. Jack Gerber, another behavioral scientist with an interest in applying hard science to the study of team interaction. We spent years looking at every kind of assessment and measure we could find, and every statistical method too. There was nothing wrong with them, but breaking human behavior down to parts and pieces just didn’t tell us what we were after.
I’m an internet entrepreneur — and part of a new wave of business creators spurred on by the invention of the internet almost 20 years ago. The internet is a new way of life that has disrupted established industries and business models and therefore created new opportunities and gaps for entrepreneurs. The internet has caused the dramatic fall in barriers-to-entry to create businesses. Most internet businesses need little infrastructure and capital. Distribution and marketing has never been easier and cheaper (thank you, social media). Internet-based businesses are easier, faster to start and are very profitable. And on the back of this, entrepreneurialism has become sexy and a viable option for graduates.
Image Courtesy of -Marcus- / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Waterproof cases do more than just keep your phone safe from a clumsy mishap — they can also help expand your filtered-photo dreams underwater.
They might cost a little more than a regular case, but can you really put a price on beauty like the kind captured in these Instagram pics?
Channel your inner mermaid and check out the amazing photos of those who know why it's better under da' sea.
IMAGE: @L3ALIK ON INSTAGRAM
It was probably about my third month living New York City when I realized that I had lost control. I was working long days while also trying to stay fit, build rapport in the media community and have a vivacious social life (and maybe get some shut-eye). My schedule would be booked for weeks in advance, but still I wouldn’t want to turn down requests to do anything, and would instead try to puzzle-piece them in. At the end of each day, I would come home drained at 10 p.m. or later, feeling like I didn’t do half of the things I’d meant to.
Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Effective communication is an absolute requirement for successfully starting a business, but it doesn’t come naturally to many entrepreneurs. Communication is considered a social skill, and inventors and engineers, for example, are not known to be social butterflies.
Founders have to communicate their ideas and products to investors, business partners, and the rest of the team. Then, hopefully, come customers, distribution channels, and going public or merging with an attractive buy-out candidate. Communication is not just talking, but also writing, body language, and “actions speak louder than words.”
Though many gene therapies have been tested in patients around the world in hopes of curing hereditary diseases, few governments have approved their sale, and none has been approved in the United States. That could change in coming years as several therapies enter advanced trials.
A big step forward already came in November 2012, when the European Medicines Agency gave the Dutch biotech startup UniQure permission to sell its treatment. That approval came as a relief to many in the field, who had been waiting for a break in the clouds hanging over the technology since failed and fatal trials in the 1990s. “You see a resurgence in terms of investors, and in truth, a number of problems have been solved,” says Katherine High, a medical researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who is overseeing a late-stage clinical trial for a different gene therapy.
Small businesses face important decisions about employee benefits, and as deadlines for Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements draw near, timing is of the essence.
You should consider the following three questions to make more informed decisions for your workforce.
Image Courtesy of Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.”
From the hyperbolic Jason Calacanis weighing in that “The petty VC’s did everything to deride (Naval, the co-founder of AngelList)” as though the industry was collectively shitting its pants that AngelList was going to put us out of business. But Jason is one of the smartest thinkers in our industry so while style points in his eye-poking post might be low, he’s definitely scratching at something important.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The city plans to spend $225,000 over the next three years in an attempt to bolster neighborhood business districts.
To facilitate a three-fold plan of business recruitment, retention and development, City Commissioners agreed to hire the non-profit Neighborhood Ventures to be its “feet on the street.”
Image: MLive.com File
The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) provides a peek into the health of the nation, and has been monitoring things such as smoking rates, obesity and physical activity since 1957. The data is collected from household interviews conducted during the U.S. Census. This year the Centers for Disease Control and National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) updated estimates for 15 health measures based on data collected between January–March 2013. Read on for highlights from five of the survey results.
Image Courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
A couple of years ago, I was chatting with a guy named Naval, who had a site called AngelList. He had a fiery passion for helping founders and an outsider’s chip on his shoulder.
He wasn’t taken very seriously in the industry, and the venture capitalists I spoke to dismissed him as somewhere between a loon and a jerk.
I literally heard a dozen VCs dismiss AngelList and Naval. They hated it. Some hated him.
Image Courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
“If it’s a sure thing, then it’s already on its way out.” – Investor’s saying
As the Managing Director at a tech accelerator, I face a dilemma. I need to fund the most talented people, because they’ll be most likely to build great companies. But I also need to find the hidden gems. I’m the sort of person who’s always looking for the best deals. Let me tell you, great deals almost always come from unexpected sources.
Image Courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
U.S. regulators are tied up in knots trying to figure out how to write laws for equity crowdfunding to prevent fraud.
Perhaps they ought to take a page from the Dutch.
In the Netherlands, equity crowdfunding from unaccredited investors has been legal for the better part of three years. “The Netherlands are really a frontrunner in equity-based crowdfunding,” Korstiaan Zandvliet, the co-founder of Symbid, said at the Massolution crowdsourcing conference in New York City last week.
Image Courtesy of Ohmmy3d / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The launch of the new health insurance marketplaces, called exchanges, on Tuesday will mark a long-anticipated step forward in the effort to reform our health-care system.
Painting the outcome of this and other changes as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with a broad brush is impossible. But one thing is certain: With millions of Americans uninsured and health-care costs continuing to grow, something needs to change. While the ACA may not be perfect, it's the law. Insurers, doctors, and patients must work together to successfully implement it.
Image Courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
In 2012, the Wall Street Journal and Citi announced their finalists for the most innovative “City of the Year” contest: New York, Tel Aviv, and a surprising third selection, Medellin, Colombia.
The city of Medellin, which Time Magazine 20 years ago referred to as the “coke capital of the world” and 10 years ago had a homicide rate 12 times that of Chicago, was selected as the winner.
Image Courtesy of khunaspix / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
