It is widely accepted that building a business relies on having a good idea, but more importantly on having good execution. Founders have to be really good about maintaining a vision of the next ten steps they need to take, and then blocking and tackling through all the steps to reach the next decision point. With all of that forward looking focus, it is easy to forget to look back. Happily, pitching at the Wharton Venture Initiation Program Networking Event last week forced me to consider how much my business has evolved since I first pitched to enter the program three months ago.

Image Courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It will surprise precisely no one that there's been a steady and significant growth in the size of hospital IT departments in recent years. HIMSS Analytics data shows that staff sizes have grown considerably, from an average of 24 full-time equivalents in 2008, to 35 FTEs in 2012.

That, of course, is "primarily driven by the fact that we have so many more systems being deployed," says HIMSS Analytics Executive Vice President John Hoyt.

Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Arguably, the only way to keep your data truly safe and secure and private these days is to stay far away from any electronic devices other than a toaster. And even the toaster is suspect at this point.

But if you’re like most people, you need the Internet to do your job, and you like the Internet to keep in touch with family and friends, and you at least don’t mind the Internet when it comes to consuming media via Netflix, Hulu, etc.

Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So, you’ve been chosen to lead the creation of an innovation program for your organization.  Or perhaps you’ve been in this role for some time.  You are hearing a constant clarion call for “more innovation.”  Meetings have been held; “future state” presentations have been made; declarations have been definitively declared.  Innovation has been enshrined as the foundation of your organization’s long-term success.

Lucky you!

If you find yourself in this position – charged with building innovation or some similar accountability – it’s time to think about “what” more than “how.”

Image Courtesy of dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Scientists are a notoriously strange bunch.

After all, it helps to be a little bit different to pursue ideas that no one else believes in. Many scientists have had eccentric or prickly personalities, while others were polymaths who couldn't understand the limitations of other people's feeble brains. And quite a few have gone to extraordinary lengths in their quest for knowledge, with both terrifying and hilarious results.

A record of every Google search you do, every chat message you send and every item you buy may be saved on a computer.

For humanity's commerce and communication, life in the information age involves leaving an electronic trail. Most people now seek information from search engines, rather than libraries; correspond via email and instant messaging, not letters; and increasingly make purchases online.

Image Courtesy of watcharakun / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Seaweed could smother polar underwater ecosystems as melting sea ice exposes the seafloor to more sunlight, new research shows.

Animals that dwell on the seafloor of the Arctic and Antarctic spend most of their lives in total darkness: Sea ice blocks rays during the spring and early summer, and the sun sets completely in the winter. Late summer and early fall — when the ocean warms up enough to thaw the ice — often marks the only time these critters see light.

Image Courtesy of CNaene / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

Pull out the list of the “most innovative companies” from your favorite business magazine. With the exception of their brand recognition, which is the entry fee for these beauty pageants, they have few innovation competencies or practices in common that would distinguish them from the rest of the rabble—whether unique strategies, unusual financing or novel ways of hiring and staffing.

The fact is that one size never fits all. Checklists are for complex routine tasks and situations that are predictable. Neither are conditions for disruptive innovation. What makes innovation companies unique is, well, unique. That is they are highly adapted for their specific situation.

Image Courtesy of rajcreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

America needs all the talent it can get at home to spur job creation and economic growth. Recently, we have given a lot of attention to the untapped potential of immigrant entrepreneurs. Today, I take a look at other data and ask what we can do to enable more women in America to achieve their full potential as entrepreneurs.

According to the latest report from the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity (KIEA), in the U.S., men are twice as likely to open a business each month than are women. The average rate of entrepreneurial activity for men over the 1996-2012 period was 0.37 percent, while for women it was substantially lower at 0.23 percent. This study of almost two decades of entrepreneurship in America shows that the gender gap in entrepreneurship remains stubbornly persistent, and out of proportion compared to women’s share of the general population, college degrees and the labor force.

"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." -- Ayn Rand, author of Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

Whether or not you're a fan of Ayn Rand, these words speak to the very core of an entrepreneur -- a person who creates something where there wasn't something before. It's about taking control and making things happen on your own.

Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

At CES in January both Ford and General Motors unveiled their connected car open development plans, but the two automakers couldn’t have been different in how they followed up. Ford immediately started pumping out new apps for its Sync AppLink platform, but GM kept quiet. It opened up its new developer portal to registrants, and that’s it; except for a promise to show us the fruits of its labors this fall in a few of its model year 2014 vehicles.

Image Courtesy of nokhoog_buchachon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Building a startup can be as tough as “chainsawing your way out of a great white shark’s stomach,” at least according to Dave McClure. Often it is angel investors who are there to help entrepreneurs take those first steps out of the proverbial shark’s stomach.

Angel investors are a critical part of the startup ecosystem. They provide cash, make connections, and offer encouragement to help develop nascent ideas into actual businesses, or at least into a business that can attract funding from venture capitalist firms down the road. Angel investments are high-risk — the odds of a positive return are less than 50 percent, and angels are often motivated by factors other than money (although this is, of course, a factor). They are often entrepreneurs and executives passionate about supporting the next generation of innovators.  A study conducted by researchers from Harvard and MIT found that angel-funded startups are significantly more likely to survive at least four years and raise additional financing.

Image Courtesy of anekoho / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sharks have a bit of a PR problem on their fins. While the World Health Organization estimates 1.3 million people die in car crashes annually, ISAF reported shark attacks weigh in at approximately 80 — most of which aren't fatal. Although most of us won't think twice about jumping in a car, we might worry about the danger of sharks.

Despite a relatively low number of actual attacks, it's still smart to learn about shark safety. In honor of Shark Week (airing August 4th - 11th on Discovery Channel), Mashable consulted Dr. Joel Fodrie, an ecologist at the University of North Carolina's Institute of Marine Sciences in Beaufort, N.C., to clear the aquatic creatures' good name.

Image Courtesy of diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Facebook introduced embeddable posts this week, giving blogs and news organizations the ability to include public status updates, videos and photos in their stories. The new feature will allow users to like and comment on embedded Facebook posts directly inside blog entries and news articles. Mashable readers were quick to bring up the other social networks — Twitter and YouTube — that already offer the feature. Some expressed their concern around the privacy issues that embeddable posts may give rise to.

Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Entrepreneurship is the operative word these days — not just in the Valley. Universities are organizing business plan competitions, venture capital firms are offering entrepreneurs-in-residence (EIR) programs and corporations are putting programs in place to ensure that the sweet smell of capital keeps ideas and talent flowing through their doors.

Life is great — for some. But underneath all the self-congratulation and excitement, the picture is a little murky.

Image Courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Our contrarian viewpoint has served us very well. For example, we invested in redBus when there was a global market meltdown. - Manu Rekhi

Having tasted success with their investments in Indian firms, venture capital funds are in no mood to exit the country just yet and are keeping their eyes and ears open for the next big thing amid difficult market conditions. We spoke to Manu Rekhi, Principal at US-based Inventus Capital Partners, to gauge venture capital funds’ perspective on India.

The baby boomer generation, most of who are now in their late 50s and 60s, are one of the most important but overlooked market segments by many businesses today. This is unusual due to the fact that less than 5 percent of conventional marketing targets a demographic that accounts for nearly 80 million Americans and controls 70 percent of disposable income.

However, a few enterprising businesses and industries have realized the potential of this largely ignored, but important group. The result is that they are reaping the benefits of tailoring their products and services to target the baby boom generation’s $2.3 trillion annual spending power.

Image Courtesy of phanlop88 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My manager recently announced that she had been promoted to become a director, and that her position (our department manager) was vacant and that senior management would really like to see someone from our team fill that position. I was excited at the opportunity, and of course applied (as did most people in my department). Well, despite being the newest and youngest person, I got the job (yay!) but now everyone hates me. Everyone offered me forced congratulations, but these congratulations were often accompanied by things like “Congrats! I’m so happy for you. I guess experience wasn’t much of a factor since I’ve been here five years longer.” Or “Congratulations! You’re the first boss I’ve had that’s younger than me.” I should mention that opportunites like this are becoming rarer and rarer as our industry is outsourcing more and more.

Image Courtesy of cooldesign / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is being reported on several techie websites that when employees arrive for their first day at Apple, they are given the inspirational note shown below.

I love the concept of giving every new hire a letter on their first day for the following reasons:

Will the Living Wage Trend Kill or Make McDonald's and WalMart? Adam Hartung Contributor

Top 100 Inspirational Quotes Kevin Kruse Contributor 1)      First days are tough. You haven’t made “work friends” yet so you feel alone, you don’t know the company culture or jargon yet so you feel confused, and you are quite literally lost (“Where’s the coffee and bathroom?”). A warm letter can make you feel welcome.

It isn’t every day you get to have a conversation with Tim Draper, famous VC (he’s the “D” in “DFJ” and funded companies from Hotmail to Skype to lots of others).

I learned a lot about his approach to life, networking, entrepreneurship, and more in this conversation, which was aimed at college kids. But everyone can learn something about money management from this, too.

Image Courtesy of samarttiw / FreeDigitalPhotos.net