The University of New Mexico’s technology transfer program reached new heights in fiscal year 2013, which ended June 30.

The Science and Technology Corp., UNM’s technology commercialization office, issued a record number of licenses to companies to take university inventions to market this year.

It also reported a record number of new startup companies forming to commercialize UNM technology, a record level of invention disclosures by faculty to feed the tech-transfer pipeline, and the highest levels of patent applications and number of patents approved in a single year.

Image Source: Free Digital Photos

The U.S. Small Business Administration is investing in regional clusters throughout the US that span a variety of industries, ranging from energy and manufacturing to agriculture and advanced defense technologies.

Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, academic institutions, service providers and associated organizations with a specific industry focus. They provide high-value, targeted connecting of small and large businesses, including networking with potential industry partners abroad.

The first rule is that there are no rules.

Physicist Frank Oppenheimer, the brother of Manhattan Project director J. Robert Oppenheimer, didn't say those exact words when he founded the first-of-its-kind hands-on museum the Exploratorium in the late 1960s. But you know he wanted to.

Image Courtest of porbital / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We have all been watching the shopping sprees of three tech giants in the past year; heck their shopping trolleys have been driving news in the industry for the past year. From the purchase of smaller startups like Snip.it by Yahoo! to Facebook’s costly acquisition of Instagram, it seems the new mission for startups isn’t just to have a super cool concept; it’s to find a home in the most sought after office blocks of Silicon Valley.

As a busy entrepreneur, you need a way to stay connected to your business no matter where you are in the world. Today’s entrepreneur needs to be able ‘go’ at a moments notice. Which means they need to have the tools to run their business with them at all times.

Every mobile entrepreneur needs an iPad (or other tablet) and a smart phone that can provide access to these tools. Whether you choose Android or iPhone, you’ll find lots of great business apps that make it easy for you to run your business without actually being at a computer. 

AngelList is testing out a new service that lets angel investors syndicate deals with each other, a feature that could allow startups to raise venture-sized rounds of money with relative ease. Called Syndicates, the private-beta product lets any accredited investor on the AngelList fundraising platform essentially create, lead and collect carry for a fund of angel money for a specific startup.

The carry part could help motivate an angel who truly believes in the startup to put in the hard work of helping it raise all the money it thinks it needs. In a world where more startups than ever are trying to raise money, and more investors are competing to find the best ones, this model may quickly become popular.

MyCorporation and Visual.ly have created an infographic detailing the seven fastest growing industries in 2013. The report is based on data collected by market research firm Ibis World, which said “these industries are expected to continue their meteoric rise and far outpace the rest of the economy.” Five of these seven sectors relate to emerging forms of technology — green tech, online education, social games, mobile apps, and 3D printing — underscoring the idea that innovation leads to job creation.

While the 4th of July brought with it the annual array of picnics and fireworks, this year it also saw the kickoff of the 3rd consecutive #HIT100 competition. The brainchild of Michael Planchart, aka The EHR Guy, the list aims to recognize the top contributors to the HIT social media community.

Many of the "winners", identified by their Twitter handles, will be familiar to most readers, but a comparison with last year's list reveals how fortunes, or perhaps influence, can rise and fall as the years go by. In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that Government Health IT Editor Tom Sullivan (@GovHITeditor), appears again on this year's list.

To boost the global standing of EU universities, the European Commission has pegged in its higher education strategy a new form of university listing, which analysts say may overturn the US “elite” bias of current commercial rankings.

The strategy, released yesterday (11 July), aims to ensure that European graduates gain the skills they need to work anywhere in the world and that Europe keep its place as a preferred destination for international students.

What does your life look like?

Just yesterday, I worked from 6:00 AM through 5:00 PM and then I ran off to dinner with my husband and my son – checking my iPhone intermittently for updates and emails on an event I was producing.  I came home and hopped on a Twitter Chat between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM and then crashed in a heap.

Like you, I work for myself and probably like you, my personal and professional worlds have somehow become intertwined in a rather clumsy dance I call my life.

CAN London Business School (LBS) teach you how to be an entrepreneur? Not exactly. But its entrepreneurship summer school, which has just entered its twelfth year, thinks it can help. Since its inception in 2001, alumni have founded 212 startups. A 2012 survey conducted by LBS found that these firms had revenues of just under £114m in 2011, had raised over £476m in equity, and had created more than 1,200 jobs.   

Many are sceptical of what business schools can do for entrepreneurs. A 2012 survey by QS Top MBA saw a third of MBA applicants cite entrepreneurship as one of their preferred specialisms, but this enthusiasm doesn’t always translate post-graduation. At Business Week’s top-ranked business school, University of Chicago: Booth, 43 per cent of 2011 graduates went into finance and 30 per cent into consulting. At Said Business School, well-known for its entrepreneurial courses, 30 per cent of graduates went into finance, and 29 per cent into consulting. Startup alumni aren’t exactly common. Further, Matt Robinson, co-founder of online payments system GoCardless, told City A.M. earlier this year that he has never hired an MBA graduate. He doesn’t think they have the right skill set for an newly-formed company.

Entrepreneurship looks sexy on the surface, but it’s important to have an idea of what lies ahead when you’ve chosen this path: it touches all parts of your life, your relationships, your bank accounts, and self-confidence.

Signs That You Are Ready to be an Entrepreneur

You have that nagging feeling: the notion of doing your own thing keeps popping into your head, and you find yourself awake at night thinking about it. It’s time to follow your intuition and take the next step.

Bill Gates

Net Worth: $72.7 billion

Starting off our list is none other than Bill Gates, the embodiment of the words “rich” and “nerd”. Born in 1955, Gates showed an interest in computers at an early age. After attending Harvard University for two years, he dropped out to work for Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) and later create Microsoft along with friend Paul Allen for the IBM personal computer. Though he has a net worth of $72.7 billion, he has already noted that most of his wealth will be donated. Along with his wife, he started the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 1997 to help under privileged children gain technology experience.

Image: Flickr

Your Better Business has created the following flexible working infographic which takes a look at a new flexible model of working. Many are calling this a “win-win situation” for both employers and employees. Within the infographic you’ll discover an easily consumable summary of key statistics on the flexible working debate between employers and employees as well as a general point of view. Additionally it looks at important issues such as productivity, employee satisfaction and cost reduction.

What are your thoughts? Does this model of working sound appealing? Maybe you are already participating in a flexible working environment and love it. Or are you a traditionalist? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

This second edition of the Booz & Company Industry Digitization Study investigates the degree of digitization across 15 industries in Europe. It allows to better understand which industries in which markets are leading the digitization journey and what specific business areas companies in various industries focus their digitization efforts on.

In its second year, this study analyzes the top companies in the digitization ecosystem, describing which are prospering and which are not, and providing some guidance about why. Dividing them into four sectors—hardware, software, IT services, and telecom—we consider the factors that determine their influence: financial performance, portfolio strength, go-to-market footprint, and innovation and branding, as well as their strategic directions.

Brussels has paved the way for a specialised European patent court to solve disputes in one instance and avoid multiple litigation cases in up to 28 different national courts. The European Commission yesterday (29 July) announced the legal framework for Europe-wide patent protection by updating EU rules on the jurisdiction of courts and recognition of judgments, the so-called Brussels I Regulation.

The changes are intended to make it easier for companies and inventors to protect their patents. The Unified Patent Court will have specialised jurisdiction in patent disputes, with an aim to cut legal costs and speed up decisions in patent infringement cases.

Image: Flickr

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) today announced the fiscal year 2013-2014 election of officers and a new appointment to its Board of Directors. BHI also announced it has entered into an agreement with BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) to establish an entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) position at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Technology Transfer. In conjunction with this agreement, BD is entitled to a voting position on the BHI Board of Directors, which will be held by Richard M. “Rick” Ivey, Worldwide Vice President Research & Development, BD Diagnostics - Diagnostic Systems.

In the increasingly competitive world of venture capital, it pays to be helpful—literally. To get in on the best deals, VCs need to be seen as smart, insightful and supportive. And since VCs are all about scale, what better way to do that than a blog?

This is good news for entrepreneurs, because despite the bad rep that the venture industry gets (these guys are technically in finance after all) VCs occasionally know what they’re talking about. Whether you’re looking for recruiting strategies, pricing models, a glimpse into an industry’s future or tips for pitching, odds are that a VC has a post for it.

So, you have a brilliant idea for a startup business that you feel is going to revolutionize the world. Somewhere out there is the next that Airbnb or Dropbox, why couldn’t that be your company? Unfortunately, despite your brilliant new business concept, odds are that you don’t currently have the funds needed to make your ideas become reality. So how do you fundraise?