IT’S ALMOST A RITE OF PASSAGE: Grow old enough and you earn the privilege to stereotype the younger generation. Oh, the kids these days. When it comes to the current crop of people in their twenties and early thirties—the 77 million1 young Americans referred to as the Millennials because they came of age after the turn of the century—the typecasting has proved no different. We have all heard the generalities: hooked on social media, distracted, spoiled. As is often the case in these situations, hardly any of it is true.

You have just arrived on South Africa’s startup scene, you’re lost and not sure where to start, or what to do next. You have inherited millions and you’re looking to invest through an Angel Network and its safety in numbers. Your company is great but your growth strategy is a bit lacking. Don’t worry, there are places, people, organisations and events to look to for advice and information. We have scoured South Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape and hand-picked some of the top players to get you started.

Robert Langer shares the experiences and lessons learned through his involvement with more than two dozen biotech startups.

I started my first company in 1987 because I realized it was an effective path for transforming science into life-saving and life-improving inventions. Startup companies provide one means for accomplishing ends that interested me: creating products that have a positive effect on human health. I did this first with a colleague (Box 1), but through the years I have also started many companies with students and postdocs in my MIT lab.

Workers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields play a direct role in driving economic growth. Yet, because of how the STEM economy has been defined, policymakers have mainly focused on supporting workers with at least a bachelor’s (BA) degree, overlooking a strong potential workforce of those with less education but substantial STEM skills.

As of 2011, 26 million U.S. jobs—20 percent of all jobs—require a high level of knowledge in any one STEM field. STEM jobs have doubled as a share of all jobs since the Industrial Revolution, from less than 10 percent in 1850 to 20 percent in 2010. 

Texas is studying the possiblity of using state dollars to help small companies seeking federal innovation funding, the chairwoman of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund’s advisory committee said Wednesday. Terry Chase Hazell, speaking to a conference of technology entrepreneurs and academic researchers, said 20 states provide matching grants to companies seeking federal awards from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program or the Small Business Technology Transfer program.

It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.

I recently participated in the fifth annual 99U Conference, hosted by Behance, which convenes some of the world’s most creative minds to share the latest insights on leadership and idea execution. This year the conference drew an eclectic mix of 1,000 creative professionals around one common theme: what brings good ideas to life?

Inspired by the rich tapestry of experiences, I turned the question to the audience. Several common threads emerged after interviewing 25 participants.

If your organization is struggling with innovation, or if you are slow in your development of a transformative culture, or if you just can’t seem to get momentum, energy and commitment from your teams . . . there may be a simple reason: You are focusing on systems and processes rather than on the development and nurturing of powerful individual leaders.  And if that’s true, you are almost certain to fail in creating innovation.

Our culture tends to place an inordinate amount of value on the linear, the measurable, the predictable. We idolize our organizational charts, our forecasts, our systems of measurement and evaluation, and we come to believe that these measures are our business, rather than dangerous and potentially misleading signposts.  When good things happen, we magically attribute them to our ability to manage – rather than lead – our organization.  Our logic:  “We measured and planned and executed, so – post hoc ergo propter hoc – our measurement, planning and execution must have caused the outcomes.”  This is the first step down a very bad road.

San Francisco, June 6, 2013 – Based on an in-depth study of 150 university business incubators in 22 countries, The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, based at Rice University in Houston, Texas, is the top global university business incubator for 2013. The study carried out by UBI Index, measured participating incubators on a unique assessment framework with over 50 performance indicators. The analysis of this assessment framework shows the value participating incubators create for their ecosystem and their clients. Rice Alliance’s exceptional overall performance, contribution to the ecosystem, especially through high job creation and outstanding value to their clients propelled it to the top spot in the « Global » category.

San Francisco is rolling out the welcome mat--this time to bioscience entrepreneurs--with a new biotech incubator.

California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (Q3) is developing the incubator, called QB3@953, to help advance its work to support life science companies and create jobs in California by giving startups keys to success: efficiency and networking.

"QB3@953 marks the sixth life sciences incubator in San Francisco and secures the City's place as a premier hub for entrepreneurs and innovation," said San Francisco mayor Edwin Lee. "QB3@953 will keep small biotech companies here in the Innovation Capital of the World by providing critically needed space to start, stay and grow-creating jobs while driving innovative science and health discoveries."

One of China’s largest conglomerates has announced it plans to establish a technology incubator in Israel.

Fosun International chairman Guo Guangchang told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the plan following the latter’s recent visit to the country, Globes reports.

“The Fosun Group chairman updated the Prime Minister on the establishment of a venture capital fund in Israel to locate investments for the group in Israeli start-ups,” said the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement. “The group intends to increase its commercial presence in the form of a technological incubator to locate and promote Israeli technologies, as well as find additional business opportunities for cooperation with Israeli companies and distribute their products in the Chinese and international markets.”

Most regions across the country have seen the age of their population gradually climb as baby boomers begin to retire. But for some jurisdictions, the growth of this demographic group has been far more pronounced than others.

The Census Bureau released updated data this morning for all states and counties, showing pockets of the country are adding older residents fairly rapidly.

More than 43 million Americans now fall into the 65 and over age bracket, about a 7.1 percent increase from 2010. Over the same period, the nation’s total population also rose, but only by 1.7 percent.

When the economy is bustling, many people tend to take economic development successes for granted - growth happens, it's a good thing, everyone's happy about it, but it's easy to overlook the work that goes into making it occur. On the other hand, when the economy is struggling, or perhaps taking baby steps toward recovery, every job created is truly something to savor and celebrate.

I’m hearing a lot of chatter recently about SBIR and STTR mechanisms, and why they might be a good fit for our faculty in the next few years.  All federal agencies that issue over $100 Million in research grants must set aside 2.5% of their budgets for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.  Agencies with more than $1 Billion  in their extramural R&A budgets must likewise allocate a percentage to the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Both of these programs will have more funds set aside over the next four years at NIH according to presentations at both NORDP and NCURA meetings this spring.

The idea for SocialGlimpz was born when we worked on the go-to-market strategy for a Bay Area startup as part of our market research course at Wharton. There we discovered significant hurdles in the qualitative data gathering process – specifically, how hard and expensive it is to capture accurate, useful market insights. Thus we decided to build a solution that both lowers the cost (effort) on respondents and provides a greater degree of validation of their responses and does so relatively inexpensively, thus changing the way products are made and services delivered.  While Executive MBA students at Wharton San Francisco, we joined the Venture Initiation Program (VIP) and won a Snider Seed Award. After graduation, we continued working on SocialGlimpz full-time.

Gallup recently released the results of a state-by-state  survey employees designed to measure how engaged they are at their jobs. The results aren't encouraging. Some 70% of American workers are "actively disengaged" or "not engaged."

The engagement index is based on 12 questions asking, if workers have the opportunity to do what they're best at every day, whether they have the chance to learn and grow, and whether they feel like their managers care about them as a person. 

Purdue University announces the July 15 opening of the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. The foundry will collaborate with longstanding activities already taking place in the center with a goal to increase the growing demand from Purdue innovators who have an interest in forming a startup or licensing their discoveries.

"Purdue has a great opportunity to expand the support of its robust entrepreneurial ecosystem that involves every Purdue college and department," said Dan Hasler, president of the Purdue Research Foundation and Purdue University's chief entrepreneurial officer. "We can do this by partnering with the entrepreneurial professionals already working in the Burton D. Morgan Center to guide and support Purdue innovators as they prepare to move their technologies to the people who need them."

You’ve committed to making your new venture work. You are determined to fund the project, the hype is building and you are starting to see your once crazy business idea as a viable opportunity. After 6 months, the endless amount of hours are probably starting to wear on you, and the last time you sat down to eat a real meal was 2011. You need to find a balance quickly before the business gets the best of you. Here are 19 best practices to guarantee a healthier mind, body and start-up.

Despite the fact that men are increasingly involved in family life, stereotypes about dad still persist: He's bumbling. He's immature. He's never seen a dirty diaper he'd volunteer to change.

Yeah, right.

Research is increasingly revealing that dads make a big difference in their kids' lives — and (surprise, surprise), they're perfectly capable of being competent parents. For example, dads can recognize their baby's cries as well as moms, and in some cases, a father-child relationship can influence that kid's life to a greater extent than the mother-child bond.

Purdue University announces the July 15 opening of the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. The foundry will collaborate with longstanding activities already taking place in the center with a goal to increase the growing demand from Purdue innovators who have an interest in forming a startup or licensing their discoveries.

"Purdue has a great opportunity to expand the support of its robust entrepreneurial ecosystem that involves every Purdue college and department," said Dan Hasler, president of the Purdue Research Foundation and Purdue University's chief entrepreneurial officer. "We can do this by partnering with the entrepreneurial professionals already working in the Burton D. Morgan Center to guide and support Purdue innovators as they prepare to move their technologies to the people who need them."

Almost a year after closing on a $65 million fund-of-funds that focuses on small and mid-sized early-stage venture capital funds, San Francisco-based Industry Ventures is in the market again, according to a regulatory filing – this time for a $100 million fund of funds.

Called Industry Ventures Partnership Holidngs III, the firm has yet to close its first sale, according to the filing, which lists Managing Directors Hans Swildens, Roland Reynolds and Ken Wallace. Broker-dealer Hamilton Miller Investments of Greenwood, Colo., is also listed in the filing.