In late 2011, a company called Nest Labs launched a product the tech world couldn't stop talking about. But the product isn't something that normally gets people excited. Nest is perfecting the thermostat. And it's been such a big hit, investors have decided to pour a boatload of money into the company. According to GigaOm's Katie Fehrenbacher, Venrock, Google Ventures and others have given Nest $80 million at an $800 million post-money valuation. Fehrenbacher says Nest is shipping between 40,000 and 50,000 thermostats per month. A good number of those items are being shipped to Europe, and Nest's devices are sold in Lowe's, Best Buy, and on Apple's website. It retails for $250.

Do you have a retail storefront?

Are you a contractor that is supplying services at someones house or place of business?

You should be using a business sign, like a sandwich board or a lawn sign, to draw in traffic or build awareness for you business. Signage is an excellent way to help generate sales leads for your company.

Below are 7 tips that will help you generate a higher percentage of sales leads:

Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry—the company previously known as RIM—launched a comeback in the form of two new phones today: a Z10 with touch screen and a Q10 offering a retro tactile QWERTY keyboard, both running on its new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

If technology alone were enough to make the difference, a comeback might be all but assured. The devices impress: they offer a slick way to sweep between multiple running apps without having to shut one or more down, and useful ways to separate work and personal functionality. For avid e-mailers and texters, BlackBerry’s traditional fan base, the operating system includes a novel word-suggestion interface that, among other things, can switch automatically between different languages.

Siemens installed two colossal offshore wind turbines this week, demonstrating technology that could have a significant impact on the economics of wind power.

The German company has been developing the turbines, which produce double the maximum power output of its current models, for several years. It has been testing the technology on land, and installed the first ones offshore with the help of a new ship designed specifically for the task. The turbines feature test blades that are 60 meters long, but Siemens intends to employ world-record 75-meter blades eventually.

Thanks to $12.5 million in recent gifts from the Charles and Barbara Close Foundation, Drexel University will establish the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship that will be one of a very small number of freestanding schools of entrepreneurship in the nation and the only one in Philadelphia. Building on an outstanding foundation of curriculum, programming and thought leadership at Drexel, the Close School will be the engine driving the expanded culture of entrepreneurship envisioned by the University’s strategic plan.

“With the establishment of the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship, I am confident that Drexel will soon be at the very top of the list of universities creating not just entrepreneurs, but new approaches to encouraging and realizing great ideas,” said Drexel University President John A. Fry. “The chance to launch a new school that will help deepen the culture of innovation at Drexel comes along rarely. I am proud of what the Foundation’s support and confidence have allowed us to achieve.”

In this newsletter we proudly present the new Chairman of the Advisory Board; Richard Bendis. With his expertise on innovation strategy The Technopolicy Network intends to strengthen its position as the global leading network on Science Based Regional Development and Science Based Incubation. In his article he will give you several insights in the opportunities that lie ahead of us.

This is the time to pay tribute to the achievements of our founding Chairman, Prof. Roger Stough. With his advice and support Prof. Stough made The Technopolicy Network to what it now is. In his article he looks back on the growth of The Technopolicy Network over the past decade.

Something Ventured is a 2011 documentary about the investors who, beginning in the late 50s, pioneered venture capital and fueled early start-ups like Intel, Apple, and Genentech. The film was directed by Dan Geller & Dayna Goldfine. It is now being broadcast on public television stations (check local listings).

Charles Darwin's revolutionary ideas about evolution are once again making waves, but this time in a way that offers governments and other organizations a tool for overcoming systemic challenges through the evolution of the way work is done. Darwin's theory of natural selection was simple but significant: Variation occurs naturally within any population, and nature will favor and spread characteristics that are advantageous for survival. Like a species, a workforce can go through a similar evolutionary process driven by individuals with unusual but favorable behaviors. These outliers, or "positive deviants," sometimes bend the rules, but their practices enable their success and survival in the workplace. Organizations can nurture this positively deviant behavior through a process that already is helping to solve public health, nutrition, education and business problems across the globe.

People who think they can be everything to everyone fascinate me, especially when it comes to leadership. This is a quiz designed to frustrate them because you have to choose only one from each pair. Even worse, I’m going to ask you to honestly consider how you actually behave, not what you think you would do or what you would like to do. Are you game?

Choose A or B:

A- My job is to inspire my team, so I share my vision with them and seek their input.

For the first time since launching its incubator program, 500 Startups is requiring companies in its 2013 spring batch to submit an application. The incubator will accept applications via AngelList beginning today.

Previously, the program/investment fund only admitted startups on the basis of recommendations from venture firms, past 500 Startups graduates, and others — a process that had a track record of relative success for producing good companies. However, 500 Startups is increasingly looking for more international companies, which is difficult to do with an invite-only requirement.

Communitech Hyperdrive, a newer Waterloo-based incubator program that graduated its first cohort of startups last year, today unveiled the second class of companies that will be able to take advantage of its more than $30 million in available funding and network of entrepreneurs and mentors. The list includes some standouts who have already made a bit of a name for themselves, as well as companies tackling specialized problems and niche markets.

Here’s a rundown of the incoming Hyperdrive participants, who will each be getting an initial $40,000 investment from the program in exchange for 6.4 percent equity, with the option of a $15,000 loan on the table.

The May 2012 edition of the Index highlighted that broadband infrastructure has become an integral component of operations for companies across a range of industries. As the authors of TechNet’s 2012 State Broadband Index observe, “Increasingly, businesses and local economic development agencies recognize how fast and reliable broadband networks are critical inputs to productivity.”

Illinois’ government officials and private sector leaders have made a significant commitment to expanding high-speed broadband service to both residential and commercial customers. The latest data show continued progress throughout the state.

Netflix has long been famous for giving its employees unlimited vacation time. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings justified this move in a slide deck he first published online in 2009, which also outlines the company’s approach towards hiring (no “brilliant jerks,” please) as well as firing (only keep the people that you’d fight for if they wanted to leave).

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg praised the deck in a new GQ magazine story about Netflix, saying:

“It may well be the most important document ever to come out of the Valley.”

Description of commercialization process, analytic framework for evaluating relative university success -- separating "good" from "big" -- and recommendations for creating an effective organization.

SXSW has announced the finalists for its fifth annual SXSW Accelerator, a competition of forward-thinking web-based products. (We like to think of it as Tomorrowland meets the Hunger Games.) Broken down into an Interactive portion (March 11-12) and a Music one (March 13), the Accelerator competition features two minutes-long product demonstrations in front of a live audience and a panel of judges. OK, so not quite a death match scenario, but stressful stuff nonetheless. Still, the finalists already distinguished themselves out of 500 applicants to this year’s Accelerator, so, y’know, everybody’s a winner here, right?

Words are powerful. The language we use influences how we think, feel, act, and interact with the world. That’s why I propose a new kind of dictionary. One founded on the belief that we do not have to live how the world expects us to.

Why? Because far too often I hear people say “yes” for the wrong reasons. I hear people say "I should" instead of "I want" and "I'll try" versus "I will." I hear people putting themselves down for “procrastinating” when they don’t understand the underlying reasons. I watch people approach “work” as if it’s a 9-to-5 job and “passion” like it’s a hobby that can never be taken seriously. I hear people say “I can’t” because of self-imposed “limitations” that inevitably lead to “boredom,” “anxiety” and the fear of “failure.”

Sean J. Taylor of Facebook’s Data Science department put together this nifty map of the United States showing NFL team loyalty, county-by-county, according to Facebook likes:

Image by Sean J. Taylor, Facebook Data Science intern For some reason, South Carolina really likes the Pittsburgh Steelers. The map, which shows the most-liked team in each county, can be a bit confusing because of the need to use 32 colors. The Cowboys, Colts, and Patriots, for instance, are all shades of gray; the Bears and Giants are very similar shades of blue; and the Vikings and Ravens are nearly identical purples. By my count, there are ten states in which every county favors the same team: the Vikings in Minnesota, Packers in Wisconsin, Saints in Louisiana, Broncos in Wyoming, and Steelers in Hawaii (?) account for half of those. The rest belong to the Patriots, who have unanimous support in five of the six New England states. (It helps when your team is named for a region of small states.)

Across cultures, dining together is a common part of the process of reaching negotiated agreements. In Russia and Japan, important business dealings are conducted almost exclusively while dining and drinking and in the U.S., many negotiations begin with "Let's do lunch." But are business deals actually improved when people discuss important matters over a meal?

To explore this question, I conducted two experiments. The first compared negotiations that took place over a meal in restaurants to negotiations in conference rooms, without any food to eat. In the second, negotiations were conducted with or without a meal in a business conference room. In the experiments, 132 MBA students negotiated a complex joint venture agreement between two companies. In the simulation, a provisional deal is in place, but a variety of terms must still be considered and agreed upon to maximize profits for their companies. The negotiators must determine how to handle each term of the deal. As is typical in many negotiations, in order to maximize their profits, the negotiators must share information and work together with the other side to learn where the most value can be created.

This infographic from DrugPatentWatch shows that branded drug powerhouses GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Sanofi Aventis lead the pharmaceutical industry in the number of active patents. Some readers may not recognize Abbvie, which shows up as a patent leader. Abbvie is a spin-off comprised of pharma veteran Abbott’s former proprietary pharmaceutical business.

Just in case the momentum for comprehensive immigration reform falters, business groups have a back-up plan when it comes to high-skilled workers. The Immigration Innovation Act, introduced in the Senate Tuesday, would raise the annual cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000, and allow for additional visas if this cap is reached within a few months, The Business Journals reported. Businesses in need of highly skilled workers use the H-1B visa program to fill these positions with foreigners.