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A GOVERNMENT BIOPLASTICS INITIATIVE IN THAILAND is a direct stimulus for creative entrepreneurs: take local cassava plant and convert it into biodegradable plastics. The challenge of this task is firstly, to do it in a scalable and cost-effective way so the consumer looks at parity pricing. Secondly, to ensure that the biodegradation is clean and has no biotoxicity. A worthy initiative indeed. http://lnkd.in/EUf-aH View in LinkedIn

3D PRINTING: A TECHNOLOGY WITH HIDDEN POSSIBILITIES? This technology may have deep and numerous uses, and truly unexpected applications that we have not yet conceived. All it needs is strong imaginations to drive applications. I wait to be surprised. http://lnkd.in/FGyuT5 View in LinkedIn

TRY AND AVOID BINARY OUTCOMES AS AN ENTREPRENEUR: SUCCESS OR FAILURE. For those developing a single product, like a single new drug, the outcome is binary. That can be heartbreaking for the entrepreneur after years of work, and rough on investors. Try always to have at least two candidates or products to hedge your bets, if possible without distracting yourself, and best still partner the second so your burn on it is minimized. A tall order, but better than the binary dilemma. View in LinkedIn

THE NOVARTIS CEO WANTS TO REINVENT THE BROKEN BIG PHARMA BUSINESS MODEL. Faced with the easy pickings having been made, patent expiries, new reimbursement gatekeepers, and patient-centric care, the old ways of doing business is now at an end for Big Pharma. Fortunately, there are many options. As Takeda is already proving, by outsourcing R&D to small, creative companies that are only good at invention, and have neither the desire, muscle, nor expertise to do the selling. Those unwilling or unable to change will likely be consumed as the world changes about them. http://lnkd.in/YCa7RF View in LinkedIn

A FUTURISTS FORUM? What a delightful concept. Are the traditional publishing industry and hardcopy newspapers about to become museum entries? Will airline pricing become a level playing field? Will your genome code affect how you live and marry? Are pundits wrong that the cities will be major population centers in the future? How will Distance Learning affect workforces? Will we generate fresh organs in test tubes? What impact will a small earth have? Will we turn oceans into fresh water? Will we start to mine the universe? Fascinating room for futurist speculations. http://lnkd.in/i-TmCj View in LinkedIn

TECHNOLOGY AFFECTS HOW WE LEARN, for sure, as this article amply points out. Mobile Apps enhance our geographical and historical awareness, and Distance Learning is becoming an alternative to classrooms. Perhaps the day is approaching when learning content is tailored to an individual's learning style. Beyond the reach of traditional classrooms, this would be an exciting development. http://m.fastcoexist.com/?m=fastcoexist/node/1681507&url=http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681507/the-future-of-education-eliminates-the-classroom-because-the-world-is-your-class View in LinkedIn

WHEN PARTNERING OVERSEAS, spend tine selecting the right in-country consultant to help with all levels of the project. Allow time, as it will not occur quickly. Do your homework on second or third tier targets with an interest in your therapeutic category. View in LinkedIn

NANOPHARMACEUTICALS have been at the bench level for decades, despite often compelling data about lower dosing, solving insoluble API issues, getting increased dissolution, and higher bioavailability. As Elan's dominant nano IP has been expiring, and which launched the most marketed nano drugs, there are no obvious contenders in this space today. Elan's business model had fees that excluded all early stage Biopharma companies. There is room for a new entrant with a different model. http://lnkd.in/--VJGn View in LinkedIn

A NICE HISTORY OF THE RISE OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN B SCHOOLS. Most B Schools have been surprisingly slow adopters of these changes, but once a few key schools were charging, the floodgates opened up. In a world so dominated by social media, no credible school could be without a program today. This history lets you see the early innovators vs the late adopters, and may inform your choice of B School. http://lnkd.in/pdW2mi View in LinkedIn

MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY OPTIMISTIC IN LARGE SURVEY. This is a good sign for the healthcare sector. I am waiting to see more confluence between devices and drugs, and devices and diagnostics in the coming two years. There are great opportunities to use the tremendous advanced in handheld iPhone devices to marry with a range of diagnostic applications. One small Barcelona company has a cancer breath test, that uses a small plug-in to the iPhone to analyze the data; and a TED series entrepreneur developed a urine analyte iPhone readout system. Watch this space, as I am wont to say. http://lnkd.in/BQEwC7 View in LinkedIn