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"I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT CATALUNYA" is a phrase I have heard many times since moving here a year ago, from level-headed smart executives. This is a statement that I could never imagine being uttered by a British citizen, for instance, and worldwide is a rare sentiment. Add to this sentiment great food, great weather, great culture and a modern infrastructure, and it is no wonder that Barcelona is becoming an emerging Silicon Valley. View in LinkedIn

THE OBAMA JOBS ACT AND EQUITY CROWD-FUNDING. Read this helpful guide if you are interested in equity crowd-funding. http://lnkd.in/65QVbv View in LinkedIn

WORK SMART FIRST, HARD SECOND. BUT REMEMBER BALANCE. If you get burned out, over-tiered, or even ill, from a fear-driven schedule, step back and stop. In that state you are not useful to anyone. How long is a piece of string? Choose how long you want it to be. This is the hardest lesson of a crazy startup. Learn it or fail. http://lnkd.in/47_WHW View in LinkedIn

THE "ANGEL BUBBLE": MIND THE GAP! The disproportionate level of early stage seed funding versus a flatliner in Series A has lead to a situation that the London Underground has long warned passengers about: Mind The Gap! If remedies are not forthcoming (crowd-funding for Tech companies, tax initiatives, public funds for startups to name a few),these young companies will hit the proverbial air bubble. With all the flurry out there of open innovation, Pharma consortiums, public access drug libraries, and crowd-funding, there are possible confluent paths that can help this issue. http://lnkd.in/UWHaD2 View in LinkedIn

HEURISTIC LEARNING is the difference between going to a chaotic second hand bookstore and browsing, versus doing a keyword search on Amazon. Heuristic learning permits surprises, intuitive guidance, common sense, and experience to be the discovery driver. Since we don't know what we don't know, surprises from the norm of orderly findings can have great value. Try walk arounds without an agenda to stumble on a new finding. View in LinkedIn

EMULATION TRUMPS ENVY. Boston's biotech success has shown the possible. It is a great model for other nascent clusters. Learn from history and avoid repeating old mistakes. http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/01/our_biotech_industry_%E2%80%98envy_world%E2%80%99 View in LinkedIn

KING CANUTE (AD 985-) famously demanded that his subjects take him to the East Anglian shores in England where he would command the rising tide to halt their advance. Needless to say, he was not altogether successful. Somehow, attempts to stop bio-generics have the same flavor. http://lnkd.in/e6Bheh View in LinkedIn

CRITICAL IP ADVICE for tech companies. http://lnkd.in/uG3u39 View in LinkedIn

THE VALUE OF A GOOD MENTOR: a perspective from someone who has been a VC and a teacher. Note two statements: that the overconfident students (read not curious or humble) were the ones that floundered early in their careers; and that we still live in a world of apprenticeship. Sage advice. http://lnkd.in/BsHD_d View in LinkedIn

THE EUROPEAN INNOVATIVE MEDICINES INITIATIVE is backed by 1 billion in EC money. Europe is showing great leadership with this gutsy move. Would any of this really happened without The Crisis, and The Patent Cliff? Pain and innovation are bedfellows. A startup founder with fear and hunger can leap mountains. A complex society of multiple nations can best rise to the occasion when the house is burning down.. http://lnkd.in/Q4Um_N View in LinkedIn