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OVERCOMING FAILURE is both personal and cultural. This is about the cultural aspects. The US social fabric tolerates failure and even applauds Second-Time-Arounders as heroes: rugged individualism and a GoldRush mentality ensures that. In contrast, Japan and Spain have a fear of failure that can stifle those who dare stand out: as intensely gregarious and family-centric societies, the group is valued more than the individual. We are now seeing a generation of young entrepreneurs in both Japan and Spain breaking the cultural inhibition and daring to be different. http://lnkd.in/Q3wGwV View in LinkedIn

BURNOUT IS REAL in startup pressure cookers, as much as it is in any fast-growing enterprise. Slow increases in executive workload and pressure are harder to see than stepwise jumps. Although the popular myth recommends cooking a crab in cold water gradually getting hotter, this is as painful for the crab as for the executive. Ultimately, the executive's health, sleep, temperament, and cognition are all compromised. Be acutely observant of the small signs of severe wear-and-tear, and act accordingly, or imperil your venture. View in LinkedIn

IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING A HIRED GUN CEO make sure they understand your technology. Too often big company Fortune 500 candidates do not feel the need to tackle the nuts and bolts of your business when brought in to manage an emerging company. Flush this out early and make it a NoGo with your board, or you will spend a lot of time, money, and distraction firing the lame duck CEO later. http://lnkd.in/e2F4g5 View in LinkedIn

VACCINES ARE NOW AGAINST CANCER AND OTHER NON-INFECTIOUS DISEASES. Increasing numbers of clinical trials are for vaccines against a wide range of diseases, especially using DNA vaccines. The concept is simple: prompt the body to recognize the disease marker molecules by immunological recognition, followed by combined cellular and antibody defenses. The idea of preventative medicine has been remarkably slow to be adopted, but this is a bright path in that direction. View in LinkedIn

IF YOU NEED BRAINSTORMING AND OUT OF THE BOX THINKING read this short but interesting article. http://lnkd.in/UsDNsj View in LinkedIn

WHY SETTING UP A FOREIGN OFFICE MATTERS. For example: you are an emerging European company seeking foreign financing, because it is a dry well in Europe. You target US VCs. Guess what? Unless you are in an easy travel radius from their offices, not a prayer. Set up a Palo Alto office, so you can meet them on their doorstep, hold future board meetings there, and so on. Instantly remove the first objection to saying yes. A US subsidiary may also make you eligible for US grants and other money. View in LinkedIn

FUTURE HIGHER EDUCATION WILL BE BIFURCATED into online learning and the traditional campus-based university, and both have their value and will serve different markets with different needs. http://lnkd.in/iER-Rs View in LinkedIn

BE EXCITING, BE AUTHENTIC, AND BE POSITIVE when pitching or storytelling in business, are the lessons in this short article. A great read for entrepreneurs, who always need to clean up their pitches. http://lnkd.in/YecUGd View in LinkedIn

COMMUNICATE YOUR IDEAS VISUALLY with clean pictorial summaries of complex data and options, including Venn Diagrams, decision trees, and geometric symbols. A pictorial summary can be hugely effective and memorable as a communication tool. View in LinkedIn

FIRST IN CLASS, AND BEST OF BREED are common terms in Biopharma business presentations. The First in Class refers to a novel Mechanism of Action (MOA), and Best of Breed to ranking in a class of the same molecular targets. The first is a disruptive innovation at a molecular level, identifying a novel target, while the second is an incremental improvement on known targets. Both the disruptive and incremental advances can score tremendous valuations, illustrating that disruptive is not the only legitimate goal for entrepreneurs or investors. View in LinkedIn