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ENTREPRENEURS PITCHING FOR INVESTORS are well served to carefully study TED conference speaker's techniques, as they are among the most gifted speakers in the world. No podium, frequently no slides, these speakers engage the audience in often very technical concepts with clarity and simplicity. http://lnkd.in/R2UBVA View in LinkedIn

ENTREPRENEURS, BEWARE FUNDING SCAMS. Today more than ever, criminals are posing as Angels or fund managers. The scenario always evolves to you having to pay various "processing fees" upfront before being able to secure funding (Google '419' Advance Fee Fraud). These scans hit millions of people per year and can be very sophisticated and convincing. NEVER advance cash to secure funding. NEVER accept unsolicited fund offers. View in LinkedIn

WANNABE ENTREPRENEURS MUST READ THIS before you plunge in. A very real description of the price you may pay to be an entrepreneur. In my case, it cost me my first marriage, and then some. This is a high octane and high casualty path to follow. Go in with your eyes open, and know the risks are real. http://startupnorth.ca/2013/02/08/the-things-an-entrepreneur-will-never-tell-you/?__lsa=c7e4-1e51 View in LinkedIn

UNIVERSITIES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AT THE HEART OF TECH CLUSTERS, and initiatives like this cement the connection. It was only 30 years ago in Britain that the deep suspicion among university professors about industry started to thaw; and even today, there are large holdouts of this sentiment in Europe. Somehow industry perverts the course of pure research. I have been on both sides, and have seen zero evidence of this old-fashioned sentiment. http://lnkd.in/igJ68d View in LinkedIn

COMPANION DIAGNOSTICS ENRICH RESPONDERS in patient pools and make for more rational medicine. The diagnostic saves the non-responders from having to be the guinea pig and waste valuable time, resources and reduces suffering. In an ideal world all drugs would have a companion diagnostic. http://lnkd.in/9eRgba View in LinkedIn

FABULOUS AWARD and great recipients. This type of initiative is cream on the cake. Not essential, in terms of use of capital; not practical in terms of ROI; it is pure generosity. http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130222/Gladstonee28099s-Senior-Investigator-honored-for-pioneering-work-in-stem-cell-biology.aspx View in LinkedIn

CROWDFUNDING CONTINUES TO GROW. Mark my words: this will challenge traditional funding sources worldwide. Microloans were a relatively recent first step down this path. Combine that with the world becoming flat again, and open source innovation, the possibilities are endless. http://lnkd.in/B9Npde View in LinkedIn

THE INNOVATION NETWORK CORPORATION OF JAPAN (INCJ) is a giant public-private initiative of about a billion dollars, to re-stimulate the Japanese economy by open innovation and overcome the "not invented here" syndrome. This is a very sophisticated Venture Capital model that has been carefully thought through, and is quite unusual. As a model of a stimulus package to create public good, stimulate jobs, and foster new technology, it is worth emulating in other countries. View in LinkedIn

ENTREPRENEURS FUND SCIENCE PRIZES: this fantastic effort to reward and glamorize cutting-edge thinking will stimulate young people to enter science. It is also a very cost-effective stimulus for creative thought. Way to go! http://lnkd.in/SKteqS View in LinkedIn

COMPANY SPONSORED ACCELERATORS, THINK TANKS, AND EARLY STAGE CAPITAL are a smart way to outsource innovation. Kaplan, not known for being cutting-edge, is doing it. A large Spanish telecom giant is doing it in Barcelona. Some Pharma companies are experimenting with it. This is smart business thinking. http://lnkd.in/evNXCB View in LinkedIn