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INCREASED R&D SPENDING BY TOP TEN BIOTECH COMPANIES, may be good news, provided the lesson from Big Pharma is remembered. Big Research can result in big disappointments. Skunk works and SMEs have consistently punched above their weight in performance and been less prone to the Not Invented Here (NIH) syndrome that haunts large research undertakings. Undoubtedly subject matter for future B-School case studies, this is a clear trend. http://lnkd.in/jU3bAR View in LinkedIn

GRIT TRUMPS IQ IN ONE STUDY. Perhaps the key here is that Grit is a measure of the ability to withstand repeated failure and rejection. At a biological level, it may be a measure of an organism's adaptive flexibility in the face of what can be devastating environmental challenges. The edge of the Bell Curve drives the survival of the fittest. Some cultures that are highly social, like Japan and Spain, are more naturally adapted for a conformity that penalizes the edge of the Bell Curve and can make failure a devastatingly disgraceful state which is very hard to recover from. " "" "" " http://lnkd.in/anSj5W View in LinkedIn

UNIVERSITY ENTREPRENEURIAL ASSOCIATIONS ARE THRIVING, and are an exciting new element on campus (or relatively new). When I was at University the concept did not even exist. Young people today are inspired by Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerman, and the fabulous Google founders. These icons have become heroes. Only in the darker corners of the universe remains a lingering suspicion that business and excellence do not mix, especially in the realm of science. http://lnkd.in/6Ar2Da? View in LinkedIn

BEWARE APPLES AND ORANGES: SOME BUSINESSES REALLY CANNOT BE BOOTSTRAPPED. These are the R&D intensive ventures like Biopharma and CleanTech, in particular, where a huge windfall of income only (sometimes) comes after years of super-expensive clinical or field studies. It is important not to confuse this with ventures in other fields that actually do earn early (customer) revenues, and in these instances bootstrapping is a real and important option to consider. http://lnkd.in/csK3p8 View in LinkedIn

CULTURAL QUIRKS ARE TRULY FASCINATING, and volumes have been written on this superb topic. I have been fortunate to live in many places as an adult, including Sussex, London, Boston, San Francisco, and Catalunya, and have traveled widely. Each place has been quite unique. I have found that observing these quirks for what they are, rather than leaping to judgement, can open the mind to curiosity about the historical reasons for cultural differences, and ultimately, greater tolerance, respect and enjoyment of the diversity that makes geography wonderfully spicy. http://lnkd.in/VUwCjK View in LinkedIn

CATALUNYA TECH COMPANIES ARE AT A TIPPING POINT fir explosive visibility. The huge economic investment in the Knowledge Revolution by Dr Mas-Colell et al., reaching a billion euros per year at its recent peak, has spawned hundreds of vibrant and optimistic young tech companies. This first part of the social experiment has worked. Now these young companies must seek international partners to fuel their growth. They are under-valued and have not been picked over. Worldwide alliances have to be the logical next phase of the extraordinary social experiment called Catalan's Knowledge Revolution. View in LinkedIn

ENTREPRENEURS AND INVESTORS TRULY ROCK! I have spent most of my adult life meeting many hundreds entrepreneurs and investors, from the US, Japan, UK, Europe, and China. These extraordinary people dream about doing the difficult, and sometimes impossible, against all contrary advice from friends and family. They create new vibrant economic engines which cumulatively are powerful. They are forces of optimism in a sea of grey pessimism, and I have been truly privileged to have the experience of this community. View in LinkedIn

ENTREPRENEURING DURING THE CRISIS. I am a contrarian because I think that the Crisis has a silver lining. It creates discipline in businesses. It jolts societies out of complacency to sometimes do the right thing. And for companies seeking capital it makes the search global not local. International partners bring fresh ideas, talent and markets. For some sectors, and especially emerging companies, unless the capital search is global, the company will die for lack of fuel. Darwinism rules by eliminating the weakest. So bah humbug to the pessimists and nay-sayers: the imaginative will survive. View in LinkedIn

GOOGLE-X IS THE SKUNK WORKS FOR THE IMPROBABLE IDEA, and has earned a reputation for delivering ideas like driverless cars and Google Glass. The difference from many Skunk Works is that it is very well financed. Except for eccentrics like J Craig Venter, most funded biological science projects tend to be orderly, logical and, for the most part, within the box thinking. Imagine a well funded Google-X for the life sciences, and what remarkable wild possibilities could emerge. Live in hope! http://mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-22/inside-googles-secret-lab View in LinkedIn

A FDA POSITION PAPER ON GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ANIMALS. The current state of regulatory approval of GE animals. http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/GeneticEngineering/GeneticallyEngineeredAnimals/ucm113605.htm View in LinkedIn