Perpetual Innovation

Category: startup

  • Miami No. 2 in startup activity, Kauffman report says | Miami Herald Miami Herald

    Miami No. 2 in startup activity, Kauffman report says | Miami Herald Miami Herald:

    This is a very interesting, but telling report.

    Miami is way up there in startups, about 250 per 100,000 people. Cleveland, not so much so, with less that 100 per.

    It is a little surprising that Orlando fell 12 ranks down to 33rd. Makes you wonder if it is Orlando losing ground or other metros gaining very rapidly. I would guess mostly the latter.

    I’m sure this also has a lot to do with how mature in the turn-around from recession each area is as well.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Nation’s Startup Activity Reverses Five-Year Downward Trend, Annual Kauffman Index Reports | Kauffman.org

    Nation’s Startup Activity Reverses Five-Year Downward Trend, Annual Kauffman Index Reports | Kauffman.org:

    Business Startups are up.

    That’s great. Entrepreneurship and new business formation is a great advantage to the economy.

    The olde adage:  the worst time to start a business is at the onset of a recession. The correlate to that is: the best time to start a business is at the end of a recession. Well, it has taken 6 years but the end of the Great Recession has finally past. Those people who had jobs didn’t want to give them up. Now maybe they are willing to step out on their own. Those people who didn’t have jobs, may have formed companies out of necessity, not out of strength.

    It is interesting that 63% of the new startups were by men. Part of that would be because of the rebound in construction and factories where men dominate. But also, women are generally more risk averse than men. Maybe they will just take another year of healthy economy before they take the plunge.

    Minorities, especially Hispanics were up. Blacks and whites, not so much so.

    They are saying that 3 out of every 1,000 adults started a business in 2014. That must be annually. (Something said monthly which seems very high; that would be 3.6 out of 100.)

    No matter the number, better and more quality businesses that survive and thrive is always better than a large number of startups when most of them fail.

    It is always good to see strong healthy signs of progress in an economy that is sputtering a bit.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • To Incubate or not to Incubate

    Marshall Goodman: Ex-administrator For USF Helping Collier County | TheLedger.com:

    This answers the age-old questions: To Incubate or NOT to incubate?

    A: Incubators definitely have advantages for cluster development and rapid business startup.

    But, that doesn’t assure that it is a great investment for that governments to jump into.

    Where do old business incubator guys go when they get old?

    A: They go to Collier County, of course. Think Naples and Big Cypress National Preserve.

    Here’s a longer version of the story by Maria Perez in the Maples Daily News (and TBO.com).

    During that time about 2010, we were trying to meet with Goodman to springboard off of the wild success he was having with 3 incubators. No success, for us on a meeting. All three incubators were rumored to be full and hugely successful. In Highlands County, we were aiming to advance the inventions from USF that were better commercialized in the heartland of Florida, not the cities.

    Well let’s see how far $3.8M goes in Collier county. With an assurance of 10 to 15 companies within 6 months, how can they possibly go wrong?

    Can’t wait to see where this one goes.

    Keywords: Business Incubator, Economic Development
    ‘via Blog this’

  • Florida Business Incubation Association: Florida Incubators

    Florida Business Incubation Association:

    Business incubators are so very cool. Generally they bring together all the components a business will need to get started or to expand. This usually includes funding sources. But as important are the key services that every organization needs. Business advice (often tied in to the SBA’s Small Business Development Centers — SBDC)… Accounting, IT, Intellectual Property protection (patents, TM, C,…), secretarial services, etc. Lots of marking help are critical, web site, search engine optimization and more…  See the SBDC for Florida.

    Frequently incubators are tied in to the science departments of universities so the inventions of the academic world can be transported into the business world.

    An entrepreneur (or two) can’t do everything within the startup business. The incubator helps coach them into giving up some of the jobs at the company so that they can focus on one (or two).

    Often there are reduced costs for incubatees who are accepted into an incubator…

    There always is a graduation process for the incubatee as he/she grows up to be an adult company!:-)

    Incubators often have internal and external networks to help engage veterans and peers in their efforts.

    Here’s the place to go for Business Incubator info — National Business Incubator Association: https://www.nbia.org/
    * Find your incubator here based on region and or type of incubator.

    Check out the incubators in your area:
    * Florida … or Florida Business Incubator Association…
    * Georgia
    * California

    Business incubators are some times called accelerators, since they accelerate the process of a business moving forward.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Ceres Monthly Newsletter – Flaring of Gas/NatGas

    See this blog over at SustainZine: http://sustainzine.blogspot.com/2013/08/smaller-cities-get-startup-style.html

    Ceres Monthly Newsletter:

    This report starts to document the amount of gas (nat gas) that is flared in the production of oil/gas.

    In the US we can’t get the nat gas to market, so it is imply flared in many cases. The oil (wet particulates) are much more valuable so that is shipped by pipe if possible, but by truck or train if not.

    One statement from a CEO in the oil patch has commented that half of the nat gas produces in the US is being flared. Safety, of course is critical. But this is a humongous waste of energy and environmental waste as well.

    Check out the article and then look at the report here: http://www.ceres.org/resources/reports/flaring-up-north-dakota-natural-gas-flaring-more-than-doubles-in-two-years/view

    Basic economics is one approach to this issue. If NatGas were more valuable, then there would be very little flaring. Right now it is about $3.50 (per … unit) in the USA. So Nat gas is a byproduct of the production of oil unless it can be readily distributed to market (pipeline).  But for the world markets, NatGas is very valuable, let’s say $10. If we can bridge the gap from domestic only to world, then the price would jump and the flaring would, well, burn out. 🙂

    The key is liquefied natural gas (LNG). Not coincidentally, LNG is the trading symbol of Chaniere Energy, one the the leading players in infrastructure for exporting LNG.