When the term Unicorn was coined in 2013, by the founder of the Venture Capital (VC) firm Cowboy Ventures, the term carried massive reputation. This is because this select list then had a mere 39 names. Now, there are 145 active unicorns as per business intelligence provided by the Pitch Book. Neither does the club show any signs of regressing, because of the ample amounts of capital available in the market. Even the valuation step- ups are expected to be meatier than ever. It now takes a mere six years to reach this club as opposed to the seven- and- a- half it needed earlier on average. As a result of all this, the term no longer carries such a special significance.

Source:https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/16/unicorns-arent-special-anymore/

Uploaded Date:31st December 2018

Chinese entrepreneurs used to be known to be passive learners, but they are now shedding this image by becoming innovators. Earlier they were simply following on from the trends by top US tech firms. Now business innovations such as video applications and shared bikes are being launched by them. While US businesses are increasingly looking inward, Chinese firms are keener to learn from their American counterparts. There is also a difference in the model of how Venture Capitalists (VCs) do their work between these countries. American VCs are better at spotting trends, while their Chinese counterparts take in a more pragmatic, balanced view. China still needs to up its game when it comes to creativity. This where the US has a more entrepreneurial ecosystem thanks to the combination of MBA and PhD.

Source:http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-11/12/c_137601570.htm

Uploaded Date:15 November 2018

France is trying to position itself as the startup hub of Europe. For that the country inaugurated Station F last year, which is the world’s largest startup hub with a focus on research and business innovation. According to a survey, France is a country where sixty percent of the people below 30 years of age wish to see themselves as entrepreneurs. INSEAD has thus partnered with the Sorbonne University to provide a certification to budding entrepreneurship on their business skills. Unusually for a startup hub, the biggest stumbling block to potential leadership is not funding, which is indeed flowing thanks to the presence of the large tech firms such as Facebook, Google and Amazon. But the biggest challenge now is to get the talent recruitment right. Having the right people on board helps in further investment rounds as well. For this, the startups have been advised to develop a strong company culture, as that is what glues employees to it.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship/life-in-start-up-nation-two-young-french-entrepreneurs-speak-out-9231

Uploaded Date:10 November 2018

Innovation management as a field of study is maturing, so its derived capabilities have been built up in several areas such as portfolio management, open innovation, rapid prototyping and design thinking. In spite of all this awareness, translating the same into real business benefits has been sparse so far. A study conducted by PwC on 1200 executives recently found out that more than half the leaders surveyed struggle at aligning the innovation strategy with the overall corporate strategy. Eric Ries the founder of the Lean Startup movement believes that Innovation Accounting may as yet be the best application to reinvent innovation. This innovation accounting comprises of three levels. At the first, customer-based dashboards are created. This dashboard’s task is to enable customer discussions, customer feedback, conversion rates and per customer revenue. The next stage must have Leap of Faith Assumptions Dashboards. The third stage will integrate all together through its Net Present Value (NPV) Dashboards. This will run A/B tests.

Source:https://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2018/10/21/lean-start-ups-newest-tool-is-a-game-changer-for-all-innovators/

Uploaded Date:31st October 2018