These are just some of the books, articles, videos and blogs that have been keeping us busy. We can’t vouch for any of the advice, but we thought you might find it interesting and helpful.

The Circle of Innovation: You Can't Shrink Your Way to Greatness

Author: Thomas J. Peters, Tom Peters, Dean LeBaron
Date of publication: October 1997
Location of reference:  Richard Weddle

The world of business is ain a permanent state of flux, Tom Peters argues, a state of chaos in which innovation is the only survival strategy - for the individual and for the organization.  And he presents here a lifesaving handbook -- both provocative and practical -- designed to turn any organization info a perpetual innovation machine. 

 
“One Silicon Valley venture capitalist lays out his expectations for any set of 20 investments; Four will go bankrupt, six will loose money, six will do okay, three will do well… and one will hit the jackpot.  That is, there's hardly an expectation of a 1,000 batting average.  Not even close!” - pg. 86  

Innovation: Breakthrough Thinking at 3M, DuPont, GE, Pfizer, and Rubbermaid
(Businessmasters Series)

Author: Rosabeth Moss Kanter (Editor), Fred Wiersema (Contributor), John J. Kao, Tom Peters 
Location of reference:  Richard Weddle

In the first book in the exciting new BusinessMasters series, the CEOs and chief officers of innovation at Pfizer, DuPont, Rubbermaid, 3M, and General Electric reveal how their companies made it to the pinnacle of success. Featuring a Foreword by Tom Peters, the undisputed leader on the subject, Innovation brands the BusinessMasters series for immediate recognition.

The Innovators: The Engineering Pioneers Who Made America Modern
(Wiley Popular Science)
Author: David P. Billington
Date of publication: April 1996
Location of reference:  Richard Weddle

Tells the story of the engineering pioneers whose designs revolutionized commerce, industry, and world history. A richly illustrated introduction to the engineering triumphs that made America modern.

Art and Innovation: The Xerox PARC Artist In Residence Program

Author: Craig Harris (Preface), John Seely Brown (Introduction)
Date of publication: June 1999
Location of reference:  Richard Weddle

The idea behind Xerox's interdisciplinary Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) is simple: if you put creative people in a hothouse setting, innovation will naturally emerge. PARC's Artist in Residence Program (PAIR) brings artists who use new media to PARC and pairs them with researchers who often use the same media, though in different contexts. This is radically different from most corporate support of the arts, where there is little intersection between the disciplines. The result is both interesting art and new scientific innovations.

Art and Innovation explores the unique process that grew from this pairing of new media artists and scientists working at the frontier of developing technologies. In addition to discussing specific works created during several long term residencies, the artists and researchers reveal the similarities and differences in their approaches and perspectives as they engage each other in a search for new methods for communication and creativity.

Blur: The Speed of Change in the Connected Economy

Author: Christopher Meyer, Stan Davis
Date of publication: March 1998
Location of reference:  Richard Weddle

Delivers more than a guided tour to the momentus shifts, that is, rapid rate of change, offering readers a working model to illustrate & benefit from the new rules of the connected economy, where advantage is temporary.

Imitation to Innovation: The Dynamics of Korea's Technological Learning
(Management of Innovation and Change Series)

Author: Linsu Kim
Date of publication: February 1997
Location of reference:  Richard Weddle

This is the story of Korea's rapid rise from a subsistence agriculture economy to a high tech powerhouse, with lessons for other newly industrializing countries, and even established competitors, that want to follow Korea's lead.

The Innovation Challenge

Author: D. E. Hussey (Editor)
Date of publication: August 1997
Location of reference:  Richard Weddle

Using a top managerial approach, this book provides a strategic view of innovation and demonstrates that it is more than just encouraging creativity. Chapters present current findings and new ideas from practitioners and academics in the field on the many aspects of the strategic management of innovation. The volume effectively covers the area of Strategic Innovation ranging from the need for strategic innovation as a counter to slack economic conditions, radical innovation rather than incremental innovation as the cornerstone for success. Explains how to plan and control innovation: suggests an organisational model to guide innovation management within firms, and how to exploit new innovations in global environment and covers certain aspects of technological innovation.

*This collection is a rotating library. Please check back monthly for updates.*

TechCrunch founded on June 11, 2005, is a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies. In addition to covering new companies, we profile existing companies that are making an impact (commercial and/or cultural) on the new web space.

This site is designed to better capture and share advice, insight and perspective from entrepreneurs, CEOs and other industry leaders on the essence and process of innovation, entrepreneurship and company building.

Pasadena Angels Blog: To deliver the most informative experience for our readers, we’ve assembled a ‘Dream Team’ of contributors that have specific expertise and skill sets in areas critical to the success of emerging companies. You can see our lineup, along with their bios and background information on the "Dream Team" page. Each month one (or more) of the angels will write about a topic of particular interest to entrepreneurs. With the launch of Ask the Angels, our goal is to create a great resource and collection of ‘real world’ information for entrepreneurs and start-up companies. To help us achieve this, we encourage questions and points of view from readers, along with suggestions for improving this forum.

Benjamin Kuo’s Blog
Thoughts on Southern California’s high tech and venture capital industry.

TwiistUp connects people from technology, media and entertainment. Our events feature several startups chosen to ‘showoff’ their products & services to the media, investors, influential bloggers, fellow technologists and those interested in learning about what’s hot in tech. An alternative to traditional networking events, Twiistup mixes it up with tunes, video, bites, beverages, prizes, swag and the unexpected.

Lunch 2.0 A social phenomenon referring to a migration of web 2.0 company employees to other offices around the Silicon Valley area; characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share food and ideas, and “the lunch as a conversation.” Lunch 2.0 is a grassroots effort at heart and one of the things that attendees like most about it is how accessible it is.

Barcamp LA is an ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees. All attendees must give a demo, a session, or help with one. All presentions are scheduled the day they happen. Prepare in advance, but come early to get a slot on the wall. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join.

Intrigued by the cross pollination that arises from gathering individuals who might not otherwise interact. MindshareLA is a monthly event that was created to serve as a platform for networking and the sharing of ideas across a wide range of fields. It is an energetic mix of open-minded people from architects to programmers to writers to painters to engineers and all others in between.The evening consists of presentations, food, drink, art and music, within the ambiance of a stunning loft outside of downtown LA. Founded in 2006 by alum of ArtCenter, RISD, Caltech, Claremont and Stanford, Mindshare works to foster a sense of community within this vast city.

Vator.tv is a social network for technology startup companies which gives entrepreneurs a platform to connect with Investors, Acquirers and Media. Vator.tv gives Investors useful tools to keep track of companies and industries that interest them, and provides a revolutionary interaction platform to discover the best investment opportunities in technology. The Vator.tv Newsroom is a trustworthy beacon to the world on the technology startup spirit and the investing which turns these dreams into reality.

Entrepreneurship Corner (Stanford) is a Stanford University collection of online resources for teaching and learning entrepreneurship. The mission of the project is to enhance the teaching of high-growth entrepreneurship and technology innovation. The site has been developed by a broad team of educators, entrepreneurs, engineers, and designers at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP). The project has been financially supported by StanfordUniversity and a number of generous sponsors.

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). Today, TED is best thought of as a global community. It's a community welcoming people from every discipline and culture who have just two things in common: they seek a deeper understanding of the world, and they hope to turn that understanding into a better future for us all.