How would you like to raise up to $2 million for your startup business?  And do it by letting investors “point-n-click” the cash your way via the Web?  It may soon be nearly that simple, thanks to the “Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act” (more commonly known as the “Crowdfunding Act”) that passed the House in an overwhelming (and bi-partisan!) 407 to 17 vote.  President Obama is another driving force behind the legislation, which is designed to dramatically streamline fund-raising for entrepreneurs.

After the bill passes the Senate (and all indications are that it will), and President Obama signs the legislation into law, entrepreneurs will be able to turn on a grassroots method to raise capital — equity sales online — with greatly reduced SEC restrictions.  The freer flow of money would be rocket fuel for startups, which are an essential engine for a robust economy and job creation.

“Crowdfunding” — a way for masses of people (“the crowd”) to feed ventures with capital via the Web — has blossomed in recent years thanks to sites like Kickstarter.com.  But SEC “red tape” (primarily the Securities Act of 1933) has prohibited these sites from directly offering investment shares in the enterprises.  The new Crowdfunding Act will remove this barrier.  No longer will equity sales be restricted to accredited investors.  And the power of public-supported funding will be unleashed.

Entrepreneurial endeavors will be able to sell up to $2 million in ownership shares to an unlimited number of investors.  And individuals will be able to invest up to $10,000 or up to 10% of his or her annual income, whichever is less.

If a company seeks the maximum $2 million in funding, it must supply “the crowd” with audited financial statements.  A company can choose to bypass the audited-financial-statement requirement — but then the maximum capital it can raise is $1 million.  (That’s nothing to sneeze at!)

When the President signs the legislation into law, it will be a great day for all entrepreneurs.  Just as important for America, the ensuing new businesses will provide a shot of adrenaline for the economy and help rev up the job-creation engine.  Everyone will win.

Chime.in, a just-launched social-media site, claims it will pay all content posters 50% of the advertising revenue generated on their profile pages.  This in stark contrast to Facebook, which has built a $65 billion empire by leveraging members’ content to attract advertisers and amass revenue.

To provide a first-hand report, I created Chime.in account (very simple to do), and explored the site.  Although the site is still in beta, I must say the user interface is well thought out.  Since the site has just turned on, you probably have a good shot to get your personal name as your user name.  Hey, it’s free.  Go for it.  www.Chime.in

The following is a snippet of a Huffington Post article about Chime.In:

“While Facebook has earned billions of dollars selling ads next to the content uploaded by their 800 million members, users haven’t seen a dime from their posts.

Share with Chime.in and Chime.in will share with you. The site, which allows individuals to post photos, links, videos and text in two thousand character ‘chimes,’ will give users 50 percent of the revenue it earns from selling advertising on their profile pages.

‘This is a firing shot in social media,’ [Bill Gross, the founder] told The Huffington Post. ‘Finally, the interests of the content creators are aligned with the interests of the publisher because they get something for their hard work.”

For the complete article, visit http://huff.to/ogyFGi

Image courtesy The Huffington Post and Getty Images.

I came across this inspiring two-minute video on YouTube about entrepreneurs.  They formed the fabric of our country — and could (and should) be our engine to the future.  Start your day off with this video.  It will lift your spirits.  Then take that rush of adrenaline and dose free spirit — and go for it.  Change the world.

The America Invents Act is the most significant overhaul of U.S. patent law since 1952.  Through this Act, American inventors can hope to see a breakthrough in the logjam of patent applications that hold up applications for years at a time.  (At last count, there are over 700,000 backlogged patent applications — slowing countless product and business innovaions from seeing the light of day.)

The bill also gets the U.S. on the same patent footing as the rest of the world, by changing our system from a “first-to-invent” standard to a “first-to-file” standard.  This one change, alone, is designed to eliminate the myriad of court cases that try to resolve which inventor came up with an idea first.

Additional information can be read at the following AP report: http://bit.ly/pWOQR0

Photo courtesy of the AP.

Over the last couple of months I’ve seen a flurry of doom ‘n’ gloom scenarios based on the nearing peak (in mid 2013) of the 11-year solar cycle.  For instance, a little over a week ago I read in the International Business Times, “Severe Solar Storm to Create Global Chaos and Complete Darkness” followed a week later by “Severe Solar Storms Could Disrupt Earth This Decade.”

I’m not picking on the IB Times.  I’ve seen similar reports in Popular Science, such as the June 30th article entitled, “Are We Prepared for a Catastrophic Solar Storm?”

So are we all toast?

Here’s the reality:

It’s true that with the near total dependence on computers for every aspect of our lives, we’ve never been more vulnerable to solar activity.  I described in a previous article a recent near-miss of a CME (corona mass ejection) — essentially a ball of plasma ejected by the sun.  If a large CME hits our planet, power could certainly go down for an extended period of time.

One of the biggest concerns of scientists is the “Fukushima Effect” in which the backup generators and battery systems at nuclear power plants run out power.  Such a circumstance could cascade to the point where water-cooling systems would become inoperable — and result in Fukushima-like catastrophes around the world.  The actual chances?  Hard to predict precisely.  But, by legitimate estimates, pretty low.

More likely to occur:  Gas pumps at your local service station would stop working.  (They’re essentially computerized pumps; the credit-card processing network would also likely go down.)   “Telecommuting” would not be possible, as phone and Internet would be flicked off like a switch.  Cell phone service would also go down as soon as the backup generators and / or batteries at the cell towers run out of juice.  (You won’t be able to charge your cell phones, anyway.)

If the power grid goes down, once your food runs out (or spoils) in your fridge, don’t count on restocking at the supermarket.  The 18 wheelers that are the mainstay of food delivery across the country would also quickly run out of fuel — and, as mentioned above, the services stations would be unable to refill the rigs.

The probability of a sweeping, worldwide catastrophe as outline above is low.  But CMEs can, and have, made direct Earth strikes over the centuries — and caused significant disruptions.  Do a Google search for the “Carrington Event.”  In 1859, during the peak of another solar cycle, a CME knocked out telegraph offices around the globe (and even shocked some of the telegraph operators).  Most scientists agree that — because of entrenched computerization and satellite-based communications — the same magnitude CME today would disrupt society on a widespread basis.

I’m hoping the media doesn’t escalate the risks to an astronomical level.  The last thing we need is a massive wave of hysteria.  But, hey, it can’t hurt to keep an extra candle or two around the house.  And, perhaps, a couple of cans of Spam…

For a reasonably well-proportioned (non-hyped) news report — with an exceptional piece of video from NASA of a CME — check out the following two-minute CNN video:  http://bit.ly/h7GEmn

For reference, the NASA image associated with this article shows the approximate size of the Earth as compared to a solar eruption.  (In reality, the Earth is 93 million miles away from the sun — so a flare would never envelop the Earth as in the NASA comparison.)

In 2007 President Bush signed into law an energy bill that requires light bulbs to be 30 percent more efficient by 2012.  Sounds like a good idea, right?  Today’s old-fashioned “Edison” bulbs turn only 10% of electricity into light — with the other 90% turned into heat.  But now some “brilliant” lawmakers want to overturn the 2007 law, and they’ve introduced legislation to do so.

Their rationale?  People should have the right to choose how they want to light their homes and businesses, regardless of bulb type or efficiency.  Now, I’m all for a free society and minimal government impact on our lives.  But the reality is that America has five percent of the world’s population, but consumes a whopping 25% of the world’s energy.  Expressed another way:  On average, each one of us consumes five times more energy than an individual in any other country on the planet.  And lighting is one of the heftiest contributors.

Edison bulbs have been around since 1879.  As we all learned in school, Thomas Edison found a way to create light by sending a current through a metal filament, causing it to glow. But this ancient technology, as mentioned above, is a terribly inefficient light source; for most homes, it’s the second-largest energy expense.

Today’s energy-efficient light-bulb alternatives come in all shapes, sizes, and types.

The now-popular “curly” fluorescent light bulbs (a.k.a., compact fluorescent lights, CFLs) are much more energy efficient (20% or more).  But some people don’t like the slight turn-on delay.  And, contrary to recent media reports, they don’t contain life-threatening levels of mercury.  Yes, they contain some mercury — but only about one hundredth (1/100) of the mercury as the medical thermometers we grew up with.

My personal preference is the LED light bulb, based on the same LED technology used in everything from flashlights to TV displays.  They are considerably more expensive — $20 to $40 per bulb.  But, because they are up to 80% efficient (vs. an Edison bulb’s 10% or a CFL’s 20%), they pay back quickly in energy savings — and can save hundreds of dollars per year in operating costs.  And forget about replacing them.  Under typical usage, a single LED bulb can last up to 25 years.

Watch for the costs of LED bulbs to plummet over the next year or two, as demand and production increase.

Companies are springing up, all across America, to manufacture both CFLs and LEDs.  These companies are creating jobs and fostering innovation.  Now if only the light bulb would go on in the heads of our politicians.

Beginning on January 12, 2012, the door will open to essentially unlimited variations of domain names.  The current suite of 22 gTLDs (generic top-level domains, such as .com, .org, .net, .edu) will blossom to almost anything you can imagine.

According to the ICANN press release:

“ICANN has opened the Internet’s naming system to unleash the global human imagination. Today’s decision respects the rights of groups to create new Top Level Domains in any language or script. We hope this allows the domain name system to better serve all of mankind,” said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN.

New gTLDs will change the way people find information on the Internet and how businesses plan and structure their online presence. Virtually every organization with an online presence could be affected in some way.

Internet address names will be able to end with almost any word in any language, offering organizations around the world the opportunity to market their brand, products, community or cause in new and innovative ways.

“Today’s decision will usher in a new Internet age,” said Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of ICANN’s Board of Directors. “We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration.”

For the full press release, please visit http://www.icann.org/en/news/releases/release-20jun11-en.pdf

Image courtesy of CBS News and iStockPhoto.

(eMarketer) A digital revolution in couponing coupled with the belt-tightening of the recession have combined to make coupons cool among more than just those clipping the Sunday circular. Digital coupon usage is now firmly a part of the online shopping experience of millions of U.S. consumers.

eMarketer estimates that by the end of 2011, nearly half of U.S. adult Internet users, or 88.2 million people, will have redeemed an online coupon or code for use either online or offline in the past year. By 2013, 96.8 million adults will redeem an online coupon.

For the full report, visit http://bit.ly/lZfDE1

A super-easy way to find the lowest price of gas in town is with the handy Web site www.GasBuddy.com.  Just type in your ZIP code and — presto — the lowest prices at the nearest gas stations will pop up on your screen.  There’s also a handy app for your iPhone, Android, or Windows mobile phone.  Click & save — now!

(Andrei Hagiu, Harvard Business Review) “Much is being written about the impact that new communication technologies and channels (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) have on traditional marketing. The deeper question is: Will these new communication channels actually force material changes not just in the way companies market their products but in the strategies and operations they use to develop and build those products as well? In my view, the answer is an emphatic yes. It’s another instance of the proverbial medium that changes the content.”  To read Andrei’s intriguing article, follow this link:  http://bit.ly/esfnu6

Check out the insightful Op-Ed piece from Nobel economics laureate, Joseph Stiglitz, as he outlines his plan for substantial economic growth and reducing the deficit.

“Deficit reduction is important.  But it is a means to an end — not an end in itself.”  He adds, “Years of underinvestment in the public sector — in infrastructure, education and technology — mean that there are ample high-return opportunities.”

You can view the full article at http://politi.co/fZA3hG