What’s hot?  Inventive businesses that meet traditional needs.  April 2013.  Ocappi, an online jeweler, has conceived of a terrific solution for grooms who can’t decide which is the perfect ring.  Here, the groom can order “mock rings” thus enabling the bride-to-be to be a part of the ring selection.  Warby Parker offers low-cost glasses online.  Here, they’ve designed their own frames and they manage the production.  Best of all, customers can virtually “try on” their glasses. 

Neither firm invented a new need.  Instead, each found a new solution for traditional needs.

Forbes Magazine names top startup incubators and accelerators.  April 30, 2012.  Forbes reports that “they typically take a small piece of the equity in exchange for a small amount of cash and entry into the program.”  Forbes ranking evaluates incubators based on the value of their startup companies.  These are top 3 U.S. incubators on the Forbes list:  

Y Combinator, founded in 2005, Mountain View, CA

TechStars, founded in 2007, Boulder, Boston, New York, Seattle, San Antonio

DreamIt Ventures, founded in 2008, Philadelphia, New York, Israel

Today, startup incubators and accelerators literally dot the U.S.  Click Forbes Incubator List for the full article and the rest of their list.

Forbes Magazine, April 30, 2012: Top Startup Incubators and Accelerators: Y Combinator Tops With $7.8 Billion In Value by Tomio Geron

Self-made billionaires - small business entrepreneurs join an elite circle.  March 7, 2012.  Spanx founder, Sara Blakely, joins Forbes 2012 list of 1, 226 billionaires.  In 1998, she took her $5,000 savings to start an undergarment business, Spanx.  Blakely is not just the sole-owner of Spanx, she's kept it debt-free.  Why did she start the firm?  Because she wanted a better undergarment.

A year earlier, another entrepreneur joined the list of billionaires.  Kevin Plank started Under Armour in 1995 because he wanted a better T-shirt, a T-shirt that would remain drier and lighter during football practice.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announces the NYSE Big StartUp to help small businesses grow.  March 23, 2012.  Today, the NYSE announced the formation and funding of NYSE Big StartUp to bring their community and partners together to fuel new business, capital-raising activity and, ultimately, job growth.  This new organization will connect young companies with established corporate entities.  Additionally, loans for startups will be available.  The NYSE committed $1.5 million to the fund and they are calling on large corporations to commit added sums.  The NYSE Big StartUp partners are Accion, the largest microfinancing resource in the U.S., Entrepreneurs Organization, an organization whose mission is to fuel the entrepreneurial engine and Startup America Partnership, the federally initiated organization committed to helping young companies grow jobs.

Small business success may depend on where you live.  February 21. 2012. NBC9 in Denver reported that Colorado’s new business success rate is a whopping 77%.  Yes, they repeated the number various times, assuring their listeners that the number is correct.

Rather than drop everything and race off to Colorado, there are other cities where small business is strong.  The Business Journals research shows the ten best U.S. cities for small-business vitality. They define small business as a firm with 99 employees or fewer.  The top cities are: 

• Austin     
• Oklahoma City                    
• Charleston, SC   
• Charlotte   
• Seattle    
• Tulsa    
• Raleigh        
• Denver                        
• Washington                
• New York City