Pam Newman, at Entrepreneur.com, takes a look at 5 key factors in determining employee compensation in her recent article. Besides the obvious ones such as salary and benefits, Newman points out the need for an employer to create a payroll budget and to also allow for the expenses an employee's compensation package incur. These additional costs include Social Security payments, worker's comp, and tax and should be included in projected costs when figuring out the complete cost to a company of hiring a new associate. Newman closes with an uplifting message: "Compensating employees is a delicate balance between meeting the employees' expectations and the company's financial goals...Our employees are our most valuable assets and we should make sure we're treating them that way."

Gaebler Ventures leads the way to delegation in a short piece on how best to free up your valuable time by learning how to train, direct, and encourage your employees to take on more duties and responsibilities. "If you are too busy with the details, how can you possibly lead your employees to greatness?" the piece asks, and continues with a few suggestions on how to go about spreading the tasks of doing business among your team. One of the best of the bunch: "Understand there will be mistakes made, but by communicating with the employee and patiently explaining the task, you can shorten this learning curve. It will also be helpful to give the employee instructions and guidelines, in writing, of what the new duties involve and what type of performance will be expected." Sounds simple, so why not learn more about the joys of letting go in How to Delegate.

"Investors are like you – they want to create important companies, in businesses they are passionate about, with people they enjoy being around." Tim Westergren, founder of the popular music service, Pandora, wrote in his op-ed piece for VentureBeat.com. Westergren relates his path to venture funding by seeking out the things that took him from a long string of denials, to finally finding a "yes" lost in the forest of nays. Among the things that cleared away the undergrowth as he picked his way through the foreboding forest were "a leap of faith," "a gut feeling" and "a leg up." If that sounds a little nebulous and too general, read What motivates an investor to say “yes”for the specific reasons Westergren believe made Pandora a reality.

What's wrong with Canadian innovation, you ask? Why don't we read daily missives about the great wave of stunning new ideas and market-crushing products from our maple-loving neighbors to the North? (Or west, if you live in Alaska!) Jeff Cornwall grapples with those very same questions in his blog post at Belmont University. The gist of Cornwall's post at The LockeSmith Blog is to repudiate the findings of a recent paper released from McGill University by Professor Guy Stanley which state that Canada is rapidly falling behind in matter of innovation, and it's time for the government to step in a straighten things out by socializing the process. Cornwall fires back: "We already are beginning to see the results of Canadian socialized medicine as their health care system continues to implode." The conclusion to draw is that free markets function better than socialized ones, but if that were true, why doesn't the US have health care for all its citizens, Mr. Cornwall? Read Socialized Entrepreneurship Failing in Canada for the rest of the story.

Saatchi & Saatchi performed market research that indicates a growing problem in missing the mark in marketing to women. The study finds "consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers are annually missing out on £600m of sales because they are failing to connect with women" which is a huge oversight on the part of Madison Avenue types who are supposed to be experts on attracting consumers of all shapes, sizes, and genders to a given product, including geeky gadgets. And this does not mean making them pink, so knock off the pink Hello Kitty! doodads already. Dick Stroud has a few comments on the study worth checking out in Marketing to women – old and young at 20plus30.com.