Feld Thoughts: Startups attempting to secure some kind of interaction with a venture capitalist in hopes of getting funded need to be aware that there will be many, many more "Noes" than "Yesses" along the way to success. Brad Feld, co-founder of the Foundry Group, early-stage investor and entrepreneur for over 20 years, offers his tactical approach to being available while at the same time spending as little energy as possible on potential opportunities that don't strike him as profitable in his recent post, Saying No In Less Than 60 Seconds. Here's a snippet of Feld's thought process:

"One of my goals is to be accessible to anyone that reaches out to me.  Another goal is to minimize the amount of time I spend on things that I either (a) don’t have an investment in, (b) won’t have an investment in, or (c) don’t have an interest in.  Basically, I want to 'optimize my accessibility'.  This ebbs and flows – when I’m in balance I’m very happy; when I’m out of balance I’m still very happy, but notice that I’m out of balance." While it might sound a bit harsh at first to imagine that a highly successful investor such as Feld would give only 1 minute (or oftentimes, less) to a startup's request for a meeting, it actually works to the benefit of both parties. Just read the rest of the post to find out how.

The New York Times: Climate change and reduced intellectual property licensing fees sound like strange bedfellows, yes, but at least one thinker believes that marrying the two would create propitious, if not profitable, opportunities for both the environment and businesses. John Lorinc reports on a previous blog post, "In his Monday post here at Green Inc., James Kanter wondered what it would take to get the developing world to sign a climate change deal. Besides cash, some suggest that any accord must ensure developing countries have access to the proprietary mitigation technologies — that is, the intellectual property that companies in the developed world are creating to fight global warming — at bargain basement prices." Would Western holders of climate change-mitigating IP be willing to donate or offer IP at lower rates out of the goodness of their corporate hearts? Check out Climate Change and Intellectual Property for a few thoughts on that very question.

The Philadelphia Enquirer: A recent meeting at the Newseum, located in Washington D.C., hosted some of the brightest minds in the country and had as its focus the principle of innovation and how to foster its development. Christopher K. Hepp, Enquirer Staff Writer, had the good fortune to be in attendance as the assembled collection of scientists, scholars, creatives, and rabble-rousers puzzled out many of the parts that make up "innovation." That is to say, a good time was had by all. In At Newseum, great minds gather to explore innovation, Hepp sets the scene:

Imagine a sleek room of black and chrome filled with the smart set - university presidents, corporate leaders, scholars, scientists, and a provocateur or two thrown together to strike sparks.

In the course of a day, conversation ran from fusion to folding cars, high-performance computing to Pringles packaging, patented ball caps to the meaning of life.

Sponsored by the Council on Competitiveness and the science magazine Seed, the seminar Tuesday at the Newseum explored creativity - and, more specifically, how to generate it. Along the way, there were a few side trips, led by the big thinkers in the room.

The general feeling at the meeting was one of humor and fostered a stab at finding consilience. Although the quest for the unity of knowledge was not completed, plenty of other facts and sidebars provided copious quantities of fodder for thought. These types of get-togethers are rich soil for "tilling the fields of innovation" and are worth imitating at the more local level.

TopNews: In patent infringement news, a variety of popular Sharp products have been found to be in violation of patent held by rival Samsung. Justin Sorkin reports, "According to the US International Trade Commission (ITC), Sharp Corp has violated a patent held by rival Samsung Electronics - as such the Commission passed an 'exclusion order' on Wednesday, blocking the imports of some of the Sharp-manufactured liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions and computer monitors in the US. The 'exclusion order' by the Washington agency is conditional on evaluation by the US President, and the causal patent case can also be appealed to a US court specializing in patent law." This means Sharp will no longer be able to import their offending LCD products to America barring an overturn of the existing order by President Obama or a sea-change in the ITC's current ruling. Neither seems very likely, but Sharp is considering an appeal according to the company's spokeswoman, Miyuki Nakayama. More information can be gleaned in US agency passes “exclusion order” against Sharp’s LCD TVs and monitors.

PEHub.com: Here's an unusual twist on an old idea: the business plan contest, but this time, the presenters are being asked to attend virtually . How's that, you ask? Joanna Glaser has the answer for you: "Draper Fisher Jurvetson is hosting its annual business plan competition again, but this year is telling presenters to stay home. The Silicon Valley firm’s contest – which includes 16 startups from 6 countries — is using TelePresence, Cisco’s costly and much-promoted videoconferencing system that’s designed to make people in different places appear as if they’re in a single boardroom. The competition takes place on Tuesday, with judges gathering at Cisco’s San Jose headquarters to choose who will win a $250,000 investment." The entrants outside the US are "located in Israel, China, Russia, India and Brazil" and include a Chinese game maker and an Indian eco-friendly pico-powerplant startup. For the rest of the story on this 21st Century take on a 20th Century idea, read Glaser's A Twist on the Standard Biz Plan Competition.

Bonus piece o' the day: A Dark Summer by Stuart Ellman and Eric Wiesen at Five Years Too Late.