MaRS

Measuring wellbeing

“How are Canadians really doing?” This is the question posed by the first report of the Institute of Wellbeing. Why does it think that we don’t “really” understand Canadians’ wellbeing? Because GDP remains the most common measure, despite the fact that it wasn’t originally intended to be used as such, and that it implies a very narrow idea of what makes life good. Spending on tobacco, natural and human-made disasters, crime and accidents all make GDP go up, but they are hardly signs that Canadians are better off. The Report unveils a better measure, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), in the hope of re-centering public policy and discourse on a more relevant set of priorities.

Betting on management is quite the gamble.

An interesting study has recently been released which calls into question the validity of the “always bet on management” mantra.

To study the impact of management talent on fundraising, Dr. David Townsend (North Carolina State U.) and Dr. Lowell Busenitz (U. Oklahoma) followed the capitalization outcomes for 144 Oklahoma-based technology ventures ranked for management strength and technology strength.

Not surprisingly, ventures which had a combination of strong management and strong technology were able to raise funds to meet their development needs.

Here’s the round-up of the week in the newsfeeds. Below I highlight my favourite articles of the week from each category.

Today’s Top Pick – “Investors Bet on Payments via Cellphone“. Find out more under Business and Entrepreneurship.

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The verdict is in: Brains are hotter than ever. You could say the whole field of neuroscience is on fire. Daily we are bombarded with news highlighting our expanding understanding of cognition, neurogenesis and neuroplasticity.

Canada strongly holds its own in the world of neurotechnology. Canada’s neuroscience research is world-class, ranking fifth in the world in the number of neuroscience citations. For details check out MaRS’ latest industry briefing, “Neurotechnology: Focus on Aging“.

From Body & Soul, a play for fearless women

Our social innovation program (SiG@MaRS) works with many female social entrepreneurs who are creating a new path outside stereotypical roles. To celebrate them and the other “fearless women” making a difference, SiG held an event featuring Judith Thompson’s play, Body & Soul at the Tarragon Theatre last Tuesday. There, SiG@MaRS and the Ontario Trillium Foundation announced a feasibility study for the School for Social Entrepreneurs based on the UK model.

Julia Moulden, author of We are the New Radicals, asked the room of 100+ entrepreneurial women, “Do you hear that? It’s the sound of women rising”. Her position is that today’s fearless women are on a mission, “and this time we intend to save the world.”