The book by David Bornstein who recently spoke at the re:Vision conference for young social entrepreneurs at MaRS (which incidentally fell on Earth Hour).

As part of the lead-up to the Young Social Entrepreneurs of Canada (YSEC) conference, held in partnership with the social innovation practice at MaRS, speakers were invited to write about mentorship for the Globe and Mail. The result? Mentorship: the good, the bad, the "just-different".

The latest federal budget removes tax barriers and stimulates flow of capital across Canadian border - great news for Canada's innovative companies!

Ben Horowitz writes in Business Insider's War Room about an open source legal project, Series Seed documents from Ted Wang. He says that these are the kinds of legal docs that the new kind of investor needs to invest in the new kind of company, which generally doesn't require the VC funding structures of the past.

Brett Virmalo of Foward Thinking writes a great must-read about what the "new marketing" really is: your customers and your employees and really great products. Stop marketing. Start being genuinely good. It's the "new" secret sauce.

Entrepreneurs aren't born, they're made. Vivek Whadwa discusses the features that his research team found define the majority of entrepreneurs... which may not be what you thought. Education, a great idea and boredom?!

The Small Business and Tourism Branch has produced, in collaboration with professors Eileen Fischer (York University) and Rebecca Reuber (University of Toronto), a report that provides a portrait of the state of entrepreneurship in Canada. It charts entrepreneurial activity in Canada over time and compares it with leading countries. Entrepreneurial performance indicators observed include: birth and death rates, survival rates, high-growth firms and gazelles, and research and development expenditures. Furthermore, the report provides a profile of the owners of Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) because important entrepreneurial activity takes place within these firms. Finally, the report identifies areas of strength, areas for improvement, and important areas that cannot currently be addressed.

The OVCF invests primarily in Ontario-based and Ontario-focused venture capital and growth equity funds that support innovative, high growth companies.

The $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund (OVCF) is a joint initiative between the Government of Ontario and leading institutional investors to invest primarily in Ontario-based and Ontario-focused venture capital and growth equity funds that support innovative, high growth companies. Ontario has committed $90 million to the Fund, with the balance coming from partner institutions. OVCF is structured as a fund of funds with the primary objective of generating attractive returns for its investors. The OVCF is managed by Northleaf Capital.

Visualize a global positioning system (GPS) device that knows where you've parked, and for how long. Imagine it can send this information directly to a company that will bill you, without allowing that company to spy on you. Skymeter, a MaRS client and tenant, is profiled in IT Business in a video interview.

Advice for the Starbucks CEO ... or anyone in a start-up. If Starbucks can learn, so can you.

MaRS and MaRS tenant OICR were two of many locations for a great video promoting businesses and sectors across Canada. It's being shown to international media and visitors during the Olympics. See us at time index 00:54.

Ideas, inspirations, tips, news and other useful information to small business owners and entrepreneurs. Written by Allysa Gregory, this section is specifically for start-ups.

A list of business magazines, success stories, and business blogs for inspiration.

Sramana Mitra has put together a series on bootstrapping by surveying the blogosphere and collating the best pieces out there. Read her summaries and follow the links to the stories and articles for more detail. It includes a link to the MaRS Blog post, "Bootstrapping or "How to be a cheap b@st@rd"" by me, Cathy Bogaart.

Watch MaRS cleantech advisor and practice lead, Tom Rand, as he appears on a panel on TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin. The issue: the Samsung deal - good for Ontarians or not? Other panelists on the Feb 2, 2010, show include: Randall Denley from the Ottawa Citizen; Kristopher Stevens from the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association; and Norm Rubin from Energy Probe.

An article in OSBR by Lisa Torjman, Associate, SiG@MaRS and Jon Worren, Advisor, MaRS. The article talks about the factors contributing to the weak culture of entrepreneurship in Canada.

The Relentless Foundation is starting up an entrepreneur's website and are looking for donations to support it. NetSquared writes about the ask.

Great article with clear steps on how to run an effective meeting. Use it for your next project, use it for your annual reviews - just use it!

An article by Roger Martin and Jennifer Riel from the Rotman School of Business on how leaders who demand proof that a new idea will work can inadvertently stifle innovation. Breakthrough innovation requires entering into the unknown, thinking beyond what could be right now and focusing instead on what could be in the future.