Crowd Funding, Micro-funding, New Approach for Investors - Alternatives to Wall Street

Interesting - "You may get bought for an eye watering sum of money. Alternatively, IDTechEx counsels that you do not meet the giants head on but take a look at the smaller but still substantial sector of wearable electronics for animals with an initially addressable market of 20 billion animals managed by humans. Later, that business will add substantial wearable electronic ID, diagnostics, location and treatment for billions of endangered species as we destroy the world around us. The big boys are giving that a miss for now." - And not the only place the big fella's are missing to target

Even Clayton Christensen should watch out

Very interesting trend for Finance chiefs, headcount will continue to flat to down, but spending will be up.  A very interesting contradiction to achieve innovative capability if the trend is to be believed

Here are five stocks to buy that will benefit from the growth of the wearable technology market:

• Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM): Qualcomm has thrived making microchips for smartphones and tablets and is a trusted brand for any company making wearable technology. And just last week QCOM announced that it would increase its dividend by 20% and its share buyback program by up to $5 billion. QCOM closed at $77.07 Monday.

• Himax Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq ADR: HIMX): Some people may know that Himax supplies liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) microdisplays for the Google Glass. But that technology has a wide application in wearable technology devices, such as smartwatches, as well as smartphones and even large TV monitors. Although HIMX has soared 242% in the past 12 months, there's still a lot of growth ahead this stock. Earnings per share are expected to rise 68.9% this year alone. HIMX closed at $15.50 Monday.

• Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM): Like Qualcomm, Broadcom's recent strength has been in the tablet and smartphone markets. But Broadcom has been planning ahead, and has created a product line, WICED (Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices), specifically targeted at the wearable tech market. BRCM closed Monday at $30.66.

• NXP Semiconductors NV (Nasdaq: NXPI): Dutch-based NXP is better known for its contactless payment technologies, but has plenty of chips that can be used in wearable technology devices. NXPI is up 81% over the past 12 months, but earnings per share growth is forecast to be 25% this year and 36% in the next five years. The stock closed at $57.14 Monday.

• Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER): Teradyne takes the idea of buying component suppliers of wearable tech one step further back - it makes the testing equipment the chipmakers use in their factories. The surge in new chips that will need to be developed as wearable technology evolves will means lots of business for Teradyne, although that may not be reflected in the stock price right away. TER closed Monday at $19.65.

Once a company is established, innovation strategy means understanding how to leverage distinctive existing strengths to generate value and capture value. It means understanding how your repertoire of R&D skills, intellectual property, operating capabilities, relationships, distribution channels, and brand can protect and extend the value from innovation. - Meaning go find some new / other Use Cases for what you do best

PayPal will be the first payment provider on the new Samsung Gear 2 wearable devices according to an announcement at the Mobile World Congress. “The PayPal app will allow Gear 2 owners to check-in to pay at local stores, save and redeem offers, send money to a friend instantly, and receive payment notifications while on the go,” PayPal’s Vice President of Global Product Hill Ferguson wrote in a blog post.

Excellent article on innovation and how being a big firm is not necessarily a competitive advantage, in fact could be the opposite

Excellent read and we've found yet another who agrees with us, now which one of the OEM's will wake up and smell the proverbial coffee and actually take a learner's mindset on how to out-innovate their competition?  

"It’s vital for them to discover what they can do differently, hone the ideas to perfection through experimentation and time, then get ready to face the inevitable barrage of criticism if they really want to make a difference"

The marketing viewpoint on what Wearables will be able to do for the retail side, not a bad article

Excellent profile of the NYC lawman who is going after nefarious cyber criminals who use BitCoin - Also a good low down on How the leading financial startups disrupt while following the law.  Definitely a good read to understand this BitCoin thing that Warren Buffett doesn't even trust.

One of the most important videos on the history of Silicon Valley, definitely worthwhile to watch if you can spare an hour to watch it