Have you run out of ideas about new businesses? Do you think that everything that was to be invented has been already invented? Well, even if I was to agree with that (God, I don’t!) you can’t convince me that this is the reason you don’t start a business.

You see, successful new ventures are not only those that come in with an innovative product or idea. Innovation is important but you can be innovative in other aspects such as the business model for example. Then sometimes you don’t even need to be innovative at all; many people have just started a business that is similar to the one next door and they still do fine.

The range of new business ideas is limitless. Period. But OK. You can argue that having a new product idea or launching something in a new market can lower the risk. I’ll give you that. Also you might actually have tried hard but you just can’t think of a breakthrough product or you can’t think of a market that is not to reach its saturation point soon.

Well, sounds to me like you are waiting for some magic to happen that will bring the world upside down and everything will start over from scratch.

Well…Abracadabra! You can now sell every product that has been already traded in our world as a brand new product in a brand new market: The Virtual Goods Market! Millions of virtual farmers in search of the next big thing in fertilizers are waiting for you. Social gaming has evolved into a market where product functionality is worthless compared to the emotional benefit of owning the most archaic ordinary goods.

According to eMarketer the Virtual Goods Market is expected to generate revenues of about $800MM in 2011, almost a 28% increase vs 2010. The outlook is even more promising. In fact these figures represent US only, however the potential is actually huge given the borderless nature of the digital world. Magic!

Bonus push: How to create a virtual goods market

It is quite a common practice to ask for career advice from our mentors, managers, friends and family and everyone else we think it matters to get their opinion on our career development plan. The list of people to ask can be really long actually, depending on our network and of course the attention we pay to this process.

Many times, while we know we followed this process right– reached the right people and got the best advice – we still find ourselves being confused on deciding what should be our next career move. And there are many reasons that can confuse us on analyzing all this feedback. Different people will have different experiences and so they will give us different perspectives. And that’s great… that’s what this is all about… enriching our experience through other people’s experience.

However, if you are still wondering why you’re not capable to conclude your analysis with the best choice, it is probably because you forgot to ask the most significant person: YOURSELF

Career advice is great but your career planning should also take into account what is your heart telling you about yourself. In business, as in life sometimes, we are afraid of hearing what our heart is calling as to do as there is usually not a lot or not at all rationality behind our guts and feelings. Indeed, it is irrational to think like this.

If your heart is yelling to you to do something then maybe this is the most rational thing to do. This is what you would commit all your efforts with passion and this is what you would be most motivated to do anyway, so what is really stopping you? That it doesn’t make sense? It doesn’t make sense…

Interesting video on where our world is heading. Take a look on tomorrow’s technology today!

Pranav Mistry is the inventor of SixthSense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data.

There are many reasons why you have to watch this movie. Beyond the fact that this is the story behind one of the most incredible social phenomenons in the world, the movie is amazingly well directed and unexpectedly fair-minded (or at least plausible enough) to depict the facts and events that contributed into the creation of the most successful social network website in the world, Facebook.

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur however, you may have a few more exclusive reasons to watch this movie. There are some interesting entrepreneurship lessons coming and I am sharing 2 of those here, which I found to be so accurately addressed in this movie:

The Purpose vs. The Money
The movie shows how Mark Zuckerberg was passionate to make this website the coolest and biggest social network in the world, instead of focusing on how to make money out of it. Money is of course the final outcome of any successful entrepreneurial venture, however value is not about money; it is about the purpose. Facebook doesn’t make money but it worth billions! How come? They have the right purpose to exist and deliver what people want from a social network. The potential to make vast amounts of money in the near future is of course very high given the enormous user base they have achieved, but also tricky, as they will have to find more creative ways to earn revenue, beyond just advertisement. Regardless, from an entrepreneurial point of view, Facebook founder is already the youngest billionaire of the world!

The importance of a single leader
Another interesting fact that is being effectively pointed out in the movie, is the importance of clear leadership in any entrepreneurial venture. As in most of the cases, many people contributed to make Facebook the phenomenon it is today, but having a single leader on the wheel to take the final decisions and risks is always critical in any case. Opinions may vary, but it looks like Mark Zuckerberg did play this role quite effectively, leading the venture into the direction he believed was the right one to take, regardless the strong leverage that many people around him tried to have on his moves. Despite the fact he made serious mistakes he later had to pay for, he definitely won the game by doing things his way.