Conor Friedersdorf has come under attack from Palin fans for reporting that his screening of The Undefeated was almost empty. Besides the personal attacks and conspiracy theories, he questions the larger issue: [W]hat is ultimately at stake? Say it earns...

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Businesses that go through incubators historically have a close to 90 percent survival rate. We've pinpointed some of the most productive.

Founded in 2006, TechStars is one of the country's most prestigious incubators. Its four locations in Boston, Boulder, New York City, and Seattle, host 10 teams for three months of the year on rotation, funding each team member between $6,000 and $18,000. More than 600 teams applied last year, making TechStars one of the country's most competitive incubators. TechStars focuses on technology companies with transnational appeal, and requires a 6 percent equity stake in any new companies that are funded. Each program ends with a pitch event with venture capitalists and other investors.

Since 2005, Y-Combinator has set the standard for technology incubators. Founded by tech entrepreneur Paul Graham, the Silicon Valley-based paradise for coders with an entrepreneurial streak hosts teams in two rotations from January to March and from June to August of each year. Y-Combinator invests about $18,000 per company for the session, and asks an equity stake that averages about 6 percent. Roughly 300 companies have received funding to date, among them Scribd, WePay, and Reddit.

Michael Gaiss, a senior vice president at Highland Capital Partners, decided in 2007 that an in-house incubator might be an ideal way for investors to acquaint themselves with next-generation entrepreneurs. The program took a hiatus last year, but has returned this summer to host 11 teams spread across locations in Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area. The incubator has accepted applications from companies with a variety of different ideas in past years, but decided to narrow its scope to technology companies this round. Teams of two-to-four members receive $15,000, along with office accommodations from early June through the end of August.

DreamIt Ventures began hosting start-ups in Philadelphia in 2007. Recently, the incubator expanded to New York City, where 12 of its alumni companies are based. Offering $5,000 for each additional team member (up to $25,000 for a team of five), DreamIt makes available a bit more seed funding than the average incubator. Like other top-tier incubators, DreamIt provides successful applicants with mentorship from entrepreneurs, as well as legal, accounting, and administrative help, and a demonstration day during which teams present their fledgling companies to investors.

Founded in Washington, D.C., LaunchBox Digital expanded last year into North Carolina's Research Triangle Park. Teams receive $15,000 to $30,000 in seed funding in exchange for a 4 to 8 percent equity stake in the company. This incubator, which favors proposals with a technological orientation, provides the companies it selects with administrative and legal advice over 12 weeks leading up to their demo day.

Flashpoint doesn't look for the latest location-based app or daily deals scheme. This incubator based in Washington, D.C., was founded in 2003 to provide space and supplemental financial support to nonprofit arts organizations in the Beltway. The average Flashpoint business has just one, two, or three paid staff members, and receives technical support, professional development, and office equipment during residency. Notable alumni include Irish contemporary arts group Solas Nua, professional dance company Step Afrika!, and Washington Improv Theater.

Capital Factory sets up shop in Austin, Texas, from the end of May to the beginning of August each summer. The program is capped by a demo day with 250 investors in September. For the 10 weeks of the program, each team receives $20,000, office space, and brand and logo development as well as accounting, banking, help with PR, and legal aid. In exchange, Capital Factory asks a 5 percent equity stake. Capital Factory prides itself on the mentors it makes available to participants, including SKYLIST founder Joshua Bear, ApartmentRatings.com founder Jeremy Bencken, and Smart Bear founder Jason Cohen.

Situated in what was once Bethlehem Steel's main research facility, Ben Franklin TechVentures was founded in 1983 and moved to its current location on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 2007. Residents at TechVentures have received seed funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners in the past. This regional incubator assists early-stage companies with operating costs, connections to investors, and business advice. One of a group of ten regional Pennsylvania technology incubators, TechVentures provides the facilities, lab space, and management advice that start-ups need.

More than a decade older than most of the other incubators on this list, the Environmental Business Cluster is the nation's largest clean-tech incubator. Founded in 1994, the EBC has assisted more than 150 companies by providing facilities like conference centers and office space as well as education, counseling, and access to investors, all in the hope of promoting businesses that are working to develop renewable energy sources, better waste management treatments, and other forms of emerging green and environmental technology.

Part of the University of Illinois's Research Park, EnterpriseWorks hosts early-stage tech firms, and has had particular success with information and biotechnology companies. About 70 companies have had their start at EnterpriseWorks since the incubator opened its doors in 2003. If you're looking to hobnob with the venture capital flash that only Silicon Valley can offer, this may not be the incubator for you. But for tech firms that need some time to get their business in order, a residency at EnterpriseWorks provides office and lab space, meetings with the incubator's three entrepreneurs in residence, and the option to hire student employees from the University of Illinois's student body. "Matt DeLuca

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The tablet market is expanding every bit as rapidly as netbooks did when they first arrived, and then some. MSI has announced their entry into the market today, and it's a very different breed of tablet compared to the largely Android-based units available. The new WindPad 110W has a heck of a lot going on under the hood, including some new kit from AMD.

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Samsung could be set to unveil a smartphone-tablet hybrid device at IFA 2011, if rumours of a 5.3-inch screened device are to be believed.

According to Yahoo Korea's sources, the 'tabphone' will come with 3G support, but it's not clear whether it'll support voice calls or just be a data connection.

It's not really clear to us why Samsung would launch a handset that's only an inch bigger in the screen department than its current flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S2.

Too many or too few

But if it's not meant as a phone, is Samsung seriously expecting anyone to buy a 5-inch tablet in this day and age?

Other Samsung Galaxy Q specs are very thin on the ground at this point, and with nary a blurry cam shot to go on, we can't help but feel that this possible device makes very little sense.

Still, since the 5-inch Dell Streak 5 does already exist, we're willing to concede that it's possible that Samsung will follow in its (now fairly old) footsteps with the Galaxy Q.

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refugee turned entrepreneur," Bryan Janeczko worked at Morgan Stanley before founding his own venture, an online prepared food vendor called NuKitchen. He sold that company to Nutrisystem two and a half years ago, but wanted to continue working with start-ups. Janeczko wanted to do something to help other people grow their own businesses, so he decided to gather funds from the sale of NuKitchen in 2010 to found Wicked Start, a free online incubator for early-stage small businesses. The site offers free services and advice from experienced entrepreneurs and business owners, but charges for premium resources. Janeczko sat down with Inc.com's Matthew DeLuca to talk about helping start-ups find their footing.

There are lots of incubators out there. How is your online incubator different?
I think what I have here is a much more scalable entity. I found that a lot of incubators out there just didn't meet the needs of a lot of folks. I thought that this was a great way to leverage a lot of my own experience plus thousands of other entrepreneurs starting out. The service was initially a paid service because I believed that people would pay for this service, but there were a number of issues. So quickly we learned that offering the service for free and then offering services people can buy down the road is much more successful. We recommend products and services along the way, so that's how we look to make money off of this. It's free for users. It gives you everything along the way from how to build a prototype to how to pitch investors.

Do you take an equity stake in exchange for funding, like many incubators?
We do not do that at present. Our focus right now is to help people see if their idea is viable, and if they have the tools to do it. When it comes to funding, we have a relationship with Angelsoft.net. They're big in providing angel capital; they're super angels. They have a Wicked Start branded page that they've started for us.

What kind of business is best suited for Wicked Start?
There's really two types of people. There's the person who is just thinking about starting a business, I don't care if it's Little Miss Moonshine Ice Cream or if it's the next social network. That person is going to make a decision early on whether or not entrepreneurship is viable for them. A lot of ideas may be viable, but is it viable for them.

What resources does Wicked Start offer a start-up?
We offer video, we have white papers, we have all sorts of resources so you can understand the value of that step in the start-up process. And finally there is a resource center. Many of these services are free, some are low cost, and some are premium. At this point I have a lot of people who are coming to me and want to be a part of Wicked Start. If we're going to offer a service, we have to understand it. A lot of our earlier users made it clear that they wanted vetted content. I do have a person on my staff dedicated to vetting new resources. Until we're comfortable with that resource, we're not going to offer it.

We have about 300 recommendations for the early-stage startup. Some of these might be good for small businesses, but a lot of them are just directed to people who are starting small businesses. We go from our experience. We're happy to share our experience. As for our team, all of these people I have a relationship with, I've worked with them. I know the quality of their work. The reason these guys are interested in it is if they continually answer questions that are valid, people may want to come and hire them for their services. Warren Wilson, who's a marketing guru, he's been really helpful answering low-cost marketing questions.

What plans do you have for the future?
In August we have a very big deployment coming out based on the feedback that we've had. We had 200 users about three months ago. Now we have 1,000. We don't engage in a lot of direct marketing. Hopefully we're taking a tip from Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point. My goal is to reach 10,000 users by the end of the year.

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When I was a staff writer at Rolling Stone in the mid 90s, listening to music at work was part of the job description. But back in those days of yore, we had actual [gasp] stereos that played CD's, even at times, cassette tapes!

But while technology has radically changed, one thing has remained constant: Music in the workplace equals happy time. So whether it's a rainy weekend day or a raucous office party, ambient techno or stone-cold classic rock, music is necessary. Here's what you should listen to while on the job.

Music to Play on a Long Flight to China

You finally found a manufacturer that can handle your demand at a reasonable price. But it's in China, which requires a flight nearly a day long to get there. These albums will put you at ease, whether you spend the flight sleeping or working. So get them onto your iPod quick, before that cabin door closes. Playlist

CEO Playlist

Susan Gregg Koger, founder and CEO, Modcloth

Songs That Spin in Circles by Lullatone

"Originally written as lullabies for a newborn, these two-to-four-minute songs are meant to play seamlessly on repeat. I find that playing one of these softly really helps keep me asleep on long flights."

Music to Get You Pumped Up Before a Big Meeting

Congrats. You scored a meeting with one of the largest potential clients that you've ever pitched. These songs will help get your team in that let's-go-in-there-and-show-them-what-we've-got-because-we're-awesome spirit. Playlist

CEO Playlist

David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim, founders, Pretty Ugly

"Get Back" by Ludacris

"We actually listen to our song after the meetings."

Music to Jam to at a Company Party

It's time to let your hair down and show your employees that you know how to have a good time. And you'll win some serious cool points if you add these songs to the playlist. Though you might want to practice some moves in the mirror before breaking them out on the dance floor. Just a thought. Playlist

CEO Playlist

Eric Demby, co-founder, Brooklyn Flea

Darker Than Blue: Soul From Jamdown 1973-1980 by Blood and Fire

"Everyone loves covers and soul music, and this is an uptempo reggae collection of '60s R&B by Jamaican artists, one of my favorite records of any kind of all time. Milton Henry's 'Gypsy Woman' is a killer."

The Soundtrack to Working on a Quiet Weekend

OK, so you overdid it at the company party and were completely useless the next day. Now you need to spend some time making up the work over the weekend. These albums will help you focus and be productive. Playlist

CEO Playlist

Sean Carasso, CEO, Falling Whistles

Bon Iver by Bon Iver

"His new album is unreal. Also I love the soundtrack to Les Miserables. It's my favorite book and the songs help me dream great dreams."

What to Listen to Before Firing Someone

Let's face it, firing an employee is one of the most difficult parts of your job. But sometimes, it needs to be done. So play one of these songs, and go do what you gotta do. Playlist

CEO Playlist

Jason Ross, CEO, JackThreads

"Power" by Kanye West

Lyrics: "No one man should have all that power/The clock's tickin'/I just count the hours"

The Sounds for When You Want to Unwind

Sometimes you really need a weekend to relax. So download these songs, grab a good book, and feel the week's stress just melt away. Playlist

CEO Playlist

Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, founder and CMO, GILT Groupe

Any album by Buena Vista Social Club

"They are always a great go-to album, and [it] brings me back to my Cuban roots!"

What You Want to Hear After Bringing in a $1 Million Account

Eminem did the trick: Your pitch went well and you signed on your biggest client yet. Time to celebrate. Just don't go as crazy as you did at the company party. No one wants to see that again. Playlist

CEO Playlist

Ian Cohen, co-founder, Wexley School for Girls

Anything by Eddie Money

"What business owner doesn't like to hear the beginning of ["Money" by Pink Floyd]? Or anything by Eddie Money, 'cause that just makes business sense."

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Basically a friend and I plan on travelling to Germany, purchasing motorbikes and riding them around eastern Europe and the Caucasus. My main...

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by Chris Bodenner First divorce parties in Japan, now funeral strippers in Taiwan: Funeral strippers work on Electric Flower Cars (EFC) which are trucks that have been converted to moving stages so that women can perform as the vehicles follow...

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