In life, it's said, the only sure things are death and taxes. Nothing else is guaranteed.

In business, there are so many variables that we have to learn to roll with the punches; and, as entrepreneurs, we typically find that those variables double in size and frequency.

The seventh season of Shark Tank premiers tonight, and though it’s been six years since I appeared on the show’s fifth episode, I can’t help but to reflect on what the experience taught me about succeeding in big business.

When my brother and I presented the Sharks with my second startup, MyTherapyJournal — an online journaling platform based on cognitive behavior therapy — we were one of just 14 teams to land a deal.

Image: Rodolfo Saccoman, founder of AdMobilize Courtesy of AdMobilize 

ATLANTA | The nation’s first business with federal approval to use multi-state crowdfunding is a Georgia company building on an innovative state law. Atlanta-based Groundfloor snagged the prize. It was begun in North Carolina but moved to Georgia to take advantage of the Peach State’s law that opens the door to small investors.

China will promote greater use of equity crowdfunding for startups to encourage entrepreneurship in the world's second-largest economy, a cabinet document said on Saturday.

China's leaders have repeatedly said they want to promote more entrepreneurial activity in the state-dominated economy to stimulate employment, a top priority as the economy slows.

How do you present a potentially world-altering idea in 60 seconds or less?

It's an art, to be sure, and it's usually called an "elevator pitch," a term that originates from the average amount of time you have to pitch someone in an elevator.

Attendees of Mashable's sixth annual Social Good Summit will have a chance to do so…in an actual elevator. The MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth is dedicated to ending poverty through worldwide economic inclusion, and is featuring the Priceless® Elevator Pitch at the event to connect with like-minded individuals and organizations.

For those afraid of heights, the advice is always, “Don’t look down.” That could be pretty hard to avoid at a newly opened plexiglass bridge in China’s Hunan Province.

Located in the Shiniuzhai National Geological Park in Pingjiang County, the bridge features a transparent walkway, stretching more than 900 feet across, allowing those who cross it to gaze into the canyon nearly 600 feet below. This is one of many see-through bridges and walkways that have been built in parks around China’s mountainous regions.

It sounds like a hoax, but snopes.com confirms that it’s not. PepsiCo tested a new Dorito-flavored Mountain Dew. Ready for the name? It’s called “Dewitos.” This strange new flavor quickly became the topic of conversation at workshop we were hosting as the executive participants gathered around an iPhone to watch a video.

A novel brain-computer-interface (BCI) technology created by University of California, Irvine researchers has allowed a paraplegic man to walk for a short distance, unaided by an exoskeleton or other types of robotic support.

The male participant, whose legs had been paralyzed for five years, walked along a 12-foot course using an electroencephalogram (EEG) brain-computer-interface system that lets the brain bypass the spinal cord to send messages to the legs.

Image: A BCI system allows a man whose legs had been paralyzed to walk without robotic support (credit: courtesy of UCI’s Brain Computer Interface Lab) 

If you’re an angel investor and aren’t yet well-versed in syndication, now is the time to take notice. The changing math required to fund promising companies explains why: the median deal size for angel groups in 2014 was $800,000 (according to the Halo Report) and the average angel group invested $250,000 (per the Angel Capital Association). Finding ways to plug this $550,000 funding gap explains why a new Halo Report also reported that about 70 percent of angel group deals in the last five quarters were syndicated between multiple angel groups and other investors such as individual angels, venture capitalists, family offices and private equity.

WHEN THE U.S. WAS in a race with the Soviet Union some 50 years ago to put a man on the moon, spending by the federal government on what many call “basic” research and development (R&D) was at an all-time high. Basic R&D has no clear end-goal, but is the kind of research from which world-changing discoveries are made. It provides the building blocks for industry to conduct applied research to innovate and develop new, more sophisticated products and services. Without basic R&D, lifesaving cancer treatments may have never materialized. The U.S. would never have become the leader in silicon transistor manufacturing— think no Silicon Valley. And, the Internet may not exist.

Going digital is quickly becoming common practice—or at least a common mandate—at many companies. But while most executives have high expectations for the business benefits of digital initiatives, according to McKinsey’s newest survey on the topic,1 the results suggest that digital’s promise seems more of a hope than a reality. Issues of scale remain a challenge, as they have in previous years.2 Few executives say that their companies’ business activities are more digital than not or that their companies have captured a meaningful share of the potential value that digital could bring their business. The most common hurdle to meeting digital priorities, executives say, is insufficient talent or leadership, which tops a longer list of complex challenges. The companies that are succeeding at digital (our “high performers”) have a more active digital agenda than others, are more effective at attracting and retaining digital talent, and offer other lessons for success—among them, taking more risks in their digital programs, moving faster to implement initiatives, and reallocating their resources and their best people to digital work.

Our politicians throw around metaphors of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’, while a significant percentage of government schools still doesn’t have a water connection. While programmes that help foster innovation in India are commendable, our policymakers and bureaucrats try to ape the most salient parts of the American innovation ecosystem without understanding its genesis or mechanics. As a US-educated researcher and engineer, I can perhaps comment on what lies beneath the tip of the innovation iceberg.

In my new book An Entrepreneur's Manifesto, I have proposed an Entrepreneur's Bill of Rights, modeled on the great amendments to our Constitution that have helped preserve and extend liberty and prosperity to more and more sectors of our society since the founding of our Republic.

I believe the values that the Entrepreneur's Bill of Rights expresses below are timeless and should be enjoyed by every entrepreneur--in every industry, class and country. Today, youth entrepreneurship education is booming and is at the core of the philanthropic programs at Microsoft, Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, Koch Industries, Citibank and MasterCard. What better time to begin to define what it means to be an entrepreneur and the rights all entrepreneurs should enjoy.

Innotek is leading the way to new ways of doing business in Flanders by integrating in their approach not only the “success” of the company in terms of financial results but also conscious attention to the effects of entrepreneurship on the connections between all stakeholders and the world at large.  In clear what does that mean?

Business dreams are fun, but they don’t change the world or make you any money if you can’t turn them into a reality. Many aspiring entrepreneurs are stuck in the idea stage, and only a few have the discipline and the insight to move on to the execution phase. There is no magic formula for building a good business, but I’ve seen enough successful ventures to pick out some common elements.

Still often misunderstood even today, the term “at will employment” is actually a foundation for much of the employment across the nation. According to attorney Merritt Green, the founder, managing partner, and chair of employment practice at General Counsel PC — a legal firm in McLean, Virginia — at will employment means an employee can be fired or quit their job for any reason at any time. This definition applies to both the employee and the employer.

You know them: Those people who seem to glide through life effortlessly. They get through the workday without getting flustered, usually looking great while doing it. They don’t seem to struggle with juggling the demands of work and life. They just have their acts together. Do they know something we don’t?

"In some sense, yes," says leadership coach Davia Temin, founder of Temin and Company, a New York City reputation management company. Temin says that, while no one has a perfect life, some people have figured out the key to looking like they do. And, often, they share some commonalities.

If you find yourself continually hitting the snooze button and struggling to focus on your work every Monday, you may be suffering from the Monday blues. Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do on Sunday to get your Monday off on the right foot.

1. LIST YOUR PRIORITIES Write down your top priorities for the week in order of importance. "This will make sure you get your most important tasks done on time, allowing you to get your lower-priority tasks later in the week," says Bob Pozen, author of Extreme Productivity.

The Nova Scotia Securities Commission wants to reach out to business owners about new crowdfunding rules designed to protect investors but also make it easier for smaller companies to raise capital.

The Nova Scotia Securities Commission introduced new regulations in May to address crowdfunding, which often involves raising money for projects and ventures from large numbers of people over the internet. 

Houston may be known for its energy and health care industries, but the local creative class is making a sizable impact on the city. Houston's creative economy, which includes jobs such as graphic designers, architects, interior designers, video producers and photographers, is remaining robust amid fluctuation in the greater city economy, according to the Creative Economy 2 of Greater Houston report commissioned by the Houston Arts Alliance's Arts & Business Council of Greater Houston.