Every day, millions of PC users hunch over keyboards that perform adequately enough to pre-empt much thought about them. But for fans of mechanical keyboards, more than a half-dozen variables might go into determining whether the object of their fingers’ force is worthy to send characters to their displays.

Image: Flickr user Becky Stern

This week, thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and supporters from all over the world will gather in Istanbul for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC), put on by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and local partners. What began in Kansas City in 2009 with support from the Kauffman Foundation has, over 10 years, turned into the leading global event on entrepreneurship. Over the next few days, innumerable connections will be established between far-flung parts of the world, ideas will be exchanged, and, for at least a brief moment, the world will be united in support of entrepreneurship.

In this video, Entrepreneur Network partner Business Rockstars interviews Marina Curry, founder of Beautycon Media, who answers questions about entrepreneurship and her experience creating her own business. She starts by breaking down her definition of what an entrepreneur actually is, then speaks about how her experience prepared her to be successful as an entrepreneur and what advice she might have for her younger self.

Think innovation is only for the young? Sometimes, we mistakenly think that only younger entrepreneurs will have the energy, drive, and originality to start new businesses. The younger, creative person is seen as someone with "fresh eyes" and a new way to "disrupt" old solutions.

But, research suggests that older entrepreneurs may be more common than you would think--and more successful than their younger upstarts. Inventors, for instance, may be more successful at an older age. Not only that, but older workers are skilled and experienced, and can offer new perspectives into a company's needs--all necessary factors for innovation.

Sweden has built an electrified road that recharges your car as you're driving on it. The project, called eRoadArlanda, is part of the Swedish Government's plans for a fossil-fuel independent transportation system by 2030.

Image: https://mashable.com

You’re in a staff meeting with the new boss. As you sit there thinking she must be about the same age as your daughter, she welcomes two new apple-cheeked team members whom, you have heard, the company hired at half of your salary and the salary of the workers they are replacing. You are asked to mentor one of them on a “new” initiative — an idea, it turns out, that is a lot like a project you led a decade ago. You feign enthusiasm.

Vicki Robin had no idea she’d become a millennial icon.

The 72-year-old coauthor of the 1992 bestseller Your Money or Your Life was recuperating from a hip replacement early last year when a young man she’d met at a sustainability event months prior told her she was popular on a Reddit forum about financial independence.

Image: Author Vicki Robin on a favorite trail near her home in Whidbey Island, Wash., in March Photograph by Ian Allen

We recently hosted a webinar with NVCA, Silicon Valley Bank, Perkins Coie and Solium about the latest Venture Monitor report and how the VC landscape is changing—catch the recording below!

Image: https://pitchbook.com

Just four years ago, I was a cheerleader. Social media was supposed to be the great hope for democracy. I know because I told the world so. I said in 2014 that no one could predict where this revolution would take us. My conclusion was dusted with optimism: A better connected human race would find a way to better itself.

In front of a packed room of MIT students and alumni, Vivienne Ming is holding forth in a style all her own. “Embrace cyborgs,” she calls out, as she clicks to a slide that raises eyebrows even in this tech-smitten crowd. “Really. Fifteen to 25 years from now, cognitive neuroprosthetics will fundamentally change the definition of what it means to be human.”

Sherri Leopard has experienced being unique many times in her career. During her early professional life as a marketing consultant in technology, Leopard found herself in projects where she would be the only female member, as well as the youngest. Having grown up in a lower-middle-class household, she also found herself at odds with many of her privileged friends who graduated from elite colleges. Yet she persevered and thrived, building and running a marketing consultancy with blue-chip clients such as IBM, SAP, Siemens, and Motorola.

Everyone has that friend who’s so cheerful it’s almost annoying. But while some people just happen to be more positive than others, optimism isn’t strictly a personality trait–it’s a learnable skill.

The positive psychologist Martin Seligman coined the term “learned optimism” in the ’90s; it’s the idea that with a little conscious practice, we can strategically tamp down our brains’ “negativity bias,” the tendency some people have toward seeing the downside of things. We call those folks pessimists.

Boston Marathon champion Des Linden wasn't always drawn to her signature event.

"Actually, when I first started watching marathons, I was, like, 'That's insane. Crazy. I would never do that,'" Linden told Business Insider. "So it wasn't love at first sight by any means."

But when the professional runner joined the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project, she saw the transformative effect that training for the marathon had on her teammates.

Image: Des Linden is the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985. Charles Krupa/AP Images

Competing against big retail chains on price points is nearly impossible for small grocery store owners. Luckily, good price is not the only way to boost sales. Grocery Experiences Matter According to data compiled by Rave Reviews, American consumers value convenience over a good price. In other words, facilitating great user experience can make a bigger impact than even lowering prices.

Digitization, which is of course happening all around us, is opening up a whole new spectrum of opportunities to create value. But how do you navigate this new horizontal world?

Peter Weill and Stephanie Woerner offer some useful insights on these challenges in their 2015 Sloan Management Review article, “Thriving in an Increasingly Digital Ecosystem.” In exploring these insights, and some of their implications, leaders can gain a fuller understanding of the landscape they face.

Gaming consoles, tablets, smart speakers, minifridges that text you when you run out of beer -- these are just some of the internet-connected items students are now bringing with them to their residence halls.

Not every device is for entertainment, however -- phones, tablets and laptops might (at least sometimes) get used for academic purposes.

Thursday, Rice University and the City of Houston — along with a whole host of community partners ranging from Station Houston to University of Houston — announced that the old Sears building in Midtown will be transformed into the anchor of Houston's new innovation district.

The Sears building — owned by Rice — is a 75-year-old Art Deco masterpiece buried under the rubble of several lousy renovations, some of which were designed to barricade the building from the urban neighborhood around it.

Image: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle

Atlanta’s startup community is thriving, producing successful new businesses across a variety of sectors: fintech, healthcare, digital security and entertainment, to name just a few.

So, what makes the climate in Atlanta so vibrant? What advantages does Atlanta have over other cities for new businesses? For starters, many large companies and the world’s busiest airport call Atlanta home, along with an established network of successful entrepreneurs.

Image: Accenture Ventures Managing Director Mike Redding - https://www.americaninno.com

If you are searching for a solution do you ask the experts or the crowd? Challenge prizes take innovation outside the research establishment - and they are getting more popular.

On 12 June 1979, a scraggly Californian fitness buff, Bryan Allen, found himself hovering a foot or so above the English Channel in a box wrapped in polyester film, pedalling frantically.

He was competing to become the first person to fly under his own power across the world's busiest shipping lane.

"Be passionate about what you do, and success will be your reward," says Dr. Mirela Mitan, who discovered her passion for chemistry and mathematics as a young girl growing up in Romania. She would spend her weekends and holidays solving complex chemistry equations while her friends played outdoors. In spite of having no entrepreneurial role models within her family or society, which was Communist at the time, she went on to attain a PhD in biochemistry and an MBA in luxury marketing and launch her own company. She also has authored over 25 publications and industry patents related to her innovations to high-end beauty products.

Image: Dr Mirela Mitan - Dr. Mirela Mitan is a biochemist and founder of a skin care product company.