If international success is on the agenda for your high-growth tech start-up you’ll need some serious financial backing to fuel your journey.

Unless you’ve bootstrapped thus far and have enough in the back to grow through cashflow, establishing a ‘beachhead’ in key overseas markets will require a significant capital injection, not to mention some friendly advice and guidance.

Battery electric vehicles are making headlines, but fuel cells are gaining momentum—with good reason. Hydrogen could play a vital role in the renewable-energy system and in future mobility.

At the COP21 meeting in Paris in 2015, 195 countries agreed to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. To reach this target, the world will need to cut energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 60 percent by 2050—even as the population grows by more than two billion people.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to regulate crowd-funding activities in the country to protect the investing public from the abuse of fund-raising innovations typically designed for start-up companies.

Crowd-funding refers to a method of fund-raising whereby money is sourced from a large number of individuals usually through an online platform. This method allows investors to obtain access to investment opportunities and enables business start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access a new source of funding for their investment and operations through the internet.

Image: http://business.inquirer.net

In these days of anxiety and alienation, Thanksgiving offers the warm embrace of inclusiveness. Particularly for many people with families and faiths rooted in other lands, no other holiday, not even the Fourth of July, has so great a capacity to make them feel American.

A child of Orthodox Jewish immigrants could feel his apartness on other festivals celebrated by the larger society. Christmas, Easter, Halloween — all are distinctly Christian observances, no matter how temporal and commercialized they have become. They are inevitable reminders for some Americans that they are different.

Last month, the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor was released. The report is chock-full of visual representations and analysis of what went on in the US venture capital industry over the third quarter of 2017. The full 30-page Venture Monitor is available to download for free, but for a quick, comprehensive look at industry trends, we've put together a collection of key charts from the report.

Image: https://pitchbook.com

Coffee is increasingly earning scientists’ approval. Studies continue to suggest that the beverage may have some beneficial effects on health.

In the latest analysis, published in the BMJ, researchers scanned nearly 220 studies on coffee and found that overall, coffee drinkers may enjoy more health benefits than people who don’t drink the brew.

In a stated effort to become the first beer on Mars, the company that makes Budweiser is shooting barley seeds up to the International Space Station  that floats approximately 220 miles above the earth. Fulfilling a promise made at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, last March, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) will send 20 of its own malting barley seeds up on a SpaceX CRS-13 rocket that launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on December 4. Barley is the primary source of malt in beer, which comprises one of the foamy beverage’s four main ingredients.

Image: https://www.forbes.com

A dogfight in the world of drones was about to begin. It was November 2016, and Da-Jiang Innovations Science and Technology, better known as DJI, was preparing to launch its killer new product: the Mavic Pro. Weighing just 1.6 pounds, the Mavic was compact enough to fit into a book bag and featured a four-mile flight range and a built-in camera capable of shooting pin-sharp 4K video from hundreds of feet up. Though priced below $1,000, the Mavic sported sophisticated gimbals to stabilize the camera and cutting-edge software enabling it to lock on subjects and follow them around, detect and avoid midair obstacles, and automatically return to its launch point before running out of power.

This year saw the release of new technologies like Google Home and the iPhone X. Digital advertising expanded gains made last year over television advertising, and markets rewarded brands that bet big on innovation and customer service (think Tesla and Amazon).

As 2018 approaches, there are a number of new marketing trends poised to make a significant impact on go-to-market strategy. Here are 18 of the most important trends to look for in the coming year.

It seems everywhere you look these days someone is touting the benefits of mindfulness — a practice that Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, describes simply as “paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.” Research shows that people who practice mindfulness are less stressed, more focused and better able to regulate their emotions.

Across the globe, one business challenge has the ear of CEOs like few others: innovation.

Six in 10 surveyed executives think the chance to avoid falling behind their competitors has passed. Much of the anxiety from today’s business environment ties back to their commitment – or lack thereof – to innovation.

On the upside, new findings shed light on the practices that successful innovators use to innovate. Developed by InnovationOne and The Conference Board, the survey polled a global audience of over 400 business leaders. Based on their responses, individuals fell into one of two groups: high innovators and low/lagging innovators.

‘No man is an island, entire of itself’ runs the saying and it should probably go on to say that no concept should be introduced in isolation either. In the VUCA world, we’re all challenged with constantly trying to do something new, to create lasting change, transformation and disruption. That challenge means it helps to have others on your side, adding their enthusiasm, energy, perspective and creativity to the mix. Why… because if there’s one truth about innovation, it’s that it’s definitely not a solo sport!

The dedication line in Greg Coticchia’s first book reads like a final testament or a last goodbye: “To real entrepreneurs and product managers: Long may you fight the good fight.”

Though he had been writing the book in piece-meal LinkedIn posts over the last two years before finally polishing it for a self-published paperback, the candid advice manual may have been an early sign that he would move on.

On Nov. 30, Mr. Coticchia, the director of the University of Pittsburgh’s first and only accelerator, the Blast Furnace, will leave his post and the university’s Innovation Institute. 

Image: Image courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh

If you love cinnamon, add an extra shake to your next meal: new research shows that the popular spice boosts metabolism in mouse and human fat cells.

In the new study, published in the journal Metabolism, researchers from the University of Michigan tested the effect of cinnamaldehyde—the essential oil that gives cinnamon its flavor—on fat cells taken from mice, as well as fat cells from four humans.

A surefire way to get a new idea or alter your perspective is to get out of your comfort zone. So break free of your routine and do something different.

We caught up with 10 successful founders to ask them about the adventures and travels that forever changed their view of the world, and how it impacted their business today.

Perhaps sparked by the now forgotten recession, I’m seeing a new era of the entrepreneur, with startups springing up all around. Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. They have an uncanny ability to find elegant, easy, and fast solutions to pain points in the marketplace, as well as their own challenges.

The real question is whether problem solving is a skill you have to be born with, or is there any hope for the rest of us to become successful entrepreneurs. After some review of available resources, I’m convinced that problem solving is a learnable trait, rather than just a birthright.

The common perception is that strategy is done at the top of the org chart, and execution is done below. It is exactly the opposite – let me explain why.

First, I should explain that I have always hated the use of the term “execution.” Its common definition is fundamentally unhelpful, and contributes to what executives often call “the strategy-execution gap.”

Usually when businesspeople talk about “strategy” and “execution,” the former is the act of making choices and the latter the act of obeying them.

Tony Marzi is the kind of kamaaina that Hawaii’s business and community leaders hope will come home. The 32-year-old grew up on Hawaii Island, graduated in computer science from UH Hilo, founded a coworking space called Hawaii TechWorks, once ran for public office, and now has nearly a decade of professional experience in high tech.

Despite moving back twice to explore career opportunities, however, Marzi settled elsewhere. He recently accepted a job in Washington, D.C., managing a team of 80 within a global aerospace company, purchased a condo and will soon be joined by his girlfriend, a teacher from Honolulu.

Image: http://www.hawaiibusiness.com

It happens to high- and low-performing teams alike: The ties that bind everyone together just aren’t as strong as they could be. Maybe you’ve inherited a team that’s always been sluggish and uninspired, or one that’s usually steady, but the trust is eroding under pressure. Or perhaps you’re just trying to take your team to the next level. Whatever the case, every team needs to reflect once in a while on what could be improved. It’s human nature to be conflict-averse, but it’s every manager’s job to bring points of conflict out into the open and move forward together.

It's not just humans who give each other gifts, or use wingmen, in a bid to get laid.

Male humpback dolphins try their hand, or er, fin at it too, presenting large marine sponges to females in an apparent effort to mate, according to newly published research. It's the first time this behaviour has been witnessed in this species.