If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are you’ve experienced the “hustle.” 

Popularized by entrepreneur icons like Tim Ferriss and Marie Forleo, the hustle says you need to work relentlessly, obsessively, with unparalleled drive and insatiable and hunger for your goal. You should be “on” 24 hours a day, restless, raging, and unwilling to stop for anything or anyone.

To an outsider, it may sound crazy–absurd even. A work ethic like that couldn’t possibly be healthy or productive long-term. But within the entrepreneur community, it’s a mandate. A mantra. A mindset that determines whether you make or break it.

A "smiling" volcano has gone viral.

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has been actively erupting since 1983, and it's one of the most active volcanoes in the world, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). But the volcano received more attention recently when the volcano's lava formed what looks like a smiley face.

The smiley face appeared in a lava lake crater on the west flank of Pu'u 'O'o, on Kilauea's East Rift Zone, according to Janet Babb, a geologist with the USGS' Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Image: The lava in Kilauea's crater formed what looks like a smiley face. Credit: Mick Kalber/Paradise Helicopters via YouTube

The sea gives up a long-held secret, thanks to exhaustive DNA sleuthing

It’s hard to overlook a beast that measures 24 feet long and weighs more than 16,000 lbs. (7.3 m and 7,250 kg). It’s harder still to ignore a whole species of them. But that’s what scientists had effectively done for, well, as long as the animal has lived on Earth, which could mean for 50 million years.

The species—a long-rumored type of beaked whale—is at last getting the recognition it deserves. And along with the new respect comes a new, if not yet official, name: karasu, or Japanese for “raven.”

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berardius_bairdii.jpg

Iowa Startup Accelerator powered by NewBoCo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has launched its third class with six new teams, all from Iowa.

“In 2014, there were far fewer Iowa-based startups. With several years of ecosystem building under our belts and with strong collaborative relationships statewide, we’re proud that this year we had a record number of strong applicants, but the best were all from Iowa,” Accelerator Managing Director David Tominsky said, in a press release.

Image: Streamweaver’s Wes Merrill and Keevin O’Rourke at Iowa Startup Accelerator. Photo courtesy of Iowa Startup Accelerator.

The chances of your business surviving past the five-year mark are somewhat better than they used to be, says one economics expert.

According to research and commentary from Dr. Scott Shane, professor of economics and entrepreneurial studies at Case Western Reserve University (and long-time SBT contributor), startup failure rates have declined slightly for employer firms in recent years.

“Your startup is interesting, but come back to me when you have more traction.” This is a common diplomatic phrase made by VCs when they are not keen on investing in you, but keeping the door open just in case you suddenly become a hot investment.

Since my days of pro-bono advisory to over 600 startups, fundraising has been trying, if not vexing and complex for noob startup entrepreneurs. (Hey I have been there myself too.)

Image: http://ventureburn.com

When do you start thinking about your organization’s strategic planning process? Have you started thinking about it yet for next year?

In the corporate world, I used to start planning for planning in April.

Seriously, we started in April, laying out how we’d approach everything so that by the time we engaged the rest of the organization in mid-summer we had everything ready to go.

Spending that much time planning was a luxury when the strategic planning process suddenly became important to our company. That’s one way of saying, don’t freak out if you have responsibility for directing strategic planning and haven’t started thinking about it yet.

Image: http://brainzooming.com

The term “virtual reality” conjures up a wide variety of images, depending on who you ask. Some think of a scene from Minority Report, or people wearing “goggles” at gaming conventions. The less glamourous but just-as-exciting reality is that this technology has the potential to revolutionize everything from complex medical procedures, to the way high-risk military and police training exercises are conducted, to immersive education.

I used to wake up, stumble over to my phone, and immediately get lost in a stream of pointless notifications. This digital haze continued throughout the day, keeping me from accomplishing important tasks. I was distracted, anxious, and ineffective as a leader. I knew I had to change but could not seem to break free from the behaviors that kept me locked into the same cycle.

Self-directed study is transforming the way employees learn — and self-managed organizations are leading the charge. The main way members of these organizations drive their own learning is by experimenting with how they structure roles, relationships, responsibilities, and decision making processes. Nothing is sacred.

We all want to be part of a great success story. To run, start, or play a senior role in a company that wins big or changes the course of its industry. To launch a brand that dazzles customers and dominates its markets. To be the kind of executive or entrepreneur who creates jobs, generates wealth, and builds an organization bursting with energy and creativity.

Burnout is a risk in many jobs, but especially those with high stress and high cognitive load.  Which encompasses most entrepreneurs, scientists and health care providers - to name just a few.

When people become burned out, they become exhausted, physically and emotionally.  They lose their sense of empathy and tend to depersonalize others through cynicism and sarcasm.  And they become less efficient and creative at what they do.

There’s a lot of anxiety about the future of the middle class in America. There should be in Silicon Valley, too, but in a different sense: It’s getting harder to see much of a future for midrange venture capital firms and midsize tech companies.

As Katie Benner writes, a venture firm called Technology Crossover Ventures just raised a $2.5 billion fund. That is more than 25 percent of the $8.8 billion raised across the industry in the second quarter of this year.

Startups and scale-ups create the vast majority of jobs in the formal economy, providing, on average, 66 percent of jobs worldwide and the greatest share of jobs in low-income countries. Moreover, small and medium-sized enterprises are important not just for job creation, but also for economic growth, thanks to their outstanding capacity to increase productivity through innovation.

Image: http://www.economonitor.com

Over the years, citizen scientists have provided vital data and contributed in invaluable ways to various scientific quests. But they’re typically relegated to helping traditional scientists complete tasks the pros don’t have the time or resources to deal with on their own. Citizens are asked to count wildlife, for instance, or classify photos that are of interest to the lead researchers.

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Rather than quitting, there are always alternatives, like pivoting the business model or merging with new partners for support. Either could improve the statistic that most startups fail within the first five years.

Image: http://blog.startupprofessionals.co

London, UK (Scicasts) - Technology commercialization is a lengthy process. It takes on average 12 years to bring a drug to market and approximately 17 years to integrate a scientific discovery into physician practice.

Meanwhile, an average length of a research grant is 5 years. Sooner or later, there comes a point when a discovery needs to be picked up by an industry partner who will turn the knowledge into a product and bring it to marke

I try to treat them equally, to assume equal potential. But what if I knew my daughter carried a “smart” gene and my son did not? When he came home from school with a B, would I assume it was just his genes, and not push him to try harder? And what if I could have known this before he were born, at a time when he was just a little blip on an ultrasound? Frankly, I’m not sure I would trust myself with this information.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (News Release) – Gov. Asa Hutchinson today announced the first phase of a high tech accelerator initiative for the state of Arkansas. 

FIS, a global leader in financial services technology and a Fortune 500 company, will partner with the State to extend the VC FinTech Accelerator program through 2018.

The VC FinTech Accelerator is designed to boost the speed and development of startups focused on financial technology.

Computational imaging is undergoing a revolution. This is the discipline of making images using computational techniques rather than optical ones. Its best known breakthrough is the ability to record high resolution images and movies using a single pixel. But researchers have also used it to build lensless cameras, 3D imaging systems and more.

Image: https://www.technologyreview.com