Growing frustrations in the workplace are challenging employees to rethink their careers outside the corporate world. Since it is the employee that touches the business and has a strong pulse on the changing needs of the marketplace, many (regardless of hierarchy or rank) believe that they can close opportunity gaps that their employers are ignoring. Or, that they can create new areas of marketplace demand that their companies are too big to invest in, let alone consider.

New research from McMaster University is challenging traditional workout wisdom, suggesting that lifting lighter weights many times is as efficient as lifting heavy weights for fewer repetitions. It is the latest in a series of studies that started in 2010, contradicting the decades-old message that the best way to build muscle is to lift heavy weights. “Fatigue is the great equalizer here,” says Stuart Phillips, senior author on the study and professor in the Department of Kinesiology. “Lift to the point of exhaustion and it doesn’t matter whether the weights are heavy or light.”

Angel investors—accredited individuals who collectively support the American startup industry with some $24 billion of capital per year – maintain diversified portfolios that represent roughly 5 percent of total held assets, with median investments of $25,000 per deal. The Angel Capital Association (ACA) and Wharton Entrepreneurship released these and other early insights from the ongoing “The American Angel” survey, which is designed to provide the deepest research to date into the characteristics of angel investors. The survey is open for more angels to participate.

Image: https://beacon.wharton.upenn.edu

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s largest shipbuilder, has signed a memorandum of understanding to create an ecosystem for smart ships with SK Shipping, Intel, Microsoft, the Ulsan Center for Creative Economy and Innovation (UCCEI), and the Daejeon Center for Creative Economy and Innovation (DCCEI).

Under the MOU, HHI and its partners will join forces to help domestic small and medium-sized information and computer technology companies to develop software that meets the needs of shipowners for safe ship operation and improved crew wellbeing.

Last month, I visited my village of Ovim in Southeastern Nigeria. I met a painter who also manufactures the paint he uses for his work. According to him, his business nearly collapsed early in the year when he could not access the foreign exchange market to import the raw materials required for his paint production. At that time, the Nigerian central bank was running a currency control regime which stifled the importation of goods for small businesses.

Image: https://hbr.org

Around 75% of college students, at some point, work in an internship. These experiences can be tremendously valuable, providing young workers the opportunity to build skills for their resumes and meet people who are working in their preferred industry. Increasingly, they are the likeliest route to full-time employment and are even offered year-round rather than only during summer months. But they can also be difficult adjustments for young people who have little to no experience in professional offices. It can be hard for someone to stand out and make the right impression during a three-month stint spent adapting to such a new environment.

When the sun is shining and the temperatures rise, the last place many of us want to be is inside an office working. That’s why productivity drops and absenteeism rises during summer months, according to a recent study. Tina Hamilton, president of the human resources outsourcing firm myHR Partner calls it "summer slacker syndrome."

Image: Flickr user Debbie Galant

What's next for President Obama after eight grueling years at the White House? Well, it might be a lucrative career in venture capital. 

In a recent interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, the president spoke about his interest in "precision medicine," or genetics, which has the potential to transform how we treat cancer and other diseases. And he suggested that an investing role in Silicon Valley would bring together his interests in science and management. 

Image: Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon

NEW YORK, July 11, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- U.S. venture capital firms raised $8.8 billion for 67 funds during the second quarter of 2016, according to the Fundraising Report by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The number of funds closed during the quarter was on par with the first quarter of this year, while dollar commitments registered a 37 percent decrease compared to the first quarter of 2016, which ranked as the strongest quarter for dollars raised by U.S. venture capital firms since the second quarter of 2006 when 79 funds raised $14.3 billion.

Image: http://finance.yahoo.com

Over the past 24 months, Constellation’s clients have experienced closer collaboration between clients and their software vendors and service providers to craft solutions that may not have existed in the past.  This level of collaboration reflects the need for not only strategic differentiation, but also the desire to transform business models.

From over 100 client conversations, presentations at Constellation’s Connected Enterprise event, and at various Constellation innovation summits and design sessions, Constellation sees five success factors required for digital transformation among the client, software vendors, and service providers (see Figure 1):

Cleveland is home to more than 700 bioscience companies, a powerful ecosystem that draws strength from a clinical, research and educational foundation dedicated to growth and medical innovation. A new rebranding initiative led by a host of area institutions is ready to send this message out into the world.

Called "The Medical Capital," the campaign's centerpiece is a website where visitors can access information regarding biomedical investments and start-up activity in the region. Organizers are also offering a video showcasing the region's burgeoning tech-based assets, complete with testimonials from investors and CEOs. Social media is another facet of the effort.

Image: http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/

Delaware moved one step closer to providing local startups access to a new source of investment capital.

Gov. Jack Markell signed a bill into law Monday that will allow Delaware businesses to sell stock using a method similar to the crowdfunding model popularized by websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

The new law will not take effect until at least October to give the state Department of Justice’s Investor Protection Unit time to develop formal rules and regulations. Even then, the measure will only allow state residents to invest in Delaware companies.

Image: http://www.delawareonline.com

Serious entrepreneurs don’t build a company with an aim to sell it. They build it to solve a problem. But a startup may struggle or run out of cash. Or maybe the founders will get tired, have a fallout, or get an extremely attractive buyout offer on the table. This exit offer can come from a customer, partner, rival, vendor, or even another big company.

In those scenarios, exiting becomes the end goal for several entrepreneurs. But how does one navigate that curvy road? The panel on “Exits and M&As” at the Tech in Asia Bangalore 2016 conference saw Miten Sampat, head of corporate development at Times Internet, Sanat Rao, venture partner at IDG Ventures, and Alok Goel, managing director at SAIF Partners, debate on the right approach to exiting. The panel was moderated by Abhishek Gupta, head of TLabs.

Image: http://ventureburn.com

BISMARCK—Managers of various angel funds in North Dakota say the popular program that's received heavy scrutiny in recent months is working just fine while lawmakers and state officials say a thorough review is necessary to ensure proper use of taxpayer money.

Last week, the Legislature's interim Political Subdivisions Taxation Committee forwarded a bill draft for next session that would eliminate the angel fund investment tax credit and expand the state's seed capital investment tax credit.

TYSONS CORNER, VA, July 11, 2016 — Mitre and the University System of Maryland have selected five U.S. academic professionals as recipients of $293,000 in seed grants to conduct studies on cybersecurity challenges, ExecutiveBiz reported Friday.

The company said Thursday the grants went to researchers from George Mason University, University of Maryland in Baltimore, University of Maryland in College Park, University of Texas at San Antonio and University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Image: https://www.govconwire.com

Whether you’ve completed your undergraduate 15-years ago or are comfortable with a newly minted Ph.D., how you will learn is changing. The experts of tomorrow will learn differently.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Harvard University, and the University of Washington are the world’s most innovative universities according to Times Higher Education. Reuters agrees, they all fall into the Reuters Top 100 World’s Most Innovative Universities. But there’s a secret. Technology is changing how all students learn and how every school inspires and grows students. Whether a student is just starting the undergrad journey or a Ph.D. going back for some refresher classes, thinking creatively and driving disruptive ideas is at the heart of many university programs.

The only thing worse than firing an employee is firing one you truly love. The reasons for having to fire a beloved employee vary: maybe you’ve outgrown their skillset, you’re selling the business, or you can’t afford to keep a full-time employee on. Whatever the reason, you want to cushion the blow for this person that you’ve come to rely on so heavily.

Selling services has always been about relationships, but the challenges of building relationships with services clients have exploded. Customers today extrapolate their relationships not only from personal contact, but from every aspect of their interface with your company, including web site and social media interactions, access to peer reviews, as well as the actual services experience.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (NEWSPLEX) -- The i.Lab at the University of Virginia has expanding its boundaries beyond Central Virginia by going virtual.

The Virtual i.Lab went live this summer, and it allows entrepreneurs who are currently in the incubator class to connect with UVA mentors and resources around the world.

Jason Brewster, the new i.Lab Incubator director, came up with the interactive digital platform.

"I launched similar platforms for national Geographic Magazine and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy at my previous start-up," he said. " In NatGeo's case, we scaled the platform to over 20,000 users and 400,000 posts."

Image: http://www.newsplex.com

Precision medicine is a big idea. Tailoring drugs and therapies to a patient’s individual disease, lifestyle, environment, and genes could touch off a health-care revolution, or so the thinking goes. But first there is much we need to learn about what that all means to a person’s health. That’s why the Obama administration announced Wednesday evening that it is devoting $55 million this year to the creation of a public database containing detailed health information about a million or more volunteers. It’s also why it’s trying to figure out how to better regulate the fast-growing genetic testing market.

Image: https://www.technologyreview.com/