There are fears that another Ice Age is about to hit Silicon Valley because of the implosion of its unicorns — start-ups valued at more than one billion dollars. By one estimate there were 229 such companies in January of this year. Their valuations are dropping precipitously because they were overpriced and overhyped. The fear is that venture capital will dry up and hurt the innovation ecosystem.

Image: Silicon Valley’s “unicorns” may seem like they’re in trouble. (Justin Perry/CHP Madera/AP)

Millennials, it seems, really are the job hoppers people say they are. Those born between 1980 and 1996 are the most likely to look for and change jobs, according to Gallup’s new report “How Millennials Want to Work and Live.”

Our research — which provides an in-depth look at what defines Millennials as employees, people, and consumers — both confirms and casts aside some of the myths about this particular generation. It paints a nuanced picture that can help inform companies looking to hire and retain Millennial employees — a group that is now the largest generation in the U.S.

You're standing face-to-face with a professional in your industry who can help you advance your career. This is your chance to wow this person with a strong handshake, bright smile and direct eye contact, followed by a witty comment that initiates a loud fit of laughter.

However, you can't communicate well or make a good first impression when your mouth is dry, your palms are sweaty, your thoughts are scattered and you're blanking on that pitch you prepared.

On Monday, a new type of crowdfunding will become legal, and the public can begin buying shares or debt in private companies.

SLIDESHOW How angel investors might use new crowdfunding options But will Philadelphia start-ups and local entrepreneurs raise big money through crowdfunding?

If this past week's Angel Capital Association convention is any indication, probably not right away.

Economic development incentives are one of the primary tools states use to try to strengthen their economies. Every state uses a mix of tax incentives, grants, and loans in an effort to create jobs, encourage business expansions, and achieve other goals. Collectively, states spend billions of dollars a year on incentives, which can significantly affect their budgets, businesses, and economies.

Image: http://www.pewtrusts.org

There’s no doubt that telemedicine is growing: Its usage is up 50 percent since 2013 with nearly 15 million people using such services in 2015. Here are the top five telemedicine trends happening right now.

Image: http://medcitynews.com

Berlin is one of Europe’s startup hot-spots and is often held up as an example of the cool and at-ease-with-itself contemporary Germany likes to project.

That’s all well and good. Being home to large number of startups can give you serious kudos as a city. After all, entrepreneurship is key to building a country’s future.

But what about the people who work at those startups? What kind of salaries are they earning? How do they feel about the positions they’re in? And do they face similar problems to people in other startup hubs around the globe?

Among the various different university rankings released every year, one thing usually predominates — the sheer number of universities from the USA and Europe that populate the top of the rankings.

In most rankings, the vast majority of top universities are from the USA, the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, thanks to the huge endowments universities in these countries have.

Image: Alexey Kljatov/CC 3.0

It can be easy to get locked into a pattern when it comes to keywords and concepts in marketing. You find what works, and it works for awhile, so you stick to it. The problem is that it won’t work forever. By the time you begin to see results tapering off, you have to scramble to research new ones. You end up losing ground that way, and have to make it up while establishing a new path to exploit.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Chamber’s FreeEnterprise.com and 1776, a public benefit corporation that funds high-growth startups, today released findings from their latest Innovation That Matters 2016 report, a study that outlines which American cities are the strongest drivers of the digital economy and how they got there. The report ranks 25 U.S. cities according to their readiness to become digital economy hubs. It aims to help local startup community leaders benchmark their progress and identify strengths and weaknesses within their respective communities.

Image: http://smallbiztrends.com

Turns out, there’s more to a city being innovative than having a ridiculous number of startups per capita. At least that’s what 1776, a startup incubator in Washington, DC, is saying as it names Boston the top city for fostering entrepreneurial growth in the U.S.

This title could be shocking to some people who consider the Bay Area the be-all and end-all for startup activity in the country, if not the world. 1776 does give Silicon Valley props, but it also points out that there are ways in which the culture there actually stifles entrepreneurship.

Researchers at Penn State's Hershey Medical Center's Division of Artificial Organs are at work testing heart-assist devices for adults and children.

This long-standing, successful program aims at improving these heart devices, making them attractive to companies that will take them to market, and ultimately improving quality of life for heart patients. That's an incredibly exciting mission for patients who suffer from very serious heart conditions.

Millennials have a reputation for job-hopping. Unattached to organizations and institutions, people from this generation -- born between 1980 and 1996 -- are said to move freely from company to company, more so than any other generation.

The data support this. A recent Gallup report on the millennial generation reveals that 21% of millennials say they've changed jobs within the past year, which is more than three times the number of non-millennials who report the same. Gallup estimates that millennial turnover costs the U.S. economy $30.5 billion annually.

That’s it. That’s your task. Create value. Then create more. And then never stop. Everything else is secondary, and everything else must follow behind.

Avoid the distractions. So many entrepreneurs get bogged down with tasks that seem critically important at the time but are not related to the creation of value. For example, how much time do you spend responding to other people’s e-mail requests? How much of your life is invested in balancing the books, in managing outsourced subcontractors, or in putting out micro fires all around you? Yes, those things seem important but look at the list again. There is nothing there that creates value.

ABC’s hit television show, Shark Tank, is one of television’s most successful series. It draws in millions of viewers weekly and has introduced entrepreneurship to a much wider audience. Quotes from successful “sharks” like Mark Cuban and Robert Herjavec have become part of our everyday speech, and products that appear on the show enjoy instant brand recognition. It’s no wonder that everyone wants to be an entrepreneur.

Wait, can this be true? From a new report by 1776, “a global incubator and seed fund,” comes this startling claim: “Boston is the #1 city in the U.S. for fostering entrepreneurial growth.”

Boston, not Silicon Valley? Really? This chart from the reports seems to say otherwise:

Image: http://www.aei.org

A mixture of success and trepidation accompanied 2016 legislation introduced in  several states to create, extend, or recapitalize angel tax credit programs. While legislation in Arizona’s legislature failed due to a lack of support, angel tax credit bills in Kansas and Tennessee passed easily with broad support from their governors, lawmakers, and the public. In North Dakota, the state’s angel tax credit program faces an unclear future due to concerns about transparency and oversight. To stimulate investments in West Virginia’s startup community, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed legislation allowing non-accredited investors to make equity investment in state-based businesses.

The venture community is buzzing with talk about bubbles.  Even if we are not on the verge of a 2000-style collapse, multiple signs of contraction in the venture space make it clear that entrepreneurs need to start planning their response.  Based on past downturns, it is impossible to overstate the importance of having cash in the bank and a flexible cost structure to weather the storm.

This article highlights what ventures can do to increase their ability to survive a slowdown.  Many of these recommendations are appropriate for any market condition, but some will impact growth. As a result, entrepreneurs will have to reach their own conclusions about the likelihood, timing and severity of a downturn before determining their response.

There are a lot of tough bosses out there. But what if you had a manager like Donald Trump? The type that is a forceful leader and wants it done their way. They insist on managing the company top down and don’t look for input from anyone. Many times, they issue proclamations and demands like a bully even when they have been proven wrong. With a boss like Donald Trump, working hard may not be enough.

Image: Wikimedia Commons - Donald Trump

While speculation is mounting that they’re overheating, the tech boom is still creating jobs at a rapid pace in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, placing them atop our annual assessment of The Best Cities For Jobs for the third year in a row. A number of secondary tech centers are posting strong growth as well on the back of the boom, as well as spillover from Northern California as high prices push expanding companies and startups to locate elsewhere.

Tech job growth has been strong, but it’s not been equally distributed across the country. For example, U.S. employment in software publishing is up 5.5% from last year to a weighted total of 343,000 jobs, 26% above the sector’s prior peak amid the dot-com bubble in 2001. The twin capitals of the U.S. tech industry have accounted for much of the growth.