Today is the new age of the entrepreneur, and I see an increasing number of new startups as the economy stabilizes. For new aspiring entrepreneurs, that’s the good news and the bad news, as it increases opportunities, but also increases the startup risk. Thus I often recommend taking a job in a startup first, to build connections and learn what you can, before stepping into the lead role.

American schools have been failing students for decades now, and bolting technology on the side of a bad product isn’t going to fix the problem. Technology may not be a silver bullet, but intelligently applied, it can act as a force multiplier, particularly if it’s part of a complete reboot of how schools are run. San Francisco-based AltSchool is rethinking education from the ground up, and hoping its early learnings will eventually create a platform from which all schools can learn.

Image: https://medium.com

If Canada is serious about innovation and business growth, then it needs to get economic immigration on the same track. Right now, our immigration system puts roadblocks in employers’ way. The very people who can best identify and recruit the talent we need are the ones the system undermines.

Tech companies Shopify and Figure 1 recently told The Globe and Mail about their problems trying to bring in talent quickly or at all. Their experiences mirror what the Canadian Chamber of Commerce hears from many employers.

Image: http://www.theglobeandmail.com

There are three things that astound me about most organizations: The cro-magnon way performance reviews are done; the pitiful way brainstorm sessions are run and; the voo doo way decisions are made.

What follows is an elaboration of the third -- 12 common phenomena that contribute to funky decision making. As you read, think of the teams you work most closely with, which of these behaviors describes them, and what you can do to change the game.

A new product has been sweeping the web since early April – and most aren’t even sure if it’s 100% legit. Zapata Racing, a French company, announced on April 8 that it has “achieved the dream of all men” in creating an alien-like hover board, which they have dubbed the ZR Flyboard Air. The hover board claims to be the result of four years of hard work and planning.

Image: http://smallbiztrends.com

While the FBI keeps crying wolf about the dangerous dark future where criminals use technology that’s impossible to spy on, the Pentagon’s blue-sky research arm wants someone to create the ultimate hacker-proof messaging app.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, is looking for a “secure messaging and transaction platform” that would use the standard encryption and security features of current messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Signal, or Ricochet, but also use a decentralized Blockchain-like backbone structure that would be more resilient to surveillance and cyberattacks.

In one of the largest studies involving people who stay healthy into old age, researchers found some interesting clues behind how they get that way — and it has little to do with genes for longevity

Most studies about disease focus on people who are sick, since people with a disease are very likely to show whatever genetic or other biological changes are responsible for their condition.

I’m a goofy guy with a pie-in-the-sky idea for a business. But I’m glib, and I can write a spiffy business plan. So, I think I’ll go round up some pie-eyed investors to fund my new venture.

Lucky for me, it is getting a lot easier to hook suckers.

Starting in three weeks, the federal government will permit “crowdfunding” for startup companies and small businesses.

Entrepreneurs — some quite bright; others, goof-ups like me — will be able to sell shares to the public without the heavy requirements that protected investors up to now.

Image: http://www.stltoday.com (Library of Congress)

In this oligarchic era, dominated as never before in modern history by the ultra-rich, their movements are far more than grist for gossip columns. They are critical to the health of city economies around the world.

A recent study by the consultancy New World Wealth traces this movement globally, identifying the big winners and losers in millionaire migration. It defines millionaires as those with net assets of at least $1 million outside their personal residence – generally, people with sizable investment capital or their own businesses.

Image: http://www.newgeography.com

Last week the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, part of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, debated several important bills that may boost access to capital for SMEs.  One of the bills, the Fix Crowdfunding Act (HR 4855), has the profound potential to turn Title III crowdfunding (Reg CF) into something quite powerful by addressing several shortcomings prescribed in existing rules. But probably the most important aspect of the Fix Crowdfunding Act is the fact that it will incorporate significant changes that will dramatically enhance investor protection while providing improved opportunity for smaller investors to generate wealth.

Image: http://www.crowdfundinsider.com

Innovation is all about blazing new trails, and for the past 40 years, San Diego has been at the forefront of discovery, pioneering game-changing scientific research and technological advances. As the region looks to its future, there is little doubt that San Diego will continue to lead the way in a whole host of fields from life sciences to engineering to computer software. What will be different, however, is the map of where much of that innovation will occur.

Throughout San Diego’s history, innovation has centered around a cluster of research institutions on the Torrey Pines Mesa. While it is clear that the dozens of research institutions on the mesa will continue to shape our economy, it is equally clear that downtown San Diego is poised to be the next frontier of innovation because of the convergence of basic science and computer science.

Image: The flight deck of the USS Nimitz with San Diego city skyline in the background. — Nelvin C. Cepeda / UT San Diego/Twitter @NelCepeda

Throughout the year, we publish new Lists on the top companies, executives and deals in the Washington region based on our research. This week’s Lists included the region’s biggest venture capital deals in 2015, ranked by deal value, and the region’s largest venture capital firms and largest private equity firms, both ranked by assets under management. Here are three things of note about the venture capital lending in our region.

Who: Sona Shah, 26, and Teresa Cauvel, 23, both of whom recently received master’s degrees in biomedical engineering from Columbia University. Shah previously worked as an engineer for the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Co.

What: Neopenda, a hat that doubles as a vital-signs monitor for newborns in developing countries.

Where: New York. Shah and Cauvel recently completed a five-month program at the start-up incubator Relevant Health in Rockville.

Image: Neopenda, a wearable device that monitors vital signs in infants, is seeking funding on Kickstarter. (Courtesy of Neopenda)

Our planet faces a grave threat from global warming and climate change, which are caused largely by emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases generated by human activity. Yet readily available energy technologies could be put in use today to forestall their worst effects. In this issue of Technology Review, we examine some of these technologies and argue that they require not further refinement but a considered, long-term strategy for their deployment.

It’s easy for an entrepreneur or a CEO to feel like a leader when things are going well, but the challenge is to keep that confidence and drive in the face of economic downturns, business turnarounds, and stressful personnel situations. Working twenty hours a day, losing your cool, and falling back to a no-risk strategy are not conducive to long-term success.

“People hear about me, and they think ‘she must live in a tree and have armpit hair,’” Lauren Singer says. “But you don’t have to be a hippie to do this.”

Singer, who runs the lifestyle blog Trash is for Tossers, is sitting in her plastic-free, zero waste Brooklyn apartment eating a donut she got at the corner bakery. While she could easily be mistaken for a typical 24-year-old, she isn’t.

Entrepreneurs across the country will soon have to dream a little bigger.

US regulators will soon allow them to compete with more established players — like hip-hop star Kanye West — for crowdsourced investors.

Starting May 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission will roll out a program — mandated by 2012’s Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act — that will allow private companies to use crowdfunding to sell securities.

"Stealth mode" is the period when startups build a product or company in secret, ostensibly in order to gain a competitive advantage before they launch. Developers code in an undisclosed location, and every business development conversation is preceded by a nondisclosure agreement. During stealth mode, startup founders tend to speak in vague terms about their product as if their approach is generating traction through curiosity. Most likely it isn’t.

Image: Flickr user John Ragai

At the MedCity INVEST conference this week, a panel made up of two CEOs who took their companies public and a couple of venture investors talked about the advantages and drawbacks of going public compared with a strategic acquisition. They also drew attention to what’s changing in the marketplace.

Jan Garfinkle, Managing Director at Arboretum Ventures, moderated the panel, which included Annie Huntress Lamont, Managing Partner, Oak HC/FT; Michael DeMane, Chairman and CEO, Nevro Corp.; and Ray Huggenberger, CEO, Inogen Inc.  all of whom discussed the dueling processes from a startup to having an exit.

Image: http://medcitynews.com

Knowledge@Wharton: You’ve often talked about having a sense of urgency in your career because of a pivotal moment at the age of 25 when you were diagnosed with cancer. What did that prognosis make you do professionally and personally that otherwise you wouldn’t have done?

Carol Sawdye: Well, it’s pretty sobering to be told at 25 years old that you have a 50% chance of reaching 30. So I think that got me going, quite honestly, more than anything else. And it really crystallized for me that I needed to focus on what I cared about so that I didn’t have any regrets, personally and professionally.