Even if you work every day in the world of new-venture funding, as I do, the options are confusing, and their meanings seem to change on a regular basis. I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Yet, knowing this distinction is important.

Image: http://blog.startupprofessionals.com

As a startup founder it was fantastic to see David Coleman put the abolition of capital gains tax on startup investments on the radar of the federal government.   It’s something I’ve been speaking with representatives from state and federal government about throughout the year. Since his announcement a few articles have discussed how great this will be for startups and small business – no doubt. But to really foster innovation we need everyone on-board, people need to know why it can be great for them as individuals. I think a couple of parts of the narrative are missing to achieve this.

When you are the boss, there is usually no one to pat you on the back for doing a good job or guide you through the daily obstacles of running a business. For the first-time entrepreneur, having no support can be daunting. A slow patch in business, a difficult client or losing out to a competitor may have you questioning your decision to be in business at all.

I’ve seen tons of articles talking about what personality and skills you need to become an entrepreneur, but while certain qualities can help you become more successful as an entrepreneur, anybody can become one.

The experience of being an entrepreneur changes you, fundamentally, from the way you think to the way you act and the way you want to live your life. Most of the time, it’s for the better, and occasionally for the worse, but entrepreneurship will change your life. Here are 50 ways:

Ohio State University officials are correct to say royalties and licensing revenue from research aren't the best indicators of economic impact from research, says the head of the national trade group for university commercialization. “The money comes later, but it’s not the main reason we do this," Fred Reinhart, president of the Association of University Technology Managers. “The point is to take interesting promising results that arise from university research and get the benefits of those results into society."

Search funds assist entrepreneurs with finding and acquiring companies rather than starting their own, but the model is fraught with high failure rates. Combining search funds with the methods of startup accelerators could be a way to increase their success rates.

Not all entrepreneurs start a business. Some buy one and make it better. There is entrepreneurial merit and vision in both pursuits. Finding a business to acquire, however, is the tricky part. Search funds have gained in popularity over the last few years as a way to make this process more viable.

The Aston Martin Vulcan is simply one of the best looking cars money can buy right now. Aston introduced the Vulcan earlier this year at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. Immediately, the $2.3 million hypercar became the talk of the town. The Vulcan's intoxicating combination of style, aggression, and astronomical price tag made it a stand out at one of the most action-packed car shows in recent memory.

Shorya Awtar, an engineer, had an idea for a medical device that could help surgeons perform complex operations inside the body without cutting patients open — and that may be worth billions.

Among academics, the concept won acclaim and recognition. Still, the University of Michigan professor said, he realized that unless he — and other academic researchers — were able to turn their ideas and years of study into actual products that are sold in the marketplace and used, their ideas would forever remain just ideas.

Image: FlexDex Surgical Inc. 

BUFFALO, N.Y., Oct. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- University of Maryland Research Park today takes home top honors as the Association of University Research Parks' 2015 Outstanding Research Park, at the AURP Annual Awards of Excellence, hosted by Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. This award program recognizes the achievements of outstanding university research parks and those who direct them, and encourages the development of best practices.

THE National Innovation Agency aims to transform the Yotee district in Bangkok into an "innovation district" similar to that in Singapore in the hope that it will serve as a platform that will boost the birth of new innovative ideas and start-ups in Thailand within two years.

Pun-Arj Chairatana, the NIA's new director, said for decades governments, universities and traditional firms had tried to encourage the transfer of know-how and technology by encouraging more foreign direct investment (FDI) through the luring of Board of Investment (BOI) privileges but theses efforts had proved somewhat of a failure.

They call the competition Project Athena, but it's known to many as the "Shark Tank" of the Navy.

One by one, five sailors with innovative ideas came to the podium Friday night and presented their creations to a panel of high-level Navy officers, all competing for a chance to get one of them realized.

Image: Lt. Todd Coursey shows his C&C Machine, which is design to cut molds and cast for non-critical parts, at a Shark-Tank style invention competition for military members and military-associated employees and students Oct. 2, 2015 in Norfolk, Va. (David B. Hollingsworth | The Virginian-Pilot) 

In the fall of 2014, the HBS-HMS Forum on Health Care Innovation launched the inaugural Health Acceleration Challenge — a “scale up” competition that focuses on compelling solutions to problems in health care delivery that have already been implemented at a small scale and have the potential for wider dissemination.

The contest produced some useful innovations. Many of them are easily adoptable by other organizations, proving our assertion that there is no shortage of innovations in health care; rather the problem is that they take too long to be adopted by others.

NASA has just posted thousands of photos taken by Apollo astronauts during their visits to the moon.

The space research agency's Project Apollo Archive made a massive update its Flickr account Sunday, adding a trove of more than 8,000 photos taken during Moon missions from 1969 to 1972.

The photo dump is part of a years-long process, beginning in 2004, when the Johnson Space Center began re-scanning the original Apollo film rolls.

Image: FLICKR, PROJECT APOLLO ARCHIVE 

The single most important aspect of business is the finesse you exhibit when you are with your “audience.” In coaching and teaching communication leadership, I often remind learners to “be kind to your audience.” And I constantly remind them to, “Take responsibility for your audience’s experience of you.” Who is your audience? Everyone around you.

You’re watching your son play a school soccer match. Your camera is ready when he scores the winning goal, taking his team to victory. You’re so proud; you can’t wait to share the news. Along with the picture, you write: “The goal that made Sunny Hills Primary School winners today; well done, Peter!”

A few hours later, you get this message: “I saw Peter’s goal for Sunny Hills – amazing! I was on the other side; you have to see this angle.” You probably won’t think twice about clicking on the link in the message – obviously the person sending the message was there, how else would he know your son’s name, his school and that he scored the winning goal?

Before Silicon Valley brought us the iPod and the HP printer, the area nestled between San Francisco and San Jose was a fruit orchard.

That past is mostly gone now, and the next generation of computer companies has already filled the valley faster than you can say Moore's Law.

Image: Computer History Museum 

Hiring is often a long and arduous process, and hiring the wrong person can cost a company and employees and managers lost time and money.

Which is why noticing potential red flags on resumes and in interviews is important. A red flag is any behavior arousing suspicion that a candidate is wrong for the job and/or will not be a good fit within the company. For example, spelling errors indicate that the candidate doesn’t pay close enough attention to their work, while delays in candidate communication indicate that the candidate is less interested in the position or does not respect others’ time.

When NASA scientists announced that instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter sensed signs of liquid water seeping on the Martian surface, they meant a solution salty enough to kill most living things on Earth. Temperatures on Mars are well below zero, so any liquid water would have to be loaded with salt – and probably not ordinary sodium chloride but something nastier—perchlorates, which are used in rocket fuel.

For more than 100 years, taxicabs were the kings of the road. They set prices and buddied up with lawmakers who promised to help them keep the meters running. Then, in 2009, an app changed everything. Uber created an interface that finally put the passenger in charge of the ride, and the taxicab establishment has been in chaos ever since.

How does a company cope with change? It’s a question that looms large for many executives who are struggling to keep up with the breakneck pace of business. Those who fail to answer it may face loss of market share, or, in extreme cases, financial ruin. All too often, companies respond to these pressures by fixating on the future, not realizing that their greatest strength could be hidden in their past.