Are comfortable with fear? Do you like to have a little bit of panic or threat to your survival built into each day?

Whether we are consciously aware of it or not, this is what we do to ourselves when we procrastinate, a behavior we seem to repeat frequently even though it causes the unpleasant feelings of fear, pressure, and discomfort. Why do we do this to ourselves? What about it is so effective that we are compelled to repeat this seemingly self-defeating behavior?

Open to any individual or company wanting to start a business -- with one-on-one mentoring services and customized support from legal advice to patent sharing. These are just some of the benefits available at Korea's centers for creative economy and innovation. With the latest addition of the Gangwon-do center this week, ten innovation centers are now up and running, and seven more are slated to launch by the end of June.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced an agreement to feature Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funded early-stage biomedical companies in an expanded Innovation Zone at the 2015 BIO International Convention®. The Innovation Zone companies, focused on drug discovery, diagnostics and other therapeutic platform technologies, will have dedicated exhibit space and participate in BIO One-on-One Partnering™. Select companies will make 15-minute company presentations in the BIO Business Forum. The Innovation Zone will also feature six universities funded under the prestigious NSF Accelerating Innovation Research Program (AIR). This select group will demonstrate advanced biomedical prototypes that are very close to commercialization stage.

Physicians are not only becoming more proficient with EHRs, they are using their systems for more than just reference. That’s the conclusion of a new Accenture survey of more than 2,600 doctors in Australia, Brazil, England, Norway, Singapore and the U.S.

Interoperability is growing as well, albeit slowly. In 2015, for the first time, a majority of U.S. physicians surveyed by Accenture (51 percent) said they “routinely” access patient data from outside their organizations, up just slightly from 45 percent in 2012.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- At its annual meeting, Ann Arbor SPARK celebrated 10 years of creating economic opportunity and prosperity in the Ann Arbor region. The event, which featured a keynote by Ann Arbor SPARK co-founder, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, also included Ann Arbor SPARK's annual business leadership awards and a recap of 2014 results.

A video recap of SPARK's successes is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pUcxAsGh2IY

"Ten years ago, Ann Arbor SPARK's founding board and executive committee had a vision for this region to be a nationally known center for innovation, vibrant business growth, and world class talent. Those leaders, which represented the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors, convened a remarkable group of volunteers and professionals all committed to working towards making our economy stronger – creating jobs and creating opportunity," said Tim Marshall, president and CEO of Arbor Bancorp, Inc. and Bank of Ann Arbor, and chair of Ann Arbor SPARK's board of directors. "The many contributions and hard work that so many people from across the Ann Arbor region have invested to ensure our future success is a model for other communities, and is an example of what collaboration can achieve."

The New Yorker recently has posted a piece covering Silicon Valley venture capital powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz, otherwise known as a16z, and its unorthodox founders, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. In the long-form profile article, The New Yorker’s Tad Friend had the opportunity to interview both a16z co-founders before sitting in on a formal funding pitch from San Fransisco-based data-analytics startup Mixpanel. The piece reveals the seemingly unique way a16z's co-founders, part of Netscape's original team, question entrepreneurs and then decide on particular venture deals.

I’ve known Edmund Pendleton from the University of Maryland as the Director of the D.C. National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Node (a collaboration among the University of Maryland, Virginia Tech, George Washington, and Johns Hopkins). But it wasn’t until seeing him lead the first I-Corps class at the National Institutes of Health that I realized Edmund could teach my class better than I can.

Forget Silicon Valley and New York. If you care about technology and design, look across the pond to London, says New York's Museum of Modern Art. The MoMA Store is releasing the London Tech City design collection, 17 innovative British-born products that push the needle in music, making, and transportation.

"Shark Tank" investing star Kevin O'Leary says women lead all of his companies that are showing returns.

"All the cash in the last two quarters is coming from companies run by women," he told Business Insider at a recent event for the startup Honeyfund, in which he is an investor. "I don't have a single company run by a man right now that's outperformed the ones run by women."

Image: Courtesy of Kevin O'Leary

In the 1980s, when Steve Jobs was trying to lure John Sculley away from Pepsi to join Apple, he clinched the deal with a single question: “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or do you want to come with me and change the world?”

Back then, the organization to which people belonged was the dominant driver of whether they found their work meaningful. A sense of purpose came from belonging to a company with a mission that mattered.

Congratulations!

Or perhaps we should say, “Congratulations*” – with a footnote reading:

“This salutation is reserved for graduates who majored in engineering, computer science, or finance at a top-tier school. All others, enjoy a primal scream.”

Because, hello, it’s hard to get a good job out there. Make that very hard. With four kids in their 20s, we get that. The facts are: the economy is just not growing fast enough to absorb 1.8 million entry-level employees a year, with the noted brainiac exceptions. As a result, the vast majority of graduates – 73 percent by some estimates – end up in jobs not in their areas of study, too many at minimum wage.

A lot goes into winning a pitch. From getting the fundamentals right to sheer chemistry, you never know what could sway a decision in your favour. Too many firms rely too heavily on the people pitching – they are important of course, but so is what you leave behind.

A smart acquisition can give your small company the boost it needs to become big. However, just because you can acquire another company doesn’t mean you should. To learn how to know if it’s a good idea, we asked 10 small business owners the following: “What should I look out for when sizing up and considering an acquisition for my small business or startup? Why?”

Communicating effectively isn’t always easy, especially when it comes to a complex project or difficult customer. Very often, complicated instructions can be misunderstood, fundamental steps can be overlooked or the vision for a project can be misinterpreted. If you’re not taking the necessary steps to convey a clear message or provide detailed instructions to your team, your project may be doomed from the start.

When I was 16 years old, my idol was a guy by the name of Scott Olson.

He wasn't a rockstar, nor was he a professional athlete. He was an entrepreneur. More specifically, he was the founder/inventor of a product that became a global phenomenon — Rollerblade.

Entrepreneurship is, in many ways, about achieving independence. You won’t have a boss anymore. You won’t have a network of supervisors and coworkers to set your schedule or monitor your success. Instead, you’ll become a master of your own destiny, and you’ll become accountable only to yourself for your ongoing actions.

President Barack Obama announced a renewed push on global entrepreneurship on Monday — including new projects to help empower women and young people, as well as a new effort to improve Internet access in Cuba.

Mr. Obama appointed nine new Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship — a group of private sector leaders committed to helping the United States government entrepreneurship programs. Those leaders include Brian Chesky, CEO of the short-term rental site AirBnB, and Julie Hanna, the chair of the board of the lending platform Kiva.

Too many customers have long felt distanced from many successful brands, seeing them as closed and mysterious environments, focused only on profits and killing competitors. They may not have noticed the wave of “open businesses,” spawned by the Internet and social media. These are responding to the demands of this new world for collaboration, trust, and transparency.

You have a vision and framework for starting a business. Does your business plan include the financing for your launch? And enough to keep the doors open until revenues are more reliable? Entrepreneurs have a wide choice of financing options. It’s important to choose what’s best for your business—and avoid taking on too much risk.

Of all the rumors ever to swirl around the world’s most valuable company, this may be the first that could involve spitting in a plastic cup.

Apple is collaborating with U.S. researchers to help launch apps that would offer some iPhone owners the chance to get their DNA tested, many of them for the first time, according to people familiar with the plans.

Image: http://www.technologyreview.com/