Self-driving cars will save the average driver about $1,000 annually, according to estimates from auto insurance startup, Metromile.

Robotic self-driving cars have a near-perfect driving record; thus far, when self-driving cars do get into accidents, it’s because humans were responsible. Since Google began to release details about self-driving car accidents, reports from the Wall Street Journal, the RAND Corporation, and KPMG have all predicted a dramatic shrinking in the auto insurance industry.

It sounds like a pitch on the television show “Shark Tank.”

Lisa Rinaldo and her father John Ebbinghaus started the business Prohm-tect, which makes a paste that can be put on batteries and power cells to make them last longer.

Ebbinghaus came up with the idea when he was working for a company that made parts for U.S. Navy ships. His company didn’t want to produce his paste, so he held onto his idea for 20 years.

Image: Malachi Petersen / Argus Leader

Are you a growth marketer? Do you want to know what it takes to be one? Join us at GrowthBeat, on August 17-18 in San Francisco. Thought-leaders from the biggest brands and most disruptive companies will share winning growth strategies on the most pressing challenges marketing leaders face today.

Lending to small firms could turn into a bubble, with private investors taking risks similar to those seen in the credit boom before the crash, a leading financier has warned.

David Postings, chief executive of lender Bibby Financial Services, said there was ‘potential overheating’ in the small business market and argued that some new funding methods could lead private investors to ‘come unstuck’ by lending to small firms.

Since the recession, and at least partially sparked by it, I'm seeing a real resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. I believe the days of the "job work" mentality are thankfully waning, with more people looking to get satisfaction by making the world a better place, rather than just tolerating brain-numbing work to fund enjoyment elsewhere.

There are lots of articles out there on whether an accelerator is right for you or how to maximize your time at an accelerator. There is a common component to all of these articles, and it’s the due diligence aspect. Having gone through a program, I will admit I did not do as much due diligence as I should have, so if I could do it all over again, these are the questions I would have asked and why.

Many CEOs say that they have more growth ideas than they know what to do with. It seems like there is a universal love affair with generating ideas but less enthusiasm when it comes to figuring out which ideas are the most commercially viable and how to actually implement.

This imbalance causes a backlog of ideas, begging the question: Do too many ideas stall out innovation?

When seeking out your first round of venture funding, preparation is key.

And what better way to prepare than by hitting the books?

We've asked around the Business Insider newsroom and scoured the Web, collecting 11 books that will help startup founders hone their pitch, build their confidence, and better their salesmanship — all while giving them the tools to take a fresh look at their startup.

Image: Michael Seto 

Steve Blank seems disgusted with the state of Silicon Valley's startup and venture capital scene today.

The Silicon Valley veteran and startup guru sees too much funding going to too many frivolous and copycat ideas, and not enough going toward solving big problems.

ATHENS — In a leafy back alley, two lifelong friends tap away at their keyboards, perfecting their eighth Internet start-up company, a hotel recommendation service called Travelmyth.com, which began in November and is already turning a profit.

It would be just another success story of the digital age, if it were not for the company’s location: Greece, a country that almost defines economic mismanagement, a place long resistant to the demands of global competition and a sinkhole for the aspirations of young people.

Image: The Cube, one of a half-dozen small-business incubators and co-working spaces that have sprung up in Athens. Credit Eirini Vourloumis for The New York Times 

I may be old fashioned, but the term consultant still conjures up an image of a self-proclaimed expert who can make great presentations, generate recommendations and leave you to do the hard work of implementation. This may work for big companies who have specialized staffs, but it doesn’t work for startups and small businesses who are already understaffed and overloaded.

Are you a growth marketer? Do you want to know what it takes to be one? Join us at GrowthBeat, on August 17-18 in San Francisco. Thought-leaders from the biggest brands and most disruptive companies will share winning growth strategies on the most pressing challenges marketing leaders face today.

Image: Wikipedia 

Are you a growth marketer? Do you want to know what it takes to be one? Join us at GrowthBeat, on August 17-18 in San Francisco. Thought-leaders from the biggest brands and most disruptive companies will share winning growth strategies on the most pressing challenges marketing leaders face today.

Image: A meeting room at Startup Lisboa. Image Credit: Startup Lisboa 

In our modern economy, the biggest wellspring of new jobs isn’t the information sector, as hype might lead some to think, but the somewhat nebulous category of business services. Over the past decade, business services has emerged as easily the largest high-wage sector in the United States, employing 19.1 million people. These are the white-collar jobs that most people believe offer a ladder into the middle class. Dominated by administrative services and management jobs, the sector also includes critical skilled workers in legal services, design services, scientific research , and even a piece of the tech sector with computer systems and design. Since 2004, while the number of manufacturing and information jobs in the U.S. has fallen, the business services sector has grown 21%, adding 3.4 million positions.

Image: http://www.newgeography.com 

I recently visited St. Louis’ Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and Bio Research & Development Growth Park (BRDG Park) with a group of local business and education leaders led by Joel Seligman and Danny Wegman.

So why the interest in St. Louis?  And in these facilities in particular?  The reason is that they are the latest pieces of St. Louis’ thriving biotech innovation ecosystem - an ecosystem that could prove a model for Rochester.

In 2002, St. Louis founded the Cortex Innovation Community, a 200-acre innovation hub and technology district within the city - intentionally chosen to be close to major research universities, medical centers and cultural assets. Since its launch, Cortex has brought 1 million square feet of space online, and generated 2,500 technology-related jobs - with plans to ramp up to some 13,000 jobs.

Faustino Calimon is living proof that there is life after 50, and a financially fruitful and spiritually-fulfilling one at that.

After 32 years of being an employee, he resigned from his corporate executive job at a multinational company in 2009.

Today, Calimon is one of the outstanding franchisees of petroleum product distributor Seaoil Philippines, awarded “Seaoil Franchisee of the Year” in 2012 and a finalist for the same category in 2013 and 2014.

Northwestern scientists believe an open-access android cell phone app called Purple Robot can detect depression simply by tracking the number of minutes you use the phone and your daily geographical locations.

The more time you spend using your phone, the more likely you are depressed, they found in a small Northwestern Medicine study published yesterday (July 15) in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. The average daily usage for depressed individuals was about 68 minutes, while for non-depressed individuals it was about 17 minutes.

Image: http://www.kurzweilai.net 

In my years of working with entrepreneurs, I have heard many times the promise that their new idea will create the next Amazon or Apple, but I rarely hear the more important promise that the founder will practice all the good habits of winning entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs. You see, I’m convinced that the entrepreneur makes the company, not the other way around.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For a second consecutive year, Purdue University posted record-breaking numbers in commercialization activities for the fiscal year ending June 30 highlighted by 40 startups, of which 25 are based on Purdue-licensed intellectual property, officials announced.

A baby wails upon an airplane’s liftoff, a person shrieks when he stumbles upon something shocking, a kid throws a tantrum because she wants to get her way—people scream in reaction to all kinds of situations.

But exactly why we scream has remained a mystery. Now, new research published in the journal Current Biology suggests that hearing a scream may activate the brain’s fear circuitry, acting as a cautionary signal.