The great thing about careers in the 21st century is that you get to decide what you want to do. And if you don’t like what you’re doing, you can change. While this is liberating, it’s also scary and confusing. The complexity of today’s employment landscape is overwhelming. Managing your career requires coping with ambiguity and uncertainty and learning some basic navigation skills. After years of research and coaching people on career transitions, here’s what I recommend:

It’s comforting to believe that the world of venture funding is a meritocracy.

It’s comforting to believe that a founder has a good idea, pitches successfully and gets money from a VC to turn said idea into a business.

But of course, in reality, there are many more complicating factors. Some founders have strategic advantages — perhaps they already know funders, or they know how to appeal to funders by speaking the language of venture capital.

Image: At a Vinetta Project event in D.C. in September 2015. (Photo by Micah Gold/Vinetta via Facebook)

You are cordially invited to the "SBIR and STTR Federal Funding Mechanisms for Improving the Reach of Behavioral Science" seminar at the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) 2016 Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions. National Cancer Institute SBIR (NCI SBIR) Development Center Program Director Dr. Patricia Weber will be leading the seminar with presenters from NIH, including NCI and NHLBI, a HealthTech investment CEO and a small business entrepreneur. The session will include a range of topics such as an overview of the SBIR/STTR program goals, how NCI and NHLBI work to help with the commercialization process, how SBIR/STTR funding can advance behavioral science, investor perspectives on behavioral health products, and perspectives from an awardee.

If you wish to attend, please register for the Society of Behavioral Medicine conference by February 29, 2016. Please contact Dr. Patricia Weber for any inquiries at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In my last column, I stated that I didn't think the Trans-Pacific Partnership would cost Canada tens of thousands of jobs and I felt that I should expand on that statement.

The partnership has been described as the biggest trade deal ever signed. Indeed, the UK Telegraph ran a story with the title "Why TPP is the most important acronym you've never heard of."

Their opening statement: "The U.S. and Japan have agreed to sign up to the trade-busting Trans-Pacific Partnership."

No mention of Canada or the other nine countries involved in their first sentence. From a non-North American perspective, Japan and the U.S. are still major economic forces. Their collaboration matters.

A Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) team, including staff and senior fellows, recently concluded a review of state financing and incentive programs for the Maryland Economic Development Commission and the Maryland Department of Commerce. Thanks to guest blogger Catherine Renault for this project summary.

Lessons learned

This sort of review is helpful on a regular basis. Since so many incentive and financing program portfolios are developed piecemeal by legislative initiatives and successive administrations, they rarely represent a strategic, holistic approach to economic development. An outside look can be an asset to clearly understand what your target audience sees across your program portfolio.

The Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology has opened its new incubator, called Harbor Launch. The incubator is designed for biotech and environmental science startups, and is looking for its first member companies. The Inner Harbor space can accommodate between 10 and 15 companies and has access to four small wet labs — a crucial resource for the kind of startups IMET wants to attract.

Not only are tech jobs going to be the jobs when your son or daughter graduates high school (by 2020, the U.S. will create 1.4 million jobs in computer science-related fields), chances are, those who have them are going to have more job security, a better salary, and probably more helpful robot butlers than you.

Zach Sims wanted to learn how to code, so he launched the online platform Codecademy five years ago, and now anyone can go there to learn programming languages from Java to Python. "I'm not a programmer by trade," says Sims. "We actually started the company to teach me to program, and this is the hands-on learning experience that I wanted."

Image: Flickr user Games for Change; App Photo: Vctor Del Pino, EyeEm

From the legendary Richard Branson to the visionary Elon Musk to some of our very own Indian entrepreneurs – there is one thing that is common between all of them – they are all addicted ! Addicted to the idea of being an entrepreneur !

Yes, entrepreneurship can definitely be addictive too, and it’s not because of the success or the outcome but because of the journey. Many entrepreneurs don’t succeed after 1, 2, or even 3 ventures, but they keep trying. The risk and thrill associated with building and launching a new venture gives you an adrenaline rush and that’s what makes the process addictive.

Image: Designed by Freepik

Millennials may be surpassing by Gen X in the workforce, but a new government report says they're not opening their own businesses quite yet.

The Small Business Administration's advocacy office found less than 2 percent of people born between 1982 and 2000 said they were self-employed, compared to 7.6 percent of Gen X-ers and 8.3 percent of baby boomers, according to 2014 census data. As the portion of employed millennials expanded steadily over the past 15 years, the portion of self-employed millennials only saw modest gains.

Image: http://www.marketplace.org

The University Science Center, a research park in Philadelphia, has announced the six startups that will be part of the second class for its health tech accelerator, called Digital Health Accelerator.

The program will run for a year, which is significantly longer than its last program, a 10-week class. When the accelerator is finished, startups receive up to $50,000. The Center adds that startups in the program will also get to network with insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and research institutions. Startups also receive coworking office space during the program.

Image: http://www.mobihealthnews.com

By now you’ve read 10 lists of the top 10 tech trends to watch for this year. Many touched on the focuses for investors and founders for the coming year. But what about the creatives and consumers?

Digital is dominated by the millennials so I felt it was only right to identify the trends that address our audience. Here are five to watch for in 2016:

Half of the nation’s venture capital is managed in California, and much of the rest resides on the East Coast. In flyover country, entrepreneurs have very few doors to knock on when raising money.

That’s why last week’s announcement of a $104 million fund managed by Lewis & Clark Ventures is a big deal for St. Louis. Startups that have been nurtured by the region’s various angel investing groups, accelerator programs and seed-stage funds now have someplace to go when they need larger sums.

Image: Brian Hopcraft, managing director of Lewis & Clark Ventures.- http://www.stltoday.com

Michael Milken, one of the biggest medical philanthropists in the country, on medical research today.

Over 500,000 startups are launched every year in the U.S. alone. The majority of them fail. While there are many reasons for their failures, probably the most common is the lack of resources – money and manpower. New business owners are low on cash, and they need expertise that they cannot hire, for essential business tasks. One of the great things about launching a business today, however, is that a lot of “expertise” is free or very inexpensive, if the new business owner finds the right tools for those tasks that he cannot or does not have the time for, then lots of pressure is removed. Here is a list of 9 such tools.

Installation is complete at Europe's first underwater museum, due to open later this month.

The Museo Atlantico under the waves off Lanzarote, in Spain's Canary Islands, will be a snorkeling and diving destination featuring 400 pieces by artist Jason deCaires Taylor.

SEE ALSO: 4 ghostly horsemen are striding through the Thames to warn of climate change

The artist specializes in underwater sculpture, often focusing on environmental and conservational themes in his work.

There have never been more ways for big companies and entrepreneurs to collaborate - and you’d be surprised at how common these unlikely pairings are becoming.

Singapore-based DBS Bank is Southeast Asia’s largest bank by assets, but its leaders aren’t taking continued prosperity for granted. Nor should they, knowing as they do that Asian banks may be even more vulnerable than their Western peers to near-term disruption by fintech startups.

Jonathan M. Nelson, founder and CEO of private equity firm Providence Equity Partners LLC, has given his alma mater, Brown University, a $25 million gift to create the Jonathan M. Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship.

Image: http://www.pionline.com

A fresh focus on cities as indicators of startup community health has attracted a new generation of local leaders championing entrepreneurship to the growth and quality of life of their metropolitan areas. Many are also working to improve our understanding of the city entrepreneurship phenomenon and its complex dynamics. How are cities assessing and benchmarking their performance?

As an entrepreneur, you may have a lot of different business ideas, as well as ideas for new projects, in your head. If you can sell these ideas to colleagues, potential investors and partners, the concept could become your next successful business. A well-designed formal presentation can sell investors on your idea, but before you get to the stage, you'll likely have occasion to provide an elevator pitch.

Washington DC February 5, 2016 - A newly released research paper warns that employers and policymakers are in danger of ignoring the potential of today’s adult workers to meet near and mid- term skill shortages in the workplace. The paper, by Garrison Moore and Robert Bowman, speaks to employers, educators, policy makers, and the general public. A rigorously researched document, it includes more than 30 charts and graphs clearly illustrating for a lay audience the sometimes-arcane world of labor market statistics. Among the findings:

1. Most of the future US workforce is already on the job and will be despite the retirement of the baby boom generation - 84 percent of people working today will still on the job 10 years from now and two thirds will still be there in 2035.

2. Conversely, the research shows that young people entering the workforce make up a very small part of the workforce – less than two percent a year.

3. Declining workforce participation has its roots in young people staying in high school and going on to college rather than adults dropping out or retiring early.

4. The nature of work is changing almost beyond recognition. Occupations largely involving routine tasks have fallen by an estimated six million jobs in the past five years while occupations requiring more knowledge, skills, and flexibility have continued healthy growth little affected by the worst recession in 70 years.

5. The education and training of today’s workforce is largely catch as catch can for working adults. Today’s education and training infrastructure is uncoordinated and places many hurdles for working adult learning and employer involvement.

6. The authors suggest that the most effective way to raise the skills of working adults is through an employer-centered active workforce policy (rather than just adding more uncoordinated programs). Employers and employer organizations teaming up community colleges offer a good place to start developing such a system in many communities.

The complete report can be downloaded here:  DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THE REPORT

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