Hoverboards keep threatening to be a real possibility, with prototypes such as Lexus' 2015 offering causing excitement, but hopes of getting our hands (or feet) on one are still tarnished by major stumbling blocks. With Lexus it was the fact it could only work on conductive surfaces; with a new attempt called ArcaBoard, it's the cost.

Image: http://www.redorbit.com

It is essential for a state’s economy to have a diverse array of companies. Still, the impact each of the companies has on a state’s economy varies considerably.

In each state, there is one company that employs the most people. As a state’s largest employer, the company may have a disproportionately large impact on its economy as well as on the surrounding region. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from a range of sources in order to identify the largest employers in each state.

It doesn’t take more than a quick scan of past headlines to see that 2015 was filled with object lessons in leadership.

We witnessed trailblazing CEOs push gender and diversity boundaries and saw the rise of leaders committed to creating more opportunity for entrepreneurs, while other leaders struggled and fell amid controversy.

Here is our list of the best and worst leaders of 2015.

Image: http://www.fastcompany.com

HOUSTON — The original charter of Rice University, drafted in 1891, established a school here dedicated to the advancement of literature, science and art. These days, Rice seems equally dedicated to the advancement of the next Mark Zuckerberg.

The university offers academic courses in entrepreneurship strategy and financing, extracurricular start-up workshops and a summer program for students seeking to start companies. In August, Rice announced a multimillion-dollar “entrepreneurship initiative” to develop more courses and programs in the subject. And administrators say they hope to erect an entrepreneurial center to house classes and services supporting student projects.

Image: Students at a 3 Day Startup event put on by Rice University and the University of Houston in October. Credit Spike Johnson for The New York Times

Not everybody will succeed as an entrepreneur. Some are made for this role while others will find it a struggle. If you are thinking about going it on your own and are not sure if you should, then these signs below should help you.

Is this the year you want your financial picture to shine? We’ve got some good news: There are no tax increases looming, and the banking, housing and labor markets are solid. That means this is the perfect time to shore up your personal finances and prepare for the long haul.

Here are some steps you can implement when opportunity, cash flow, existing debt and mental fortitude allow. Barring a sudden global economic or personal meltdown, you could wake up next January with a satisfied smile on your face.

Running a business from home may sound like a dream to those stuck in a cubicle or tiptoeing around a moody boss but it has its downsides. When your home is also your office, leaving work and being able to relax is more difficult than you may think.

Here are the five best ways to disengage from work when your office is in your home. Give each of these a try, or better yet, incorporate all of them into your routine. And if the idea of maintaining a “routine” is something you find comical because your business has some schedule-shattering surprise for you every day, be sure to check out #1.

’Tis the season to be thankful and express our gratitude to others. Thanks extended regularly can generate good will and make your business memorable. And that can lead to more business with customers, greater productivity among employees and maybe even faster payments from your business partners. Here are some small ways to give big thanks, and they don’t have to cost a lot.

Is entrepreneurship a talent that you’re born with or is it a skill to be cultivated? Or both? It’s a debate that has been running for many a year. Many argue that entrepreneurship cannot be learnt in a classroom as it involves making gut-based decisions to deal with the uncertainties it brings, and a set of skills that cannot be quantified and taught.

Image: http://www.arabianbusiness.com

I have often been invited to speak on the topic of entrepreneurship at various universities in  urkey. It is a topic I am familiar with and passionate about. I have founded several companies in the United States and Turkey, and have had many failures and far fewer successes. I try to tell students what no one else will tell them: What I would have wanted to be told 17 years ago before I started my first company. I discuss with them the major obstacles they will face in establishing a start-up. As there are many obstacles that are universal, but I will discuss those that are germane to Turkey so that the discussion on how to better foster entrepreneurship in Turkey can be furthered.

As the proverb goes, two heads are better than one. Yet, when it comes to running a business, the idea of co-CEOs has been described as "flirting with disaster". There's simply not enough room for two at the top.

One startup has found a way to make it work, and having two CEOs has changed the entire mission of the company.

Image: When Songkick and CrowdSurge merged, the co-CEOs Ian Hogarth and Matt Jones got shirts with photos of each other on it.

Elon Musk is building a massive Tesla Gigafactory that's expected to be completed in 2020. When finished, it'll be the world's second-largest building by volume — three times the size of New York's Central Park.

While there have been drone videos of the factory's exterior, photographers haven't been allowed inside the Gigafactory.

Image: Tesla Motors - The Tesla Gigafactory, which will be completed in 2020.

Crowdfunding projects, from artists' ventures to Kickstarter campaigns, have been around for years. But equity crowdfunding, when investors front up cash in return for a stake in the company rather than rewards or products, is much newer. Luke Lang, co-founder of Crowdcube – which in September became the first equity-based crowdfunding platform to hit £100m in capital raised – called 2015 "a breakthrough year" as major venture capital funds invested in start-ups through crowdfunding websites and entrepreneurs turned down Dragons' Den offers to raise through crowdfunding.

India is witnessing an unprecedented growth in entrepreneurship. It has emerged as the third largest entrepreneurial hub in the world for tech start-ups. On LetsVenture, one of the platforms connecting entrepreneurs to investors, there are 18 new start-up registrations every day. Overall, there is tremendous interest, rising awareness and relatively easy access to capital. But the maturity of the system is still nascent. If the promise of this entrepreneurship revolution has to come true, we need to move beyond numbers and build maturity, depth and, finally, impact.

Image: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

As we look back and try to make sense of all the new developments in the world of technology this year, it helps to start with a few notable numbers. Here are some crucial digits behind some of the most compelling technology-related storylines of 2015.

100,000,000x: How much faster Google says its controversial “quantum computer” is at solving a specific type of computational problem. That’s proof, say the search giant’s researchers, that the machine can use quantum physics to solve certain kinds of math problems in a way conventional processors can’t. Google’s engineers are apparently already running into problems in the area of machine learning that a practical version of computer could solve (see “Google’s Quantum Dream Machine”).

Comments Email Service Service More Share Print Virtual reality has grown immensely over the past few years, but 2016 looks like the most important year yet: it will be the first time that consumers can get their hands on a number of powerful headsets for viewing alternate realities in immersive 3-D.

To get a sense of how quickly virtual reality is moving toward the mainstream, consider this: in early January, more than 40 exhibitors will be showing off their technology in a dedicated “Gaming and Virtual Reality Marketplace” at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The trade group that puts on the show, the Consumer Electronics Association, says this is a 77 percent increase over what it saw in 2015.

If you thought New York apartments were tiny before, you haven't seen anything yet. New York City's first "micro apartments" development — known as Carmel Place — is set to open in February, according to the New York Times.

Developer Monadnock Development first put forth the project — then known as My Micro NY — in a design contest held in 2013 by the city of New York. Under city law, dwellings must be no less than 400 square feet, but Carmel Place's 55 units — which received special permission from then-mayor Michael Bloomberg — will range from 260 to 360 square feet.

Image: http://www.businessinsider.com

One of the strongest storms on record to form in the North Atlantic is set to rock Iceland with winds above hurricane force by Wednesday. It's also expected to drive a new batch of rain and wind to flood-weary areas of the UK.

The storm could even set an all-time record for the strongest storm to develop in this part of the North Atlantic.

Image: http://mashable.com

So much of being successful at your job has little to do with the actual work you do. A lot of success comes from how you approach your workday: Are you optimistic? Curious? Productive? Did you get enough sleep?

As we head into the New Year we've compiled a list of the most important habits that will make you better at your job.

Image: http://www.fastcompany.com

Most people would agree that it would be better to prevent cancer, if we could, than to treat it once it developed. Yet economic incentives encourage researchers to focus on treatment rather than prevention.

The way the patent system interacts with the Food and Drug Administration’s drug approval process skews what kinds of cancer clinical trials are run. There’s more money to be made investing in drugs that will extend cancer patients’ lives by a few months than in drugs that would prevent cancer in the first place.