In the world of entrepreneurs and startups, high level relationships are everything. You can’t start a business alone. You need partners, team members, investors, vendors, and customers. But people don’t realize that all relationships are not the same. There are people you only recognize on the street, business friends, and then close friends whom you can always count on to help.

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Costa Rica, known primarily as a honeymoon destination, is a veritable paradise. Not only is it full of picturesque scenes featuring white sand beaches, and crystal clear waters, but you're pretty much guaranteed sunshine all year round. And boy is it atmospheric - jam packed with misty jungles, mind-boggling wildlife and active volcanoes.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has listed the three "big failures" in tech entrepreneurship around the world.

Schmidt outlined the failings in a speech he gave at the Centre for Entrepreneurs in London this week. He later expanded on his thoughts in an interview with former BBC News boss James Harding.

Below are the three mistakes he outlined, with quotes taken from both a draft of his speech seen by Business Insider, and comments he delivered on the night.

Image: Eric Schmidt gave the Centre for Entrepreneurs lecture in London. Centre for Entrepreneurs

This article was inspired by a recent blog by Seth Godin, where he discussed some challenges that start-ups who rely on early adopters may face when they scale up. https://seths.blog/2018/11/the-curse-of-the-low-hanging-fruit/For a start-up, early adopters who are highly engaged in a category, and/or know they have a problem, often represent easy sales.  They typically need little persuasion, are relatively easy to target, and are typically more willing to shell out hard cash for a top of the line product, because it matters more to them.  However, in his blog, he makes the point that sooner or later you will exhaust this group, and then have to make a choice.  Expand by adapting your product to appeal to a broader, perhaps less discerning or less engaged audience, or move onto to create a new product for another set of early adopters.

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Polyball is apparently Zurich’s blow-out party of the year. It’s hosted by the country’s top school of science and technology, ETH, the university where Einstein got his start (and rarely attended class). While this lovely irony reflects the city’s, uh, party scene, the students at ETH assured me it’s quite an experience.

Fortunately for Zurich, ETH is more than just a party school. It turns out ETH students are up for just about anything— including locking themselves in a glass cube for a long weekend to generate new business concepts.

Image: https://www.forbes.com

Many new entrepreneurs turn to crowdfunding as a way to raise money for their businesses. And to be sure, crowdfunding has revolutionized the entrepreneurial landscape; amateur innovators can, with the right idea, earn enough money to begin production without worrying about getting a business loan or partnering with a VC firm.

But despite its benefits, crowdfunding is not a perfect solution — and before you get too excited about using it, you should be aware of its downsides, contingencies and alternatives.

This course explains the importance of business planning, defines and describes the components of a business plan, and provides access to sample plans and resources that can help you develop a very good business plan.

Stressful, scary, complicated and distracting.

That’s how some Richmond-area entrepreneurs, speaking at last week’s UpRiver summit, described the process of raising capital for their startup businesses.

“Raising money has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do,” said Ankit Mathur, co-founder and chief technology officer of RoundTrip, a startup with a technology platform that enables health care providers to book rides for patients to and from medical appointments.

Image: People listen as panelists discuss "Why Richmond?" during UpRiver's first summit at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture Tuesday, November 27, 2018. ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH

Philadelphia does not need Jeff Bezos’ endorsement to affirm that we have neighborhoods both of great need and great potential. Nor was the race for HQ2 the only prize that stimulated public-private coordination. Philadelphians are already making the push to work together to tackle critical issues across zip codes, removing silos and engaging and empowering residents and organizations to drive joint priorities and develop actionable solutions.

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If you’ve ever wanted to dabble in angel investing in a lower risk setting, January will be your chance.

Brian Holst, executive director of the Juneau Economic Development Council, announced Thursday at a luncheon that the JEDC will host an angel investor conference starting in January. Angel investors are business investors who provide capital usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. But, what’s labeled as a conference is actually more of a five-month learning process for a pool of investors.

Image: Brian Holst, Executive Director of the Juneau Economic Development Council, speaks to the Chamber of Commerce during its weekly luncheon at the Moose Lodge on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire) 

Pittsburgh has historically been known as the “Steel City” because it’s home to hundreds of steel-related businesses. It’s also called the “City of Bridges” because, you guessed it, it’s home to hundreds of bridges.

But these days, the city is working to become known for something else altogether. Pittsburgh is emerging as a hotbed of innovation for robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, thanks in large part to the influence of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).

Recent tax-law changes may bring opportunities for you and your family, so it’s good to know what to look for and when to take action. Download our 2018 Year-End Planning Guide now to find out about potential impacts to your estate, charitable giving strategy, business, and more. Then, contact The Private Bank to discuss how our responsive, team approach to wealth planning may benefit you now and year-round.

The importance of innovation is oft-discussed – in media, books and, perhaps most importantly, in the boardroom. What’s little discussed, however, is how to execute on that innovation and who to partner with to get it done. At Blue Shield of California (BSC), a symbiotic relationship has formed between the finance and innovation teams, highlighting the benefits of working closely together for business efficiency. This month I spoke with BSC CFO, Sandra Clarke, to learn more about her perspective on innovation, how she works with the chief innovation officer and why finance and innovation ultimately go hand in hand.

Image: Sandra Clarke, Chief Financial Officer, Blue Shield of CaliforniaBLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA

The personality traits that drive people to open their own businesses may not always match the qualities that make for entrepreneurial success, a recent study suggests.

Entrepreneurship may appeal to open-minded people who enjoy the autonomy, but they're not necessarily likely to succeed, according to the research. Extroverts, on the other hand, appear more likely to run profitable ventures.

One of the biggest challenges I have as an advisor to tech entrepreneurs is to convince you that marketing is required for your product, no matter how great it is, just to get it found with today’s information overload. A comparable problem is to get entrepreneurs to market themselves, for the same reason. Your abilities will be lost in the crowd, because competence doesn’t speak for itself.

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Pulse Co-Founders Akshay Kothari and Ankit Gupta offer their perspectives on effective communication between co-founders. Kothari discusses his views on the optimal number of founders, while Gupta emphasizes how co-founder relationships impact the larger culture within a startup.

Image: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/

Thought leaders are the new big businesspeople of the world. Everyone wants to be one, and everyone wants to hear what they have to say. But the difference between a successful businessperson and a thought leader is that thought leader is willing to give away their most valuable resources for free. Namely their time, and knowledge. If you’re eager to start the long and treacherous road of a becoming a thought leader you probably already look forward to sharing everything you have to offer!

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When Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite in 1907, it was hailed as “the material of a thousand uses”. The production of synthetic plastics took off over the coming decades but now that the environmental cost of these miracle materials is becoming ever clearer, the hunt is on for more sustainable alternatives.  

The generation cohort born 1997 to present is set to play an increasingly bigger role in the economy. This fast-rising generation, dubbed Generation Z or Gen Z, will make up 40% of consumers by 2020, warranting special attention from small businesses and entrepreneurs looking to future-proof their businesses. According to an insightful infographic commissioned by ranking site RaveReviews.org and developed by Nowsourcing, Gen Z has an attitude toward finances unlike the Millennials generation immediately preceding it, or any other generation before that.

Image: https://smallbiztrends.com

Tension between the bitter rivals of Melbourne and Sydney could well flare up as a new global economic report has placed them in very different categories of influence and power.

Looking at 3000 major cities around the world, global consulting giant McKinsey says Sydney is the only Aussie city in an elite “superstar” status.

That means it joins the likes of London, New York and Hong Kong, as well as smaller cities which are punching well above their weight in terms of economic performance such as Riyadh, Milan and Atlanta.

Image: https://www.news.com.au