Merriam-Webster defines an entrepreneur as "one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise." Dictionary.com states that an entrepreneur is "a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk." There are more than 25 million of them in the U.S. alone.

The dual forces of climate change and population growth threaten to make life in cities extremely stressed for future generations. So it stands to reason that young people–who will feel the effects of these trends throughout their lives–would be particularly invested in finding a solution.

Image: courtesy NYAS and United Technologies Corporation

The head of AI at Apple. The founder of Nest. The head of Google’s speech recognition. The CTO of Twitter. The CTO and cofounder of LinkedIn. The VP of technology at Apple. They all have one thing in common: In the early 1990s, they worked at a small Silicon Valley startup you’ve never heard of.

Image: In 1992, Megan Smith with the “walkabout” prototype, which later became the cell phone in a scene from General Magic–A Film by Sarah Kerruish and Matt Maude. (Photo: courtesy Spellbound Productions)

One of the most fascinating trends of recent years has been the tremendous growth in contingent labor. Commonly referred to as the gig economy, societies across the Western world have seen record numbers take to freelance work where they are largely in charge of their own affairs.

Over the past few years we’ve been listening and learning from thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs about the barriers they face.

Removing barriers is critical, given the long-term decline in entrepreneurship in our country. Despite a slight uptick following the recession, we remain at a generational low for rate of new business starts.

Access to capital has been near the top of the list from our conversations with entrepreneurs. But, what does it really mean?

Depending on which report you read or whom you choose to listen to, somewhere between seven and nine businesses fail within the first few years. In other words, your chances of being successful simply aren’t that great. But if you take the time to understand the common culprits of failure, you may stand a better chance of survival.

Of all the social gaffes, none is perhaps more common than meeting a new person, exchanging names and promptly forgetting theirs — forcing you to either swallow your pride and ask again, or languish in uncertainty forever.

Why do we keep making this mistake? There are a few potential explanations, says Charan Ranganath, the director of the Memory and Plasticity Program at the University of California, Davis.

Getting faculty to try out new technologies can be a challenge. And while many universities have established programs to foster digital innovation campuswide, their efforts are constantly evolving with new developments in teaching and learning and changing mindsets around learning analytics, learning design and more. From internal grant programs to forming communities of practice, here are four ways academic technology leaders are fine-tuning their approaches to working with faculty.

Quebec City-based companies raised more money from venture capital investors than companies in any other Canadian city except Toronto during the second quarter of 2018, thanks to a couple of large deals, according to a report released by PwC Canada and market research company CB Insights on Thursday.

As the saying goes, “History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.”

After a long exile, tariffs are back, and they’re being levied on billions of dollars of traded goods, ranging from steel and aluminum to Harley-Davidson motorcycles. They’re part of a trade war between the U.S. and China, and between the U.S. and the EU (although a conversation this week between President Donald Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, may ease some of those tensions — we will see).

ONIQUE COLEMAN’S BASEMENT was still wet with saltwater when the rallying began. Just days after Superstorm Sandy churned into the mid-Atlantic region, pushing a record-breaking surge into the country’s most densely populated corridor, the governor of New Jersey promised to put the sand back on the beaches.

Image: On New Jersey's Delaware Bay, the remains of a house await demolition. The land will be converted into open space. Credit: Grant Delin

“The depth and breadth of his experience coupled with his knowledge of the region’s innovation ecosystem make him a natural fit to lead the Science Center as we embark on the expansion of uCity Square, welcome Cambridge Innovation Center to our community and prepare for our move into 3675 Market Street. Steve will be an asset in furthering the growth of the Science Center in scale and scope.”

Image: https://www.bizjournals.com

The House and Senate have agreed to the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2019. As anticipated, the legislation addresses many small business and innovation policies. Changes relevant to tech-based economic development affect SBIR, advanced manufacturing, and partnerships with defense labs.

Three jurisdictions in Greater Washington are finalists for Amazon's second headquarters, and they all have a strong pipeline of tech talent.

Image: The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has this logo, and a report with the Washington area’s strengths, to aid local bids for Amazon HQ2. - KAREN GOFF

Nearly 6 million highly skilled workers across the U.S. and Canada comprise the tech talent that is leading global innovation by developing the software and devices we depend on and managing the data and systems that ensure functionality of our tech ecosystems.

Image: https://www.cbre.us

I’m a recent conversation with Eric Paley, he gave me an amazingly wonderful analogy for how the career of a VC unfolds. He said:

“Being a VC is like taking a walk from Boston to San Francisco”

I’d never heard that before so I said: “tell me more.” He went on an awesome ramble, which I’ll try to capture below.

You start out on a sunny day in Boston. You put on your new, clean walking shoes. It’s just walking. It’s fun, fresh, and exciting. It’s a new experience, with lots of hopes and expectations in front of you. You get tons of support and encouragement from all of your friends. You meet plenty of new and interesting people. It’s just walking.

If you’re a college graduate, you likely went to school to pursue an important passion of yours.

But as we all know, what we major in has consequences that extend far beyond the foundation of knowledge we build in our early years. Any program we choose to enroll in also sets up a track to meet future friends, career opportunities, and connections.

Image: http://www.visualcapitalist.com

ROYAL OAK – Great Lakes Angels, one of the first angel groups in Michigan, now is adding an Angel Fund that could eventually do $18 million in investments in Michigan startups, primarily in the technology sector. Co-partners Doron York and David Weaver explain how it will work on this segment of M2 TechCast.

Technologies or particular interest are Fintech, Automotive, Mobility, Medical & Health, B2B, Blockchain, Wearable, and Agri-Tech.

These days, Malcolm Gladwell is all about disagreeableness.

In conversation with Carlos Watson at OZY Fest on Sunday, Gladwell lauded the trait as a key component of an entrepreneurial spirit. In the psychological context, disagreeableness or agreeableness is the extent to which one requires the approval of a group.

Nour Tohmé is constantly on the move. Working as an illustrator with remote clients, she’s able to live in a new location every few days or weeks. Two years and 40 countries later, she has no place she calls home, and she finds her work ideally suited to her nomadic lifestyle. But certain things are difficult: finding budget-friendly accommodations, coworking spaces, reliable Wi-Fi, healthy food and exercise options, and a way to connect with local communities and other location-independent workers in the cities she travels to.