The most common health care-associated bacterial infection in hospitals in the United States is Clostridium difficile. This pathogen secretes toxins that trigger diarrhea and colitis in 500,000 patients annually, killing approximately 29,000 people each year, and all at an annual cost to the U.S. health care system of approximately $6 billion. Ironically, exposure to antibiotics dramatically increases the risk of developing a C. difficile infection (CDI).

Press Release – Technology Investment Network

Wellington Tech Companies Are Benefiting From Record Growth in Angel And Crowdfunding Investment, According to TIN AnalysisWellington Tech Companies Are Benefiting From Record Growth in Angel And Crowdfunding Investment, According to TIN Analysis Auckland, July 4, 2018 – Wellington’s early-stage tech companies are reaping the benefits of the record amount of angel and crowdfunding investment flowing into the tech sector, according to analysis from Technology Investment Network (TIN).

The third annual Investor’s Guide to the New Zealand Technology Sector, published in May by TIN and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), showed record levels of early-stage investment with combined funding from New Zealand-based angel investors and domestic crowdfunding increasing by 35% to $112 million; the first time the figure has topped $100 million (NZVIF and Snowball Effect 2018). Angel and crowdfunding investment into the tech sector has risen at an annual growth rate of 18% over the past four years.

From Dropbox's $9 billion valuation at its IPO to Salesforce's $6.8 billion acquisition of MuleSoft, 2018 has been a lucrative year for the movers and shakers in the enterprise tech business.

Once considered a less glamorous sideshow to flashy consumer internet companies, enterprise tech startups are enjoying a renewed surge in interest thanks to innovative new services powered by AI and cloud computing, and an expanding opportunity to tap into vast new markets.

Image: Jenny Cheng

The idea of the American Dream has endured through centuries of turmoil. Yet our country is inarguably different than it was even just one generation ago. To find out how popular ideas about the American Dream has evolved in our own lifetimes, we asked Fast Company readers to share how their definitions of the concept differ from those of their parents.

Image: https://www.fastcompany.com

The first successful voyage across the Pacific Ocean — from the Americas to Asia and back — occurred in 1564 and 1565. Barely two generations after Columbus’ more famous voyage, European explorers faced an ocean that was roughly twice as large as the Atlantic and extremely difficult to navigate. This epic passage established a transpacific link, and no other shipping route has been more successful or lasted longer. Trade brought the continents together and created a seascape around the Pacific basin that included places like Acapulco, Manila and the coast of California. By the 18th and 19th centuries, American merchants built on these existing connections to launch their own commercial ventures into the Asia-Pacific region, a process that continues today — even as Washington engages in a trade war with China.

You probably have heard “Information is Power,” and in today’s digital ecosystem it has become much easier to turn this information into a business. The new infographic by Kajabi looks to answer how this is the right time to turn your knowledge and expertise into a business as an infopreneur. Titled, “Knowledge Commerce: How to Turn Your Skill Into a Thriving Business,” this infographic shows how the market is ready for infopreneurs. According to Kajabi, there is now a huge opportunity  for knowledge commerce.

Image: https://smallbiztrends.com

It’s the end of another busy day, and you look back and wonder “Where did the time go?” Most likely, part of your time was eaten up with those little distractions that take away from the tasks that really matter.

It’s important that you attach value to your time. How you use your time has a huge impact on your ability to succeed. Increasing productivity and using your time wisely means you will have more time to do things that matter to you, like exercising, spending time with family and friends, having a hobby or pursuing other projects.

In this video, Entrepreneur Network partner Jeff Rose talks with his friend and fellow entrepreneur, Antonio Centeno, who is the CEO of Real Men Real Style. Centeno joined the Marine Corps when he had just graduated from college; from there he went to work as a CFO and eventually start his first company, A Tailored Suit.

Centeno also talks to Rose about his background in the military, where his perception of failure changed. While there, Centeno became what he describes as hard-headed and increased his willingness to suffer to avoid failure. A hard-nosed drive both helped him to stick to his pursuits, but also made it slightly difficult to see when he should re-align his goals. At the end of the day, Centeno emphasizes his military training prepared him to come back stronger. 

How many times have you been told – “Oh but you are too young to do this!” or “But haven’t you passed your prime age to go ahead with this?”. When you do hear such remarks, what do you do? Do you hold back on your dreams and ambitions or do you turn around with more confidence to say, “Age doesn’t defy me”.

Melinda Gates has been putting her money where her mouth is when it comes to championing women in tech.

She's become a power-player investor through her somewhat secretive investment firm Pivotal Ventures. But she's not just investing directly into startups, like a classic venture investor. She's also become a limited partner (LP), investing in other VC funds with a strategy that has far bigger implications, she told Fortune's Polina Marinova.

Image: DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 28JAN11 - William H. Gates III (FLTR), Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA, and Melinda French Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA, and David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, are captured during the session 'Polio: Eradicating an Old Reality Once and for All' at the Annual Meeting 2011 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 28, 2011. Copyright by World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch/Photo by Remy Steinegger

For all entrepreneurs, starting a business is the route to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” no matter how risky. It’s the American dream that has been the goal of people in this country for over 240 years. If you are here in the U.S., I hope you are all able to take some time off this holiday period, to contemplate what you do, and why you do it.

It is a truth universally acknowledged by business executives, Wall Street analysts, and investors the world over that cash is the lifeblood of an enterprise.

Free cash flow is a critical business performance metric. It’s how we measure successful investment and execution, how profit is distributed to shareholders, and how employees get paid. Without cash, a company folds. Irrespective of their size, shape, or footprint, businesses are on a continuous hunt for cash.

The quest for innovation is a major driving force in pharma. From the discovery of therapeutic biologicals in the 1920s, such as Salvarsan and insulin, to the blockbuster drugs birthed in the 1990s, such as Lipitor and Humira, pharma has always been on a quest for novel, groundbreaking drug development.

CheapAir.com announced the results of its annual airfare study on Wednesday, analyzing 917 million fares from nearly 3 million trips to determine when the best deals are typically available for domestic flights in the U.S.

Based on their data, the best time to buy is roughly 70 days before departure. It’s a pretty significant increase from last year’s study, when the site reported most inexpensive fares could be found 54 days in advance.

After comparing 50 states across 25 key indicators of startup success, Wallethub was able to determine the best and worst states to start a business in 2018. Best State to Start a Small Business Is… This year, Texas is tops by providing some of the ideal conditions for business creation. According to Wallethub, some of these conditions included access to cash, skilled workers and affordable office space.

Chun Hin is a senior manager at a Hong Kong investment bank. Every morning, he listens to Bloomberg radio on his way to work and used to read each issue of the Economist from cover to cover in an effort to continuously improve his English. As a Hong Kong native who grew up speaking Cantonese and Mandarin, Chun Hin has worked hard to become fluent in English.

Children and adolescents whose mothers follow five healthy habits — eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy body weight, drinking alcohol in moderation, and not smoking — are 75 percent less likely to become obese than children of mothers who do not follow any such habits, according to a new study led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Crowdfunding and platforms like Kickstarter and IndieGogo have changed the way people get funding for projects, including big tech projects. In this episode, we look at examples of some of the best and worst tech-related crowdfunding campaigns.

Scientists have been studying the potential role genes plays in a person’s aptitude for entrepreneurship. I’d certainly be interested in their conclusions given my own background and career.

Both my father and grandfather owned small businesses, which makes me a third-generation entrepreneur. Does that mean I have the entrepreneur gene? I didn’t really think so -- until recently.

Amazon this week announced the next chapter in its bid to rule the commercial world. The company is looking to create a network of independent delivery fleets, and it wants “hundreds of entrepreneurs” to “start businesses” in support of this.

This represents a major move in the logistics realm, one that will see Amazon go up against long-established players — such as Fedex and UPS — and which has been rumored for a while.