More and more companies, government agencies, educational institutions and philanthropic organizations are today in the grip of a new phenomenon. I’ve termed it ‘metric fixation’. The key components of metric fixation are the belief that it is possible – and desirable – to replace professional judgment (acquired through personal experience and talent) with numerical indicators of comparative performance based upon standardized data (metrics); and that the best way to motivate people within these organizations is by attaching rewards and penalties to their measured performance. 

The National Federation of Independent Business regularly publishes its Small Business Economic Trends Survey, and for more than year the data has pointed in one direction: up. Small businesses are optimistic about the future. That’s all well and good, but is all this optimism turning into profits? Jobs? Investments?

Failure is not an option. This is the mantra that many entrepreneurs cling to as they fight their way through the bowels of startup hell. And yet, 90% of entrepreneurs wind up doing just that: failing. Sobering statistics like this one cause have given rise to even more pressure-laced platitudes: only the strong survive, where there’s a will there’s a way, do or do not there is not try. While the investment into entrepreneurs is a $41.6 billion industry, what is the cost of the psychological fallout?

If you watched the Super Bowl a few months ago, you probably saw the coaches talking to each other over headsets during the game. What you didn’t know is that during the 2016 season, the NFL made major league-wide improvements to its radio frequency technology, both to prevent interference from media using the same frequency and to prevent tampering. This was a development led by John Cave, VP of football technology at the National Football League. It’s been incredibly helpful to the coaches. But it might never have been built, or at least Cave wouldn’t have built it, had it not been for his boss, Michelle McKenna-Doyle, CIO of the NFL.

Older adults appear more easily distracted by irrelevant information than younger people when they experience stress or powerful emotions — and a specific network in the brain recently identified as the epicenter for Alzheimer’s and dementia may be to blame.

The USC-led study finds that seniors’ attention shortfall is associated with the locus coeruleus, a tiny region of the brainstem that connects to many other parts of the brain. The locus coeruleus helps focus brain activity during periods of stress or excitement.

The Startup Showcase for 2018 has passed. Join us next spring for our 2019 event!

Watch Startup Challenge finalists pitch for $135,000 in prizes Talk with student entrepreneurs demoing their startups Network with entrepreneurial alumni Give an elevator pitch to an investor–in an elevator Celebrate with Penn’s entrepreneurial community!

America's biggest companies aren't just concentrated along the coasts.

Every year, Fortune releases its list of the 1,000 biggest companies in the US by revenue. Business Insider looked at the top company from the 2017 list headquartered in every US state. You can check out our full list here.

Household names like Apple, Amazon, and General Electric made the list, as well as some potentially more obscure companies like paper manufacturer Domtar in South Carolina and oil and gas driller MDU Resources Group in North Dakota.

Image: http://www.businessinsider.com

For almost 6 months, the question “should we launch a crowdfunding campaign?” swirled with violent uncertainty around my head. We had just started Lookalu, a smartphone gadget that helps parents easily snap the cutest baby photos, and we needed to figure out the most efficient way to validate our idea and bring it to life.

The AOL co-founder's traveling tour, designed to spur more growth in entrepreneurial ecosystems around the nation, made its first 2018 stop in Dallas Monday. Steve Case encouraged attendees to "seize the moment," and get engaged with helping local startups.

Image: Steve Case, AOL co-founder and current chairman and CEO of investment firm Revolution, addresses local leaders and investors Monday at Old Parkland during the Rise of the Rest tour stop in Dallas. (Photo: Merissa De Falcis)

Pressure from Wall Street often compels CEOs to focus on the next quarter so that they can meet short-term expectations. But while it is important to meet short-term goals, it is equally – if not more – important to emphasize longer-term objectives. CEOs who adopt long-term strategies eventually help their companies become more profitable, have happier employees and shareholders, and become better corporate citizens, according to a new book titled, Go Long: Why Long-Term Thinking is Your Best Short-Term Strategy. CEOs who go long in their outlook have natural allies among institutional shareholders who not only tend to have dominant voting power but are also long-term investors, the book contends, with supporting evidence from companies such as Ford, Unilever and CVS Health.

Throughout his career, Peter Rahal, CEO and co-founder of RXBAR, has received several pieces of valuable advice from his mentors. In this video from Entrepreneur Network partner BizCast, Rahal discusses some of the key takeaways he’s had, such as learning to always do what is effective, rather than what may feel good for the short term. By learning to lead his business by values rather than rules, Rahal has been able to develop his leadership style. What value-based business decisions will Rahal make for RXBAR in the upcoming future? Click play to find out.

After comparing 182 U.S. cities across 23 key metrics, WalletHub has released its 2018 Best Cities for Hispanic Entrepreneurs report. WalletHub created the list by looking at cities that were business friendly to Hispanics. But the report also looked at the purchasing power of the Hispanic populations in those cities.

Image: https://smallbiztrends.com - from WalletHub

In a startup ecosystem as large as Kansas City’s, it can be difficult for an entrepreneur to know where to start when looking for resources to help them launch their vision. Five years ago, Digital Sandbox launched as an answer to that hurdle.

Digital Sandbox’s mission is to provide proof-of-concept resources to support early-stage commercialization processes, including access to technology, business and market experts, and funding for early-stage market validation, prototyping and beta testing services.

Among America’s largest metropolitan areas, the economic leaders come in two flavors: Southern-fried and West Coast organic. The first group flourishes across a broad range of industries, fed by strong domestic in-migration and a friendly business climate. The other is driven largely by technology and high-end business services clustered around expensive but highly desirable urban areas.

Image: Daxis, via Flickr, using CC License.

Over the years, we’ve dug into some complex topics, from technical infrastructure to growth equations. We’ve even covered complexity itself. But there’s one concept that’s familiar yet remains a challenge to parse and make tactical: trust.

It’s intangible, but foundational to nearly every part of company-building. Teams must have conviction in their leaders — and vice versa. Customers need to trust products. Founders seek out advisors and investors who they’re confident will help them build for the long haul.

There is an old management saying, “measure twice, cut once” which refers to the benefit of doing some planning. It’s the antithesis of “ready, fire, aim” which seems to be so prevalent in today’s society. The benefits you will receive from doing even some basic planning before you hit the fund raising trail are enormous.

During the Summer of 2017, the Institute for Emerging Issues launched the NC Big Idea Challenge — our first-ever “crowdsourcing” effort to identify the biggest issues facing North Carolina. We reached out to thousands of people in communities across the state, through social media, direct emails, web surveys, listening sessions and discussions — and asked the same questions of every guest on our statewide TV show, First in Future: what’s the biggest issue facing our state over the next five years?

The former lawyer who became an investor, writer, networking expert, mentor and speaker will be a keynote for a breakfast at the Delta Beausejour Hotel organized by Venn Innovation, 3+ and Canadian Digital Media Network on May 15. She’ll also lead a seminar on PR strategies the afternoon of May 16 at the Venn Centre.

 Image: Kelly Hoey. Image: Submitted

A new GAO report shows VA is investing $1.9 billion annually on research but is only earning $316,000 in royalties and licensure. Research universities failed to inform VA 75 percent of the time about research resulting in commercialized patents and related products wherein the agency could earn more revenue.

Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? That's a question venture investors need to ask themselves, because all available evidence suggests the industry is suffering from a dramatic oversupply of capital.

Ordinarily, capital is the lifeblood of the venture business. Capital exists in such enormous quantities these days that I worry it may start to become toxic -- harming entrepreneurs and investors and threatening the very innovation that powers the United States economy.