The one constant in life is change. But rigid ways of thinking can sabotage our efforts to thrive in a changing environment. Theoretical physicist Leonard Mlodinow believes human beings have the unique ability to think flexibly in ways that would unleash an inherent creativity — a skill he calls elastic thinking. “Analytical thinking might be how you figure out the best drive from home to work, but it’s elastic thinking that gave us the invention of the car,” he said. Mlodinow wrote a book on this topic called Elastic: Flexible Thinking in a Time of Change, which he discussed on the Knowledge@Wharton show, which airs on SiriusXM channel 111.  

Image: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/

I was recently catching up with a fellow entrepreneur, and midway through our conversation, he expressed to me that it was great to talk to someone who understood what he was going through. I have heard that comment or a variation of it from so many entrepreneurs over the years that it is impossible to keep count. While we may face challenges unique to our specific businesses, entrepreneurs share a common problem: entrepreneurship can be a lonely road. Fortunately, though, there are some great ways to combat and overcome the inherent loneliness that comes with operating your own company.

Image: https://www.forbes.com

Today, the Angel Capital Association (ACA), the world's largest professional organization for accredited angel investors, honored med-tech startup Oculogica with the Luis Villalobos Award at the 2018 ACA Summit. The award recognizes ingenuity, creativity and innovation in a new business.

Oculogica, a medical technology business launched almost entirely with funding from angel investors, is pioneering EyeBOX, an eye-tracking technology that detects concussions and other brain injuries invisible to existing scanning methods.

Since 2009, Shark Tank — the reality show that invites entrepreneurs to show off their weirdest, wildest, and most innovative inventions — has brought dozens of cool products into the world. 

Sure, we have the show to thank for absurd inventions like wine for cats and dogs, chips made out of crickets, and the Guzzle Buddy wine bottle glass (everyone knows it's far easier to drink straight from the bottle.) But Shark Tank also helped turn a variety of brilliant ideas into useful products that could enhance our daily lives.

You know that old cliche about leaving New York for the hustle and bustle of … Minnesota?

OK, so that’s not a thing. But it could be soon.

Indeed’s latest report ranks the 25 best places in the U.S. for job seekers, based on labor market favorability, average salary (adjusted for cost of living), work-life balance, and job security. Midwestern cities like Minneapolis and Milwaukee scored high on all counts — as did several California cities and millennial favorites in the South, like Miami and New Orleans.

Image: http://time.com

Funding is a challenge for early stage companies. It is especially difficult for female founders seeking equity financing. Men receive 9 times more equity financing  for their companies than women, according to High Growth Women-Owned Businesses’ Access to Capital commissioned by the National Women's Business Council. Increasing the pool of angels willing to invest in women-led companies will improve the odds of success for female founders.

“WHEN you enter (the marketplace) with that level of hubris and arrogance, you don’t create trust.” So declared a member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors this week. He was upset about the sudden appearance of dockless electric scooters, rented via smartphone, all over the city. Several American startups are battling each other and the authorities to promote them.

Global engagement is shifting the landscape of higher education - solving the world's problems today requires international cooperation, intercultural communication, and skills that extend beyond earning a degree. Employers expect college graduates to arrive in the workforce ready to identify and create solutions at a global level.

Use the cost of living comparison calculator below to compare the cost of living in two cities. Simply enter your current income, select your current city, as well as the city you are relocating to and click calculate. The cost of living calculator will provide you with the equivalent income needed to maintain your current standard of living.

Chinese investors are pumping money into US drug start-ups as Beijing seeks to become a global leader in new medicines, adding to a flood of cash flowing to groundbreaking health firms.

“Dilly Dilly” — Bud Light’s new catchphrase — has taken the world by storm.

Bud Light’s vice president of marketing Andy Goeler talked to The Washington Post about the slogan in an article published Thursday.

Goeler told WaPo that the slogan Dilly Dilly means, “a cheers, a Bud Light cheers.”

He also explained how the ad campaign started, saying, “With a brand the size of Bud Light, there’s a continuing need to put out creative ad content, so we on a regular basis are reviewing creative ideas.

Houston Exponential has tapped serial entrepreneur Russ Capper as the executive director tasked with helping his longtime hometown become a hub for fast-growing technology startups.

“It’s the kind of challenge that I like,” he told the Chronicle. “It’s just two things that I love. I love innovation and entrepreneurship, and I like this city a lot more than most people do.”

Image: Karen Warren, Staff / Houston Chronicle

Entrepreneurs from Illinois, California, New York, Texas and Missouri have won spots in an elite national program at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory to grow startup technologies.

On April 18, John Carlisle announced the second cohort of Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI) following an extensive two-part pitch competition and reviews by panels of industry experts, investors, scientists and engineers. CRI is the Midwest's first entrepreneurship program to embed innovators in a national laboratory.

Image: ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY

There is a lot to like in this book, it is thoroughly researched and makes it’s case well. Overall it is a useful addition to the growing wealth of literature looking at innovation. Reading it, we certainly came away better informed about the growth patterns and projections of the major global economies, in particular the US, India and China. Reading it though, it did feel like it spent a long time, probably too long to get past outlining what the data said, and moving onto an interpretation, analysis and some insights about what this all might mean. As mentioned, you are definitely better informed after the first 100+ pages, but after a certain point the number of charts and statistics began to get in the way of the analysis. You found yourself reading it, and saying, yes, but what does it all mean?

Image: https://irishtechnews.ie

Mississippi drivers are most likely to be distracted by their phones while behind the wheel, according to data from Everdrive, a driving safety app that tracks users’ habits on the road.

Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia follow closely behind, with phone use occurring during more than 40% of users’ trips in those states throughout 2017.

At her home studio, embroidery artist Sarah Benning stitches together one of her pieces. It’s a sun-filled room at this time of the morning. The artist’s finished work spills into the space around her with dozens of circular canvases bubbling up onto the walls. There are also plenty of house plants around.

Image: Contemporary embroidery artist Sarah Benning at her home studio in Keene, New Hampshire. KATHERINE GARROVA

63% of respondents in a recent CareerBuilder survey said they believe “working nine-to-five” is an outdated concept, and 24% check work emails while spending time with family and friends. Those figures probably won’t surprise anyone with a job in the modern knowledge economy. But while mobile technology has enabled us to work more flexibly, it’s also enabled many of us to work more, period.

Arizona’s bioscience industry is adding jobs faster than the nation and the state’s overall private sector, and Arizona’s state universities have boosted their bioscience research funding, spending and tech transfer.

But a familiar challenge — funding for startup bio ventures — remains, after the amount of venture capital raised in the past two years fell sharply, according to the latest report on Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap.

Every business professional and entrepreneur believes they are good communicators, but how do they know? It’s really the perception of the recipients that counts, and poor communicators are almost always poor listeners, so they don’t hear the shortcomings. Warren Buffet once told a class of business students that better communication could boost their value by fifty percent.

Image: http://innovationexcellence.com

Believe it or not, it pays to think about your exit strategy before you start a business, just like buying a house. Is it an investment, do you want to flip it, or do you plan to live there forever? For entrepreneurs seeking investors like me, it’s especially critical, since investors want to see an exit event plan, like going public or acquisition, to get a return and their money out for that investment.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com