Having a great work ethic is something that employees and employers admire and look for in a leader or job candidate. If you don’t have it, it’s something to build and strive for. Possessing a work ethic means you take pride in fairness, productivity and what you produce. As a definition, it means you think hard work has value, and you’re determined to pursue it.

As co-founder and CEO of an early-stage healthcare technology startup, I am constantly asking the question, “What is the most important thing I can contribute?” I suppose it is the dynamism inherent in a burgeoning company that makes the answer to that question change — sometimes significantly — every few months. One constant, however, that has maintained its position at the top of my most important list is building a great team. Here are a few tidbits I’ve tried to incorporate into the hiring process in an effort to maximize our likelihood of good decisions.

As Russia prepares regulation for cryptocurrencies, one Russian official has said investments in bitcoin is worse than playing casinos.

Last week, an elite meeting of Russian financial officials and regulators convened with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss cryptocurrencies as financial instruments in the country. Putin acknowledged “cryptocurrencies are becoming or have already become a full-fledged means of payment, as well as a means of instrument” in several countries around the world. The Russian president also warned of “serious risks” with cryptocurrency usage by pointing to money laundering and tax evasion opportunities for abusers.

 It’s a simple fact that some people are easier to like and get along with than others. This almost always has to do with a person’s character. Exceptional leaders are those who are open, social, friendly, communicative, humble, sensitive to others, flexible, honest and down to earth. These qualities are the exact qualities which leave the deepest and most meaningful impact on others. The type of character we build is our choice. If we make poor choices such as being dishonest, lazy, entitled, egotistical, attention-seeking or blaming we will not develop the type of character others feel compelled to follow. In every situation we have choice in how we respond. Good character is what separates the great from the average, empty words from action, and the successful from the non-successful.

In crowdfunding, there really are no limits.

With the public deciding what flies and what doesn't, platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo give tech enthusiasts a chance to go from idea to global hit in just a matter of months. 

From audio-powered cushions to digital beer fermentation, we dug into the Nordic crowdfunding scene and compiled 11 projects that are well on their way to success.

Image: http://nordic.businessinsider.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico biotech startup Viome Inc. is barely a year old, but it’s already raised $15 million in venture investment and employs 54 people in New Mexico and other states. The company launched in October 2016 to do personalized microbiome testing to build individual health regimes that can help prevent chronic disease. It uses advanced analytics technology developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Ah, the quest for HQ2. Cities have admittedly been doing some crazy things to get Amazon's attention, but outside all of that flair, a city needs to be judged based on its merits. And as the trend toward ecommerce grows, Amazon--the world's largest online retailer--soon will decide which city to call home for HQ2 (some time in 2018).

The competition to woo the company is fierce, given the absolutely massive scope of the business, but there are compelling reasons why Jeff Bezos and his team should cast a serious eye of consideration on Charm City, otherwise known as Baltimore, Maryland. 

During the past 10 to 15 years, there has been a significant change regarding the attitudes towards entrepreneurship among Finnish youth. More and more young Finns are willing to take the entrepreneurial leap towards building the future that they are going to live in. According to the study funded by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), as many as every third student in high school and upper comprehensive school could see themselves being an entrepreneur in the future. Also, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) -studies, every fifth person in the age group of 18 to 24, thinks about entrepreneurship as an opportunity in next three years. The number in the beginning of the 21st century was one percent.

A common request I get while mentoring entrepreneurs is for a copy of the startup checklist they need to follow, in order to build a successful new business. I wish it was that easy. The challenge is that every new business needs to be innovative and different, in order to rise above the crowd, bring real change to the world, and give you the satisfaction you seek.

Nevertheless, there is nothing wrong with studying and learning from the wisdom and experience of others. So for those of you that love checklists, I saw some real value in the classic book by James M. Kerr, “The Executive Checklist: A Guide for Setting Direction and Managing Change.” His checklists cover everything from building a vision, to consistently delivering results, for entrepreneurs up to mature business executives.

What does your fantasy retirement look like? It’s going to be a little bit different for everyone. Some people swear they never want to stop working—especially if it’s now on their own terms—while others want their daily grind to be a hike in the woods, or a few rounds on the links.

No matter what your dream, you’ll probably want to live somewhere with great amenities and good neighbors, plus a way to make the most of your hard-earned retirement savings.

Generally speaking, we decide what to cover on the Review based on conversations we have with founders — during listening sessions, on our internal First Round Network, at conferences, and around the office. There are a few recurring themes when they talk about their needs for advice, but one big one is roughly this: Meetings are the bane of our existence. How can we possibly do better?

As the business world becomes savvier, so must new entrepreneurs. They must be nimble in their attempts to integrate new technology and focus on expanding the world of mobile commerce. With a whopping 7.7 billion mobile connections and growing, according to a report by Boomtrain, reaching this customer base is critical to a new entrepreneur’s success.

Image: Photos courtesy of the individual members. Members of YEC share their best success tips for the modern business world. - https://www.forbes.com

Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard to build Facebook. Steve Jobs only lasted six months at Reed College. If you're a young entrepreneur with a promising startup that's already raking in some dough, should you bypass college entirely to focus on building your business?

Don't even think about it, says Mark Cuban. Hustle and hard work -- though critical -- can't replace the lessons you learn in college. Cuban even has advice about the best degree to pursue.

In 2010, an industry-led task force created in Montgomery County partnered with members of regional academia, government and other nonprofits to create an entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem that wasn’t being filled.

BioHealth Innovation Inc. (BHI), which was founded in 2012 by Richard Bendis in Rockville, Md., is designed to help bio-health companies grow, identify commercially relevant science, create new businesses and attract equity funding to the region. Bendis, who is also the president and CEO, has overseen the organization’s creation of unique programming for entrepreneurs at the National Institutes of Health, the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University.

"It's not yet the right time."

By telling yourself this, you kill your dreams from coming to fruition. Life is too uncertain to wait around for the "right time."

Time means different things to different people. To a procrastinator, time justifies inaction. To a go-getter, time has no other meaning than a tool to achieve constant missions. 

Want to break away from limitations and turn success a usual habit? Consider giving these practicable tips a try.

It sometimes appears that the traditional rules of business are being upended by today’s mega-trends of multisided platforms, big data, machine learning and AI, crowdsourcing, the internet of things (IoT), and more. These trends have transformed the world of business immeasurably. But they have certainly not repealed the timeless rules of strategy.

Yet for too many entrepreneurs, especially those steeped in tech and devoted to product, strategy often seems to be an afterthought. Experiment and create a great product, the thinking goes, then scale, and then figure out the business model once you’ve succeeded. It’s true that nothing beats having a compelling product that customers badly want. However, while good products and good “shopkeeping” are surely good business, they are no substitute for clear-minded strategy.

If a single food was guaranteed to make you instantly slim or happy, or end your allergy woes, stores would have to fight back the feverish shoppers. We're not quite there yet, but there are foods and nutrients that science says benefit your well-being. "Diet has tremendous effects on our short-and long-term health, especially when it comes to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease," says Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Image: http://time.com - From Video

Michael Helmstetter, co-founder, president and CEO of Technology Acceleration Partners, has decades of experience working in the agriculture, defense and biotech industries. TechAccel has invested in a handful of companies in the agtech space this year, including its participation in a $25 million Series B round for crop science startup Benson Hill Biosystems.

We caught up with Helmstetter to learn about his firm's approach to agtech investment and discuss what he sees on the horizon in this rapidly evolving space. The interview below is edited for length and clarity.

How did you get into agtech?

In Dusseldorf, Germany, there is a pleasant bus stop with a comfortable bench. But don’t wait for a bus there. It will never arrive.

People do occasionally sit on the bench, and wait for a bus. They come from the Benrath Senior Center which sits just behind it.

The bus stop is an ingenious solution to an occasional problem.

As those of you caring for elderly relatives with dementia know, our loved ones may need to be kept inside, behind locked doors, for their own safety. If they manage to get out of their care facility, a search will ensue. Employees look for them. If they don’t turn up quickly, the police are summoned.

Entrepreneurship is an enriching journey, and I encourage anyone with a dream of being a business owner to try their hand at success. That said, it isn’t always a fun journey.

In addition to being stressful and time consuming, entrepreneurship can be lonely, and if you aren’t prepared for that reality, it could end up consuming you.

These are just some of the ways loneliness can strike entrepreneurs: