Just because you’re the best accountant, plumber, or chef, that doesn’t necessarily man that you have all the skills you need to open your own business.  In fact, leadership itself is a skill – a set of behaviors that can be learned and improved.  And since I’ve always thought we can learn as much from mistakes as we can from successes, here are leadership mistakes you should absolutely avoid:

Crowdfunding is not limited to the platform where you launch your campaign. Instead, it has become a valuable way to transform your idea into a mainstream business. In order to head in that direction, you must execute a number of processes during different stages of your crowdfunding process. At first, this methodology might sound different compared to many other business models. However, crowdfunding is just like having another business: You still have to go for an MVP (minimum viable product) and raise capital (which, in this case, comes from your backers). We have helped more than 4,000 campaigns get funded. Based on my experience and after personally helping hundreds of creators, I decided to create this crowdfunding pre-launch checklist and help your campaign prosper and keep you on track for success.

In the days and hours leading up to Monday’s total solar eclipse, millions of people ventured to a spot on the path of totality hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare celestial event. Across the country, eclipse-watchers pointed their cameras at the sky. But we wanted to show you what the experience was like on the ground.

We asked people on — or very close to — the path of the solar eclipse to show us photos of where they were and how they celebrated. See more of their photos on Instagram, under the hashtag #NYTeclipsewatch.

Image: https://www.nytimes.com

Many different skillsets will be necessary for your organisation’s digital journey.

This is the second article in our special series on the Digital Journey.

Digitisation has become synonymous with computing technology and data. Smart lifestyle devices such as phones, fitness trackers, refrigerators and cars are packed with unprecedented computing power. They also have incredible bandwidth for gathering reams of data. It’s not only “big” data, but “fast” data. In the 1990s, capturing data on consumer or employee behaviour meant conducting surveys, interviews, focus groups and data aggregation. Human beings plugged data into machines that spat out charts and tables for them to analyse.

The UAE has certainly attained the title of being a 'global hub' given its knack to attract the best from all over the world, offering a platform for anyone who has innovation to be brought forth, or help bring disruption to create better lifestyle solutions for residents.

On this World Entrepreneurs Day (WED), it is very obvious that in the UAE, everyday is a World Entrepreneurs' Day!

Image: https://www.khaleejtimes.com

Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) will undertake five strategic tasks to establish an AI (artificial intelligence) innovation ecosystem in a bid to boost development of AI-related industries and application, according to MOST minister Chen Liang-gee.

The first strategic task is, with a 4-year budget of NT$5 billion (US$165 million), to set up high-performance computing capability for common use by enterprises and academic and research organizations to develop deep learning and Big Data analysis technologies and application of these technologies, and to cultivate AI service providers.

Image: http://www.digitimes.com

Innovation labs are typically located off-site from the main campus of the company, in order to allow the innovation teams to do their creative work in peace, not influenced by the everyday projects that are already in process. Though there are so many innovation labs out there, some are more successful than others—here are 5 of the best the US has to offer.

Organic growth is key to companies’ futures. According to survey results, the best firms follow more than one path to achieve it and also are better at developing the right capabilities to support it.

There’s no single formula for delivering organic growth. In fact, the results from a new McKinsey Global Survey on the topic suggest that the companies that see the most growth follow diverse paths.

Today, August 21, America will be looking to the skies as the moon passes in front of the sun and plunges a strip of Earth into midday darkness. Lucky viewers in an arc from Oregon to South Carolina will see a total solar eclipse and a confusing pause in the cosmos’s natural order. The rest of the nation will experience a partial eclipse to varying degrees. Here, reporters from coast to coast as well as our most intrepid viewers share their experiences in a comprehensive tour of the 2017 eclipse across the country. Explore the interactive story below to see photos and videos from all over the nation, to get tips on how to watch a full or partial eclipse without frying your eyes or camera, and more.

Image: https://www.scientificamerican.com

People, of course, are the most important part of your organization. But people cost money. And people cost time. Even your best employees sometimes disappoint you. And losing a key person can be devastating to a small business.

After all, we love our people.

But we’d like to have as few employees as possible to get the work done. I know this sounds a little harsh. But it’s the truth. It’s why supermarkets are adding self-checkout kiosks, gas stations have self-service pumps, and companies like Amazon are investing in robotics and drones to ship and deliver products. It’s nothing personal. It’s good management to keep your costs as low as possible.

In April of 2012, my father died at the relatively young age of 54. His death was a shock. At his funeral I kept replaying the last few conversations we had. The one thing he said in those conversations was that he wished he had done more. He told me he had so many dreams, goals and visions of entrepreneurship that he had never done anything about.

He told me to learn the lesson he never learned: don’t die with regret.

There is a great deal of focus lately on the what’s known as the “gig economy” and “gig entrepreneurs.”

Uber and Airbnb are two obvious examples of the popularity of independence as a gig entrepreneur.

I was speaking with a friend recently, and her son is a prime example of a niche gig entrepreneur. He is a specialized pipe fitter. His skills place him in high demand with defense contractors, energy companies, pipeline companies and the like.

Each fall, faculty members and administrators find themselves flummoxed when first-year students give them blank looks about some cultural reference that once seemed universal. To help out academics who are not quite as in touch with student culture as they once were, Beloit College publishes an annual mind-set list to promote understanding of the new students. (A Views essay today seeks to provide such a list about faculty members.)

Image: https://www.insidehighered.com

A number of companies are competing to find ways to automate construction, using bricklaying robots and machines that can 3D print with concrete. 

These innovations are among the most successful prototypes whereby entire buildings were constructed using robots.

Looking to jump start your career in high technology?

You are probably thinking: check the online job site listings, jump on a plane, and head straight to Silicon Valley, the epicenter of all that is hip in tech.

One of the fastest growing and most important pieces of the American economy is also often one of the most overlooked. Despite accounting for an estimated $324 billion in GDP in 2012 -- over 2% of the total economy -- growing at annual clips that exceed 10%, and accounting for over 5% of the total economy's growth from 2007 to 2012, the biotech sector doesn't get the policy attention it deserves. 

On August 21, 2017, a total eclipse of the sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses the United States. Scientific American graphics editor Jen Christiansen asked me to create a set of visualizations to commemorate this event: for the August 2017 print magazine as two 2-page spreads and on their Web site as an interactive graphic. The main goal was to give users and readers a better understanding of this upcoming eclipse by placing it in geographic and temporal context.

Recently the New York Times reported on a Finnish study published in the Journal of Physiology that found, as long thought, that physical exercise could have a positive impact on brain health. What made the Finnish study so interesting, however, was it found that the brain benefits varied depending on the type of exercise performed.

Computers may no longer be tech darlings now that everyone uses their smartphones to do basically everything, but they're about to get really exciting again.

About every two years, Intel introduces new processors that shape the computing industry and this year's no different. Whereas the last two generations of chips were kinda like half steps in performance, the new 8th-generation "Kaby Lake Refresh" Core processors are nearly twice as fast as 7th-gen "Kaby Lake" chips. 

One thing is certain in any business – not everyone you have to deal with will be like you, or will like you (and vice versa). These people may include one of your business partners, an investor, a key vendor, or even one of your best customers. In my role as a business advisor, I see more and more how business people must bridge these differences to accomplish shared business goals.