Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on making change happen for customers that they forget that continually changing themselves and their company is equally important. Some get stuck in a rut and get run over by competitors with new technology, like Eastman Kodak, and others get pushed into a crisis, like Apple did, before they reinvent themselves into a new market.

In March of 2020, most companies would have seen their offices as essential to their business. But as the pandemic dragged on, leaders have been surprised to learn that people often work just as productively from home.

When I was seven, I moved to a place where nobody looked like me. I didn’t have any friends, I didn’t know English, and I had a really weird name. Yes, my name is legally Xin Xin. In Chinese it translates to “spicy happy” and I love that my parents named me that. It was painful when other kids made fun of it and I was so embarrassed that I used an American nickname for more than a decade.

Image: https://medium.com

Omaha, Nebraska, July 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The newly released Nebraska Venture Capital Ecosystem Review covers investment trends shaping the state’s venture ecosystem and reveals challenges for up-and-coming innovation hotspots. Not only did Nebraska end 2020 with venture capital (VC) deals significantly outpacing 2019 in annual deal value, but the state is also on course to beat that annual deal value as 2021 unfolds.

Cases of COVID-19 and its variant strains are rising across the United States, according to a new coronavirus map from Johns Hopkins University.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are currently 37.4 new cases per 100,000 people nationwide this week, up from 28.7 cases per 100,000 just last week.

In the months since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the dramatic and rapid shift to remote work has been perhaps the most potent trend impacting the way businesses operate. It’s been a particular boon to one growing group of workers: digital nomads. These are people who embrace a location-independent, technology-enabled lifestyle that allows them to travel and work anywhere in the internet-connected world.

Lab Space industry analysis included the latest data on revenue numbers, product information and earnings of the major firms. The data includes a breakdown of earnings for the Lab Space international marketplace and a forecast for exactly that same period. This report also includes the most important business strategies that have been identified by the key players in the global Lab Space marketplace.

As companies like Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk come to Austin, Texas, the booming city and new tech hub has grown so much it has struggled to make good on its “keep it weird” motto.

But since early June, when residents of the South Congress, Downtown, or Travis Heights neighborhoods order pizza from Southside Flying Pizza, their pies might arrive inside a three-wheeled robot — the REV-1. But it is no full self-driving Tesla.

Image: Refraction AI’s 4.5-foot tall, 150-pound Rev-1 three-wheeled robot vehicle has been delivering pizzas in Austin, Texas. The company believes the future of autonomous driving is ‘zero occupant.’ Source: Refraction AI

TAMPA, Fla., July 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The new issue of Technology and Innovation® (22:1) (full text) features a selection of papers exploring the important topic of accessing capital to fund innovation, including manuscripts highlighting various funding opportunities available for inventors and innovators everywhere. "The National Academy of Inventors is proud to present this issue of Technology & Innovation, as funding is a key component to fueling innovations and hence enabling the progress of society," says president of NAI and editor-in-chief of Technology & Innovation, Dr. Paul R. Sanberg.

National Academy of Inventors The issue looks at the implications of different funding sources such as government funded programs and grants as well as that of venture capitalist firms, offering perspectives from a wide variety of innovation professionals. The issue also presents some of the innovative materials and manufacturing processes that make innovation possible.

Image: https://www.prnewswire.com

In popular fiction, artificial intelligence (AI) often goes rogue. Arthur C Clarke’s soft-spoken HAL 9000 in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" turns sinister, killing astronauts on a mission to Jupiter. Remember Skynet, the antagonist with genocidal goals from James Cameron’s movies "The Terminator" and "Judgment Day"?

Image: PHOTO: CRYTERIA

Each year, Google’s search algorithm changes thousands of times. The SERPs are consistently shifting and your site’s performance can fluctuate.

A handful of times per year, Google rolls out larger updates, often referred to as “broad core algorithm updates” (that is, until a cool nickname is given like Panda or Penguin). These updates are larger and tend to impact sites across a variety of industries. For example, back in January 2020, there was the Featured Snippet update that impacted any site that owns a rich snippet.

CIOs went into COVID-19 lockdown thinking it would only last a few weeks — this became clear during many of the conversations I had with CIOs over the last year. These CIOs quickly learned that the crisis would take much longer time to pass. According to CIO David Seidl, "We learned that our response plans were for days or weeks rather than a year or longer." Clearly, we are only now potentially seeing our way out of the crisis.

Image: PHOTO: NICOLAS COOL | UNSPLASH

Editor’s note: Startup Spotlight is a regular part of WRAL TechWire’s Startup Monday lineup which features our exclusive Startup Guide, a breakdown of upcoming events across North Carolina, a guide to tech and other meetups across the Triangle, and Startup Rewind (a recap of last week’s headlines.) Investor and entrepreneur David Gardner is founder of Cofounders Capital in Cary and is a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire.

COVID-19 has created a slump in employment everywhere in the world and even in South Korea. However, the slowdown has not deterred young Koreans, as they choose entrepreneurship amidst a sluggish job market, says data. Also, the Korean government and corporates are introducing a number of startup incubation programs. The Venture Capital fund influx is also on the rise for startups in the country. More in the news is Musinsa; the fashion unicorn startup, has signed all agreements for the acquisition of Styleshare and 29CM.

Image: https://www.koreatechdesk.com

The timing could have been better. Yesterday, July 11, British entrepreneur and billionaire Richard Branson shot to the edge of space in a vehicle made by his own company, Virgin Galactic – at a time when much of the world is still battling a deadly pandemic. Yet while receiving a fair amount of criticism, Branson’s flight heralds a key step towards making space travel more accessible than ever before—even if it does just seem like a plaything for the world’s richest men right now.

Image: Richard Branson experiences weightlessness on the sub-orbital flight VIRGIN GALACTIC

As an angel investor to startups, I’m still surprised to find entrepreneurs who expect investors to give them money, and assume no strings attached. Would you do that if it was your money? If the entrepreneur wants total control of their own venture, with no one looking over their shoulder, they should work within the limits of their own resources, a process called bootstrapping.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

The past five years have seen sweeping privacy laws and compliance regulations enacted around the world to protect both B2C and B2B consumers. Clearly this is good for consumers. But what may not be so obvious is the opportunity privacy and compliance opens up for businesses to better serve their customers. 

You see an important task that needs to be done, but it isn’t your responsibility. Should you do it? For some, the answer is “Of course!” It’s good to be a team player and pitch in whenever possible. For others, the answer is a resounding no, not necessarily due to laziness but rather fear of reproach for stepping on another’s toes.

The U.S. Small Business Administration will host virtual events for the 2021 National SBIR Week on July 19-23. The events will connect entrepreneurs working in advanced technology to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. SBIR Week will highlight organizations such as the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the Federal Laboratory Consortium; events include the MBDA InVision Tour on July 21, designed to support minority entrepreneurs bringing new technologies to the commercial marketplace. More information is available online.

Digital life reaches far beyond our screens into the real world. That means we must figure out how to live with the impacts of technology in our backyards.

It isn’t always easy. Some residents of towns near e-commerce processing centers complain about traffic, pollution and safety risks from delivery vans and trucks. Communities where water is in short supply are worried about the needs of internet computer centers that use water to keep equipment cool. Neighbors sometimes gripe about noise or garbage from nearby commercial kitchens and mini-warehouses for delivery services like Uber Eats.