Every startup fears that one angry and unfair customer who can jeopardize the business by a negative post on Ripoff Report, Yelp, or one of the hundreds of other consumer complaint and review sites on the Internet. Most entrepreneurs don’t even know how to keep track of what people are saying about them on the web, much less how to respond or remove it.

Web reputation management, both business and personal, has become a top priority requirement. On the personal side, these items can kill your career, as I discussed in an old article “Google Yourself to See How Other People See You.” Luckily, the basic principles for reputation management are the same for both business and personal environments:

Starting a business is not for everyone. You need a strong constitution and the ability to face failure. Because if statistics are any guide, you will likely fail.

But the web makes it easier for first-time entrepreneurs to tap into that spirit of risk. What do these go-getters have in common? They likely started a “business” in childhood (a lemonade stand, a paper route, etc.). They’ve likely used their own money to fund their dreams (and are likely to have maxed-out credit cards, as a result). And they are less averse to risk than the average human.

These amazing time-lapse maps by Flowing Data show how Walmart took over the USA in 40 years. 

Sam Walton opened his first two stores in Arkansas by 1965: 

11appsIf you’re a young entrepreneur you will more than likely own a smartphone. It might be an iPhone or a Samsung something-or-other, but you will more than likely own one that’s far more intelligent than a human being can ever be.

The problem isn’t the phone, though, it’s the gigantic list of apps within it. What is a young entrepreneur like yourself supposed to do? Which ones are needed?

Don’t worry, I come bearing a list that I personally find helpful. They may or may not save your life, but these are 11 Apps that I would struggle to live without.

It takes a special kind of person to be an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur exudes confidence and is by nature highly motivated. The results can be inspiring, producing some of the greatest inventions and innovations that improve our lives every day. But sometimes, the unique qualities that drive greatness can lead to some interesting behaviors — one of the most common (and endearing) being the extreme optimism with which they approach the world. (Believe me, I know — I was once in their shoes.)

When you’re a kid, you’re expected to follow directions, do your homework, behave, clean behind your ears and speak politely to all adults.

There’s also a good chance that your parents had plans for your future. These may have included going to college or following in your father’s or mother’s footsteps, possibly even joining the family business.

Now, what happens to kids who don’t agree with the expectations for them, don’t see any value in going to college right out of high school, or choose a major that makes no obvious sense and have no interest in meeting those parental plans?

Jeremy Hunt has pledged to give creative industries a shot in the arm by ensuring Britain has the fastest broadband network of any major European country by 2015.

The culture secretary's commitment marks a firming up of the government's original target to create the best superfast broadband network in Europe by the end of this parliament, and follows a House of Lords report into the national broadband strategy published last month.

Surgical sutures are mindless threads no more. Researchers have now coated them with sensors that could monitor wounds and speed up healing.

The electronic sutures, which contain ultrathin silicon sensors integrated on polymer or silk strips, can be threaded through needles, and in animal tests researchers were able to lace them through skin, pull them tight, and knot them without degrading the devices.

Hard to imagine creative types putting together a persuasive pitch to a bunch of business suits?

Three movie makers sold their current projects to the Venture Connectors in Louisville, KY, recently and their presentations were as good as any Demo Day showing.

Here’s what IT, health, and biotech entrepreneurs can learn from these creative class businesspeople.

If a hurricane’s path carries it over large areas of fresh water, it will potentially intensify 50 percent faster than those that do not pass over such regions, meaning it has greater potential to become a stronger storm and be more devastating, according to a study co-written by a group of researchers at Texas A&M University.

Ping Chang, professor of oceanography and atmospheric sciences and director of the Texas Center for Climate Studies, along with his former student, Karthik Balaguru, now at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, are the lead authors of a paper in the current issue of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

Today, independent contractors are a critical part of small businesses. They fill any number of roles, from social media consultant to web designer. And freelancers often contract particular services out themselves, creating an interconnected network of independent workers.

This relationship is more important than ever, given that freelance positions are expected to make up half of all new jobs added during the economic recovery. However, many business owners and managers struggle to learn how to navigate a relationship with a valuable team member who isn’t exactly part of the team.

Today, in my inbox, landed a note from the Israeli consulate general in New York, touting a map of Israeli startups:

To serve as many clients as possible at an affordable price point, companies strive to find the right balance of product features to appeal to the masses. Not surprisingly, they usually find that one size does not fit all. In fact, those companies that can nail "mass customization" -- the ability to provide unique and special features on core products to appeal to niche markets -- find the answer is part art, part science. Such is also the case when serving the educational needs of entrepreneurs.

We know entrepreneurs come in any number of varieties. Some are idea people, true innovators who are also able to execute on their ideas. Some are serial in nature, starting company after company, often with a mixed bag of successes and failures. Some are turnaround people, taking over established organizations in need of makeovers to survive. The list goes on. In recognition of the diverse mix of modern entrepreneurs, the Kauffman Foundation created a website, www.willitbeyou.com, to direct individuals to the resources and programs most appropriate for the stage of their companies.

Today's kids are proficient computer users but usually know little about what's happening under the hood. The Raspberry Pi, a $25 computer the size of a credit card, is my attempt to fix this problem—and to create a new generation of engineers.

I bought my first computer in 1989 at the age of 11. It was a BBC Micro "Model B" with 32 kilobytes of RAM and a two-megahertz 6502 processor, and I bought it with games and schoolwork in mind. But in common with many in my generation, I found myself using it to write simple programs and got my first experience of engineering. When I arrived at the University of Cambridge to study computer science in 1996, I found myself surrounded by people who had been exposed to the same sort of computing environment.

A new study by PayScale Inc. and Millennial Branding found that millennials switch employers every two years, Media Bistro reported.

Gen X workers typically spend around five years with an employer, and baby boomers spend about seven. Millennials, 18- to 30-year-olds, also prefer to work at places with less than 100 colleagues, the study found. Less than 25 percent are employed by companies where head count exceeds 1,500.

The next couple of weeks are going to be incredibly busy in the mobile world. Nearly all the big players are set to announce new products, culminating in the launch of the iPhone 5. More than just providing cool tech though, these launches will influence what direction mobile heads in leading up to 2017.

While we can’t be entirely certain what’s going to happen over the next five years, we can make some reasonable guesses says Leif-Olof Wallin, a research vice president at tech analysis company Gartner.

Many tech startups make the grave mistake of not actively seeking patent protections for unique technology or processes. Until a tech startup files a patent for its technology, competitors can copy and essentially steal it.

To avoid this, a company needs to file a utility patent on its technology with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as soon as possible. To understand the many parts that make up a patent probably means you’ll need guidance and counsel from an experienced patent attorney. It also means you should know about the three critical components of this process. Here they are.

In business as in sports, success relies upon strong coaching for guidance every step of the way. San Diego Sport Innovators (SDSI), an independent nonprofit trade organization, has been linking local sports entrepreneurs with the resources they need to turn their business ideas into winning ventures.

By offering mentoring programs, education, networking, capital funding opportunities and public policy advocacy, SDSI is directly involved in bringing innovative new products and ideas to market, while fostering the progress of San Diego’s dynamic sports economy.

1. The green economy was worth £122bn in 2011, representing 9.3 per cent of the overall economy.

2. The sector has grown at 4-5 per cent since 2008 and is projected to continue to grow at around five per cent a year.

3. The low carbon goods and services sector employed 939,600 people in 2010-11, significantly more than the auto industry with 518,400 employees and the telecommunications sector with 212,900 people.

I’ve often said that creating and building a business is not a one-man show, even though it usually springs from the mind and determination of one person – committees don’t start successful businesses. But taking an idea to a business success requires many people to work together effectively, and that requires entrepreneurial leadership.

Leadership is not a skill one is born with, but it can be learned and honed from experience and failures. We all start with what researchers term the “knowing-doing gap.” We know what should be done, but we don’t know how to get it done. Many people assume the solution is to find the recipe, or leader’s checklist, and follow it methodically.