Joel S. Marcus is the Executive Chairman and Founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), an urban office REIT and the first and longest-tenured owner, operator and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology and ag-tech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations. Mr. Marcus co-founded Alexandria in 1994 as a garage startup with $19 million in Series A capital. As CEO from March 1997 to April 2018, he led its growth into an investment-grade-rated S&P 500 company.

On February 5th, sixteen days after a Seattle resident who had visited relatives in Wuhan, China, was diagnosed as having the first confirmed case of covid-19 in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control, in Atlanta, began sending diagnostic tests to a network of about a hundred state, city, and county public-health laboratories . Up to that point, all testing for covid-19 in the U.S. had been done at the C.D.C.; of some five hundred suspected cases tested at the Centers, twelve had confirmed positive. The new test kits would allow about fifty thousand patients to be tested, and they would also make testing much faster, as patient specimens would no longer have to be sent to Atlanta to be evaluated.

Image: In February, as a first set of covid-19 test kits sent out by the Centers for Disease Control failed to work properly, labs around the country scrambled to fill the void.Photograph Courtesy the C.D.C.

The daily news of startups raising multi-million-dollar funding is enough to suggest it’s almost easy to raise venture capital. Unfortunately for most entrepreneurs, nothing could be further from the truth — VC firms are more selective than ever in allocating their money.

So how do you, as a millennial entrepreneur, successfully secure VC funding for your business?

1. Make sure you and your startup are ready for VC Venture capital is for companies with high potential to reach broad markets or monopolize a niche that need a considerable amount of capital to make their business plans a reality. Before considering trying for VC, ensure that your startup meets these criteria in a demonstrable, marketable way. 

The narrative is familiar by now: job-hopping is increasingly common in the United States, while long-term employment relationships are hard to establish. But new research shows that the story is much more complicated; in fact, looking at the overall economy, business leaders of a generation ago would have envied the low job switching rates that U.S. companies enjoy today. So to increase employee loyalty, savvy hiring managers need to move past common myths about job tenure and focus on the story the data is actually telling. Only then can they design truly successful retention strategies.

Italian man wears a giant cardboard circle to enforce social distancing in Rome

Image: https://www.youtube.com - From Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-qULJjRQok&app=desktop

Black swan events, such as economic recessions and pandemics, change the trajectory of governments, economies and businesses — altering the course of history. The Black Death in the 1300s broke the long-ingrained feudal system in Europe and replaced it with the more modern employment contract. A mere three centuries later, a deep economic recession — thanks to the 100-year war between England and France — kick-started a major innovation drive that radically improved agricultural productivity. 

No city is immune to the effects of a warming world, but a few are more vulnerable than the rest.

As sea levels continue to rise, low-lying coastal cities can expect more devastating floods that ruin buildings, destroy infrastructure, and claim lives.

By conservative estimates, cities around the world could witness more than 6 feet of flooding by the year 2100. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted that sea levels could rise by 10 to 12 feet if global emissions continue unabated. 

When Amazon launched in 1995 as a website that only sold books, founder Jeff Bezos had a vision for the company's explosive growth and ecommerce domination.

He knew from the very beginning that he wanted Amazon to be "an everything store."

In author Brad Stone's 2013 book on the origins of Amazon, he paints a picture of the early days of the company and how it grew into the behemoth that it is today.

I am a principal engineer / Front-End Development Manager at Proforma. In my job, my duties consist of developing software applications and managing a team of 20+ individuals. I have been working in the position for 1.5 years, and working remotely for a total of 7+ years.

Three important tips when diving into remote work: Keep your routine, get up at the same time, shower, get dressed, act like you are still going into an office. A routine is key.

Image: Michael La Plante works remotely as a Principal Engineer / Front-End Development Manager at Proforma for Tampa. - https://www.83degreesmedia.com

The news lately – Brexit, NAFTA is no more – may seem like we have seen the last of globalisation. Yet Marcos Troyjo’s view of the future sees far more connections than uncouplings. As Brazilian Deputy Economy Minister for Foreign Trade & International Affairs, he has helped hammer out the MERCOSUR/European Union deal last summer, which faces ratification over the coming year.

Image: https://knowledge.insead.edu

New data indicates that the global crowdfunding transaction value will grow annually at the rate of 12% between 2020 and 2023. The data, gathered by Learnbonds.com, shows that within the next three years, the value will be $11.98 billion.

Crowdfunding transaction value consistently grows over three years According to the data in 2020 the total transaction value for crowdfunding is $8.53 billion while estimates for next year are $9.97 billion. In 2022, the value is set to be $11.11 billion.

Wash your hands and keep your distance.

Those are two of the best tools we have right now to slow the spread of coronavirus around the U.S., according to federal health officials.

Washing your hands has long been recommended to combat illnesses like the seasonal flu, but keeping your distance or social distancing is a new tactic that schools, sports teams and government officials fully embraced this week with unprecedented cancellations.

It’s not so much about keeping you healthy as it is about minimizing the number of Americans infected at the same time.

San Francisco issued an extraordinary public health order on Monday requiring all residents to "stay home except for essential needs" in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Under the order, residents must stay home except to do essential activities like get food and medical supplies (or deliver them to others) or receive healthcare, while vulnerable populations are urged to stay home entirely except to seek necessary medical attention. Government, healthcare workers, and those who work "essential jobs" are exempt.

For the Summer 2020 accelerator programme, Y Combinator may go completely virtual

Y Combinator has revealed plans to possibly make its Summer 2020 accelerator programme entirely virtual.

The Silicon Valley firm, as reported by TechCrunch, has already made its Demo Day for its Winter 2020 cohort an online-only affair and has accelerated the timeline for the Demo Day a week early.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, it is clearly having a negative impact on the U.S. economy and will likely lead to a contraction with higher unemployment rates and bankruptcies. Consumer-facing sectors, such as lodging, travel, restaurants, and entertainment will be hit harder than others. But depending on how fast the virus spreads and the responses by governments, the economic impacts could very well be much wider. For example, in Italy, which saw its infection rate soar sooner than the United States, the government has ordered all commercial retail stores, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies, and banks, to shut down.

Last week, Gallup released a new report on Building a High Development Culture Through Your Employee Engagement Strategy. The report highlighted the challenge of engaging remote workers, which is critical given their exceptionally high turnover rates. Gallup asks the question “what does ‘employee engagement’ even mean for people who interact primarily over video or conference calls?” This is an important question to ask given that workplace flexibility and remote working opportunities are becoming a larger priority for our global workforce each year. UpWork estimates that by 2028, 73% of all teams will be comprised of remote employees. 

Venture Capital firms will be at the centre of the economic growth and transformation in Africa said, founder Green Tree Investment Company, Dr. Ola Brown.

Brown made the observation while participating in an online conversation on venture capital titled,  "Discourse on Venture Capital Financing In Africa" organized by Proshare Nigeria Limited as part of it's conversations on alternative capital financing. 

Image: https://www.proshareng.com

Starting a new job is often a hopeful experience. In the weeks leading up to your first day, you’re likely to think about the impact you’ll make, the relationships you’ll forge, and the ways in which you’ll succeed. The first few weeks in the new position may be disappointing however, and many people wonder at that point if they made the right decision.

The Health and Human Services Department finalized two highly anticipated, lengthy rules this week that’ll enable Americans to download and access their personal health records and claims data on their smartphones. 

On a call with reporters Monday, agency and administration officials detailed the new regulations, which force health care providers and insurers to offer patients their critical health information in a shareable, standardized electronic format.

Y Combinator said that it may make its Summer 2020 accelerator program entirely virtual, proving that even the world’s premier accelerator isn’t immune to having its business reshaped by the novel coronavirus spreading across the world.

YC has already made its Demo Day for its Winter 2020 cohort an online only affair. The accelerator also accelerated the timeline for the Demo Day, which will be held tomorrow — a week early.