With 2020 in full swing, I wanted to sit down to try to make some predictions about the new decade. It only took a few days of headlines to show me just how foolhardy and futile this was. We are living in an era of pervasive uncertainty: Stunningly improbable events are increasingly defining the world around us. Instead of trying to predict the future, we should focus on how to thrive under these new circumstances.

Pain is central to the human experience. While some suffer in silence, others are wildly vocal about the slightest prick of pain. Understanding pain is necessary to treat and manage it across many acute and chronic medical conditions. At this point in time, science has unveiled some basic physiological mechanisms and the most important networks in the brain where pain is processed. We have developed a better understanding of how pain signals are transmitted from the skin to the brain.

Entrepreneurs and change managers may ultimately be selling a dream, but that’s not what stakeholders are buying.

Imagine having to sell a totally new, game-changing product with no samples, no prototype, not even a realistic rendering. The only thing certain about it? A hefty price tag. Now imagine you have to sell this product not just once, but repeatedly, to the same people, over a period of years.

Contrary to popular belief, commas don't just signify pauses in a sentence.

In fact, precise rules govern when to use this punctuation mark. When followed, they lay the groundwork for clear written communication.

We've compiled a list of all the times when you'll need the mighty comma — and we wrote sentences about ducks to show you their proper use:

Image: Your professor for comma class. Juliana Kaplan/Business Insider

The map allows you to see which parts of the world are impacted the most by it.

A chart is placed to the left of the map showing the number of confirmed cases for specific countries, states, and cities.

Two charts are placed to the right of the map.

One chart shows the number of deaths from the Coronavirus and the number of patients who have recovered from the Coronavirus.

Image: https://www.click2houston.com

When you think of high-tech hotspots, central Pennsylvania may not be the first place to come to mind.

But maybe it should rank higher.

John Sider thinks so. Sider works for the Ben Franklin Technology Partners, one of the nation’s longest-running technology-based economic development programs.

PledgeCents, a Houston startup that developed a crowdfunding website for educators, completed two accelerator programs that help young companies refine their product, raise money and grow. Sensytec, a Houston startup that uses technology to monitor cement and concrete structures, has participated in three accelerators. LAMIK Beauty’s ecommerce site counts four programs, and medical device company Noleus Technologies has completed five accelerator programs.

There’s no shortage of headlines amidst the escalating US-China trade dispute. Even with the recent outbreak of Coronavirus, the US administration seems to have no intention to lift tariffs on China. The Chinese government is also implementing currency controls to prevent capital outflow that we have observed in the last five years. Additionally, home-grown trends continue to influence the trajectory of cross-border investments. In the wake of ongoing speculation, investors in both countries are left to navigate an increasingly complex web of political and economic variables.

When Jim Adler joined Toyota Motor, he had never before worked for a car company. But Adler had something Toyota wanted badly: experience in venture capital.

Toyota (ticker: TM) gave him a mandate to find start-ups that might pay off. Since 2017, Toyota has committed $200 million in funding for start-ups, including backing for electric air taxis (Joby Aviation), robotic furniture (Bumblebee Spaces), and software for “autonomous vessels” (Sea Machines).

Image: Illustration by Lars Leetaru - https://www.barrons.com

The Colorado River is a lifeline. It flows from the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming through five other U.S. states, 11 U.S. national parks and two Mexican states on a 1,450-mile-long journey that supplies water to 40 million people, supports uncounted wildlife and irrigates more than five million acres of farmland. And the river is endangered.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is launching another road tour to connect entrepreneurs and inform them about the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

The SBIR and STTR programs were established to provide more funding and research opportunities to small businesses across the U.S. Combined, the programs provide over $3.7 billion in funding from the federal government across 5,000 awards to small businesses working in different tech areas each year.

Image: (Photo by Flickr user Palácio do Planalto, used under a Creative Commons license)

Generally speaking, an entrepreneur is one who sets up a particular business or enterprise for long-term profit. Being a successful entrepreneur, however, is something else entirely. It means being a jack of all trades who's unafraid to get their hands dirty and can work efficiently. Most entrepreneurs can spot these qualities in themselves from a young age; it’s in their gut and something that can’t be shaken off so easily. But in case you're unsure whether you share common traits with the likes of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs or have what it takes to escape the race by pursing and building your own idea, here are eight telltale signs to watch for.

UC Berkeley’s students and researchers have long challenged the status quo for the good of the public.

Why, Rich Lyons, Berkeley’s first chief innovative and entrepreneurship officer, should the campus’s entrepreneurs think any differently?

Lyons, who began his new role in January, explained his vision for Berkeley’s startup ecosystem on Monday during the latest Campus Conversations event. The monthly series features top Berkeley leaders who address and take questions from staff, faculty and students.

Launch Minnesota announced this week that it awarded grants to six organizations that will create regional hubs to establish a network that will advance Minnesota’s startup ecosystem.

The seven selected organizations, along with nearly 60 program partners, will form the Launch Minnesota Network to help Minnesota-based high-tech startups take their businesses from concept to launch.

We’ve entered another decade – but will it gear up to be as prolific for start-up fundraising as the last?That, certainly, is the hope of many early stage businesses looking to fundraise in the coming years. Government accelerator programmes, tax schemes including entrepreneur’s relief and SEIS/EIS led to a boom of new start-ups launching, and investors backing them.

On December 18, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed amendments to Rule 501(a) of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), which would expand the definition of “accredited investor” (the “Proposed Rule”).  The Proposed Rule aims to permit a greater number of investors to participate in private offerings by, among other things, formally including knowledgeable employees as accredited investors; broadening the accredited investor definition with respect to certain entities, such as family offices and limited liability companies; and extending the definition of accredited investor to include certain licensed professionals.

In 2012, former U.S. President Barrack Obama changed the investment landscape forever when he passed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.

Title III of the JOBS Act — shortly dubbed Regulation Crowdfunding and signed into law in May 2016 — allowed for average, retail investors to partake in equity crowdfunding for startups and other private businesses.

Are you convinced that you’re indispensable and that everything you do is critical? Yet you feel underappreciated, stuck in your current position, and torn between prioritizing every task and your own well-being?

Dennis Ford(DF): Todd, please tell us about your new position and what you are trying to accomplish?

Todd Haim(TH): I began working on small business grant programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) more than 10 years ago when I joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow. After 9 years at NCI, I was asked to lead the launch of a new Office of Small Business Research (OSBR) at the National Institute on Aging (NIA). NIA’s OSBR was created just over 1 year ago. It serves as the main coordinating office for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants that are awarded to companies working on solutions to address aging and aging-related diseases.

How did US regional economies perform recently? What are the key factors driving their growth and decline? The Milken Institute’s Best-Performing Cities series has tracked the economic performance of US metros for two decades using job, wage and salary, and high-tech gross domestic product (GDP) indicators. Metros are ranked on their performance, while indicators help identify the drivers behind their success or failure. With this publication, we hope metros will learn from others’ experiences and enhance urban economies in the long run. 

Image: https://milkeninstitute.org