As an advisor to entrepreneurs, I find that I often have to remind them that the world of customers has changed since they started their last business. Customer expectations of a relationship and personalization are stretching every business today, and pervasive use and confidence in social media by customers can override all your image building and marketing messages.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

Each year, TIME’s photo editors look at millions of news pictures. They’re found in the folds of magazines and newspapers, on websites and in the deep scrolls of social networks; they’re made by veteran staffers, independent photographers, eyewitnesses and everyone in between. Throughout the year, we set aside ones that made us pause and reflect: on the states of news and politics, on the states of humanity and our planet.

Image: A midwife, Nur Nahar, holds Yasmin, a girl delivered moments earlier to Janoka Bibi, 20, in Kutupalong camp in April. The girl’s father abandoned the family. - James Nachtwey for TIME - https://time.com

Apple put out a lot of standout work in 2019, including splashy films and bold outdoor efforts promoting Air Pods, a snarky CES dig at its competitors and a design-minded show opener. But what tops our list in 2019 was its story centered on a real-world Apple invention that the everyday consumer may not have known about—a round pizza box. Directed by Mark Molloy of Smuggler, “Underdogs” was pure entertainment, but it also doubled as a demo of how Apple products can help to make your big ideas a reality. 

Image: https://adage.com - from video

Sometimes, in venture capital, it pays to specialize. The latest indicator is a Kansas City, Mo.-based venture firm that’s focused on seed-stage startups that are based anywhere from “Park City to Kansas City.” According to an SEC filing, it just closed on $16.4 million in capital commitments. It’s the third fund for the outfit, Royal Street Ventures, which was founded several years ago by two Kansas City natives — Laura Brady and Jeffrey Stowell.

Do you need a new book to read for the New Year? Did you just move to a new state, or are you looking to armchair travel? Business Insider has you covered.

After scouring the internet and surveying our colleagues on their picks, we rounded up the most famous book set in every state in America. Here we've presented them, listed by state, in alphabetical order.

Image: https://www.businessinsider.com

When Facebook was searching for another New York office, one big enough to fit as many as 6,000 workers, more than double the number it currently employs in the city, it had one major demand: It needed the space urgently.

So after the company settled on Hudson Yards, the vast mini-city taking shape on Manhattan’s Far West Side, existing tenants were told to move and a small army of construction workers quickly began to revamp the building even before a lease had been signed.

Silicon Valley, and the broader venture capital market, is cashing in after a golden decade of opportunity in which companies including Facebook Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. went public.

Yet there is a noticeable lull in early-stage startups, with most deal flow now allocated to later-stage deals, hampering the entrepreneurial culture that Silicon Valley is known for.

Image: HBO/courtesy Everett Collection

Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is known for his excellence on the football field. He’s not just athletically gifted, though; one needs a high IQ and the ability to think critically to lead a football team. Rodgers possesses all of these capabilities. 

The 36-year-old has applied that acumen to the world of finance. With a $50 million venture capital fund, Rodgers has attracted many notable investors including celebrities and famous athletes.

Image: Mike Morbeck derivative: Diddykong1130 - Aaron Rodgers

Having close access to ultra-successful people can yield some pretty incredible information about who they really are, what makes them tick, and, most importantly, what makes them so successful and productive.

Kevin Kruse is one such person. He recently interviewed over 200 ultra-successful people, including 7 billionaires, 13 Olympians, and a host of accomplished entrepreneurs. One of his most revealing sources of information came from their answers to a simple open-ended question: What is your number one secret to productivity?

There are particle accelerators scattered around the world that are used by scientists and researchers to study the atomic and molecular structures of inorganic and biological materials. The typical particle accelerator is a massive device. The accelerator that Stanford University has is nearly 2 miles long and can accelerate electrons to nearly the speed of light.

Image: https://www.slashgear.com

Our New Year’s resolutions are likely to involve something prosaic like “eating more vegetables” or “not sleeping with my phone next to my pillow.” But we are mere mortals. These following eight innovators have goals like “get rid of landmines” and “invent an electric airplane.” We're going to keep our eyes on them in the coming year: we have a feeling their grand ambitions won’t be as easily abandoned as our healthy eating plans.

Image: https://www.smithsonianmag.com

A few years ago, I performed an experiment in a philosophy class I was teaching. My students had failed a midterm test rather badly. I had a hunch that their pervasive use of cell phones and laptops in class was partly responsible. So I asked them what they thought had gone wrong. After a few moments of silence, a young woman put up her hand and said: “We don’t understand what the books say, sir. We don’t understand the words.” I looked around the class and saw guileless heads pensively nodding in agreement.

Every startup needs a couple of advisors with deep experience and connections in your business domain or financial skills to complement your technical focus. Advisors need to be mentors, looking ahead and directing you on key actions to take or avoid. Unfortunately, many prefer the role of critic, looking backward to highlight your mistakes. These people don’t help you or your startup.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com - wikipedia

The Rockefeller University in May 2019 marked the completion of its $500-million Stavros Niarchos Foundation–David Rockefeller River Campus, which includes over 160,000 square feet of laboratories, offices, conference rooms, and common areas. The lab space (pictured) is within the centerpiece of the campus, the 750-foot-long Marie Josée and Henry R. Kravis Research Building. (Alex Philippidis)

Image: https://www.genengnews.com

Founders often ask the same questions to gauge whether an accelerator program is the right fit for their business. In short, the answer is I don’t know. There are several factors that come into play when founders evaluate whether an accelerator is the best next step for their unique business. To break it down into three categories, founder should consider: 1) Timing, 2) Goals, and 3) Type.

American companies already rely on freelancers for plenty of heavy lifting. As the gig economy continues to boom, nearly every company will have an opportunity to expand its talent pool by working with the alternative workforce. In Upwork’s 2018 Freelancing in America survey, more than one-third of American workers said they’d freelanced recently, pointing to a trend that doesn’t appear to be slowing anytime soon.

Deloitte recently published their inaugural 2020 Global Marketing Trends Report that identifies 7 key trends to help C-suite leaders place humans at the center of their work, and how to become a more authentic leader.

Constant technological change and increasing reliance on digital can leave people wanting for human connection. These 7 trends can help build connection to drive engagement and growth for brands in 2020.

Image: https://real-leaders.com

Venture capitalists are partying as if it’s 1999—and we know how that went. Entrepreneurship 101 says startups should conserve cash, keep costs flexible, and operate with parsimony. Way too many founders in the ’90s laughed at that—the same way they’re laughing today.

Investment in venture capital in 2018 surpassed $100 billion for the first time since 2000. With all that money sloshing around, the deals are getting bigger. In 2018, deals worth more than $25 million accounted for nearly 13 percent of all investment. And mega-rounds, defined as funding rounds worth more than $100 million, accounted for 47 percent.

The US labor market looks markedly different today than it did two decades ago. It has been reshaped by dramatic events like the Great Recession but also by a quieter ongoing evolution in the mix and location of jobs. In the decade ahead, the next wave of automation technologies may accelerate the pace of change. Millions of jobs could be phased out even as new ones are created. More broadly, the day-to-day nature of work could change for nearly everyone as intelligent machines become fixtures in the American workplace.

Think about the last time you used cash. How much did you spend? What did you buy, and from whom? Was it a one-time thing, or was it something you buy regularly?

Was it legal?

If you’d rather keep all that to yourself, you’re in luck. The person in the store (or on the street corner) may remember your face, but as long as you didn’t reveal any identifying information, there is nothing that links you to the transaction.