America is a massive, diverse, beautiful, and complicated place.

One of the best ways to understand a country like the US is through maps. Here at Business Insider, maps are a big part of how we cover the world, and that's because where we live and where we come from affect many facets of our lives. Maps provide a window into how places vary and how geography shapes us as individuals and as a nation. Maps like the ones below can provide a big-picture bird's-eye view of the country as a whole, illustrating what keeps us apart — and what brings us together.

Ray Dalio: A lot of learning comes from having the same mistake over and over again until you learn it.

Richard Feloni: I notice that you had said that in 2016, when you had to move your chosen successor, Greg Jensen, out of a co-CEO role to be just co-CIO, that that was the biggest regret that you had had at Bridgewater.

And what I found interesting about that is that essentially the problem there, and correct me if I'm wrong, was that he had two jobs, running both the management and the investment side of things. But what I found interesting is that a decade prior to that you said that you had found that same problem for yourself in 2008. That you had two full-time jobs and that you couldn't do both. How did you not see that you were kind of passing on the same thing that you had gone through?

Image: https://flickr.com/photos/74711243@N06/44858045925

Here’s a long-held assumption that’s ripe for a challenge: Valuable improvements in health and patient care should come from experts in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and related industries.

There’s no question that such professionals are essential for innovation. But our research shows that patient-innovators also have important roles to play and will fill significant gaps that industry hasn’t addressed — or can’t.

David was extremely gratified when he was named businessman of the year. He felt he deserved the recognition. Many articles had portrayed him as an entrepreneur who had reframed his industry, which gave him the courage to make his boldest move yet: taking over his largest competitor. Some analysts had said that he paid far too much for the company. Then bankers became nervous and soon reporters joined in. One wrote: “Not only was his latest takeover a mistake, but his endless side ventures – buying an upscale restaurant in London, sponsoring a football club, financing a private clinic – are too great a drain on the company’s resources.” The damage was done. David would remain famous for sinking his own company and costing thousands of people their livelihoods.

At first glance, it’s hard to understand why a company like VizworX Inc. took so long – in its case, six years – before it started exporting.

Emerging from a University of Calgary lab in 2012, the company uses advanced augmented and virtual-reality systems to create immersive, digital representations of construction projects and other building sites. The technology allows the entire project team to virtually “walk” through the site, interacting with elements of the project and troubleshooting problems that don’t yet exist in the real world.

If you don't know much about venture capital besides the fact that it involves lots of money, you're not alone. But VC plays an important role in our society, and it's becoming more prominent as it takes new forms. You're never too old to learn, right?

These industry insiders gave us a lesson in the noteworthy trends shaping the future of venture capital. Here's what they had to say:

Evolutionary biologist Daniel E. Lieberman caused an international stir nearly a decade ago when he published a paper showing that running in cushioned sneakers encourages people to hit the ground harder than running barefoot.

Lieberman, a professor of biological sciences at Harvard University, also started running barefoot himself as an experiment and kept doing it because he enjoyed it. Every spring, after running the Boston Marathon, he would trade his traditional sneakers for a pair of minimal shoes or no footwear at all.

Whether you enjoyed the final season of Game of Thrones or signed the petition to remake Season Eight, one thing is for sure -- it’s been an epic journey. As you debate about the finale and go back to look for Easter Eggs, think about what you can learn. If you are a founder or entrepreneur -- everything you do in your life can help your business -- whether it's watching TV or whooping it up at Disneyland with the kids. Note the following eight leadership lessons that have appeared throughout the series of Game of Thrones.

Most institutions with the highest average pay for associate professors in 2017-18 were on the East Coast or the West Coast or in Illinois. Eight of the public doctoral institutions that paid their associate professors the most were University of...

Last week I hosted/emceed the 3 day Small Business Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida hosted by the Jim Moran Institute and the Florida Small Business Development Center Network. One of the many breakout sessions I attended was focused on finances and led by Octavia Conner, virtual CFO and founder of Say Yes To Profits and she challenged us with the question, “Are you a CEO or are you an entrepreneur?”

Articles in business magazines routinely tout the need for entrepreneurs to be creative. Less often do these publications address the need for employees to flex their creative muscles.

However, there’s compelling evidence that creativity is not only a valuable skill, but a driver of economic success that businesses at all levels would do well to encourage.

Happy 4th of July from Rich Bendis and the Innovation America Team!

Some thoughts this morning on universities and industry and their contributions to research – and for once, this isn’t going to be another long screed on drug research in particular. No, I’m particularly talking about what each of these brings to R&D in general, and about the places (both conceptual and physical) where they seem to intersect the most productively.

I overheard an interesting conversation recently while eating at a restaurant in London. As a young man and a young woman chatted at the table next to mine, I heard the gentleman say, “You know, just because you have the education now, that doesn't mean you’ll get a good job.” The young woman responded, “Well, I'm going to get hired by somebody because I went to school, and, therefore, I have already proven myself.” She went on to say she knew she was going to be successful because she went to college and earned a degree.

While landing into a dream job is one of the important aspirations for every MBA enthusiast, some love to become entrepreneurs and lead a company with the acquired knowledge during the course.

Entrepreneurial skills are mandatory for every management aspirant to become a better leader and also conduct themselves brilliantly in challenging situations. The USA is an ideal destination for international students because of liberal living, budget-friendly prices for fees, manageable cost of living and many more reasons.

You’ve no doubt heard the well-worn advice that “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” It’s a nice idea but a total myth.

When we equate work we love with “not really working,” it propagates a belief that if we love it so much, we should do more of it — all of the time, actually. Who needs a day off when you’re not really working?! There’s a whole cottage industry committed to proliferating this mindset — from books, to talks, and even kitsch stores selling piles of “Work is Bliss” quotes on merchandise. This type of mentality leads to burnout, and the consequences can be both dire and hard to detect.

While real estate crowdfunding presents opportunities for unaccredited investors, crowdfunding platforms have not been around long enough to have "a proven record of performance, profits, and commitment to what they promise to investors," says Daniela Andreevska, marketing director of Mashvisor, a real estate analytics company. "This means that there is a certain degree of uncertainty associated with this type of investment." Still, good deals abound in crowdfunded real estate, as long as investors educate themselves about what they're buying and the platforms' responsibilities. Here are six pitfalls that experts say potential investors should avoid.

In August 2011, Lloyd Tabb started writing the first few lines of code for what would eventually become Looker. His co-founder Ben Porterfield joined a few months later to help build out the product. By experimenting with different delivery models and cultivating a small yet mighty fanbase of early customers, they were able to bootstrap until they raised their seed round in the summer of 2012, which was co-led by First Round’s Bill Trenchard. A few key early hires joined in the months that followed, and Looker emerged from stealth in March 2013. Several months later, Frank Bien came on as president and, after going shoulder-to-shoulder with Tabb on the fundraising frontlines in their Series A round, took over as CEO to firm up the sales motion and scale the business.

Kansas and Missouri are nearing a truce in an economic border war that has cost hundreds of millions of dollars and created barely any new jobs.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, has signed legislation that would prohibit companies from receiving tax incentives for jumping the state’s border within the Kansas City region. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, said on June 14 she was prepared to sign an executive order agreeing to the truce. The legislation takes effect only if both parties agree.

Choosing where to live and work is a complex decision. Personal preferences are certainly important, such as warm or cold weather, coastal living versus inland and proximity to friends and family.

But there are some considerations, shared by many of us, that can make certain areas seem more desirable than others. Based on these criteria, we dug into Indeed’s job-search and posting data to create this year’s list of the best cities for job seekers.

Image: http://blog.indeed.com