Everyone seems to have a side hustle these days. But the million dollar question is: are they really making moves (and raking in the cash), or are they just talking some big game? Because some people are really just in the business of looking busy.

If you're serious about being in the first category, check out The Complete Start A Side Business Bundle for some invaluable information on launching a bona fide side hustle with the cash flow to prove it.

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. In fact, businesses need to adapt even more completely to the changes in the buying and social behavior of consumers. High-technology product startups, without customers, don’t make a business.

Development funds allocated to many photonics-related developments and companies across America.

NASA is investing in technologies to enable Moon-to-Mars developments.

US space agency NASA has selected 363 proposals from small businesses and research institutions across 41 states to help advance the types of technological capabilities needed for future space missions, and to support the agency in other areas. Many of the target projects are in photonics-related technologies (see list, below).

Image: NASA is investing in technologies to enable Moon-to-Mars developments. - http://optics.org

Access to capital has been an ongoing challenge for biohealth companies in the BioHealth Capital Region (BCHR) and throughout the Mid Atlantic, though recent investment data suggests that capital market access is improving. “PwC/CB Insights ranks the region fourth with $944.07 million in 44 deals and Jones Lang Lasalle tallies $1.1 billion, good enough for third,” stated Rich Bendis, CEO of BioHealth Innovation (BHI), in his keynote speech at the recent The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Technology Transfer Showcase. 

We’ve all heard the timeless mantra that if you work hard, you’ll inevitably get ahead. And while that’s generally true, sometimes one income just isn’t enough. In fact, a 2019 Bankrate survey shows that a whopping 45% of Americans have side hustles, earning an extra $1,122 per month on average.

An even more startling figure: 40% of millennial respondents say they earn more than half their income from side gigs. Whatever your financial reasons for a side hustle — from paying off student loan debt, to saving for a vacation or mortgage down-payment — extra work can significantly boost incomes and strengthen financial futures.

There’s a popular quote attributed to Leila Janah, “Talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not.”

We can argue what “equally distributed” really means, but I’d submit that neither talent nor opportunity are equally “available” to all people. In both cases we’re using idealistic thinking of how the world actually works, since both the realization of talent and the opportunity to translate it into value are subject to enormous disparity in social, cultural, and economic contexts.

Luckily, technology is here to help. Nowadays, there is a diversity of apps all aimed at making the life of parents easier, from helping to track childhood progresses to providing answers to parenting questions.

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. I often get asked about the real alternatives to bridge this valley, and there are some good ones I will outline here.

Germany has always been a technology powerhouse. The largest economy in Europe, playing host to many top-quality brands in almost every field, be it cars, machineries, construction, medical equipment and infrastructure development. There are two attributes that no one can take away from the Germans, which are: the quality of products and keeping to time (this is on a lighter note).

VC firms have several tenets that define their approach to making investments. Some are deeply rooted in a particular area of expertise, and some firms are even looking to computation and machine learning to model what makes a good investment. The approach we’ve employed for 20+ years at Polaris looks a bit old-fashioned in comparison, as the thesis perhaps most core to our identity and deal flow is the importance of sustained relationships with repeat entrepreneurs.

Exponential leaders and entrepreneurs listen more than they speak. They allow the voice and insights of the group to guide the ship to a much higher and more powerful place than a single vision could ever do.

Thinking about turning in your resignation letter so you can be your own boss? You’re not alone. Many Americans are saying goodbye to their traditional 9-5 jobs in favor of freelancing. Statistics show that the gig economy is not going away any time soon. One study revealed that an estimated 43% of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers by 2020. It’s not surprising since freelancing allows you to choose when you work, where you work and what clients you work with. You are the one steering your career. But isn’t that the same as an entrepreneur? Is there a difference? According to Seth Godin (who considers himself a freelancer) there is. Godin says,

The exciting promise of personalization may not be here yet (at least not at scale), but it’s not far off. Advances in technology, data, and analytics will soon allow marketers to create much more personal and “human” experiences across moments, channels, and buying stages. Physical spaces will be reconceived, and customer journeys will be supported far beyond a brand’s front door.

Every self-employed person talks about the joy of wearing your pajamas to work. As a business owner, I was happy in my comfy pants and T-shirts—until I read a study indicating that dressing up can change the way you think and work.

The researchers concluded that wearing formal clothing enhanced abstract thinking and created more social distance. Sharpening my thinking was appealing, but as an executive coach, the idea of social distance concerned me.

Washington, DC - Measurements are key to scientific and technological innovation. It’s like a field of dreams: Better measurements always find useful applications.

Proving this credo, NIST's nearly 120 years of research to advance measurement science, standards and technology have had significant impacts on American innovation and quality of life.

This is remarkable for a small federal agency focused on developing practical solutions to the nation’s ever-changing technology needs.

Have you noticed that more companies beg you to participate in their business today? It started with an email survey on your last stay at their hotel, but now includes requests for online product reviews, to social media input on the design of future products. They do it because engaged customers become loyal advocates and buyers. Welcome to the “Participation Age” of marketing.

The gravity of business growth is shifting from capital to creativity. Today, the most valuable companies in the world are primarily innovators.

In the innovation economy, a disruptive mindset is the key to business leadership. It is also essential to break away from the business models that cannot keep up with the market’s evolution. A modern business leader must have a strategy to reinvent even a successful business. The innovation economy takes away security from businesses, but it offers unprecedented rewards in the form of lightning-fast growth and great market dominance. In the new world, market belongs to the most vigorous innovator. The first-mover advantage is brief because capital and technology are easily accessible. It is much easier to imitate and enhance a successful product in the new economy than it used to be. Now, a company has to be not only quick with innovations, it has to continuously listen to the user and upgrade products frequently. Business leaders need to be relentless in growing the company’s innovation capability.

Image: https://www.financialexpress.com

As Wake Forest Innovation Quarter continues to take shape as a hub of activity where people work, live, learn and play, its officials are exploring this urban-based innovation district’s next phase of development.

“The fact that there’s stuff under construction all the time makes it a little more complicated, but we’re working through that and that will end; although, happily, construction keeps going,” said Graydon Pleasants, the head of real-estate development for the Innovation Quarter.

Image: https://www.journalnow.com

As a postdoctoral fellow studying diversity and inclusion at Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Alison Wynn is abundantly aware of the gender diversity gaps that continue to impact the modern workplace. Still, as she prepared to investigate tech recruiting sessions a number of years ago at an unnamed West Coast campus, she was expecting to encounter a fairly tame dataset. Her more significant worry, from a research perspective, was that she’d find nothing at all. “It’s going to be so scripted,” her research advisor cautioned, echoing her own concerns. “Company executives know they’re on display. It’s going to be sanitized.”

Security and big-data startups such as SentinelOne and Yellowbrick Data raised VC funding in June 2019.