An increasing number of individuals are venturing out on their own, eager to become the next Elon Musk or Michael Dubin. Early-stage startups rely on angel investors to help drive critical growth. An investment provides entrepreneurs with much-needed funds in exchange for equity and strategic relationships. In 2016, roughly 305,000 angels invested $24.6 billion in companies across the country. To better understand how to increase your chance of landing an angel investor, I sought insight from Jeremy Larner, an angel investor who has helped finance over 100 startups (including Dollar Shave Club and Postmates.com). Below are Larner’s tips.

It’s that time of year again — when everyone takes the jump from college to the big leagues of the working world.

And while you’d hope that every college education nets you the opportunity to play for a team in the working world, the fact of the matter is that the college you went to has a big impact on your chances of getting a job. Some colleges offer majors and internships that help you fit right into a job after graduating, while others leave you in a jarring state of “what’s next”.

Image: https://www.zippia.com

Entrepreneurs are usually highly creative and innovative, but many innovative people are not entrepreneurs. Since it takes a team of people to build a great company, the challenge is to find that small percentage of innovative people, and then nurture the tendency, rather than stifle it.

Every year since 2006, the University of Maryland's nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) conducts an annual survey to determine how many bee colonies were lost over the course of the year. The 2018–2019 survey asked 4,696 U.S. beekeepers to report how many colonies they lost, and the preliminary results of the survey suggest that things aren't looking so good.

Deloitte is focusing a great deal on the Internet of Things, as we learned at LiveWorx 19 after speaking to Robert Schmid, the company’s chief IoT technologist — he helps client’s imaginations come to live.

Proof-of-value The consulting giant has moved beyond proof-of-concept with IoT and it’s now focusing on proof-of-value: a combination of strategy, operations and technology. “How can we bring this all together and what value can we deliver,” asked Schmid?

Not many harbour the capability to change ideas and mould them into visions that can help people and the world at large. By changing the course of negative beliefs, activities and customs, spiritually sensitive people or life coaches dissolve the undesirable elements in people and replace them with fresh thoughts and purposes.

As the founder and CEO of Garnysh, a Silicon Valley-based fitness and technology company, I know a thing or two about surviving in business. And as a woman entrepreneur, I’m even more knowledgeable about the challenges female entrepreneurs face in that cutthroat world.

Here are what I consider to be three rules for business success that are easy to remember and can make a big difference in how you approach running your business.

Just like parenthood, entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted. (Every entrepreneur will tell you that starting a company is the closest thing to having a baby.) It’s tough emotionally, physically and spiritually. Starting a business requires courage, confidence and a certain amount of risk-taking. That being said, there are many misconceptions preventing people from taking the leap. Now it’s time to set the record straight and debunk the five most common myths surrounding entrepreneurship.

Twenty years ago, in 1999, Amazon was a 5-year-old kindergartner startup navigating the early ecommerce market.

But that didn't stop CEO Jeff Bezos from dreaming big. At the time, Amazon had just started to expand its offerings beyond books. But Bezos was already painting outlandish visions of his customer-first website becoming the one-stop marketplace for everything.

Fast-forward to today, and Bezos is the richest man in the world, worth more than $141 billion.

Image: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser

Two major trends have given a positive new direction to the way in which regions build their strengths in research and innovation: the rise of transversal technologies and sustainable development.

A recent report by the European University Association about the role of universities in innovation ecosystems shows how different regions specialise through the smart combination of similar technologies and similar sets of challenges.

Financial management is one of the most important aspects of running a business successfully. However, in a bid to be a jack of all trades, MSME entrepreneurs often ignore their financial strategy and pass the burden on the accounting departments.

Now, the accounting department can probably file your taxes, make salaries, manage your P&L accounts, but what about a larger process like budgeting, forecasting, creating financial strategies.

People size you up in seconds, but what exactly are they evaluating?

Harvard Business School professor Amy Cuddy has been studying first impressions alongside fellow psychologists Susan Fiske and Peter Glick for more than 15 years, and has discovered patterns in these interactions.

In her new book, "Presence," Cuddy says that people quickly answer two questions when they first meet you:

Can I trust this person? Can I respect this person? Psychologists refer to these dimensions as warmth and competence, respectively, and ideally you want to be perceived as having both.

Interestingly, Cuddy says that most people, especially in a professional context, believe that competence is the more important factor. After all, they want to prove that they are smart and talented enough to handle your business.

Colombian President Ivan Duque has been telling creative industry experts, gathered on the French Riveria, how he's focusing on the Orange economy to drive growth and employment.

Duque, who took office last August, says Colombia's creative sectors represent more in GDP than coffee and mining and have become an engine of young employment.

He was speaking at the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which brings together thousands of representatives from the branded communications, advertising and marketing industries on the southern French coast.

As jellyfish continue to thrive in oceans around the world, causing destruction of property and other sea life, scientists are trying to find uses for the gooey creatures—everything from chips to skincare, and even diapers.

When people think of the Berkshires, they tend to focus on the region's natural beauty, arts and culture, fresh food and outdoor fun.

But this region also has a long history of manufacturing innovative products, a trait that, at times, can be overlooked.

For a variety of reasons, innovation is beginning to make a comeback in the Berkshires. So, that begs the question: Could Berkshire County become an innovation hub?

As construction of the $13.8 million Berkshire Innovation Center on Woodlawn Avenue in Pittsfield nears conclusion, the county is on the cusp of what could be an innovation revolution.

At a time when the United States is experiencing one of the longest periods of economic expansion in decades, the job market is changing rapidly—leaving many Americans behind. Digitalization, automation, and global trade have rendered some knowledge and skills obsolete, leading to unfilled jobs and declining social mobility.

Many of us assume that innovation is led by technology, but Bill Fischer, a Visiting Professor of Operations Management at MIT Sloan School of Management, says that true innovation comes from mindsets, rather than hardware. According to Fischer, there are eight ways to ensure your organization’s innovation mindset is up to speed:

Inspiration often precedes innovation, a topic I love. Innovation is such a personal, creative endeavor, but the influence of others plays a big role in helping us succeed. Here I’ll share insights from some of those who’ve inspired me when it comes to developing innovative practices in my business. Perhaps they will have the same effect on you. If nothing else, this article will encourage you to take time out to reflect and work a little magic on the innovation front.

One morning, while visiting home in Switzerland from my job in the US in March 2017, I woke up to a surprising sight out of my bedroom window: a drone delivering a package on the roof of the hospital in front of my building. I did not know it at the time, but I was witnessing one of the early test flights one of the world’s first automated blood sample delivery operations in an urban environment, taking place in the skies above my hometown of Lugano. These tests would shortly develop into a full-blown network of autonomous drone deliveries for diagnostic samples – which since has been replicated also by others in a number of cities in Switzerland, the United States, and Rwanda.

Image: A 'drone marshal' in action during a race by Lake Zurich in October 2018 (Keystone)

As countless graduates prepare to enter the workforce, big banks and corporations may start to realize that with this new generation, they could be the backup choice. In fact, Gen Z may be the most entrepreneurial generation ever: According to one report (via Entrepreneur) 41% are planning on becoming entrepreneurs. And they’re not just daring -- they’re also confident. Fourty-five percent of them reportedly believe that they will invent something that will change the world.