I’m 42 years old. I’ve been an entrepreneur exactly half of that time, opening several successful businesses en route, and lately, I’ve done a lot of reflecting on how I’ve managed to survive this long. You tend to get more philosophical as you age, but that’s not the only reason for my musing; I’m also the father of six smart, energetic girls, the oldest of whom is in high school and brimming with career ambitions of her own.

Sometimes, in my work with teams all over the world that are struggling with fractious social and political issues, I have found inspiration in unexpected ways. One wouldn’t think that theater, for instance, has much to do with sustainability or inequality. But my colleague Ian Prinsloo, who’s a former theater director, introduced me to an improvisation game called Learning Like a Dolphin, and it’s now a wonderful part of the workshop methodology my firm uses.

Corporate venture capital (CVC) — equity investments in startups made by corporate entities — is steadily rising in the market. In 2018, the number of active CVC business units rose to 773, a 35% increase over the previous year. These CVC units participated in 32% more deals and invested 47% more funding over the same period. While technology giants like Google, Intel, and Salesforce were the most active investors, CVC units have been established by corporations across the globe in many industries beyond tech. Johnson & Johnson, Mitsubishi, Robert Bosch, Unilever, Novartis, and Airbus are just a sample of corporations that recently established CVC activities.

The Open Session held on July 8, 2019 in Paris, France (School of Medicine) will provide stakeholders and MedTech companies with more information about the initiative and offers the opportunity to exchange experience and discuss the needs of small companies to help maintain their competitiveness and innovation capacity.

There is only one core issue for all psychology. Where is the "me”? Where does the “me” begin? Where does the ‘me’ stop”? Where does the ‘other’ begin?” So observed the late psychologist James Hillman.

This question is fundamental not just for individuals but for the societies they compose. We see lines being drawn every day—between self and other, us and them—in fields as disparate as politics, religion, science, art, music, language, ethics, law and entertainment. Whether it’s fierce disagreement over building a wall to keep out illegal immigrants, recognizing and accommodating transgender people, or the appropriateness of “edgy” humor or “boundary pushing” fashions, we continuously grapple with where to set limits.

Prosperous innovation districts have diversified economies and are integrated into the fabric of a community, drawing workers who seek out such environments and the companies that are trying to attract them.

IBM wants startups to understand the importance of security — and then give them the tools to do so. Big Blue has announced the Hyper Protect Accelerator Powered by IBM LinuxONE, a startup accelerator program located in Charlotte, North Carolina that will give selected high-potential startups access to IBM technical resources and business mentorship.

By the end of the program, each startup in the cohort will have had the opportunity to receive up to $120,000 in technology credits to access IBM Cloud Hyper Protect Services running on IBM LinuxONE, which protects data on-premises or in the cloud. These credits will be distributed in $10,000 per month increments.

In addition to being world-class research and educational institutions, America's top private universities are also fantastically wealthy.

The Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System assembles statistics on thousands of institutions of higher learning in the US. One of the data points published is the value of assets in private university endowments.

Investigators at the University of Central Florida (UCF) have just identified the molecular changes that happen when neuronal stem cells are exposed to high levels of an acid commonly found in processed foods. The research team has taken a step closer to showing the link between the food pregnant women consume and the effects on a fetus’ developing brain. Findings from the new study—which described how high levels of propionic acid (PPA), used to increase the shelf life of packaged foods and inhibit mold in commercially processed cheese and bread, reduce the development of neurons in fetal brains—were published recently in Scientific Reports through an article titled “Propionic Acid Induces Gliosis and Neuro-inflammation through Modulation of PTEN/AKT Pathway in Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

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Are you looking to increase the success rate of your state’s SBIR/STTR proposals? If so, a reminder that applications for the Small Business Administration’s Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program are due next Friday, June 28, at 4 p.m. EDT. This program provides one-year funding to organizations executing programs related to SBIR/STTR outreach, technical assistance, or financial support. As a way to help inform these proposals, SSTI has updated the data from a January Useful Stats article on NIH SBIR/STTR success rates to include the most recent year available, FY 2018.

According to the European Commission’s 2019 European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), which ranks EU member states and selected third countries based on their research and innovation performance, the Netherlands is an innovation leader! The land of windmills and tulips, however, does not take first place in the ranking; it comes fourth.

2019 European Innovation Scoreboard The EIS was first introduced in 2001, making the 2019 version the 18th edition. A country’s innovation performance is measured using the Summary Innovation Index, which summarises the performance of many different indicators.

Today, social entrepreneurship is growing rapidly in size, scope and support. An unprecedented number of organizations are using entrepreneurship as a strategy to address social problems like poverty, at-risk youth and hunger. Social entrepreneurs are developing creative and innovative organizations that give people the tools, education and resources to become an entrepreneur. As entrepreneurs, they can serve their own communities, improving health, decreasing hunger, creating safer environments and accessing clean water. Here are five organizations using social entrepreneurship to help create jobs in developing countries.

Image: https://borgenproject.org

Online crowdfunding platforms offer a popular alternative to traditional structures by connecting those looking to raise money for a business directly with crowds of potential backers.

It has increased the democratisation of finance, providing access to funds for a wider array of projects that may not have been available through longer-established, more conservative means.

Image: Amanda Palmer: Her Kickstarter campaign, entitled Theatre Is Evil: the Album, Art Book and Tour, became a huge success and generated more than $1.2 million from 24,883 backers. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons

While firms have said that Brexit has made little material difference to dealmaking in the short term, caution has crept into decision making regarding companies with European supply chains, due diligence and pricing of assets. However, there is a general yearning for a final decision to be made on the issue.

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Venture investing is something we don't spend too much time talking about here at the Fool, given that everyday investors typically can't get exposed to it, but it's worth learning about. In this episode of Industry Focus: Financials, host Jason Moser chats with Motley Fool Ventures' Brendan Mathews about the venture capital scene and The Motley Fool's approach to venture investing. Find out how venture investing works, what part of the market MFV focuses on, why there's been such a rash of celebrity venture projects lately, and more.

NASA has awarded contracts to 363 small US businesses to help advance the types of capabilities required for a sustained presence on the Moon and beyond. The contracts are part of the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs and awarded an estimated value of more than $45 million.

“We are excited about the entrepreneurial, innovative ideas that these small businesses are bringing to the table,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). “The technologies show great promise in helping NASA achieve its objectives across all mission areas, including our efforts to send American astronauts to the Moon, and then on to Mars, while also providing a long-term boost to the American economy.”

Image: The Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building | Image credit: NASA

Jolene Gurevich was going to be an investment banker on Wall Street. But her roots as a competitive Latin ballroom dancer in New York gave her the inspiration to make a move toward entrepreneurship, and Venture for America provided her a clear path into the startup ecosystem in Baltimore. Now manager of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech Ventures) incubator at the University of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund, Gurevich guides the trajectory of scientists-turned-entrepreneurs.

Image: Jolene Gurevich at Mtech Ventures' offices. (Photo by Margaret Roth)

Tips and stories from three execs who went to coding boot camps.

A growing number of professionals are flocking towards coding boot camps. Some seek to acquire skills they see as highly relevant in a world disrupted by start-ups. Others opt to change careers out of a desire to constantly learn and evolve. Among these contingents are people who had a thriving business career but decided to reinvent themselves as coders. We take a closer look at the path chosen by three such individuals.

The Canadian Arctic permafrost is thawing 70 years earlier than expected, a rate shocking a group of scientists who released the findings of their long-term study this month.

A research team affiliated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks observed three sites over a period of 13 years between 2003 and 2016, according to a brief of their findings. Researchers discovered that a series of unusually warm summers triggered the rapid thawing, which is occurring 150 to 240 percent above the average rate between 1979 to 2000.

Every startup wants to be a predictable success, yet so few ever achieve this enviable position. In reality, getting there is not a random walk, and requires an understanding of the stages that every business must navigate and the organizational characteristics necessary at each stage.