Startups rarely change the world

As a group, startups can contribute small incremental changes that together add up to a big difference.

Startups rarely do anything significantly world-changing despite the constant refrain from entrepreneurs that they’re trying to change the world. It’s not their fault. Changing the world almost always requires massive amounts of money, groundbreaking technology, and a lot of time — three things most startups don’t have.

 

 

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Second Life officially turns 10 years old

Second Life provides startups with a few hard but valuable lessons on the realities of creating products and building audiences.

The once-trendy virtual world Second Life officially turns 10 years old this week. It’s been years since its initial hype wave. Many technorati thought it would be as important to the internet as Facebook itself and many may even be surprised that SL still exists. In fact, the pioneering VR world is both profitable and maintains  a relatively large userbase for a 3D online world.

 

 

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Entrepreneurs and investors bet on the future of the drone economy

Flying robots are going to become a lot more common in the U.S.

Investors and entrepreneurs are betting on a future full of flying robots that can be programmed to do anything from survey crops or wildlife to delivering vaccines to remote villages in Africa.

 

 

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Now is the time for digital health startups to raise money

Rock Health predicted 2013 would be a record year for digital health.

According to some of the biggest names in health investing, it’s a great time for health startups to raise money. Digital health funding grew dramatically in 2012 and it is continuing to grow.

 

 

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‘Retro-innovation’ is the next big thing

The Italian paper notebook maker Moleskine is a stunning anachronism in a business environment that glorifies tech startups and digital business models.

A “retro-innovation” trend is emerging against an accelerating backdrop of datafication. New products and services are designed to connect us with the past in ways that are both nostalgic and interactive.

 

 

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How entrepreneurs are coming up with innovative ideas to tackle traffic

Traffic can be a huge burden on economic development, and just overall quality of life.

Sometimes when entrepreneurs are just fed up with something that is when they come up with the most innovative ideas. Their ability to make people’s lives just a little easier, whether through a solution to a dangerous social problem or an easy tool that helps people shop from their home, entrepreneurs can fill in gaps across sectors.

 

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Startups usher in retail revolution by clearing out cash registers

Business are replacing traditional cash registers with such products as Square’s Business in a Box.

The cash register has reigned as an icon of American commerce ever since the Civil War era. It’s an American ritual to pay for your purchases at the cash register. But, the average point-of-sale (POS) system is expensive, inconvenient to set up and manage and not connected to the internet. Despite all of this, these types of transactions occur a million times every day.  The last significant shift happened in the 1950’s when credit card terminals enter the scene.

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8 free online courses entrepreneurs can’t miss

Entrepreneurs can hop online and hone their expertise for free.

Education for entrepreneurs is slowly but surely becoming more mainstream. Traditional universities are offering entrepreneurs more tools than ever before. But Coursera and Udacity, education startups,  have taken this a step further.  They are offering in-depth classes on entrepreneurship taught by industry heavy-weights such as Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur Steve Blank for free.

 

 

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The search for data scientists grows frantic as startups produce more data

There are nowhere near enough “data scientists.”

It is currently accepted that the people who understand Big Data – the enormous datasets of information being collected with nearly every click of every computing device on the planet – will rule the roost in the future. If you can predict behavior by measuring and monitoring people’s machines down to an almost atomic level, you can make both your customers and your shareholders much happier.

 

 

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More that 1,000 startups are destined to be abandoned at the Series A stage

We now have real data to accompany all the anecdotal stories about the ongoing “Series A crunch” for tech startups. CB Insights, a venture capital analysis firm, has released a new seed financing report that digs into some real numbers about the situation.

 

 

 

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The world’s top cities for startups

Silicon Valley tops the list.

The world’s unquestionable leader in generating high-tech start-ups that launch new technologies that change the way we live and work is Silicon Valley. Many cities around the world have tried to emulate its success. But until recently, the data has been lacking to calibrate and rank how far they have come.

 

 

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