August, 2021

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SourceLink + National League of Cities – Impacting Entrepreneurship in Rural Communities

Source Link

SourceLink®, the National League of Cities (NLC) and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are pleased to announce the results of recent efforts to advance entrepreneurial development in Kankakee and Belvidere, Illinois. Both communities recently participated in NLC’s City Innovation Ecosystems (CIE) program, offered in partnership with and support from the Kauffman Foundation.

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API platform Postman valued at $5.6 billion in $225 million fundraise

TechCrunch

San Francisco-based Postman, which operates a collaborative platform for developers to help them build, design, test and iterate their APIs, said on Wednesday it has raised $225 million in a new financing round that values it at $5.6 billion, up from $2 billion a year ago. The startup’s new financing round — a Series D — was led by existing investor New York-headquartered Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and CRV.

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UBI Global Says Good-Bye to an Old Friend

UBI Global

UBI Connect is ending as we announce a new hub of tools and services developed by our team especially for you. Announcing ‘the end’ of something is never fun or easy, but in this case, there really is a lot to look forward to. While this month marks the end of UBI Connect, the communication […]. The post UBI Global Says Good-Bye to an Old Friend appeared first on UBI Global | Innovation Intelligence Company and Community.

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Why Governments Should Invest in Their Diaspora Founders

David Teten VC

We are brainstorming a new solution to a widespread challenge in many countries: how to develop a self-sustaining, independent local tech ecosystem. Our proposal: governments systematically support funding for their diaspora founders, not just the local founders. I co-wrote this essay with Prabhat Gusain , currently the Chief of Staff at Caffeinated Capital; formerly an intern with Versatile VC ; and a 2021 MBA from UVA Darden.

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From Curiosity to Competitive Edge: How Mid-Market CEOs Are Using AI to Scale Smarter

Speaker: Lee Andrews, Founder at LJA New Media & Tony Karrer, Founder and CTO at Aggregage

This session will walk you through how one CEO used generative AI, workflow automation, and sales personalization to transform an entire security company—then built the Zero to Strategy framework that other mid-market leaders are now using to unlock 3.5x ROI. As a business executive, you’ll learn how to assess AI opportunities in your business, drive adoption across teams, and overcome internal resource constraints—without hiring a single data scientist.

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Why You Need a Business Mentor (and Where You Can Find One)

StartupNation

Mattie Mae Larson has a growing business in Hawaii turning trash into treasure. Her company, Upcycle Hawaii, creates wallets, zipper pouches, bookmarks, beach totes and a plethora of other products. All of Upcycle Hawaii’s items are made from post-consumer waste diverted from local landfills. While her business has been built with blood, sweat and tears, she also shares another secret to her success: her business mentor.

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Introducing Trust, and the Importance of Product-Founder Fit

Both Sides of the Table

Photo by Vanna Phon on Unsplash Customer acquisition is the lifeblood of many startups from e-commerce to gaming to marketplace companies, among others. Most of these startups spend the lion’s share of their marketing budget in today’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Snap, TikTok and so on because?—?no surprise?—?that’s where the customers are.

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Nigeria’s Decagon raises millions to finance and train software engineers

TechCrunch

This past decade, Nigeria has seen several companies cater to the development and growth of software engineers and tech talent in general. It’s a space many in the Nigerian ecosystem like to think is budding yet overcrowded. So when Chika Nwobi started Decagon in 2018, the perception was generally “here comes another tech talent accelerator.” Two years on, the entrepreneur who is a household name has significantly scaled the company to new heights.

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Simon Says: Have “The Talk” with your parents

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Contributed to EO by Saul Simon, a certified financial planner, a registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors and founder of Simon Financial Group. This article is the second in a series of three about having “The Talk” with your business partners , parents and adult children. As we get older and hopefully wiser, more responsibilities fall upon us.

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opening the pipeline for assistive technology

Venture Well

We explore ways faculty can collaborate with a university’s technology transfer office to support the commercialization of assistive technology innovation. The post opening the pipeline for assistive technology appeared first on VentureWell.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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The Best Coworking Spaces in Detroit for Your Hybrid Work Model

StartupNation

Many companies are emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic with a hybrid work model, meaning some employees will return to the office at least part-time, but others will collaborate remotely. Navigating what this working plan actually looks like can be tricky. When — and where — can your team get together? Coworking spaces support hybrid work models in a variety of ways.

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Telegraphing

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

I recall when my partner Brad and I were raising our first USV fund, back in 2003, and potential investors wondered about my blogging habit. They asked if I was making a mistake telegraphing our investment thesis for everyone to see, including our “competitors.” We strongly defended the practice and explained that the benefits of telling the world what we were looking to invest in, and why, strongly outweighed any costs.

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Inspiring Community Participation

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

Inspiring Community Participation. Overview. This lesson demonstrates how to inspire citizens to take positive actions on their collective behalf and maintain their involvement for the long term. Transcript. I’m Jeff Franco, and this is “Inspiring Community Participation” to solve local problems. In this lesson we will learn: why it’s important for you to know your community and its needs before you inspire them to act; how to overcome apathy or lack of interest from community members; and how t

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This YC Summer batch features the largest group of African startups yet

TechCrunch

Y Combinator’s summer batch of 2021 features 377 startups from 47 countries. It’s the 33rd Demo Day of the well-known accelerator and holds the largest cohort yet. YC S20 had 198 startups, so that’s a 90% increase from last year. About half of the companies represented are based outside the U.S. The countries with the most representatives (aside from the U.S.) include India, with 33 startups; the U.K., with 18 startups; Mexico with 17; Singapore with 12; and Canada and Brazil,

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15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

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How to Create Content that Guarantees Conversion

Entrepreneur's Handbook

7 steps to help you get better results from your marketing. Photo: Nick Morrison/Unsplash I have worked in digital marketing for the last fifteen years, and I also coach new business owners, so I notice a lot of mistakes entrepreneurs make when creating content. New business owners are usually quite skilled at whatever service they provide but they struggle with the marketing side of things and have trouble creating content that clearly explains what they do and helps them sell their services.

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Venture Debt 101: Basics and Approach

Y Combinator

In this guide, YC Managing Director Jon Levy talks about venture debt. He covers what it is, walks through some of its benefits and risks, and gives advice on how to approach the process of taking on venture debt. He also highlights Brex’s newly launched venture debt offering. Brex is a YC portfolio company that provides an all-in-one finance solution to their customers.

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7 Creative Financing Options for New Businesses and Startups

StartupNation

It takes money to make money. But financing isn’t always easy — especially if you’re the proud founder of a brand new business. Traditional banks and financial institutions set a high bar for borrowers. They want to see years in business, consistent revenue and excellent credit scores, and those are things that most new businesses just don’t have.

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The Opening

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

I like to think of investing in new things a bit like a football running play. Imagine you are the running back. You’ve been handed the football and you are looking for a hole to open up and run through. What you really want is some running room beyond the opening. We’ve known for a while that crypto is the next big tech architecture. We’ve known that once the wave breaks on the shore, there will be enormous opportunities unleashed.

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How Top Tech CFOs Solve Annual Planning’s Biggest Challenges

Gearing up for 2025 annual planning? Our latest eBook from the Operators Guild is your ultimate guide. Discover real-world solutions and best practices shared by top CFOs, drawn directly from discussions within OG’s vibrant online community. Learn from senior executives at high-growth tech startups as they outline financial planning strategies, align CEO and board goals, and coordinate budgets across departments.

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Engaging Your Community

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

Engaging Your Community. Overview. Community engagement is about involving the people you serve as beneficiaries and as partners in your mission. Learn about ways to foster community engagement. Transcript. [TEXT: Hilary Binder-Aviles, Independent NGO Consultant]. Community Engagement. [LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 1. Understand what community engagement is and why it’s important. 2.

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São Paulo’s QuintoAndar real estate platform raises $120M, now valued at $5.1B

TechCrunch

Less than three months after announcing a $300 million Series E , Brazilian proptech QuintoAndar has raised an additional $120 million. New investors Greenoaks Capital and China’s Tencent co-led the round, which included participation from some existing backers as well. São Paulo-based QuintoAndar is now valued at $5.1 billion, up from $4 billion at the time of its last raise in late May.

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5 Ways to Encourage More Women Into Careers in VC

Entrepreneur's Handbook

5 Ways to Encourage More Women Into Careers in Venture Capital It’s time to tear open the seemingly impenetrable ‘old boys’ network It’s no secret that founders seek out investors who value diversity and recognize the success that comes from having diverse teams. However, the question of how to make this a reality remains unanswered. What can we do to attract more women investors, and to change the types of startups, products, and services that are funded?

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Will Anyone Care? Building an Exit Strategy

The Seraf Compass

Early stage investors might not view it this way, but… until a company has some form of financial exit (e.g. acquisition or IPO), you are really more like a donor than an investor! Think of it this way: since there is no liquidity in early stage company stock, you can’t sell the stock and recoup any of your original investment. You’re stuck with stock that, for all intents and purposes, has no financial value that you can monetize.

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Your Fractional Finance and Accounting Team

Mighty Financial specializes in supporting the financial aspirations of small businesses and entrepreneurs. With our comprehensive bookkeeping and precise accounting expertise with decades of experience across diverse financial roles, our team offers tailor-made services ranging from essential bookkeeping to strategic fractional CFO support, catered specifically to the unique challenges of technology companies, startups, and SMEs.

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How to Leverage Your Full-Time Job to Fund Your Entrepreneurial Dreams

StartupNation

When I accepted a position at a software development company after college, I was clear with them from the start. During the interview, they asked about my passion and my goals. I shared that I was passionate about real estate and planned to work full-time for myself in real estate by 30. My job choice at the time was based on how it would ultimately benefit my goal.

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5 Steps to prepare your business for a cashless future

Entrepreneurs' Organization

With the advent of technological innovations, including dedicated servers and cloud hosting, businesses of all shapes and sizes are shifting to a more digital way of working. From international companies to locally owned small businesses, the landscape of how business is done has been gradually changing for some time now. One of the most significant changes—hastened by the global pandemic where contactless payments gained traction—is the switch from cash-in-hand transactions to cashless.

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Inspiring Community Participation

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

Inspiring Community Participation. Overview. This lesson demonstrates how to inspire citizens to take positive actions on their collective behalf and maintain their involvement for the long term. Transcript. I’m Jeff Franco, and this is “Inspiring Community Participation” to solve local problems. In this lesson we will learn: why it’s important for you to know your community and its needs before you inspire them to act; how to overcome apathy or lack of interest from community members; and how t

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ThirdAI raises $6M to democratize AI to any hardware

TechCrunch

Houston-based ThirdAI , a company building tools to speed up deep learning technology without the need for specialized hardware like graphics processing units, brought in $6 million in seed funding. Neotribe Ventures, Cervin Ventures and Firebolt Ventures co-led the investment, which will be used to hire additional employees and invest in computing resources, Anshumali Shrivastava, Third AI co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch.

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Digitalization: 5 Tech Updates That Will Help You Survive The Recession & Thrive

Lack of digitalization decreases business competitiveness. To thrive, embracing modern solutions becomes essential. The approach to digitalization often aligns with a company's business model. This shift not only boosts productivity but also automates processes and improves security. The tech market offers a wealth of technologies tailored for management, planning, and forecasting, replacing outdated pen-and-paper methods.