In a move it hopes will lure budding entrepreneurs who dream of souped-up Silicon Valley workspaces, the University of Utah plans to build a residence hall that blurs life and work the same way technology giants Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG) do at their headquarters.

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1. "It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed." - Charles Darwin

2. "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." - Helen Keller

When Bill Gates first met Warren Buffett, their host at dinner, Gates’ mother, asked everyone around the table to identify what they believed was the single most important factor in their success through life. Gates and Buffett gave the same one-word answer: “Focus.” (See more in The Snowball by Alice Schroeder).

I love the clarity of their answer but I am also concerned by how this can be, to quote Rudyard Kipling, “twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.” I am an advocate for focus in work, life and leadership. However, the subject has a nuance and depth that many people miss. For a start, most people think of there only being one kind of focus.

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Disrupt. Disruption. It seems this has now become the raison d’être for this generation’s startup scene. TechCrunch proudly uses the moniker to describe its two coastal events: Disrupt NY and Disrupt SF. It’s a brand that has now expanded to Europe and China. Quod erat demonstrandum.

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The U.S. Small Business Administration is investing in regional clusters throughout the US that span a variety of industries, ranging from energy and manufacturing to agriculture and advanced defense technologies.

Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, academic institutions, service providers and associated organizations with a specific industry focus. They provide high-value, targeted connecting of small and large businesses, including networking with potential industry partners abroad.

If it feels hot to you now in the dog days of this summer, imagine a time when summertime Boston starts feeling like Miami and even Montana sizzles. 

Thanks to climate change, that day is coming by the end of the century, making it harder to avoid simmering temperatures.

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Knewton isn’t an easy product to explain. Analyzing hordes of data, it adjusts lesson plans for students in real time across subjects, determines how they learn, and suggests the best way to help them. It’s one of those technology experiences that takes on something huge and makes it effortless as if by magic.

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Working at a startup isn’t like working at an established company. At Wharton Entrepreneurship, we know that one path into entrepreneurship is through spending time at a startup, and seeing what it’s really like at a new and growing company—from the inside. Interns at startups often have opportunities that they couldn’t dream of at an established company: there’s so much happening that a motivated intern can own a project and build it from scratch, all in a summer.

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Big data and the cloud have a profound impact on business operations in almost any industry today, allowing companies of all sizes to more effectively serve customers, perform risk-analyses and create new revenue streams.

In its recent CEO Survey and Technology Forecast, PricewaterhouseCoopers identified these tools, along with mobile and social apps, as transformative technologies that are not only impacting traditional businesses but creating new ones.

When Oakland, California-based entrepreneur Jenn Aubert looked at her bookshelf, she had lots of books on business and social media, but noticed all of them were written by men.

Seeking to supplement her library with books by women business owners, Aubert visited an online forum for women entrepreneurs and asked three questions. Who are you reading? Who are you following? Who are your role models? Many of the responses she received were marquee names of male leaders you’d expect: Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs.

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The creators of Hopscotch want to turn educational tech on its head by having kids teach computers, rather than the other way around. Hopscotch's mobile programming language encourages kids to develop interest in creating games--and eventually to become part of the much-needed future programming workforce.

We often find ourselves engaged with members of large organizations on questions of how to be more innovative and entrepreneurial. In virtually every case we hear something like this:

“I have an idea for a new product (or process, system, program, etc.). I’m not dead certain it can be pulled off, but if it could, it can have a significant impact on the business. It’s not within the day-to-day scope of my job and I certainly don’t want to put myself or the company at significant risk, but it would be a shame if I didn’t try to move the idea forward somehow.  How do I do this within a pretty traditional organization?”

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I spent a few enjoyable days last week on the campus of several Big Ten universities talking to many people about their entrepreneurship programs. More than once a reference was made to the old saw, “Startups are like a bacon and egg breakfast. The Chicken is involved, but the Pig is committed.” They said they were looking for passionate, committed entrepreneurs. In other words, pigs.

Your headshot is one of the most important elements of your LinkedIn profile. A good first impression encourages the viewer to read the rest of your profile. In fact, your profile is 14x more likely to be viewed simply by having a profile picture. As a professional photographer specializing in professional headshots and executive portraits, I’ve learned a few lessons along the way about how to create a strong LinkedIn profile picture. Here’s my advice:

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Entrepreneurs are often known for their sense of adventure. And what better way to run or expand your business than by seeking out opportunities in an up-and-coming, thriving metropolis that's miles from your home base?

Ten entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) shared their favorite international startup spots and outline some of the benefits of each, from the U.K. to South Africa.

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The rise of crowdfunding in the last three to five years as a source of capital has been remarkable. Tech startups and potential investors have had greater access to one another than ever before, and beyond the startup world, a broad array of projects have been able to successfully seek capital via crowdfunding.

In a groundbreaking study that looked at how diet, exercise and other non-drug interventions affect cognitive decline, researchers see some hope for relatively easy dementia-fighting strategies

WATCH Celine Dion's Response to the Week's Best Viral Video Is Incredible Eat More Gluten: This Fad Must Die! David Letterman Walks Out During Joan Rivers Interview by Taboola No one believes that a disease as complicated as Alzheimer’s can be warded off by an apple a day or by faithfully hitting the weight room. But a breakthrough study presented Sunday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference shows that after just two years, people who underwent lifestyle interventions showed improvements in their mental functions, including in memory, executive function and speed tests of their cognitive skills.

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A Portland, Oregon man has raised over $4 million in a Kickstarter campaign for a new and improved cooler.

Gunning for $50,000 when it first went live, the campaign has been funded over 80 times that amount in less than one week.

Cheekily called the Coolest, the product is like a regular cooler but with extra features tacked on, including Bluetooth speakers, a blender, a USB charger, LED lights and a bottle opener.

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That startups fail is a fact of startup ecosystems. Most entrepreneurial ventures, 75 per cent in fact, fail within two to five years, according to a 2006 study. Startups fail when their firm’s value fall below the opportunity cost of staying in business. However, joining a seed accelerator or business incubator improves these odds considerably. They create a space to network, learn and launch a business, though operating in different ways.

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The more efficiently you run your day-to-day business affairs, the more time you have for other important tasks. Chris Ridd, managing director of small business accounting software provider Xero, spoke to Mashable to offer some pointers.

Human beings are creatures of habit. This is equally true of our work lives as it is of our personal lives.

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