One major hurdle that many entrepreneurs face is the fear of failure. Will my product sell? Will I be able to pay my investors? Will I be a good leader? If you are an entrepreneur, I’m sure these are just a few of the many questions that have come to mind while running your business.

That fear of failure is often what makes aspiring young entrepreneurs head back to their warm and cozy corporate jobs. So, how do we push past this fear?

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Five years ago, Dr. Ivan Castro of Winter Park was miserable with the way medicine was going.

"I was constantly running behind to see the next patient and had to focus more on paperwork than on patient care," recalls Castro, 52.

That year, Castro changed his practice to the concierge model: Patients pay a retainer fee to their primary doctor -- usually $100 to $200 a month -- in exchange for round-the-clock access, quick appointments and more attention.

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Following a growing trend over the past few years, the IIMs have been seeing a few graduates opt out of the placement rat race. They chose, instead, to set out on their own, diving into the sea of destiny with their own start-ups and innovative business ideas.

From the IIM-Indore graduate who is setting up a manufacturing unit to make and sell sanitary napkins made specifically for the rural population to the IIM-Bangalore graduates who started a trading and investment strategies firm, they are blazing new trails, and are among a growing population of students who are taking the entrepreneurship route straight out of their management courses.

Image: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com - YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS (from left) Shalin Jain, Saloni Malhotra and Yogendra Vasupal during an interaction in Chennai 

With an economy based on knowledge workers, estimates suggest that a full 50% of professionals in the United States have jobs that can be performed from home. In fact, according to the most recent Census findings, the number of people who work out of their houses increased from 9.5 million in 1999 to 13.4 million in 2010, indicating that many more companies are now offering remote jobs.

To determine which companies are likely hiring telecommuters in 2014, FlexJobs, the leading site for job searchers seeking ideal work-life balance, has named the top 100 companies that allow or encourage employees to work from home.

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Do you want job security? Become a wedding planner.

That's the advice from Glassdoor, the jobs and career community site. Automation may claim as many as 47% of current jobs by 2033, according to a recent Oxford University study. If you're planning a career that spans beyond the next decade, you may want to strike the following off the list. Why?

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What is the most important quality of an entrepreneur? Many would argue it is passion — an overwhelming love of what one is doing, and the drive and determination to see one's dreams realized. Others might say leadership — the ability to bring a team of people together and guide them toward a common goal. But some believe that creativity — a boundless imagination that is constantly innovating and seeing the world through a different lens — is the ultimate key to business success.

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About a year and a half ago, we got accepted to the Elevator accelerator program in Tel Aviv, Israel. At the time, we started working on a product called Summer, a browser extension which lets you get more information about people you read about online (think of it as “Rapportive” for the entire Web).

We had built an impressive technology and a really cool product in less than three months, and we tried keeping it “lean” in every way we could. Our team of four wore all the hats, did things our own ways, and we loved the freedom.

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From the first day at the Gener8tor accelerator in Madison, Wis., we have been pitching our fashion tech startup nonstop to mentors, investors and entrepreneurs in preparation to raise money for our seed round of funding.

Now, as we attend a New York City trade show, hoping to interact with brands we will carry when we officially launch later this year, I can’t help but notice the similarity between the accelerator conversations and those with wholesalers at trade shows.

The Bangles may have sung of “Manic Mondays,” but Tuesday is really the day when stuff gets done.

According to a recent survey by the staffing company Accountemps on employee productivity, 39% of HR managers said that Tuesday was generally the best day for their employees. That beat Monday (24%), Wednesday (14%) and Thursdays and Fridays (a paltry 3% apiece).

When computers were just for nerds and large corporations, Silicon Valley’s elite could get away with arrogance, insularity and sexism. They were building products for people that looked just like them.  The child geniuses inspired so much awe that their frat-boy behavior was a topic of amusement. Now technology is everywhere.  It is being used by everyone. Grandma downloads apps and communicates with junior over Facebook. Women are dominating social media and African Americans are becoming Twitter’s fastest-growing demographic group.

Image: A storm is brewing over Silicon Valley. The world expects better behavior from its tech titans. (Jeff Chiu/AP) 

Since the 1950s, the United States and the West have set the standards for prosperity, productivity and innovation. But the share of Asia in global R&D is climbing; and based on recent statistics,the region could soon displace the West as the global R&D driver.

China is no longer the factory of the world Photo Credit: Dmitry Kalinovsky / Shutterstock.com

Global innovation is shifting toward Asia and China – faster than anticipated. 

Image: China is no longer the factory of the world Photo Credit: Dmitry Kalinovsky / Shutterstock.com 

Xavier Damman, founder of the successful online storytelling tool Storify, tried to launch his start-up in Europe, but moved to the United States to get it off the ground. “Could I have developed Storify here? No. Europe shouldn’t try to compete, but it can try to complete,” he told EurActiv in an interview.

Image: http://www.euractiv.com -Xavier Damman - Founder Storify 

Two years ago, I joined a startup. I was the first employee, actually. To be honest I had absolutely no clue what to expect and even less of a clue as to what I was doing. The truth is, joining a startup kind of feels like joining a crazed gang. You aren’t entirely sure what’s going to happen next and how you’re going to pull off the job you just pitched, but gosh darnit, there is so much excitement.

There is something really special about a startup family, but just like all families, it has its ups and downs. I’ve learned some important lessons over the last two years — a few things that I think people should know about before leaving their comfortable jobs to live the startup life, and a few things that might encourage others to take the leap.

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Investing in activities that support the creation and expansion of high-growth companies and jobs is at the forefront of technology-based economic development (TBED). TBED fosters a climate where new and existing companies that develop technology and continuously innovate will thrive. Understanding the trends that are affecting and influencing TBED can help guide investment priorities for practitioners and policymakers across the nation.

A slow yet stable national economic recovery gave rise to many new initiatives across states and regions with a shift toward targeted and refined investments in the high-tech economy for quicker returns – a continued trend from 2012.

The audience grows giddy with anticipation in a brightly lit studio at Rockefeller Center. They’ve come to see Dr. Oz, the Emmy-winning surgeon, work his magic for the camera. Before taping begins, the show’s resident comedian, Richie Byrne, takes the stage. He rattles off G-rated jokes for 20 minutes, bantering easily with the audience.

Then he shifts the focus--literally.

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Skilled managers have never been more critical to the success of firms than they are today.  Not because employees can’t function without direction, but because managers play a vital role in talent management. Gone are the comprehensive career management systems and expectations of long-term employment that once functioned as the glue in the employer-employee contract.  In their place, the manager-employee dyad is the new building block of learning and development in firms.

Good managers attract candidates, drive performance, engagement and retention, and play a key role in maximizing employees’ contribution to the firm. Poor managers, by contrast, are a drag on all of the above.  They cost your firm a ton of money in turnover costs and missed opportunities for employee contribution, and they do more damage than you realize.

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A few years ago Dave Ulrich, a management thought leader from the University of Michigan, made a comment I found both insightful and profound: “Every leader needs to have a model of organization design.” Typically a graphic depiction of the organizational components to be addressed in a redesign (for example, McKinsey’s 7S model, which includes strategy, structure, systems, staff, skills, and so on), every consultant and his brother flogs an organization design model. Dave didn’t advocate any particular design model, just one the leader knows how to employ and one flexible enough to be applied to the range of organizational situations a leader faces in the course of a career.

Crowdfunding helps you realize your dream and make it come to life. Crowdfunding has proved to be very advantageous.

Money does matter

Lack of money becomes a hurdle in the way of many talented people. Crowdfunding helps you cross that hurdle and fulfill your dream. In a time where there is cut throat competition and access to resources is difficult crowdfunding helps you get access to those resources.

First medical invention from Jammu and Kashmir.

Srinagar: Jammu Kashmir Innovators Forum (JKIF) is making a device that would measure glucose from the skin without taking any blood sample.

Jammu & Kashmir Innovators Forum, sole Forum from the state, which works for inventions, researches and innovations Saturday announced that it is testing a prototype of a device that would help the people with diabetes to manage this disease.

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Organisations large and small should make the most of each others’ strengths

With a renewed government focus on increasing the UK’s data capability, it has never been more vital for the different skillsets in the digital sector to pull together. Neil Crockett, CEO of the Connected Digital Economy Catapult, a national centre that aims to rapidly advance UK digital ideas to market, discusses why collaboration is the key to success.

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