Recently, there’s been an increase in the number of articles bashing MBAs joining startups. With the rising trend of MOOCs and accelerators (aka startup schools) I’d like to get in on the debate on why the product of business schools – MBAs- can coexist with its competition. As a recent MBA + Entrepreneur in Residence at the Accelerator, Startupbootcamp in Berlin, I can attest to the strengths an MBA, particularly from top schools, brings to the table.

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GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) officials announced a $1 million dollar prize for innovation in the emerging area of bioelectronics research. The prize will be awarded to the scientists who are first able to solve the challenge of creating a miniaturized, fully implantable device that can read, write, and block the body’s electrical signals to treat disease. It is hoped that finding a solution to this challenge will open and accelerate significant avenues of research in this field. The scientific challenge was developed and agreed by a group of approximately 150 leading scientists from around the world, brought together by GSK’S Bioelectronics R&D unit at a summit earlier this month in New York. Collectively, summit attendees agreed that if they create an implantable wireless device that can record, stimulate and block neural signals to a single organ, it will be a critical factor enabling the onward development of bioelectronic medicines as a future therapeutic reality.

Since 2006, Innovate ND has served over 450 entrepreneurs, startups, and early-stage ventures by providing a comprehensive educational program and coaching through entrepreneurial centers to help entrepreneurs build new ventures. The vision of Innovate ND is to grow a statewide entrepreneurial community/ecosystem that is supported by educational content, technical expertise and business resources to encourage, promote and support innovation.

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BlackBerry’s troubles are generally well-known by now, yet that doesn’t stop some for clinging on to their precious ‘Berry. You can literally see that on a CrackBerry forum where people post sightings of people — typically, famous but not always — with their beloved BlackBerry handset. The New York Times notes that these folks are a “dying, but not dead, breed” of smartphone user and suggests that for some, BlackBerry still retains some status as used by those who favor work as compared to users of iPhones and Android devices.

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Yep, the end of any year is hectic, crazy and disruptive but it’s also a key time to review, refine and refocus on our accomplishments, changes and how we dealt with our challenges. Ultimately, we should look mostly at the pluses, but be honest about the minuses and how they have held you back. There are always endless positive insights and lessons to be learned from them.

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I know entrepreneurs who have suffered from the dreaded premature execution syndrome often associated with the ready-fire-aim approach. Yet I believe that many more have benefited from this approach, especially in early startup stages. If your product is highly innovative, and speed to market is critical, you won’t get it right the first time anyway, no matter how cautiously you plan.

This has been a busy year for IPOs. In total, 222 companies went public in the U.S. in 2013, raising nearly $55 billion, which represents the most IPO activity since 2000, according to data from Renaissance Capital.

Twitter was perhaps the most hyped IPO of the year and one of the best performing to date. The social network raised $1.8 billion from its IPO in November and its stock has nearly tripled in less than two months. Other tech companies like Zulily, FireEye and Rocket Fuel are trading well above their IPO prices as well, though these were comparatively smaller IPOs.

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Russia’s National Association of Business Angels (NABA), Atom Partners, a Moscow-based investment consultancy and high-tech investor, and RVC, the state-owned fund of funds dedicated to innovation, have presented the results of their 2013 business angel investing study.

Tapping into a wide variety of open information sources, the partners found in their report that Russian business angel investors had put up $116.5 million for early-stage projects between January and November 2013 — a hefty 4.5-times increase from 2012.

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The age-old question of whether or not good entrepreneurs are born that way, or if such entrepreneurial skill sets can be learned continues to be a debated topic. Is it fair to say some people are just not born to be leaders? Or can you really build yourself a great founder? Let’s try tackling the answer to this question by defining which skill sets make for a good entrepreneur, and whether or not they can be taught.

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New mainstream gadgets came out in force this year, as Apple and its Android competitors flooded the market with new tablets and smartphones. We also got a glimpse of the next gadget battlefield: smartwatches. Samsung launched its Galaxy Gear wrist computer/communicator, which already faces competition in the form of Qualcomm’s Toq, the Sony SmartWatch 2 and several others. Apple hasn’t made any official announcement about its entry into the fray—whether they call it an iWatch or something similar—but we’re saving them a spot in 2014.

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Creative Korea 2013 is a convention launched in a move to bring together creative ideas, creative people, and creative venture businesses. It is based on the theory that knowledge-based capital, such as creative ideas, skills and technology generated by individuals and small businesses are a key driver for today’s fast-growing society. With the rise of social media platforms, such intangible assets are increasingly becoming a dominant force for building up a new era of Korean economy.

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Every small business knows that they need to utilize social media as part of their marketing plan. But in the process, they are making a lot of mistakes. Here are the most common social media mistakes and what to do about them:

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Recently I wrote the first post in a series on board meetings, entitled, “Why You’re Not Getting the Most out of Your Board,” which focused on the need to prepare properly, set good objectives and discuss mostly strategic topics.

Even if you follow this game plan meticulously your board meeting can be taken off course by well-intentioned board members who lead you down a rate hole.

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Many entrepreneurs I know have a side business, rather than a business they are running full time. The reality is that people have bills to pay and mouths to feed while they are waiting for the business to take off. In this episode of She Takes on the World TV I’m going to help you figure out your own plan of attack for building a side business (with full-time potential!) while keeping your day job.

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QUESTION: YOUR ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PLACE TO GET BUSINESS TECH ADVICE IN A PINCH? (E.G. QUORA, TWITTER, ETC.) WHY?

1. HOP ONTO HUBSPOT

“When I need to learn about business tech in a hurry, the first place that I always look is HubSpot. They have a very complete knowledge base on all things related to Internet marketing. Their white papers and case studies are especially helpful because they give real-life examples of how companies can use different strategies in conjunction to move closer to their organizational goals.”

- Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

To mark the end of the year, Stateline this week is republishing some of the most popular interactive features from 2013. From the impact of food stamp cuts to the shrinking number of school districts nationwide, these features resonated with readers and helped us illuminate state politics and policy in a creative way. We hope you enjoy these encore presentations.

Food Stamps About 47 million Americans get food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. See how SNAP cuts played out in your state.

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A map is like a blank canvas, onto which you can imprint almost any information you'd like. 2013 was a big year for redrawing the map of the U.S. or for layering new information on it so that we could better see how our geography and lives intertwine, for better or worse.

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I can’t begin to count how many minutes of my life I’ve lost to the videos below, and now, nice person that I am, I’m unloading them onto you. But you’ll thank me! Because these aren’t your run-of-the-mill, brain-deadening viral uploads from some dude in Romania who’s probably torturing his cat. They are the most intriguing, inspiring, impeccably designed videos we could find, covering everything from the history of typography to the discovery of a world-changing supermaterial. Here, the best videos of 2013:

For every startup that made headlines with impressive funding announcements in 2013, many more faded into obscurity because they failed to attract the capital necessary to bring their ideas to market. The truth is most startups make a lot of mistakes prior to and during investor meetings, which leaves even the best ideas grounded because of financial limitations. Moving into the New Year, it's critical that early stage companies take an honest look at what failed to work in 2013. This will help founders avoid the same mistakes when seeking funding to grow their ventures in 2014....

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There is a great scene in Godfather 2 where Kay (Diane Keaton) complains to husband Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) about his unfulfilled promise to make his business fully legit and quit being a mafioso. Michael responds that he is still working on it, reassuring Kay emphatically: “I’ll change, I’ll change — I’ve learned that I have the strength to change.”

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