Twitter’s stagnation: An example of the difficulties companies can face to stay relevant over time & continue to grow after initial success.

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-end-of-twitter?intcid=mod-most-popular

Some of the observations that “Financial Samurai” makes have questionable merit. (For example, he sings the praises of Singapore, which has a record of fairly serious restrictions of human rights.) In addition, simply speaking from the standpoint of entrepreneurial thinking, institutions, associations and organizations that are closer to the problems tend to be better at solving them than very large institutions or organizations, which cannot quickly pivot in response to errors, changing circumstances or new information.

That said, here you go:

http://www.financialsamurai.com/the-average-percent-of-income-donated-to-charity/comment-page-1/#comment-279057

Again, these data are from 2014, but it breaks down the $358B in some interesting ways! (There is also a link to a chart that shows charitable giving by state – although this dates back to IRS data from 2011.)

http://nccs.urban.org/nccs/statistics/Charitable-Giving-in-America-Some-Facts-and-Figures.cfm

This really is an under-promoted aspect of civic life in the United States. I have had conversations with colleagues in other countries who have told me that there is no – or very little – culture of “giving back.” It is huge here, and not enough people know about it.

http://givingusa.org/giving-usa-2015-press-release-giving-usa-americans-donated-an-estimated-358-38-billion-to-charity-in-2014-highest-total-in-reports-60-year-history/

An interesting article about CropMobster, a California based company, which leverages social media to spread the word about local food excess from any supplier, which in turn gets healthy good to those in need, helps local businesses recover costs, and prevent food waste (currently, 40% of food in the U.S. goes uneaten every year.)

Female Founders Guide to Kickstarting Your First Business

Cool article on obstacles facing female entrepreneurs.

Elon Musk Identifies the City That Will Lead the Way with Electric Cars

Interesting article on where he sees the greatest opportunity for electric cars. Surprising it wasn’t in the United States.

9 Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs

This is an interesting piece written by a high school entrepreneur who successfully pitched his startup to Mark Cuban.  In the article, the author/entrepreneur discusses how he approached Cuban and ultimately landed funding from the Mavericks’ owner.  Inc.ubator is a VC firm designed for entrepreneurs under the age of 30.  Please find the Forbes article and the website for Inc.ubator below.

http://fortune.com/2016/01/25/mark-cuban-venture-capital/

http://incubatorhs.com/

 

Interesting article on how open-source software is allowing startups to become involved with the driverless car innovation.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/startups-aim-to-get-a-piece-of-the-driverless-car-1453690985