Why the voice of Africa’s informal economy should be heard

Brief article, which describes the opportunity that Africa holds for entrepreneurs. The informal economy provides new and innovative chances for businesses to expand their ideas and technology to a continent looking for growth. Moreover, the author argues that Africa is better equipped to handle growing businesses and this informal economy allows women more career chances.

http://www.wired.com/2016/02/lawyers-fear-that-tech-will-make-their-jobs-too-easy/

Even though they “hate” us, they still need us.

Why Your New Business Needs a Lawyer Yesterday

 

Competition between companies in the “non-traditional business loan” sector is likely going to benefit entrepreneurs looking for financing.  Any concerns?  What kind of interest rates are being charged?  It varies.  Regardless, it’s hard to argue (from an entrepreneur’s perspective) that having alternatives when it comes to borrowing is not great for business.  This, along with peer-to-peer lending, just might be the future of the banking industry.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-08-19/square-wants-to-compete-with-small-business-lenders

 

Quick discussion from the Legal Talk Network on applying lean startup thinking to a law firm setting. While geared for small law firms, much of the advice is applicable in larger settings as well, particularly in how to best qualify client responses into tangible, workable data. The first ten minutes are a primer on lean startup principles, and can be skipped by those already familiar. Afterwards, the discussion really gets going, particularly the bits about how lean startup principles might be applicable for e-discovery or how concepts like the minimum viable product may be conflict with the legal profession’s ethical standards.

The Un-Billable Hour: Applying Lean Startup Principles to a Law Firm

Unlike majority of the articles I have read that explain the extreme differences between lawyers and entrepreneurs, this one actually claims that most lawyers are entrepreneurs and always have been!

http://abovethelaw.com/2015/05/stop-saying-lawyers-need-to-become-entrepreneurs/

 

 

Interesting article about something I didn’t know existed.

Dozens Of U.S. Startups Have Listed On Canada’s Junior Stock Exchange

 

There is a dark side to the personalities closely associated with entrepreneurial success, and it contains depression and even suicide.

Very sad story about the founder of Cambrian Genomics.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/10/technology/silicon-valley-depression-austen-heinz/index.html

Interesting article that discusses some of the implications of the trend towards a more on-demand work environment.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/02/can-the-growing-gig-economy-reboot-welfare.html

To continue with our discussion from class today, this blog post takes a critical look at foreign in Africa as told by an African. The author argues that there are so many cultural issues that we have to take into account and things that westerners just don’t understand that as a result complicates aid. Moreover, the blog post goes into detail about the recent influx of Chinese aid in Africa and why this author believes that this aid is not the answer to the problems affecting the continent. She argues that African innovation can lead to growth in education, healthcare, infrastructure and capital which will then lead to economic growth.

http://www.theangryafrican.com/the-chinese