Times of Entrepreneurship Stories


Will Cells and Robots Be Pittsburgh’s New Coke And Steel?

There are signs that Pittsburgh (like other old manufacturing cities) could emerge as a center of new, cutting-edge manufacturing, which includes robotics and biotechnology. Until lately, this has seemed more of a pipe-dream than a reality, but developments at the national level and the developments on the ground at places like Hazelwood Green are giving the pipe dream a concrete shape.

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How A Black Founder Turning Pitching into a Winner’s Game

Jim Gibbs, co-founder of PIttsburgh-based Meter Feeder, started to ask himself why he was begging venture capitalists, when he was the one making them money.

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What You May Have Missed

Cybersecurity Best Practices for Small Business

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has compiled an objective list in an environment where small businesses should be careful not to be oversold on what they need.

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Cybersecurity for Small Business is Booming, but Are You Getting Ripped Off?

With scant data about the risks in the sector, most cyber security companies market via fear. This article will give you a sense of the rapidly evolving market. One bit of relief: Price increases for cyber insurance are expected to slow.

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News With A Future Spin

Yikes. “Two expeditions to the Thwaites Ice Shelf (in Antartica) have revealed that it could splinter apart in less than a decade, hastening sea-level rise worldwide.” We’re not talking small numbers here. Sea levels could rise between two and 10 feet. Read the story here.

COP in the Headlines. More than 30,000 people are registered to attend the global climate conference, according to Quartz. The agenda may include how to distribute funding, with wealthier countries paying more to compensate less developed countries for damage done to the climate. A story Times of E published early in the pandemic reveals one of the big obstacles to progress is changing government regulations that scare investors off. The Egyptian regime has been a horrible human rights offender; British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, in prison for protesting the government, el-Fattah is using COP to win attention for prisoners; he said he will stop drinking water unless he is freed.

Does It Make Sense To Invest in Stocks? Burt Malkiel, the author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, offers some worst-case guidance on the Wealthfront blog in a piece also published in The Wall Street Journal. Everybody’s big fear is stagflation and a stock market that merely bumps along. The right tactic for that environment, Malkiel says, is dollar-cost averaging: Invest small amounts over time. Read the piece here.

Living the dream

Buzzworthy: Behind the Backlash Against China
One of the hidden drivers of the current anti-China backlash is a growing awareness of the enormous wave of Chinese industrial espionage that U.S. companies have been facing. Ben Buchanan’s book The Hacker and the State, includes a wealth of detail. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 4, apropos to this week’s story about Pittsburgh:

Some of the targeted firms did large amounts of business in China, including deals announced with great fanfare. For example, on July 24, 2007, the CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company entered China’s Great Hall of the People in Beijing ready to sign a multibillion-dollar agreement committing his company to a deal with Chinese state-owned enterprises. At the time, Westinghouse was the world’s leading nuclear power firm, responsible for half the globe’s nuclear power plants. Its AP1000 nuclear reactor was a wellknown model that the company had spent fifteen years designing; in China, Westinghouse would build four of them. The two sides had negotiated for more than two years and the July agreement represented a significant milestone: while some provisions would be left for later discussion, the major parts of the deal were done. But even as the partnership unfolded, APT1 (Editor’s Note: a state-backed hacker group) began hacking the company. On numerous occasions, they targeted Westinghouse’s computers and servers. Among other things, they stole information on the design and construction of the AP1000 nuclear plant, sparing the Chinese company the effort of doing its own research and development.

Best Practices: A Model Approach to Layoffs
Stripe’s policies as it lays off 14% of its work force are a model in doing a layoff right, if you have to do it. Fourteen weeks of severance pay and six months of healthcare are two of the benefits. Read the CEO’s letter here.

Rathskellar

A Time-Saving Hack
Switch to Gmail. Users of Google’s email service have five times fewer hacks than other email providers, according to Rotem Iram, CEO of cyber insurance company At-Bay. At-Bay insures 25,000 mid-market companies. At-Bay is working on a ranked list of email providers, based on how secure they are according to its claims experience. Switching will cost you time now, but save you major time if you avoid a hack.Follow the two-minute rule If you can do a task in under two minutes, like sending an email, do it now.

Made in America: For beach lovers, long-lasting Atlantic Soaps are made with locally sourced seawater in Cape Cod, Mass. Atlantic Soap founder Caroline Laye went through the Entrepreneurship for All program for women and people of color. Buy the soap here.

Upcoming Opportunities ⭐

To list an opportunity in our newsletter that reaches 13,000 influencers and entrepreneurs, email emacbride@timesofe.com. We charge $200 per listing.

Link: https://bit.ly/TimesofEOpportunities

1. Imagination Machine Mentorships
Founders in Europe are eligible for Imagination Machine’s support, which includes up to 500,000 Euros and remote mentoring. The organization is focused on creating do-good entrepreneurs.
Deadline: Nov. 22

2. A Course To Reach the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
In this free course developed by entrepreneurship professor John Lynn, professors and other entrepreneurship educators get a curriculum and supporting materials based on the influential book, The New Builders.

Date: N/A
Location: N/A
Link: https://bit.ly/3dE6rZh


3. Nestle Youth Accelerator

Nestle launched its platform for youth entrepreneurs, including an R&D accelerator. An open challenge for science-based startups is currently accepting applicants and will be for the news four months or so. The platform is here. Info about the acclerator at the link below.
Deadline to apply: December

 

4. Pipeline Fellowship

Applications are open for the Midwest’s prestigious Pipeline Fellowship, a year-long program that often leads to funding for entrepreneurs (and focuses on under-served founders).
Deadline to apply: Nov. 16
Location: Kansas City

 

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This story and others on New Builders Dispatch are made possible by a sponsorship from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that provides access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity – regardless of race, gender, or geography. The Kansas City, Mo.-based foundation uses its grantmaking, research, programs, and initiatives to support the start and growth of new businesses, a more prepared workforce, and stronger communities. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect with www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.