Why Investor Diversity Is Key To Your Startup’s Success

Editor’s note: Eileen Carey is the CEO of Glassbreakers, a software company building inclusion technology.

It’s common advice that founders must choose their investors carefully. Capital aside, the point of onboarding investors is to leverage their expertise, network, and enthusiasm.

Taking investments from angel investors or venture capital funds creates a mutually beneficial partnership. It’s important to understand that these people are a part of your team. Since your investors will reap some of the financial rewards of your startup’s success, they should also be people you are excited to share your success with.

As a founder, you are not only responsible for job creation, but wealth creation. That means every founder has the opportunity to create a more equal, diverse representation of people who can deploy capital in the tech industry. To that point, for startups, having a diverse network of investors across geographic location, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, professional experience, industry and portfolio focus is an enormous competitive advantage.

Two reasons companies fail — and how to avoid them

Is it possible to run a company and reinvent it at the same time? For business strategist Knut Haanaes, the ability to innovate after becoming successful is the mark of a great organization. He shares insights on how to strike a balance between perfecting what we already know and exploring totally new ideas — and lays out how to avoid two major strategy traps.

15+ Ways of Teaching Every Student to Code (Even Without a Computer)

According to Code.org, 90 percent of U.S. schools are not teaching any computer science. Eyebrows were raised in 2013 as the U.K. passed a plan to educate every child how to code. In 2014, Barack Obama made history as the first U.S. president to program a computer. Yet critics claim that often only the more affluent schools offer computer science courses, thus denying minorities potential to learn the skills required by the 1.4 million new jobs that will be created during the next ten years.

In my opinion, parents of every student in every school at every level should demand that all students be taught how to code. They don't need this skill because they'll all go into it as a career -- that isn't realistic -- but because it impacts every career in the 21st century world. Any country recognizing that will benefit in the long term. Here's how you can start.

With the following resources, you can teach programming with every student and every age.

Apps and Tools to Teach Coding All Year Round

What happens when tech companies hit middle age?

As Apple turns 40, the company can celebrate its many successes, from the iPad to the MacBook. But it isn’t the only Silicon Valley giant reaching middle age – the question is, will these firms continue to be as exciting and innovative as ever, or opt for a safer, more comfortable existence?


Born on 1 April 1976, Apple’s birthday represents a remarkable milestone for a tech company operating in a highly competitive industry. "Tech" and "start-up" are almost synonymous, and as we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution, technology firms are at the forefront of the rapid change society is undergoing.


Just days after Apple hits 40, Microsoft is turning 41, and even Google and Amazon are ready to fly the nest at 17 and 21.

Can Apple stay ahead of the curve?

25 Inspirational Startup Quotes

Whether you need motivation to transform that idea of yours into a functioning business or just need a little boost when you're down in the dumps, it's never a bad idea to seek wisdom from bright and successful minds who've experienced it all before. Fortunately, from Steve Jobs to Thomas Edison to Richard Branson, there's no shortage of sources to turn to when you need it most.

So if you're looking for serious inspiration to combat the daily struggles of startup life, here are 25 uplifting quotes to get you through.

1. "Diligence is the mother of good luck."--Benjamin Franklin

2. "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." --Steve Jobs, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apple

3. "Whether you think you can, or think you can't--you're right."--Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company

4. "Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you."--Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos

Drone Startup Airware Raises $30 Million, Adds Cisco's John Chambers To Board

Ryan Mac ,FORBES STAFF
Staff writer covering technology and e-commerce

Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration projected in a report that 7 million drones will be sold annually in the U.S. within four years. Some 4.3 million, the FAA forecasted, will be bought and flown by consumer hobbyists, while 2.7 million flying robots will be purchase for commercial purposes and operated by a variety of businesses.

Airware, a San Francisco-based startup developing an operating system for drones, is hoping that it will power a good chunk of those commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). On Thursday, the company announced it had raised $30 million in venture capital in a round led by Next World Capital. That investment also included previous investors like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Andreessen Horowitz as well as Cisco Systems CSCO -0.44% Executive Chairman and former CEO John Chambers, who joined Airware’s board.

Big data y datos abiertos al desarrollo

Por Pablo Valenti, Especialista en Modernización del Estado y Estrategias Digitales del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID)

Como resultado de la convocatoria de artículos de investigación que hizo el BID el pasado noviembre a través de su Laboratorio de ideas, GobAPP se presentaron más de 125 trabajos de 18 países de América Latina y el Caribe.

Tal como te comentamos en este blogpost, el objetivo del llamado fue promover la discusión sobre cómo los Datos Abiertos y el “Big Data” pueden mejorar vidas y convertirse en una oportunidad para responder a los retos del desarrollo en la región.

A continuación, te contamos sobre los tres trabajos ganadores que más aportaron en la discusión.