Over the past 150 years, at least one Russian czar and several American entrepreneurs have devised plans for linking the continents.  William Gilpin (1813-1893), first Governor of the Territory of Colorado, proposed a rail link as early as 1849. Gilpin’s Isothermal Axis Theory is still used in the study of geopolitics. The idea at that time was to link the rail networks of the Americas, Asia and Europe.
In the late 1890s, E.H. Harriman of the Union Pacific Railroad envisaged a similar concept. The Trans-Siberian Railroad had recently been completed (c. 1900; 1903). Harriman’s vision included an 800-mile rail corridor from Alaska’s Cook Inlet to Cape Prince of Wales, where a rail-ferry crossing was also planned. “The Harriman Plan” was shelved due to the advent of the Russo-Japan War of 1904-05.
In 1942, the Bering crossing was resurrected as the ‘Delano initiative’ to provide matèrial to the USA’s then allies – the Russians. A rail corridor was surveyed (not for the first time) by the Army Corps of Engineers all the way along the Rocky Mountains trench as far as the Bering Strait region.
An intermodal East-West trade corridor evolved in the interim. The rail networks of North America and Siberia are now effectively linked by the shipping lanes between Seattle and Vladivostock.
In 1992, The Interhemispheric Bering Strait Tunnel & Railroad Group (IBSTRG) was formed to revisit the notion of a fixed transport link across the strait.
Aevia — Consider the Source (Slideshow)

In the past year or so, there have been some important developments that have dramatically changed the startup landscape.
First, entrepreneurs involved with startups have grown more sophisticated, experienced and creative about how they start, operate and finance a new business.
These are people who have been earning their stripes and valuable experience working for startups without the benefit of growth capital. As a result, they have learned to be flexible and creative.
Just as important, they have a keen appreciation for how to squeeze as much as they can from every dollar they spend. It means that with even a small amount of financing, they can go a long way and get a lot done.
Second, there has been a healthy expansion in the amount of seed and startup capital available from venture capitalists and angels. Given how lean and mean startups can operate, investors can inject $250,000 to $500,000 into a startup to support major growth in the product or service plus sales and marketing activities.
Aevia — Consider the Source

The National Science Foundation wants to take researchers’ big ideas from the laboratory to marketplace through a new program called Innovation Corps.
The public-private partnership between NSF, the Kauffman Foundation, and the Deshpande Foundation will provide $50,000 grants to help scientists turn research into viable products, says NSF program manager Errol Arkilic. The grants are limited to researchers who have already been funded by NSF. They’re intended to support the projects for up to six months while the teams research how their technology could benefit society.
The program will use the curriculum of Stanford University’s Lean Launchpad, a class developed by serial tech entrepreneur Steve Blank to teach entrepreneurship to engineers, scientists, and other professionals. Blank will also be an I-Corps instructor. He says the main goal of his course is to get students out of their labs to see if what they have to offer is what a customer really needs.
Aevia — Consider the Source

Start with the basics
Questions that will guide your job search
• What am I good at?
• What do I really enjoy doing?
 
Define your skills
Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) tells a prospective employer why they would want to hire you. To define your UVP ask yourself:
• What are my core skill sets (i.e. team building, product development, closing sales…etc.)?
• How have I utilized these skills in the past?
• How transferable are these core skills?
• What value add can I bring to an employer?
 
Structure your Resume
A Resume is not a mere chronological list of jobs
• Your resume is not an autobiography.
• Make your resume relevant to the opportunity. Make it adaptable and modular to show how your core skills are appropriate for the role you seek.
• Build your resume using your career highlights while underscoring your core skills.
• Your resume is a ‘value proposition’ that demonstrates how you can add value to the employer.
• Seek out advice on your resume and be prepared to take criticism – your resume is a means to a desirable end.
• Never add anything in a resume that you are not prepared to demonstrate or elaborate on.
• Stick to the facts – not opinions.
• Include testimonials with your resume. This is particularly relevant for candidates who have come from a management environment where delivery was key.
 
Get the Interview
Your resume has but one purpose, to focus a prospective employer on your positive attributes. Approach each opportunity as though it were your first. Avoid the ‘negative spiral’ of a frustrated job seeker. This becomes increasingly important the longer the search goes on. Enhance your chances of obtaining your ideal role by staying focused on your abilities, their fit and their function within your prospective new role:
• What are your major career accomplishments?
• What were the ultimate ‘outcomes’
• How did you achieve these successes?
• Is the core activity replicable?
• What challenges did you overcome along the way?
• Which of your core skills were utilized?
Don’t forget to obtain testimonials and references to validate these achievements.
 
And finally
Listen to others. Always be prepared to take advice. Make yourself available for the best opportunities by being proactive and demonstrating tenacity.

“They wanted to be the absolute best that there was in their field. That was really a business decision, even though it may not seem that way to a group of teenage musicians.”

Authors George Cassidy and Richard Courtney believe the Fab Four followed a classic business model on their way to success. For example, Cassidy says, in any enterprise, you have to be careful about picking your business partners. That’s what young John Lennon and Paul McCartney did when they started a band in Liverpool.
“The period between 1964 and 1966, when they were all lined up together, when they were of a common mind and a common purpose, is when they did amazing things,” says Cassidy. “When they were touring the world and released two albums a year and they made several movies, they were just able to accomplish an incredible amount in a very short period of time, when they all were in sync.”
It was part of the work ethic the four members of the group grew up with.
In “Come Together: The Business Wisdom of the Beatles,” Courtney, an entrepreneur, and Cassidy, a business writer, focus on the Beatles’ persistence and creativity in achieving their goal.
Aevia — Consider the Source