Breakpoint Book

Jeff Stibel to Receive Honorary Degree From Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business

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Congratulations are in order for Jeff Stibel, currently serving as the Vice Chairman of Dun & Bradstreet, who will be receiving an honorary Doctorate of Business degree from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management.

The honorary degree is well deserved after the many accomplishments and partnerships between Stibel, Dun & Bradstreet and Pepperdine. Stibel lead the creation of the innovative Entrepreneurial Vision Partnership, a collaboration between Dun & Bradstreet and Pepperdine University, that “conducts economic research and develops specialized curriculum focusing on the needs and success metrics of entrepreneurs in the 21st century economy.” The partnership not only creates resources for teaching opportunities, but also provides immersion opportunities for Graziadio students, including paid internships in Dun & Bradstreet’s corporate programs.

In recognition of Stibel’s business achievements and work with the Graziadio School, he will be awarded the honorary degree at the 2015 graduation ceremony on December 5, where he will also give the commencement address.

Read the full press release.

Photo Credit: Nazareth College, Flickr

In Line With Jeff Stibel’s Prediction, Unemployment is Nearing Five Percent

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In his new LinkedIn post, Jeff Stibel explains how thanks to small business hiring, the U.S. unemployment rate is approaching 5 percent, as he predicted a year ago that it would. In addition, according to recent survey findings from the Pepperdine Private Capital Access Index from Dun & Bradstreet and Pepperdine University, 63 percent of businesses surveyed nationwide are planning to hire in the next six months. Read more of Stibel’s thoughts on small business hiring and the unemployment rate on LinkedIn.

Keep up with Jeff Stibel News in this Round-Up of Recent Articles

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Jeff Stibel has certainly been busy this past month! Here’s a round-up of all the great content he’s published or been featured in recently, from LinkedIn to CNBC to Harvard Business Review and more:

7 Steps to Effective Communication

Jeff explains why communicating well is crucial to success in this LinkedIn post. Follow his 7 steps to effective communication because “with good communication skills, you can do virtually anything.”

Why the Falling U.S. Unemployment Rate Matters

The unemployment rate is down to 5.8%, which is the lowest it’s been since 2008, and Jeff predicted the rate will drop to 5% by July 2015. He explains why the falling rate is not only important but also positive in this Harvard Business Review article.

LinkedIn Series: A Profile in Failure

Read about some of the most successful people’s early failures (like Richard Branson spending a night in jail) and how they learned from them in Jeff’s LinkedIn series.

Main Street Businesses Aren’t Cheering Low Interest Rates

Jeff weighs in on why small businesses are turning to alternative loans with higher interest rates in this CNBC article. Fear of being denied a loan drives business to seek funding that they know they can obtain, even if it’s borrowed at a higher rate.

Corporate Creativity: Managing your Marketing Team (and Career) to Balance Innovation and Execution

The corporate culture at Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. was carefully thought out by CEO Jeff Stibel. If you haven’t read this MarketingSherpa blog post and learned about the failure wall Jeff created to encourage corporate creativity, you’re seriously missing out.

Small Business Owners Would Hire More Employees if the Economy Improved

A Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. and Pepperdine Private Capital Access Index quarterly report showed that 50% of small business owners would hire more employees if the current business environment changed and there were more loans available. Read Jeff’s explanation of why small businesses are dissatisfied in this article on MainStreet.

Will Wearables Improve Your Job Performance Or Get You Fired?

Jeff talks wearable technology in the office and whether or not it will help or hurt employees in this LinkedIn article.

Photo Credit: Keith Williamson, Flickr

 

Surviving Your Company’s Breakpoint

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We all like to reminisce on our young, glory days so let me take you back to junior year in high school:

You probably have some “totally rad”  hair style like a mullet or a rat-tail or the let-me-just-spray-this-full-can-of-hair-spray-in-my-hair-look.  You’re probably known by the ladies for having the best extreme-sprinkler at parties.  You were probably about to take the SAT. Remember the SAT? They had all of those tricky questions that gave a completely inaccurate depiction of your knowledge? Here’s one to make you feel young again:

If all businesses depend on networks and all networks inevitably hit a breakpoint, do all businesses hit a breakpoint?

A) Yes

B) No

Correct answer: A. All businesses hit a breakpoint. No network is invincible. No, not even yours. But fear not! Your breakpoint is not an ultimatum, there are ways to survive your company’s breakpoint.

 

Once a company hits it’s breakpoint (the point in which it fully saturates it’s network and exceeds it’s carrying capacity) it can either collapse or recover. Your breakpoint can be hugely enlightening for your business and you can gain crucial intelligence and stabilize. To learn how you can survive  your company’s breakpoint, get your copy of Breakpoint today! 

 

CC photo credit: Amorette Dve

 

 

Seagulls Get ‘Drunk’ on Flying Ants

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Recycling is good for the environment as well as the brain

With incurable diseases such as Huntington’s, Scientists have now realized that the rates of proteostasis may be the clue in figuring out why certain nerve cells die. Proteostasis is the biological machinery dominating the environmental movements of the cell. By studying this, scientists learn that recycling in cells helps the brain.

A study using rat cells indicates that quickly clearing out defective proteins in the brain may prevent loss of brain cells.

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Seagulls Get ‘Drunk’ on Flying Ants

There have been multiple sightings of inebriated seagulls in southwest England. Known as “anting”, these birds flail around acting, as some say, like drunk birds. And unlike alcohol making humans drunk, can you guess what animal causes seagulls to act drunk?

Seagulls in southwest England are getting ‘drunk’ off the formic acid in the bodies of flying ants, creating a nuisance of themselves.

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Google Now Serves 25 Percent of North American Internet Traffic

With a jump from 6% to 25% persuasion is key in Google’s huge leap forward in taking over the North American internet traffic. To handle this amount of growth google is expanding like crazy and now has data centers on four different continents.

Everyone knows Google is big. But the truth is that it’s huge. On an average day, Google accounts for about 25 percent of all consumer internet traffic running through North American ISPs. That’s a far larger slice of than previously thought, and it means that with so many consumer devices connecting to Google each day, it’s bigger than Facebook, Netflix, and Instagram combined.

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How Microsoft SkyDrive Is Making Cloud Storage Less Painful

With people’s data needs increasing by 50% every year, and the capacity of device capacity only increasing by 25% there is a clear issue confronting the amount of data storage a person can have. That is why Microsoft has fallen in love with the idea of Cloud Storage. Through the Microsoft SkyDrive they make cloud storage a lot easier for anyone to use to the cloud.


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One Day to Go! Read the Reviews Before the Release – Updated

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UPDATE: The book is now available on Amazon!  We are thrilled about the thoughtful and positive reviews we have already received.

Screen shot 2013-07-23 at 11.11.19 AM

Just last night, Elaine Pofeldt from Forbes praised “Many of us instinctively know that bigger isn’t better…Breakpoint offers some interesting insights into the natural forces behind this, and how entrepreneurs can respond, while still building their businesses to an ideal size.”

The book finally launches tomorrow! We are beyond excited for the book to be widely available for everyone to read and enjoy.  Get prepared for the big official launch with these wonderful reviews:

Kirkus Logo

Kirkus Reviews enthusiastically proclaimed that the book “offers a provocative view on the future of the Internet” and eloquently expressed the quality of Jeff Stibel’s writing in two words, “Lucid and authoritative.”

Booklist Online Logo

Mary Whaley from the Booklist Online  kindly and earnestly declared Breakpoint “a fascinating book with important ideas for a wide range of library patrons.”

Be sure to keep checking the “Reviews” section of our site for updates!

 

Gold at the end of the Brainbow

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Video: Keep your kid’s brain active this summer

It’s summer time and to a kid just out of school, it’s fun time. The last thing a kid wants to think about is school, books, teachers or projects. So how do you keep their brains sprightly throughout their exciting summer? Here’s a video with a few tips and ideas in keeping your child’s brain up and running throughout their summer vacation.

Middle school teacher Jessica Lahey and psychologist Jennifer Hartstein discuss the “summer slide”: kids losing months of learning over the summer. They share tips and book suggestions to get your kids reading this summer so they’ll do better when they return to school. (TODAY)

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How the Rest of Us Can Build the Internet of Things

The amount of “things” connected through the internet remains endless and that’s where Ayla Networks sees the greatest opportunity. Ayla plans to connect “things” in as many ways possible in order to make “things” as simple as possible for it’s customers. See what Ayla Networks has already done and what they plan on doing in the future.

THE INTERNET OF THINGS Ayla The Internet of Things seems like a slam dunk if your perspective comes from roaming the halls of Google, Apple, Qualcomm or upstarts like Nest. Simply connect that “thing” to an Android or iPhone app and make it do what you want with a tap on a touchscreen.

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Gold at the end of the Brainbow

15 neuroscientists have been given the task to map out every brain circuit. Difficult? Obviously, yes. Now add a 10 year time limit. See what these neuroscientists have to say about the challenge given to them by President Obama, and how difficult, yet interesting this assignment proves to be.

Imagine opening a computer and finding that the manufacturer hasn’t bothered to provide multicoloured wires in the tangle of cords. Now multiply that tangle of grey wires by 100m, unplug the power …

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Traumatic Brain Injury May Raise Stroke Risk

New studies show that in the future, traumatic brain injuries may add an extra risk of stroke. After undergoing a traumatic brain injury, compared to those who just go through a trauma, people gain an extra 30% chance of experiencing a stroke.

Experiencing a traumatic brain injury could raise your risk of having a stroke in the future, a new study suggests. Researchers from the University of…

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Mobile Web Problems and How to Avoid Them

At some point everyone runs into a web design problem or two. Here’s a full list of different problems one may endure and why it’s a bigger problem then you think. So learn a little! See what mistakes others have made before you, learn from them, and save yourself the hassle of fixing them in the future.

Lessons learned from two years of collecting screenshots of poor experiences on mobile websites. Direct Link to Article – Permalink Mobile Web Problems and How to Avoid Them is a post from CSS-Tricks

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Are “Cheap” Carbs Really Like Drugs To Your Brain?

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As global warming heats waterways, brain-eating amoebas thrive in US lakes

Beware of the “brain-eating amoebas” that roam in lakes throughout the US! Sounds scary, huh? These amoebas, commonly known as PAM, enter through your nasal passage and right into your brain. There it multiples and eventually kills about 3-8 people a year. Now it’s spreading further North in the US and researchers are beginning to worry. There’s no cure for this infestation of the brain, and it’s extremely hard to even diagnose. See where these amoebas are and were about they’re spreading to.

It’s a fatal infection without an effective treatment, and one that strikes in a decidedly gruesome manner: An amoebic organism lurking in water is inadvertently inhaled during a swim on a hot …

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Babies Recognize Each Other’s Moods, Study Says

Looks like the show Rugrats was not just another fun kids show, but a portrayal of the scientific truth. Babies, starting at around 5 months, can communicate with other babies better than some adult could. They sense each others emotions and feelings, infants can understand what is going on. Here’s the study scientists conducted in order to find out the what’s going on. These little rugrats know more than we think. [Read more…]

Not Just Ants, Thieves Too Target Circuit Wires

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Grand Prix for Good: Ants March With Leaf Billboards in BBDO’s WWF Stunt

Ants that make a statement. Yes, you read that right, leaf-cutter ants are now activists for themselves and for the World Wildlife Fund. Ants protested with leaves reading “Help now!”, “Save Trees” and many other phrases supporting the environment. Look here for the awards won and a video showing the protest itself.

CANNES, France-One of the biggest cheers at Saturday’s award ceremony here at Cannes Lions was reserved for the Grand Prix for Good winner, which amusingly and ingeniously harnessed the power of …

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Can conservation biology save the planet’s biodiversity?

A new, innovative though coming from wildlife perservers and nature lovers is that wildlife needs room to grow and expand. It simply cannot be constrained to isolated parks throughout the world if it is expected to completely flourish. Different people share their views of what wildlife should look like, their experiences in wildlife, and some of the bumps along the road.

A new school of thought argues that wildlife needs land to roam — and that preserving isolated parks isn’t enough

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Not just ants, thieves too target circuit wires

Now we’ve all heard of the “Twanny Crazy Ants” by now, but in case you have not, they are ants that will destroy your technology. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) have contracted a number of complaints about missing copper and auxiliary foils from signal boxes. 5 culprits have been detained and arrested for such actions.

RPF nabs a gang of thieves that would rip off copper and aluminium foils from circuits at railway signals and sell them to scrap dealers, causing disruptions in train services

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Google Ventures and its investing tactics a new formula for venture capital business

A short synopsis of how Google approaches venture capital for business. Instead of taking it as an art form, Googles look at if from a science. The key is to collect data, organize and finally study the information, only the will money begin to emanate.

Here is how the venture capital game used to be played around here:

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Are fungus-farming ants the key to better biofuel?

With climate change and global warming everyone is constantly trying find new ways to fuel our society’s needs. Although ants are not everyone’s favorites, fungus-farming ants may be the next answer in creating biofuel to keep society going. The chemical enzymes used by these ants to breakdown leaves, can also be used to breakdown corn byproducts that will make fuel.

A group of scientists discovered a chemical key that could revitalize corn-based ethanol by allowing it to be made from stalks, leaves, and other bits beside the cob itself. Turns out, the savior of ethanol could be the South American leafcutter ant.

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Tech Can Make Immortality a Reality

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The First Farmers

Who comes to mind when you think of farming? Most likely you thought of humans, but did you know that humans were actually the 4th species to discover farming. Humans figured it out after some of the smaller creatures discovered it tens of thousands of years ago. And little did you know the first to discover farming was the ant! Check out what they grew and what other creepy crawlers farmed before humans.

Did you know that farming began about ten thousand years ago? Actually, before humans, there were other species that deliberately grew their own food. Learn more on this Moment of Science.

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Tech Can Make Immortality a Reality, Says Head Google Engineer

Google engineers predict that somewhere in the next 10 to 20 years, science will experience huge growth. Within the next 15 years science will hit a breakpoint with the amount of time they add onto a persons life because of such substantial growth. See what Ray Kurzweil, Head Google Engineer, has to say about the scientific progress and see how immortality may in fact become some sort of a reality.

Rapidly evolving technology is making immortality more realistic, Google’s engineering director told the Global Future 2045 World Conference.

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It’s Not All Miss Utah’s Fault That Her Response Was So Ridiculous – Some of it is Biology

Can you really believe that biology could cause such a silly response in the Miss USA pageant? Well you should. Scientists point out that when under pressure, stress can cause your brain to enter into “fight or flight” mode at the worst possible times. So maybe it’s not fully Miss Utah’s fault she came up with such an unlucky answer, blame the brain.

I caught just enough of the Miss USA pageant this weekend to be weirded out by Nick Jonas and Mo Rocca existing in the same space, but not enough to see the unfortunate answer that Miss Utah …

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Here are your top 20 U.S. cities for venture capital investment

Starting up a new small business and in need of venture capital? Well here is your very own list of top cities that rank the highest with venture capital investment. Check it out, maybe some of the cities will pleasantly surprise you.

San Francisco and San Jose, sure. Boston, New York and Austin? Certainly. But technology startups shouldn’t ignore Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

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Using crowdsourcing technology to change the way we save lives

Crowd sourcing technology is the new innovative way of helping people get through disasters. By using texts, maps, and live-feed donor lists, people and cities will be even more prepared for disasters, thanks to crowd sourcing.

One scroll through your Facebook or Twitter news feed and you’d think the world was going crazy. People share their addresses, their heated political commentaries, and strange pictures of cats […]

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Lumosity launches new web-based data methodology for conducting human cognitive performance research

Lumosity has just announced the starting of the Human Cognition Project! A new web-based data methodology for running cognitive performance research. By doing this on the web, researchers gain speed, scale, efficiency and more range of topics in studying human cognition. Check out what the project entails and what scientists hope to gain from it…

Lumosity, the leading brain training company, today announced a new web-based, big data methodology for conducting human cognitive performance research. Lumosity’s research platform, the Human …

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Scientists use new ‘computational cell biology’ to kill cancer cells by making them sick

Scientists from Ottawa, Ontario are beating cancer by engineering viruses to contaminate and kill cancer cells. By using mathematical models these scientists are finding ways to kill cancerous cells without harming normal cells and eventually could be the next great way to cure cancer.

From The Raw Story 16 June 2013 – Scientists use new ‘computational cell biology’ to kill cancer cells by making them sick. One doesn’t often think of cancer cells themselves being vulnerable to …

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Technology makes Europe accessible

There is no sense in denying that travel has changed with technology. Rick Steves reminisces on his backpacking through Europe days and talks about how technology has changed the backpacking experience. It helps with budgeting, communication and so much more. Check out the different ways technology has changed the way you travel.

Internet is a quick and easy way to find economic options for overseas trip

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What is Responsive Web Design?

A web design that can tell whether the customer is on a smart phone, computer or tablet is a responsive web design. There are multiple compelling reasons why small businesses should format their websites with a responsive web designs, one of which is the fact that it’s cost effective. Check out more reasons and how to make the switch in this article.

Websites built with responsive Web design can better serve customers by adapting to different screens on different devices.

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Small dam construction to reduce greenhouse emissions is causing ecosystem disruption

Small dams help the environment, but they also hurt it. See how a small dam construction that helps reduce greenhouse emissions, also hurts the ecosystems surrounding it. Researchers point out that with main dams more people pay attention to ecosystems and take care of them, however with smaller dams, like this, less people notice the harm it brings to the biodiversity and the ecosystem.

Researchers conclude in a new report that a global push for small hydropower projects, supported by various nations and also the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, may cause unanticipated and potentially significant losses of habitat and biodiversity.

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For Press Inquiries or Speaking Engagements, Contact: Heather Herndon / HHerndon@dandb.com / 310-919-2290