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From 9/11 to the pandemic: Italian restaurateur on feeding New Yorkers through the city’s most dramatic events

- Community
- Entrepreneurs

Sebastiano Cappitta has seen it all — celebrities, 9/11, city-wide blackouts. He moved to New York from Malta, created a restaurant empire, and sold almost all of it shortly before the pandemic. His remaining venue is now delivering free meals to healthcare workers.

Emma Limor and Sunrit Panda, co-founders of Nirvana Carbon, at Princeton University. Credit: Nirvana Carbon.

First-Gen Founders Limor and Panda Work to Decarbonize Their Heritage Regions

Nirvana Carbon, a startup launched by Princeton students Emma Limor and Sunrit Panda, helps communities in India and Kazakhstan combat environmental damage.

International CleanTech Meets US Capital

International Climate Innovators Meet U.S. Capital Featuring International Nonprofits, U.S. Investors & Global Startups. We’re bringing you a…

Connecting the dots: How an Indian-Ukrainian team links international students with U.S. universities

- Ideas
- Immigration

The founders of Kandor, an AI-powered marketplace helping Indian students apply to graduate programs in the U.S., have never met in person. How did they build their product amidst global disruptions, across continents and time zones?

Welltory team. Left to right: Alex Lyskovsky, Jane Smorodnikova, Pavel Pravdin

Bootstrappers at heart: How to reach $14 mln in revenue after VC rejection

- Sales

After getting a “No” from Silicon Valley VCs, the founders of Welltory, a stress management app, gave up on investors. They relocated to distant parts of the world to focus on their product. Six years later, Welltory has nine million users and $14 million in revenue. How did they do it?

Can technology end modern slavery? This Congolese founder holds brands accountable.

From baby pajamas to burgers, many items that we purchase are linked to modern slavery at some point in their supply chains. To tackle forced labor, Congolese-French entrepreneur Déborah Wanza launched a brand accountability startup in Miami. The country of her birth, the Republic of Congo, is the leading supplier of cobalt for smartphones, often mined by children who toil in inhumane conditions.

Why hunger is necessary for innovation: How Parkinson’s Law hinders startup success

- Ideas
- Strategy

Staying “hungry” is a critical mindset for founders. But what is ‘hunger’ and why is it important? It's not necessarily a craving to be innovative or a desire to push forward. As paradoxically as it sounds, for early-stage startups, having limited resources can actually be their most important advantage.

The pitfalls of mentorship and “Smart Money” in startups

Leaning too heavily on a mentor's guidance can foster unhealthy dependency, impede necessary pivots, and stifle innovation, writes serial entrepreneur Michael Burtov. What are the red flags?

Board of Directors vs Board of Advisors: Startup’s Brain vs Soul

- Funding
- Ideas
- Strategy

In essence, a board of advisors is more concerned with a company's strategic interests, while a board of directors focuses on advancing the interests of shareholders. This distinction seems subtle, but for many companies that originate outside the U.S. startup ecosystem, this can be quite a foreign concept. Lifelong entrepreneur Michael Burtov explains the difference between the two.

5 AI companies started by immigrant entrepreneurs

- Entrepreneurs
- Ideas

In “2019 AI 50”, the Forbes list of the most promising AI startups in the U.S., about 66% of the companies had at least one immigrant founder. How did these entrepreneurs make their way in the tech world and pioneer the future of AI?

Female developer uses Tech to preserve ancient Asian language

- Entrepreneurs

When two-year-old Annie Vang and her family came to the U.S. from Southeast Asia, the Hmong refugees left their ancestral home and much of their culture behind. She later learned to code and created an app to keep her language and heritage alive.

Do investors steal the ideas you pitch them? Yes, all the time, and here’s why.

- Entrepreneurs
- Ideas

Tales about devious investors conniving to take advantage of aspiring entrepreneurs have been circulating in the tech community for a while. Most founders dismiss such stories as urban legends, but in fact, some VCs do steal ideas from early stage startups in order to boost their own struggling portfolio companies. Immigrant entrepreneurs, who have limited access to capital and are often overly eager to find an investor, should approach fundraising with caution, warns Michael Burtov, a star mentor and lifelong entrepreneur.

Immigrant entrepreneurs created ChatGPT. Is AI a superior alternative to our flawed systems or a dystopian hellscape?

Artificial intelligence (AI) recently entered the long list of epoch-making technological innovations credited to the hard work of immigrant founders. ChatGTP, which was developed by Open AI, a company that was launched by an international team, has been making headlines over the past few months. Mike Burtov, a star entrepreneur and mentor, is wondering whether AI will usher in a glorious future for humanity or could prove to be a ticking time bomb.

Three immigrant ‘mompreneurs’ who negotiated epic deals with ‘baby on board’

- Entrepreneurs

These women tech founders sold their businesses, raised capital, and launched new products while having their newborns. They are also determined to better the world for their children.

From busboy to millionaire: How this Bangladeshi immigrant made his big break in the U.S. restaurant industry

Lunchbox founder Nabeel Alamgir has worked his way up from bussing tables at a fast food chain to being featured on Forbes’s ‘30 Under 30’ list and securing $20 million in VC funding.

Entrepreneurs against dictatorship: Lukashenko’s regime hurts Belarusian-American founders

- Community
- Entrepreneurs

U.S. tech companies founded by Belarusians have long been a source of pride for Europe’s last dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Now, as entrepreneurs are challenging his 26-year-old rule, they are feeling the same pressure as everyone else. Silicon Valley startups have also taken a hit.

This tech enthusiast helps Latinx businesses in the U.S. transform their digital presence

- Development
- Entrepreneurs

Colombian-born entrepreneur Rosario Casas launched a free-of-charge support program for her compatriots in the U.S. to help them move their businesses online.

How Chloe Vichot founded Fresh Bowl, bringing fresh vending machines across NYC.

- Development
- Entrepreneurs

In 2019, Chloe Vichot’s restaurant Ancolie evolved into Fresh Bowl, a tech startup. While Ancolie sold sustainable lunches served in mason jars, her new startup plans to set up 100 fresh vending machines in the following year.