Small Business
Obama, Boehner talk and exchange new offers on "fiscal cliff"
WASHINGTON - Negotiations to avert the "fiscal cliff" ahead of a year-end deadline intensified as President Barack Obama and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner spoke by phone on Tuesday after exchanging new proposals.
Washington state bar owner tells pot smokers to light up
OLYMPIA, Washington - Thanks to a successful ballot initiative last month, Washington state residents can legally smoke marijuana in the privacy of their living rooms as of Thursday.
U.S. November small business confidence dives to 2-1/2-year low
WASHINGTON - U.S. small business sentiment tumbled to its lowest level in more than 2-1/2 years in November as owners grew very pessimistic about business conditions over the next six months.
ENBD aims to double small business lending in 2013
DUBAI - Emirates NBD expects lending to small businesses to double and top 1 billion dirhams ($272 million) next year as Dubai's largest bank diversifies away from corporate and personal financing.
Spotify investor sees music streamer listed in coming years
STOCKHOLM - Nordic technology investor Northzone, an early Spotify investor and its biggest shareholder after the founders, would like to see the online music streaming service gain a stock market listing in the next few years.
Insight: Making France work again
ECUEILLE, France - Shirt manufacturer Marc Roudeillac was delighted when 48 of the 49 staff in his factory in central France voted to adapt their strict 35-hour week contracts to meet the up-and-down demand of the fashion trade.
Investor finds fertile territory in over-35 entrepreneurs
SAN FRANCISCO - When he started looking around for start-ups in which to invest, Dan Scheinman noticed something: twenty-something entrepreneurs building Internet companies usually had a much easier time lining up early financing from venture capitalists compared to their forty- and fifty- something counterparts.
Peer-to-peer lenders welcome step towards regulation
LONDON - The peer-to-peer lending industry has welcomed a commitment by the British government to regulate the internet-based financiers, describing it as a "watershed moment".
Spanish Parador hotel workers start two-day strike
MADRID - Workers at Spain's state-owned luxury Parador hotels housed in historic castles and palaces started a two-day strike on Friday in protest against job cuts and threatened closures at the loss-making chain.
Google to charge small businesses for Web-based Apps software
SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc will no longer offer its Web-based office productivity software free to small businesses, the Internet company's latest move to expand revenue beyond its core advertising services.
Entrepreneur, VC offers shortcuts to help startups be more successful
Suggesting there are shortcuts entrepreneurs can take to improve their chances of success would appear to refute Malcolm Gladwell’s popular “10,000 hours” theory. But instead of picking a fight with the “Outliers” author, entrepreneur and fund manager Mark Hopkins is just trying to be provocative to get people to pick up his own book: “Shortcut to Prosperity: 10 Entrepreneurial Habits and a Roadmap For An Exceptional Career”.