I traveled halfway around the globe to come to South By Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, and meet with old cofounders, friends, and acquaintances. Here are just a few of the profoundly inspirational, interesting, ambitious people I met and spent time with.

With the kickoff of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg today, I wanted to feature this guest article about international sports events, World Championships and Olympic Games—all great sporting events worth seeing live as you travel the world, which offer the opportunity to connect with new friends internationally and at home.

For a majority of people born in the West, into a middle-class family, with decent education, it has never been easier to grab the reins and create the life you want. But unfortunately, the reality is that a large population of disadvantaged refugees and victims of other socio-economic circumstances are not so fortunate. Read my friend Ryan’s account of life as a refugee.

This month’s Inc. magazine showcases the Inc. 500—the fastest-growing privately-owned companies in America. This is where companies like Zappos, Intuit, GoDaddy, Jamba Juice, Qualcomm, Timberland, Clif Bar, Microsoft, Patagonia, American Apparel, and many others have graduated from. This year’s CEO survey showed that 31% of Inc. 500 company CEOs maintain a blog or social network. Here’s what some of them [...]

John Hennessey is the president of Stanford University, U.S. News & World Report’s #4 university in the nation and voted one of America’s best colleges for entrepreneurs by Fortune Small Business. Hennessey is one academic who has an entrepreneurial legacy himself, as he transferred his important research in microprocessor technology to actual industry application by co-founding MIPS Technologies. Not to [...]

You’re a high achiever! You’re motivated to succeed in your education and your career. But do you know the price of success? Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s most famous architect, captured it well when he said, “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” But how do you [...]

IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com has hosted the fourth interview in my Heroines of Personal Finance and Entrepreneurship series. Julie Jansen is a motivational speaker, career coach, and author. She has a great deal of experience helping everyone from CEOs to managers to entrepreneurs find gratifying work and she has some great thoughts on gender and business. Here are a few excerpts from my [...]

For years under the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency has argued that it has no authority to regulate carbon emissions. Imagine that, the one government office in charge of–what other than protecting the environment–hasn’t been doing its job? Well, five Supreme Court justices ruled yesterday that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases DO count as “air pollutants,” and are [...]