Wine tasting at the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg is often thought of as a good time, but walking into Clarksburg Wine Company when Jeremy Maron is behind the bar is something every Sacramentan should experience.

Persado CEO Alex Vratskides could raise venture funding. He’s just not sure he wants to.

His New York-based startup doubled annual revenue this year and is on track to break even in 2017. Valued at about $200 million in April, the marketing automation company counts Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs among its backers — a source of validation in the eyes of many venture investors.

Venture Catalyst is one part of a multipronged effort at the school that its leaders say is helping turn university research into companies that produce world-changing technologies. The school has facilitated a total of 49 startups in the last four fiscal years, up from 18 in the four years prior.

It is important to remember we are all more than the money we make. People want to know how they contribute to some greater good, so if you haven’t already, start with creating a clear vision of how your company makes an impact.

As a freelancer, you’re flying solo. Which means you are the only one wearing all the hats for your business; you do it all. The bottom line is that we all could use a little support to help simplify things in life and business,

It happens every time: I’ll be at a business event and someone will inevitably say that we all need to “perfect our elevator pitches” and launch into a rote explanation (an elevator pitch of the elevator pitch, if you will). Cue the over-exaggerated rolling of my eyes.

It’s freezing in Chicago, and California could feel it — in the form of a bump in natural gas prices.

Oak Park neighbors Aimee Phelps and Kevin Greenberg delivered their first Art-Through-Pod in September and by year-end will exceed their initial goal of 10 mobile housing units for the homeless.

But they don’t plan to stop there.

Wells Fargo’s attempt to force aggrieved customers into closed-door arbitration over its fake-accounts scandal is drawing a legislative backlash in its home state of California and risks subjecting the bank to another round as a public punching bag.

Innovation cannot occur within a vacuum. While it’s nice to have an office door that shuts the world out, successful entrepreneurs understand that the best ideas are molded through collaboration.