Getting a graduate business degree entails a great deal of personal and professional change, some of it before you even arrive on campus. Most likely, you will be moving to a new place and leaving behind much of your pre-MBA life – including your employer. (Fortune)

In thinking about how to maintain a successful startup, it’s best to start by looking at why startups fail. (Fortune)

In response to the president’s call to action, nearly 250 communities in all 50 states have accepted the president’s My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge; more than $600 million in private sector and philanthropic grants and in-kind resources and $1 billion in low-interest financing have been committed in alignment with MBK. (Black Enterprise)

Deadlines can be a good thing. They help you gauge whether you’re moving in the right direction and keep you motivated. But forcing yourself to stick to a schedule when it doesn’t make sense can be ineffective, and even hold you back. (The Muse)

If you are ready to hire a professional salesperson, you need to develop criteria and list of questions to ask. Here are 10 things you need to do and avoid. (Austin Business Journal)

The top financial firms are finally realizing why they should look beyond old white men. (Fast Company)

It's unusual for a mayoral election to capture the world's attention, however, this week's battle to become London's effective chief executive has drawn interest from far beyond the City's boundaries. It comes as U.K. politics moves closer into the global spotlight ahead of the vote on its EU membership on 23 June.(CNBC)

For the seventh consecutive year, Urban Prep Charter Academy is keeping it one hundred. Every senior at the predominantly black, all-boys charter school in Chicago has committed to a four-year college or university. At the school’s three campuses combined, the class of 2016 has been admitted to more than 220 schools. (Huffington Post)

The first African-American woman reservist in the Coast Guard discusses key issues, including education and leadership, (Grand Haven Tribune)

On the eve of its 150th year — 2017 is the sesquicentennial — Howard University is fighting, too. It is embattled financially, struggling to sustain a budget-draining hospital and a student population disproportionately in need (more than 60 percent qualify for federal Pell Grants). (The Washington Post)

What did the streaming service, a Black-owned business, do to turn off a consumer market that initially seemed poised to support it? (Ebony)

Yahoo’s core business is worth next to nothing, and buyers are struggling to see if there’s any there there. Twitter’s market cap just plummeted after a bad earnings report. Given that news, it seems that businesses that have dominated their markets are learning that the magic elixir of network effects and winner-takes-all advantages are about as reliable as cures for baldness. (Harvard Business Review)

A group of prominent women in the tech industry has taken matters into their own hand, and on Tuesday unveiled a new initiative called Project Include. The project’s aim is to collect and share data to help increase diversity among tech company employees as a way to encourage change. (Fortune)

Business owner Duane Draughon is among some business owners who keep hidden the fact that their businesses are Black-owned, for fear of losing clientele. Preconceived notions that the product or service is solely geared toward Blacks — and racial intolerance on the part of potential customers — could drive business into the ground. (Atlanta Black Star)

Good news for U.S. consumers who like to shop abroad: Whether you’re bringing back trinkets from a trip or shopping online for overseas goods, buying merchandise from outside the U.S. has gotten cheaper. (Fortune)

U.S. stocks look set to get back on the winning track as equity prices were higher in morning trading Thursday, helped by a spike in oil prices caused by production outages in Canada due to wildfires. (USA TODAY)

We know it’s a message you’ve heard many times before, but it’s worth repeating: Maintaining an emergency savings fund is one of the pillars of a healthy money life. (The Muse)

Start by framing your bigger picture before adding those smaller bullet points. Tell compelling before-and-after stories. (Harvard Business Review)

Insurers have begun to propose big premium increases for coverage next year under the 2010 health law, as some struggle to make money in a market where their costs have soared. (The Wall Street Journal)

Under Armour is betting big on baseball. The athletic-apparel maker extended the contract of Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper this week in what ESPN says is the largest endorsement deal in history for a baseball player. (CNBC)

Electronic cigarettes will now be regulated the same way as tobacco cigarettes, according to a new federal rule issued on Thursday, which also bans their sale to children. (USA TODAY)

Funding is an essential part of starting and growing a business. The lack of it can stop an idea from becoming a product or service dead in its tracks. Even companies that have raised $1.3 million have failed before their second year, according to the most recent analysis by CB Insights. The fact that venture capital funding got even more scarce at the end of 2015, is a challenge to startups, particularly to those owned by women. (Fast Company)

The Columbus metropolitan area is now among the nation’s top 10 metro areas for black households making $100,000 or more, according to a 2015 African-American Consumer Report published by the Nielsen Corporation. (The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer)

Professional ballerina Misty Copeland made history when she became the first African American female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre. Now she’s the latest star whose likeness has inspired a new Barbie doll. (Fortune)