The main reason females and minorities receive such a tiny proportion of venture capital funding can be found in the statistics from the National Venture Capital Association that 89% of partners at venture capital firms are male, according to Cheryl Contee, chief executive and co-founder of Do Big Things. "Without female and minority representation at the top to act as advocates, it's almost impossible for those seeking funding to get their foot in the door," she writes.

Liz Giorgi, CEO and co-founder of startup Soona, uses language in the company's contracts that strives to curb sexual harassment and discrimination. Giorgi and co-founder Hayley Anderson went to an attorney to have what they call "the candor clause" included in their contract, which requires investors to disclose past claims of discrimination or sexual harassment.

Michelle Maryns wanted to close the revenue gap for minority women entrepreneurs, so she created a conversational AI assistant to handle administrative tasks, which can take up a significant chunk of small-business owners' time. Business owners are often left with "little time to focus on the marketing efforts that could help them increase revenues," she notes.

To build an open-source startup, there are three ways to go: institutional, independent or co-opt, writes Eric Anderson, a principal at Scale Venture Partners. "As a founder, it’s important when starting out to be crystal clear about which of these proven paths to success you’ll pursue," he writes.

A great workspace is key to success for entrepreneurs, and co-working spaces can provide flexible options, writes entrepreneur Amy Neumann. "Most co-working spaces have introductory, day-pass, monthly, office, and other prices," she writes.

Columnist Jonathon Trugman writes that WeWork's failure was due to a faulty business model. "While most Wall Street savants think WeWork’s failed initial public offering was a harbinger of things to come in the IPO market, the truth is that the reason for the failure lies in WeWork’s untested and fatally flawed business model," he writes.