"The market actually affords career opportunities, because businesses are highly focused on solving problems and if you can help solve those problems you become integral to the organization, " says Jeff Summer, principal with PricewaterhouseCoopers and lead of the accounting firm's talent-management practice.

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That day, I was focused on solving math problems, not issues of justice and equal rights.

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Traditionally, the Linux and open-source software communities focused on solving the software problems of enterprise and computing markets with a limited choice of processor platforms.

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Believe it or not, while Apple's iOS has had a Notes app and a Reminders app baked in for some time now, Keep is Google's first mobile app focused on solving either of these problems.

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He cautions that many of the early ventures have focused on building cool apps, rather than solving actual problems.

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