How Tech Startups Can Make a Big Change in the Financial Industry

It’s been a long time coming: The financial industry is being torn down and built back up from scratch, and this evolution is mostly being led by upstarts. You know, the ones that fancy themselves technology firms — not financial companies.

Take LendingClub, for example. Probably the highest-profile success story in the fintech space, its founders built a smooth and intuitive platform that connects borrowers with lenders. But instead of gaining access to loan programs, the funds come from investors looking for solid returns — at much lower interest rates than a corporate bank could offer.

LendingClub cuts out the middleman and uses data science to assess risk, credit ratings and interest rates to create a lending marketplace like none other. It has redefined the inner functions of lending and forever altered how people think about the industry.

This change in thought brings a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs: You have a chance to provide a fresh experience to customers on the fringe, and if enough of those customers respond, demand can snowball and upend the status quo of legacy companies in this industry — or any other industry, for that matter.

Carve out a fintech niche

For any entrepreneur looking to enter the fintech space, I recommend first focusing on data. Data is king, and you need to leverage all the information you can get your hands on. It’s essential for predicting behavior when traversing new financial terrain.

You can marry big data with artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to perform all types of tasks. This is especially helpful in driving credit decisions, particularly for subprime consumers and credit invisibles.

These are probably the most underserved demographics in the lending space. In fact, 56 percent of consumers carry a subprime credit score, and more than 50 million people have a thin or nonexistent credit file. The majority of large financial institutions are unwilling to explore relationships with either of these groups.

In other words, the marketplace is wide open for tech-savvy firms to develop new methods for evaluating potential customers.

If lending isn’t your style, another opportunity resides in investment and asset management. For the most part, getting good financial advice is either expensive or requires a large net worth. Nowadays, however, even the smallest investors can gain access to the best strategies for diversification. If you’re able to use big data to automate the process, you again have the potential to carve out a niche.

Go further with the user experience

Startups have an advantage over larger companies when it comes to the customer experience. You can create a beautiful, easy-to-use and enjoyable platform, while established firms are forced to go through layers of processes and approvals to accomplish something new. As others lag behind, you can increase engagement with consumers right out of the gate.

Tech companies see a different world from the financial establishment. They’re hypersensitive to product design, functionality, intuitiveness and the user experience, and legacy companies simply can’t compete.

Redefine the game, and you can quickly enter — or perhaps even dominate — the fintech space.

NOTE CREDIT: http://tech.co/tech-startups-can-make-big-change-financial-industry-2015-10

Reinventing the company

Entrepreneurs are redesigning the basic building block of capitalism

NOW that Uber is muscling in on their trade, London’s cabbies have become even surlier than usual. Meanwhile, the world’s hoteliers are grappling with Airbnb, and hardware-makers with cloud computing. Across industries, disrupters are reinventing how the business works. Less obvious, and just as important, they are also reinventing what it is to be a company.

To many managers, corporate life continues to involve dealing with largely anonymous owners, most of them represented by fund managers who buy and sell shares listed on a stock exchange. In insurgent companies, by contrast, the coupling between ownership and responsibility is tight (see article). Founders, staff and backers exert control directly. It is still early days but, if this innovation spreads, it could transform the way companies work.  

Listing badly

The appeal of the insurgents’ model is partly a result of the growing dissatisfaction with the public company. True, the best public companies are remarkable organisations. They strike a balance between quarterly results (which keep them sharp) and long-term investments (which keep them growing). They produce a stream of talented managers and innovative products. They can mobilise talent and capital.

But, after a century of utter dominance, the public company is showing signs of wear. One reason is that managers tend to put their own interests first. The shareholder-value revolution of the 1980s was supposed to solve this by incentivising managers to think like owners, but it backfired. Loaded up with stock options, managers acted like hired guns instead, massaging the share price so as to boost their incomes.

The rise of big financial institutions (that hold about 70% of the value of America’s stockmarkets) has further weakened the link between the people who nominally own companies and the companies themselves. Fund managers have to deal with an ever-growing group of intermediaries, from regulators to their own employees, and each layer has its own interests to serve and rents to extract. No wonder fund managers usually fail to monitor individual companies.

Lastly, a public listing has become onerous. Regulations have multiplied since the Enron scandal of 2001-02 and the financial crisis of 2007-08. Although markets sometimes look to the long term, many managers feel that their jobs depend upon producing good short-term results, quarter after quarter.

Conflicting interests, short-termism and regulation all impose costs. That is a problem at a time when public companies are struggling to squeeze profits out of their operations. In the past 30 years profits in the S&P 500 index of big American companies have grown by 8% a year. Now, for the second quarter in a row, they are expected to fall, by about 5% (see article). The number of companies listed on America’s stock exchanges has fallen by half since 1996, partly because of consolidation, but also because talented managers would sooner stay private.

It is no accident that other corporate organisations are on the rise. Family companies have a new lease of life. Business people are experimenting with “hybrids” that tap into public markets while remaining closely held. Astute investors like Jorge Paulo Lemann, of 3G Capital, specialise in buying public companies and running them like private ones, with lean staffing and a focus on the long term.

The new menagerie

But the most interesting alternative to public companies is a new breed of high-potential startups that go by exotic names such as unicorns and gazelles. In the same cities where Ford, Kraft and Heinz built empires a century ago, thousands of young people are creating new firms in temporary office spaces, fuelled by coffee and dreams. Their companies are pioneering a new organisational form.

The central difference lies in ownership: whereas nobody is sure who owns public companies, startups go to great lengths to define who owns what. Early in a company’s life, the founders and first recruits own a majority stake—and they incentivise people with ownership stakes or performance-related rewards. That has always been true for startups, but today the rights and responsibilities are meticulously defined in contracts drawn up by lawyers. This aligns interests and creates a culture of hard work and camaraderie. Because they are private rather than public, they measure how they are doing using performance indicators (such as how many products they have produced) rather than elaborate accounting standards.

New companies also exploit new technology, which enables them to go global without being big themselves. Startups used to face difficult choices about when to invest in large and lumpy assets such as property and computer systems. Today they can expand very fast by buying in services as and when they need them. They can incorporate online for a few hundred dollars, raise money from crowdsourcing sites such as Kickstarter, hire programmers from Upwork, rent computer-processing power from Amazon, find manufacturers on Alibaba, arrange payments systems at Square, and immediately set about conquering the world. Vizio was the bestselling brand of television in America in 2010 with just 200 employees. WhatsApp persuaded Facebook to buy it for $19 billion despite having fewer than 60 employees and revenues of $20m.

Three objections hang over the idea that this is a revolution in the making. The first is that it is confined to a corner of Silicon Valley. Yet the insurgent economy is going mainstream. Startups are in every business from spectacles (Warby Parker) to finance (Symphony). Airbnb put up nearly 17m guests over the summer and Uber drives millions of people every day. WeWork, an American outfit that provides accommodation for startups, has 8,000 companies with 30,000 workers in 56 locations in 17 cities.

The second is that the public company will have the last laugh, because most startups want eventually to list or sell themselves to a public company. In fact, a growing number choose to stay private—and are finding it ever easier to raise funds without resorting to public markets. Those technology companies that list in America now do so after 11 years compared with four in 1999. Even when they do go public, tech entrepreneurs keep control through “A” class shares.

The third objection is that ownership in these new companies is cut off from the rest of the economy. Public companies give ordinary people a stake in capitalism. The startup scene is dominated by a clique of venture capitalists with privileged access. That is true, yet ordinary people can invest in startups directly through platforms such as SeedInvest or indirectly through mainstream mutual funds such as T. Rowe Price, which buys into them during their infancy.

Today’s startups will not have it all their own way. Public companies have their place, especially for capital-intensive industries like oil and gas. Many startups will inevitably fail, including some of the most famous. But their approach to building a business will survive them and serve as a striking addition to the capitalist toolbox. Airbnb and Uber and the rest are better suited to virtual networks and fast-changing technologies. They are pioneering a new sort of company that can do a better job of turning dreams into businesses.

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21676767-entrepreneurs-are-redesigning-basic-building-block-capitalism-reinventing-company?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/reinventing_the_company

30 Phrases Top CEOs Live By

As anyone who comes from a small, southern town knows, it is extremely easy to pick up common sayings from those around you. Someone who’s pretty full of it is “all hat, no cattle.” Your perpetually late friend is “slower than molasses in January.” Someone who has just sold a business is “living in high cotton.”

Most of these sayings come from a grandmother or crazy uncle, but they are said so much that they become ingrained in our language, mentality, and culture. Imagine if this were the case with sayings from some of the smartest people out there – the world’s top CEOs.

The following sayings might not be as full of as much character compared to some of the more colorful southern expressions, but they are great lines to shape your business practices around.

Here are 30 quotes you will hear from the top CEOs:

1. “Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not.”  – Michael Dell, Dell

2. “Trust your instincts.”  – Estée Lauder, Estée Lauder

3. “The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.”  – Walt Disney, Disney

4. “We’re not going to invest a dollar that doesn’t make sense to invest.” – Marc Lore, Jet

5. “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.”  – Dave Thomas, Wendy’s

6. “Your people determine your product.” – Taso Du Val, Toptal

7. “Make your team feel respected, empowered and genuinely excited about the company’s mission.”  – Tim Westergen, Pandora

8. “Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.”  – Drew Houston, Dropbox

9. “The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why not?’” – Jeff Bezos, Amazon

10. “Be simple and reliable” – Jan Koum, WhatsApp


“Always deliver more than expected.”  – Larry Page, Google

12. “Make something that meshes into your daily life.” – Eric Migicovsky, Pebble

13. “There’s an entrepreneur right now, scared to death, making excuses, saying, ‘It’s not the right time just yet.’ There’s no such thing as a good time.” – Kevin Plank, Under Armour

14. “I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.” – Marissa Mayer, Yahoo

15. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.”  – Richard Branson, Virgin Group

16. “If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.”  – Ray Kroc, McDonald’s

17. “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.”  – Tony Hsieh, Zappos

18. “Capital isn’t scarce. Vision is.” – Sam Walton, Wal-Mart

19. “Life is too short to do mediocre work and it is definitely too short to build shitty things.” – Stewart Butterfield, Slack

20. “In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.” – Howard Schultz, Starbucks


“As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.”  – Donald Trump, The Trump Organization

22. “Singular focus matters.” – Jeffrey Housenbold, Shutterfly

23. “Smarter is always the answer.” – Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM

24. “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”  – Steve Jobs, Apple

25. “I’m not an inventor. I just want to make things better.” – Daniel Ek, Spotify

26. “I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.” – John D. Rockefeller, Standard Oil


“When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for everyone telling you you’re nuts.” – Larry Ellison, Oracle

28. “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk, SpaceX

29. “As an entrepreneur, I try to push the limits. Pedal to the metal.” – Travis Kalanick, Uber

30. “Don’t compare yourself with anyone in this world…if you do so, you are insulting yourself.” – Bill Gates, Microsoft



By adopting these sayings and the mentalities behind them, you can follow in the footsteps of some of the greatest business leaders. After all, who is better to learn from than the successful people that came before you?

Hope these quotes repeat themselves in your mind! What is your favorite quote?

NOTE CREDIT: http://addicted2success.com/quotes/30-phrases-top-ceos-live-by/ 

Stand out or stand still

Carsharing becomes a real estate perk with GM, Daimler, Google

Owning a car in Manhattan has traditionally ranked pretty far up the list of pricey personal indulgences (that is, aside from opting to live in New York City in the first place).

But with automakers looking to hang onto market share amid a surge in competition from shared car services, a new category of faux car ownership — on-demand shared cars located inside your own building — could change the economics of driving in busy urban areas.

General Motors is one company pushing into this space through a deal with New York real estate firm Stonehenge Partners, where residents of the 479-unit Ritz Plaza apartment building can purchase access to a fleet of shared SUVs parked in their garage.

"You have access to mobility the way you have access to a pool or a fitness center," Peter Kosak, executive director of GM’s global urban mobility programs, told GreenBiz. The goal, he added, is to, "deliver automotive access that seems like ownership."

The move makes GM one of several transportation companies looking to form alliances with real estate developers and building operators who have a captive audience in tenants seeking easy access to wheels.

From a real estate perspective, the pitch is car as luxury residential amenity. But from a sustainability perspective, the opportunity is to help further mainstream the use of more sustainable transportation infrastructure.

Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler, for instance, also has tested out a shared mobility partnership with a suburban home developer in Southern California. Homeowners there are offered shared luxury shuttle services that can be reserved online.

But the trend isn't limited to traditional automakers.

Carsharing pioneer Zipcar has worked with apartment giant Equity Residential, which owns upwards of 110,000 rental units, in cities including New York, Boston, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

"They claim to be providing access to 17,000 residents," said Susan Shaheen, director of Innovative Mobility Research at the University of California, Berkeley's Transportation Sustainability Research Center. "Whether or not these are members or residents living at a complex with carsharing availability is unknown."

Meanwhile, land owners looking for creative carpooling options — or competing to offer green employee perks — are another pool of potential carsharing partners that automakers have only recently started to engage. Google, for instance, has partnered with GM on a commuter carsharing pilot that raised the stakes for sustainability by using Chevrolet Spark electric vehicles.

For automakers, the field presents another example of a bigger tech-fueled existential crisis currently underway.

"The conventional wisdom is that automotive companies design, build and sell vehicles," Kosak said. "This feels a lot more like replacing ownership or an alternative to ownership."

Capturing the footprint of shared cars

GM's new "Let's Drive NYC" offering is designed to appeal to the much-discussed young urban professionals demographic.

Users can book the car through a mobile app, and GM has also invested in back end billing and analytics to better understand supply and demand patterns.

The automaker hopes to eventually scale up to serve the entire 25-building New York City portfolio for Stonehenge. But at eight cars for upwards of 500 residents, the current fleet is small.

“The data analytics are what enable you to make a small fleet seem big," Kosak said. "It’s like running an airline."

While new types of carsharing services could offer more flexibility than short-haul shared rides offered by the likes of Uber, it's not yet clear how office or apartment carsharing would fit into efforts underway in some cities to drastically curb emissions or even go car-free downtown.

Take Andy Chediak, a 32 year-old Stonehenge resident quoted in a GM press release on the new carsharing endeavor.

"Having a car in the city didn’t seem realistic," he said, calling the service, "a game-changer that fundamentally alters my approach to transportation."

Given the push among traffic-fatigued city planners  and environmental advocates to get citizens out of single-occupancy car trips in particular, such statements raise the question of whether carsharing could actually have a self-defeating effect on sustainability by providing previously unfeasible access to cars.

The data analytics are what enable you to make a small fleet seem big. It’s like running an airline.
In other words, how many carsharing users would otherwise take public transit, versus a cab, an Uber or a car they may decide to purchase? And which scenario is most beneficial from a sustainability perspective?

"New York City is an interesting place because it offers many modal options," Shaheen said. "More research is needed to determine how these particular users employ the service and their use impacts fuel and land use and emissions."

Still, there remains the question of who will benefit from deals brokered by car companies and real estate firms. Will the trend stay confined to high-end residential buildings and office owners with the budget to experiment, or could consumers and employees in other income brackets also eventually reap the rewards?

“Admittedly, this is a bit more of a premium offering," Kosak said. "People will walk a greater distance maybe to pay less, or may not use sharing at all."

Cars of the future: Shared, electrified, autonomous?

While the business models of traditional automakers are already in flux thanks to the explosion of on-demand transportation services, there is also the matter of hardware to keep in mind.

Charging infrastructure availability and adoption rates for electric vehicles are slowly but steadily increasing. Existing automakers and tech companies like Google and Apple are also at work on self-driving, or autonomous, vehicles.

Opting for electric shared vehicle fleets is one way to guarantee lower emissions — and one that office owners may be more uniquely equipped to encourage in the short term.

"Commercial property owners can contribute to this trend by providing incentives for EV commuter carpooling," Shaheen said, such as subsidizing costs or providing easy access to chargers and preferred parking.

While Kosak notes that not every employer can pony up for charging infrastructure needed to offer shared EVs as a green office perk, Shaheen said that shared EVs could have broader market ripple effects.
"If a carsharing or ridesharing member leaves the program and purchases a personal vehicle, they may be more likely to purchase an EV because of their familiarity," she said.

But of course EVs are already here, even if they haven't been widely adopted. Many in the automotive industry are already looking to evaluate how autonomous vehicles could come into play in the context of shared transportation services.

“Obviously autonomous, whenever it occurs, is very disruptive," Kosak said, though he's optimistic about cities as a test bed for futuristic technologies. "I think shared use can be a perfect deployment population for both electrification and autonomous."

"The reality is people love personal transportation," Kosak said. "I think the trick here is to find solutions that are sustainable."

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.greenbiz.com/article/carsharing-becomes-real-estate-perk-gm-daimler-google?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=greenbuzz

Las predicciones tecnológicas de "Volver al Futuro 2" que se cumplieron y las que no

Una de las fechas en las que Marty McFly y el Doc Brown viajaron en el tiempo en la clásica saga del cine es el 21 de octubre de 2015. Autos y skates voladores, cine 3D, zapatillas y ropa inteligente; ¿qué objetos se usan actualmente y cuáles nunca salieron a la venta?

La saga Volver al Futuro marcó a muchas generaciones. Los viajes en el tiempo de Marty McFly y el Doctor Emmett Brown (interpretados por Michael J. Fox y Christopher Lloyd) hicieron, entre otras cosas, que millones de personas se imaginaran cómo sería la vida en 2015. En la segunda película, la dupla llegó en el DeLorean el 21 de octubre de 2015 al futuro y se encuentran con toda una serie de objetos como autos y skates que vuelan, zapatillas que se atan solas, ropa que se seca sola, cine 3D y videoconferencia en lugar de teléfonos. ¿Cuáles son las predicciones del filme dirigido de Robert Zemeckis que se cumplieron?

Autos voladores


Los autos moviéndose por el aire de Hill Valley es algo que no se ve por estos días. Los coches siguen andando sobre el asfalto y las automotrices no están muy preocupadas en avanzar en esta tecnología. Sólo empresas como Terrafugia o AeroMobil intentaron hacerlo realidad.

Skate volador

Este objeto fue al que más tiempo, esfuerzo y dinero se le dedicó para concretarlo. Desde el estreno en 1989 que se sueña con lograr que una patineta funcione sin ruedas. Después de mucho trabajo, Lexus y Hendo pudieron "recrear", en parte, la Hoverboard que usa Marty McFly para escapar de Griff Tannen y su banda. Todavía falta para que un skate pueda volar como lo hacía esa tabla de Mattel.

Sistemas biométricos

Poner el dedo para, por ejemplo, abrir una puerta es una realidad hace rato. Se usa en computadoras, teléfonos celulares como el iPhone 6, hasta para trámites impositivos.

Basura combustible

Meter cáscara de banana y bebidas para hacer mover a un auto es algo que en esta época todavía no se llevó a cabo. Lo único similar son los biocombustibles producidos a partir de residuos, pero la producción todavía no es en masa.

Ropa inteligente (zapatillas que se atan y prendas que se secan solas)

Nike lanzó las zapatillas que Marty McFly se calza cuando llega al Hill Valley de 2015, pero (pequeño detalle) no eran autoajustables. Salieron a la venta en 2011 por eBay y lo recaudado se destinó a la fundación Michael Fox. Se prometió un próximo lanzamiento y que tendría la capacidad de atarse con un botón.

La ropa que se seca no existe, pero hay prendas inteligentes que, por ejemplo pueden otorgar información sobre signos vitales o evaporar el sudor.

Lentes inteligentes

Google Glass lo hizo realidad y ahora se vienen nuevos emprendimientos en realidad aumentada: los HoloLens de Microsoft y los Oculus Rift de Microsoft.

Botellas de Pepsi con diseño especial

La gaseosa no cambió mucho en este tiempo, salvo algunas modificaciones en la imagen de su logo. Pero por el Back To The Future Day la marca lanzó una edición especial.

Cine 3D

Existe hace rato, pero no como en la película cuando a McFly casi lo muerde una imagen de la secuela número 19 de Tiburón. Todavía hay que usar unos anteojos para poder disfrutar de esta tecnología.

Comida deshidratada

La comida deshidratada existe, pero no luce como esa mini pizza de Pizza Hut que luego se convierte y luce como la tradicional receta. Además, no hay hidratadores de Black & Decker como en la película.

Videoconferencia

¿Les suena Skype? Desde 2006 que este software ofrece la posibilidad de realizar videollamadas y hay otros programas que permiten realizarlo como FaceTime o Google Hangout. Además, no se necesita el televisor: se puede hacer desde tu teléfono inteligente.

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.infobae.com/2015/10/20/1763743-las-predicciones-tecnologicas-volver-al-futuro-2-que-se-cumplieron-y-las-que-no

El 'big data' aterriza en las granjas

Pequeñas empresas están desarrollando herramientas que permiten analizar información de los cultivos para mejorar su productividad.

Los agricultores y las pymes están empezando a competir con los gigantes del sector a través de algunos de los últimos productos cosechados en las granjas de Estados Unidos.

Pequeñas empresas, como Farmobile, Granular y Grower Information Services Cooperative, están desarrollando sistemas informáticos que proporcionan a los agricultores la posibilidad de extraer los datos procedentes de la actividad de sus tractores y cosechadoras. Estos se almacenan en archivos digitales a los que pueden acceder firmas agrícolas o futuros operadores. Gracias a esta revolución tecnológica, estas plataformas permiten obtener mayores beneficios ampliando las zonas agrícolas de Estados Unidos y obteniendo un mayor control sobre la información que se genera en los campos.

Los esfuerzos en algunos casos desafiarían a los sistemas de análisis de las grandes compañías del sector, como Monsanto, DuPont, Deree y Cargill. Estas empresas aprovechan plantas modernas y otras máquinas equipadas con sensores para realizar la siembra, el riego y la cosecha.

Los datos proporcionan orientación y una mayor facilidad en la gestión de las explotaciones, algo que, según explican estas organizaciones, pueden emplear para disminuir los costes y aumentar el tamaño de los cultivos. Además, siempre teniendo en cuenta que son dueños de todo este material que no se vende a terceros.

Sin embargo, las nuevas firmas empiezan a ponderar los beneficios de compartir sus datos entre otros pequeños empresarios frente a los problemas de privacidad y el temor de que la competencia pueda aprovechar la información para cobrar tarifas más altas al vender semillas, pesticidas y otros suministros.

"Tenemos que llegar a todos los profesionales que participan en esto porque necesitamos su información", explica Dewwy Hukill, presidente de la junta de Grower Information Services Cooperative, una cooperativa que está trabajando en una plataforma que recoja los datos ofrecidos por todos sus miembros. En total, está compuesta por 1.500 personas de 37 estados.

Pymes como Farmobile y Granular opinan que estos profesionales deben tener un mayor control sobre cómo se usa su información.

Las pequeñas firmas encargadas de desarrollar este material detallan además que su intención no es desplazar a los grandes proveedores, sino que el objetivo es dar a los agricultores una plataforma que les permita gestionar su propia información, la comparta con otras entidades y así también puedan contar con recomendaciones y consejos de profesionales del sector para desarrollar su actividad.

Una fuente más de ingresos

Algunos agricultores no están conformes con la idea de que grandes empresas conozcan información sobre sus fincas. Sin embargo, otros ven en la recopilación de datos de sus cultivos en archivos digitales una nueva fuente de ingresos. "En este momento estoy muy a gusto con el hecho de que mi información se agregue con la de otros trabajadores", asegura Zavary Hunnicutt, agricultor de Nebraska que ha probado el sistema de la pyme Farmobile. "También es una manera de ayudar a la gente a tomar mejores decisiones". Este tipo de información se recoge en tiempo real y encontraría compradores entre, por ejemplo, los comerciantes de maíz o de trigo, explica Jon Marcus, director de la firma de corretaje Lakefront Futures & Options, situada en Chicago. "Estos datos serían muy valiosos si se gestionan de la manera correcta", asegura.

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.agroalimentando.com/nota.php?id_nota=1896&utm_content=buffer4a7ed&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Step 1 to Hiring Good Employees Is Stop Looking Down on People Who Just Want a Job

I received an email with a “confession.” The subject line read “Working Stiff” and the writer said my articles about what it takes to be an Entrepreneur and how to foster a culture that attracts Intrapreneurs had made him realize he wasn’t cut out to be either one.

Now I know this gentleman, or at least I am familiar enough with his work to say that he isn’t a slacker. His work is excellent, almost intimidatingly so even to me. He’s passionate about his craft. He’s plugged in and astute about the world. But something in the way he shared that realization -- that he’d decided he likes the paycheck, and the benefits, and the identity of the job without the pressure of being that desk where the buck finally comes to rest -- made me wonder if he expected me to judge him for not wanting to join the Entrepreneur Club.

I work almost exclusively with entrepreneurs, or people who want to be entrepreneurs. In fact, I network, hang out, have dinner and connect on social media almost exclusively with entrepreneurs or people who want to be entrepreneurs. My life partner is an entrepreneur. I suspect even my cat has the entrepreneurial spirit.

So I answer a lot of questions from entrepreneurs. Want  to take a guess at one of the most frequent questions I answer? “How do I know when I’m ready to hire an employee?”

First step to being ready for your first hire is change your attitude about people who want a j-o-b.

Most of the entrepreneurs I know are genuinely baffled by people who really want to be employees. Many of them have walked away from high status, well paying, moderately secure positions for the siren’s call of being their own boss. They have at least a subconscious attitude that says anyone who isn’t aiming for entrepreneurship isn’t ambitious, is settling, has a dream that is several sizes too small. For many of them, the elitist notion that entrepreneurs are a little more clever, a little more savvy, a little more cool isn’t something you glimpse under the surface, they express it freely and adamantly. It’s a club they believe everyone should want to join.

Yet, the typical entrepreneur couldn’t reach their goals without depending on people who have no desire to be an entrepreneur. Even those of us with no employees hire companies whose services depend on their workforce.

Here are three reasons why the “working stiff” deserves your respect as well as a paycheck.

1. They’re taking a risk too.

We all know that being an entrepreneur requires taking risks. Sometimes big risks. But working for an entrepreneur is risky, too. You have a lot on the line as an entrepreneur, but you have the reins in your hands. Your success depends on the decisions you make. Ultimately, so does the success of your employees. While their performance influences your success, they take the risk that they will turn in a stellar performance and still lose their investment if times get hard or business gets slow and you decide you have to do it without them. Don’t belittle their risk by constantly reminding them of yours.

2. They have big dreams too.

Their career dream might not be to own and run a business. It might be to help someone own and run a business. Or just to work for someone who owns and runs a business that they can be proud to work for. Someone who appreciates them, someone who treats them as an equal, someone who believes their dreams are just as valid as anyone else’s. If they have those kinds of dreams you can make their dreams come true at the same time they help you realize yours. But only if you’re willing to be that kind of employer. Don’t belittle their dreams by treating them as anything less than worthy of pursuing.

3. They’re everything you aren’t.

Every strength you have represents a gap in the strengths of your business. If you’re a natural juggler who is comfortable with having 20 balls in the air at once, then there’s no one in the business who is a natural at following the system A-Z and staying hyper-focused on the task at hand. If you’re a natural risk taker who finds change exciting, then there’s no one in the business who is a natural at holding steady and maintaining status quo.

When you find an employee whose strengths compliment your own it frees you to do what you’re best at doing. But only if you fully appreciate the value of what they’re best at doing. If you’re one of those employers who believes that the entrepreneurial traits and talents are naturally superior you’ll shrivel your employee’s morale faster than a well-placed thumbtack can deflate a balloon. Don’t belittle their talents by treating them as anything less than vital to the success of your own goals.

Now, if you’re filled with awe and appreciation for those folks whose dream of serving the world includes working for a passionate, driven and fair-minded entrepreneur who will support and reward their own pursuit of excellence in their career, there’s good news. You’re already on the path to finding one.

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248226

London tops the list of most digital entrepreneur-friendly cities in Europe

New research suggests that London is the best EU city when it comes to support for digital entrepreneurs. See below to find out why, and which other cities score highly:

day at the ICT 2015 event in Lisbon, Nesta and the European Digital Forum think tank – which I’m on the advisory board of, I should note – are launching the European Digital City Index, an attempt to measure capital (and a few other) EU cities against a number of criteria set by 90+ digital entrepreneurs, policy researchers and academics.

The index finds that London, perhaps unsurprisingly, provides the best support for both startups and scale-ups. For both categories, cities like Stockholm, Amsterdam and Helsinki also understandably receive top marks. That said, the ranking does have a couple of surprises in store – take a look:

First of all, it’s important to note that the index is meant to serve as a guide to the strengths and weaknesses of local ecosystems, by benchmarking a number of criteria in each hub.

It’s far from the only index attempting to rank cities and regions based on their performance when it comes to digital entrepreneurship – Nesta in fact provides helpful links to other available resources in its blog post and on the website.

The European Digital City Index covers all capital cities in the European Union, with an additional seven non-capital cities in the EU that are considered to be important hubs of digital entrepreneurship, such as Barcelona, Cambridge and Munich.

The Index is composed of ten ‘themes’:

1) Access to Capital
2) Entrepreneurial Culture
3) Mentoring & Managerial Assistance
4) Skills
5) Business Environment
6) Digital Infrastructure
7) Knowledge Spillovers
8) Market
9) Lifestyle
10) Non-digital Infrastructure

With that in mind, it’s not hard to see why London, Amsterdam and Nordic cities score so highly. Still, it seems odd that cities like Berlin and Paris don’t even make it to the top 5 for either startups or scale-ups, while cities like Barcelona, Lisbon and Madrid aren’t even in the top 10 for either category (yet Brussels is, for both).

London is also the only UK city to make the top 10 list, although we should note that Cambridge and Oxford appear 11th and 13th, respectively, for startups and scale-ups. London, by the way, scored poorly when it comes to labour cost, cost of office space and the cost of living, which is admittedly true for any mature ecosystem.

You can check out the European Digital City Index website to get an answer to questions you may have, but here’s an example of how Berlin’s relatively low ranking (and Brussels’ high ranking) is explained by Nesta and the European Digital Forum:

“Berlin, which has produced a number of billion dollar startups, including online fashion shop Zalando and restaurant delivery service Delivery Hero, is only ranked 7th for these businesses. This is because of its expensive and relatively sluggish digital infrastructure and high cost associated with employing staff. Brussels scores higher for scale-ups because of its greater access to capital.”

In 2016, the Index will be updated and expanded to include more EU cities.

Chris Haley, Head of Startups and New Technology Research at Nesta, comments:

“Entrepreneurship, particularly digital entrepreneurship, is vitally important for innovation and growth but not all cities provide equally fertile ground for these businesses.

Our research indicates that location does matter, and illustrates the ways in which top cities create a supportive environment and where lessons can be learnt.”


NOTE CREDIT: http://tech.eu/features/6439/european-digital-city-index/

La era del Big Data hace del CMR la herramienta imprenscindible para las marcas

Estas herramientas posibilitan que la información que llega desde el universo de las redes sociales se integre en las decisiones generales de la compañía 

Cierto es: el CRM no es una cosa nueva. Las empresas llevan ya unos cuantos años empleando estas herramientas para gestionar sus actividades y para convertirlas en más eficientes. El CRM (o un buen CRM, se podría señalar) permite a las empresas conseguir mejores resultados en eficiencia, ya que remplaza los procesos manuales y hace que las cosas fluyan más rápido y mejor; en colaboración, ya que hace más fácil integrar al equipo; en gestión de datos, ya que la información fluye; o en establecer resultados conseguidos, ya que los CRM simplifican el proceso de establecer la relación entre acciones y resultados entre otros beneficios que pueden reportar a las compañías.

Estas herramientas se han convertido por tanto en una parte fundamental del trabajo del equipo de marketing y se han integrado en el día a día de las empresas, o al menos han empezado a funcionar como un elemento de llamada para lograr integrarse en el día a día de las empresas. Los avances en nuevas tecnologías y los cambios en lo que los responsables de marketing deben lograr y deben hacer están haciendo que su papel sea aún más importante.

Por un lado, el boom de las redes sociales ha creado una mayor necesidad del uso de estas herramientas. Usar CRMs sociales permite gestionar el engagement y las interacciones de los clientes de una forma más centralizada y posibilitan además llevar lo logrado en redes sociales a unos niveles mucho más allá de lo simplemente social. Estas herramientas posibilitan que la información que llega desde el universo de las redes sociales se integre en las decisiones generales de la compañía en cuestiones de marketing.

Por otro lado, el big data ha hecho que las herramientas de gestión se conviertan en un elemento aún más importante todavía. En la era del Big data, el CRM es aún más imprescindible para las marcas.

Un exceso de información 

Uno de los problemas a los que las marcas se enfrentan en la era del big data es el de verse sobrepasadas por la información o el no saber simplemente pasar del punto uno de recogida de datos al punto tres de aplicación de las conclusiones. Las marcas tienen cada vez más y más datos sobre sus consumidores y han comprendido además que esa información es cada vez más y más crucial. Necesitan conocer a sus consumidores mucho mejor que sus competidores para así ser capaces de se más eficientes que ellos en su conquista del mercado. Por ello, todas se están entregando a la recogida de datos.

Pero los datos hay que analizarlos y, sobre todo, hay que incorporarlos en las decisiones diarias y, así, es donde las compañías están notando más y más problemas. La información tiene que ser procesada y tiene que ser incorporada al panel de mando.

El valor de los datos está, en realidad, en saber emplearlos para algo. "Los datos son de forma inherente ´tontos´. Nos sirven para nada a menos que sepas cómo usarlos, cómo actuar con ellos", explicaba recientemente Peter Sondergaard, vicepresidente senior en Gartner y responsable global de investigación, mientras analizaba el potencial de la economía de los algoritmos. "Los algoritmos es donde está el valor real. Los algoritmos definen la acción", añadía. La economía del algoritmo no es el único factor importante. No solo es determinante extraer conclusiones de esa masa de información sino también incorporar esas conclusiones a la toma de decisiones diaria, hacer que esos datos se conviertan en un elemento de valor real.

Y aquí es donde el CRM se reinventa 

Los modernos CRM no solo ayudan en los procesos de ventas, ahora, como recuerda en business2community, sirven para tomar decisiones basadas en datos. Las herramientas actuales integran la información que el big data ha ayudado a conseguir y hacen que navegar a través de la misma sea más fácil. Los diferentes departamentos pueden colaborar de forma mucho más eficientes y las conclusiones que se obtienen son mucho más efectivas y permiten lograr mejores resultados. 

¿Ha logrado de este modo el CRM reinventarse y convertirse en una herramienta mucho más eficiente y mucho más imprescindible? Hay quienes creen que sí. La era del big data no ha hecho que el CRM pierda peso o que deba ser sustituido por otra cosa, sino que ha hecho que estas herramientas sean más completas y por tanto mucho más necesarias.

La versión optimizada de estas herramientas permite realmente gestioanr las relaciones con el consumidor a un nivel que va mucho más allá de los cuatro pasos (que ahora parecen tan sencillos) que se podría decir que funcionaban antes. La información estructurada que la marca tenía del consumidor puede ahora fusionarse con toda la información desestructurada sobre el mismo (desde los posts en redes sociales hasta los clics que realiza en la tienda online) y crear así perfiles mucho más completos.

Además, a medida que se produzca más información y a medida que las marcas tengan más y más datos sobre sus consumidores esta herramientas seran aún más necesarias, ya que lasmarcas tendrán que navegar por un entorno aún más complejo. Estas herramientas de gestión se convertir´na en la llave para poder ver la luz al final del bosque y ára no quedarse atrapado en medio de las sombras, sin saber qué camino seguir. 

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.puromarketing.com/12/25614/era-big-data-hace-crm-herramienta-imprescindible-para-marcas.html

Formas increíbles en las que drones están siendo usados en el mundo

Los drones solían ser herramientas para la milicia, pero hoy en día todo es distinto.

En el pasado, la palabra drone su usaba para aviones no tripulados gubernamentales que eran programados para tener un plan de vuelo que podía ser en línea recta o en círculo, y que duraba hasta que el motor dejara de tener combustible o hasta que aterrizara en un lugar especificado previamente. Este término solía ser usado únicamente en temas militares y no era parte importante de la tecnología cotidiana.

En el presente esto es muy diferente. Los drones de ahora siguen siendo aquellos vehículos aéreos no tripulados (UAV en inglés, provenientes de la frase unmanned aerial vehicle) pero, aunque hay muchos modelos con distintas formas y tamaños, los más comunes son pequeños y económicos, hasta tal punto que cualquier persona puede comprarlos en la sección de juguetes de las tiendas y se manejan usando control remoto. Algunos solo sirven para divertirse mientras los manejas remotamente, otros tienen cámaras integradas para tomar fotografías y vídeos.

La popularidad, versatilidad, precio y el tamaño de estos drones ha hecho que sean usados para otros fines, además de los militares, creando así muchas funciones para estos pequeños robots.

Hacer entregas con drones

Hace unos meses Amazon anunció un servicio llamado Amazon Prime Air, que consistía en recibir entregas en menos de 30 minutos gracias al uso de drones. Otra gran empresa que está experimentando con drones es Google con “Project Wing” también para hacer entregas. Ambas compañías están pasando por pruebas, registros de documentos y todo tipo de asuntos legales para poner en marcha lo que tienen en mente.

A pesar de las trabas que se han presentado, en Estados Unidos ya ha volado el primer drone para hacer entregas aprobado por el gobierno de ese país. Esto sucedió en julio de 2015 cuando un pequeño robot aéreo voló hasta una clínica del estado de Virginia para entregar suministros médicos. El drone viajó unos 53 kilometros desde una farmacia hasta la clínica destino y fue piloteado por una compañía australiana llamada Flirtey, quienes son un startup de entregas usando drones. El vídeo de arriba muestra una parte del vuelo.

Hay muchos otros proyectos como estos, por ejemplo el Burrito Bomber, un servicio que te permite ordenar un burrito cuando tengas hambre y recibirlo gracias a un drone. O este servicio completamente legal en el estado de California llamado “Trees“, que envía cajas de marihuana medicinal, o quizás el servicio postal de Suiza que desde julio de 2015 está probando enviar cartas y paquetes usando drones.

Usando drones para la agricultura y conservación de selvas

En la agricultura, un drone puede ser usado con tres finalidades: exploración, cartografía y fumigación aérea. En cualquiera de los casos pueden hacer que esta actividad, que ya tienen margenes de ganancia bastante bajos, sea mucho más eficiente. Por ejemplo, cuando se usan para la exploración, un drone puede recolectar imágenes de una sección de 1.6 kilómetros en unos 18 minutos, lo que hará que el agricultor tenga información sobre las condiciones del terreno, los niveles de agua y la seguridad de las paredes y vallas con mucha más rapidez que si hiciera todo el recorrido a pie o en un vehículo.

Usos para drones

Ya hay agricultores que usan drones para ser más eficientes en su trabajo, como es el caso de Ryan Kunde quien tiene un viñedo en el norte de San Francisco en Estados Unidos. Él usa un robot con una cámara que crea mapas en alta resolución de todo su terreno y ni siquiera necesita ser manejado remotamente porque tiene un GPS con autopiloto.

Los drones también podrían ser usados para rehabilitar selvas tropicales, según explican en un estudio publicado en Conservación Biológica. Aparentemente, estas máquinas pequeñas pueden reemplazar mucho trabajo manual asociado con proyectos de conservación, lo que sería de gran ayuda para mejorar el estado de las selvas.

Drones para tomar vídeos y fotografías

La manera más común para usar drones en el presente es para hacer fotografías y películas con tomas aéreas. Muchas compañías de producción las están usando como una manera relativamente económica de hacer tomas grandes desde el cielo. El vídeo de arriba, por ejemplo, fue creado por Niall Doherty y el fotógrafo Eric Sterman usando un drone con una cámara GoPro, lo que les costó alrededor de US$2000.

Este método puede crear vídeos interesantes solo por arte, pero también pueden tener finales comerciales, como vender casas y otras propiedades. Con los drones se pueden capturar vistas únicas de casas de lujo, algo que los agentes de bienes raíces ya están haciendo en el sur de California en Estados Unidos cuando decidieron contratar a Val Dotchkov quien tiene una empresa que se dedica a crear vídeos interesantes con imágenes desde el aire de propiedades enormes que están a la venta.

NOTE CREDIT: http://blogthinkbig.com/formas-increibles-las-drones-estan-siendo-usados-mundo/?utm_content=buffer1461b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

La revolución Uber en China es una revuelta

El servicio opera un millón de viajes al día, lo que amenaza el futuro de los taxistas profesionales y la ley sigue sin aparecer.

En China, los conductores de la empresa local Didi Kuaidi y de Uber compiten con los taxistas convencionales.

A las cinco de la mañana, el señor Dong, el encargado de una ganadería en Tianjin (China), abre su cuenta de Uber. Antes de dirigirse al trabajo a las siete, puede realizar entre tres y cuatro viajes por el centro de la ciudad en su Buick. Después de dejar la oficina a las seis de la tarde, sigue conduciendo hasta las nueve de la noche. Las mañanas en fin de semana, está tan demandadas que puede realizar hasta 10 viajes antes del mediodía.

"Ahora mismo mucha gente utiliza estos servicios", dice el señor Dong, de 38 años de edad, que sólo facilitó su apellido por miedo a poner en riesgo su trabajo principal. Además de cubrir el coste mensual de gasolina de unos 1.000 yuanes (unos 141 euros) gana entre 800 yaunes (unos 113 euros) y 1.000 yuanes (140 euros) cada mes con los viajes realizados para Uber.

Uber se encuentra en una zona gris a nivel legal. La regulación de las reservas de taxi 'online' puede estar al caer.

En China, los conductores privados de Uber están realizando casi un millón de viajes al día, según el CEO de Uber. Menos de dos años después de su lanzamiento en Estados Unidos, Uber ha desarrollado una feroz rivalidad con el autóctono Didi Kuaidi, que informa de que sus reservas de coche privado diarias se han triplicado hasta alcanzar las tres millones desde mayo, y engendrado resentimientos entre los taxistas convencionales.

Aun así, las ciudades chinas parecen muy propicias en algunos aspectos para una reforma del sector de transportes impulsada por la tecnología. Según cifras del Gobierno, había casi 126 millones de vehículos privados en China a finales de 2014, un aumento del 15,5% sobre el año anterior. El Índice de tráfico de TomTom de 2014 muestra que un tercio de las 50 ciudades más congestionadas del mundo se encuentran en China. Otras opciones de transporte también sufren una importante saturación – durante las horas punta los viajeros del metro de Pekín han de dejar pasar varios trenes abarrotados antes de conseguir subirse.

El Consejo Estatal Chino ha identificado el transporte como una de las industrias tradicionales cuyas eficiencias podrían verse mejoradas con el uso de plataformas online, pero Uber se encuentra en una zona gris a nivel legal. Sus conductores son considerados como operadores de coche privado y no pagan todas las tasas, IVA e impuestos tradicionales que pagan los taxistas. Los conductores de Uber dicen que a menudo evitan las zonas con una alta presencia policial, como aeropuertos y estaciones de tren. Si les pillan, las multas pueden ascender hasta los 10.000 yuanes (unos 1.410 euros). Se especula cada vez más que la regulación de las reservas de taxi online puede estar al caer.

Uber no va a quedarse esperando. Con UberChina recién montado, el servicio de reservas de coches privados tiene planes de introducirse en otras 100 ciudades chinas, la mitad de ellas con una población que supera los cinco millones de habitantes, durante el próximo año. (Actualmente opera en 11 ciudades, incluidas Tianjin, con una población de 14 millones). La empresa también tiene pensado invertir más de 7.000 millones de yuanes (unos 968 millones de euros) en China en 2015.

Pero los conductores de los 1,37 millones de taxis convencionales chinos ya están reaccionando. En mayo, docenas de taxistas bloquearon las calles próximas al estadio olímpico en Tianjin con sus coches y atrajeron a operadores de coches privados a la zona utilizando apps de servicios de reservas de coches. En cuanto llegaron, los dos bandos se enzarzaron en una pelea.

"Me siento algo desalentado", dice Lu Lifang, de 48 años, una taxista. "Si el Gobierno no regula los coches privados, mi profesión desaparecerá tarde o temprano". Me dijo que sus compañeros taxistas también se quejan de ganancias reducidas. Wang Hongyong, 47, dice que gana unos 150 yuanes (unos 21 euros) menos al día ahora en comparación con el 2014. "También estoy más cansado", dice. "No descanso entre viajes".

Conducir no representa su principal fuente de ingresos para la mayoría de los conductores de Uber. La mayoría, al igual que el Señor Dong, conducen para ganar un dinero extra. Xing Gao, que trabaja en una empresa de seguros en Tianjin, no ha aceptado ninguna reserva de su app de Uber desde junio porque la empresa ha reducido prácticamente a cero el subsidio que le paga por cada viaje realizado. En 2014, tenía un subsidio garantizado de 30 yuanes (unos 4,23 euros) por viaje. "Quieren identificar dónde está el límite de los conductores", dice Xing, de 32 años, "sólo para ver hasta dónde pueden bajar antes de que renunciemos".

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.technologyreview.es/negocios/48320/la-revolucion-uber-en-china-es-una-revuelta/

Ruanda tendrá la primera base de drones para enviar medicamentos

El envío de medicamentos con drones lleva tiempo rondando las mentes más inquietas de esta naciente industria. Especialmente en países del Tercer Mundo, donde las infraestructuras suelen ser deficitarias y hay núcleos de población que viven en relativo aislamiento de los grandes centros urbanos, estos aparatos voladores podrían servir para proporcionar un servicio tan básico como es la provisión de medicinas. Ha habido proyectos a pequeña escala para llevar a cabo una actividad de este tipo, sin embargo, la iniciativa que se ha puesto en marcha en Ruanda sobrepasa todo lo anterior.

Ruanda ha sido escogida para albergar lo que será el primero puerto para enviar medicamentos con drones. Se tratará de una prueba a gran escala, pero con la voluntad de que las operaciones sean plenamente funcionales. Nada que ver, por tanto, con proyectos como el de la Lund University de Suecia, en Malawi, también destinado a difundir cuidados médicos a distancia.

La prueba de Ruanda no es tampoco la misma que la que tuvo lugar en Estados Unidos este año, donde la Federal Aviation Administration autorizó a enviar medicamentos con drones por primera vez este año. Y es que este envío a una zona rural no se puede comparar con los que se pueden efectuar en Ruanda, donde los asentamientos aislados son muchas más.

El proyecto comenzará el próximo año a partir de la construcción de tres bases o puertos para drones, que se completarán en 2020. Los dispositivos que salgan desde este complejo podrán cubrir casi la mitad de Ruanda. Una de las propuestas para la edificación de las instalaciones proviene del popular arquitecto Norman Foster y prevé la puesta en funcionamiento de drones de tres metros de envergadura, que podrán llevar cargas de hasta 10 kilos. En el futuro se espera incluso que la capacidad de carga llegue hasta los 100 kg.

El gobierno de Ruanda ha impulsado las comunicaciones móviles e Internet, pero el país cuenta con ciertas desventajas para desplegar infraestructuras. La principal de ellas la deja patente su sobrenombre, ‘la tierra de las mil colinas’.

La orografía es difícil de salvar y de ahí que en Ruanda, como en otros países de África, la tecnología se haya saltado un paso. De no tener líneas de teléfono se ha pasado a tener teléfonos móviles, cuya conectividad no requiere el uso tan intensivo de cableado. Hay quien dice que los drones podrían ser el equivalente a los móviles en lo que se refiere a las infraestructuras de transporte. Si no hay dinero para carreteras o vías de tren puede que sí lo haya para unos cuantos dispositivos voladores, más versátiles y que a la postre salen más baratos.

NOTE CREDIT: http://blogthinkbig.com/ruanda-tendra-la-primera-base-drones-enviar-medicamentos/

Steve Jobs' 13 Most Inspiring Quotes

With a life as storied as he had, it's no wonder that Steve Jobs is remembered not only for running an incredibly successful company, but for being tremendously outspoken.

He seemingly had an opinion on everything, and his thoughts often echoed his obsessive commitment to quality at Apple, whether on his approach to mistakes ("Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations"), or his attention to detail ("Design is not what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works").

But he had plenty to say on deeper matters as well. Here's a roundup of some of his more thought-provoking words, collected from various interviews and speeches.

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while."

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected."

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever."

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it."

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful … that’s what matters to me."

"I’m as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to a thousand things."

"I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next."

"Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."

"Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles."

"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?'"

"I'm convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance."

"I want to put a ding in the universe."

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/233085

Find your next billion-dollar business opportunity

Welcome to a whole new business ecosystem. More venture capital dollars are being directed today toward creating clean energy systems than to harvesting fossil fuels. Organics are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. food market. Seventy percent of college graduates across North America are now looking for jobs with companies that have a good reputation in corporate social responsibility.

Business as usual isn't good enough anymore. This is the dawn of a new wave of "constructive capitalism" that is smarter, more sustainable, and Internet-enabled. And it will change our world.

 There is an unprecedented opportunity today to make money while doing good for the world. When we say, "doing good," we don't mean giving hand-outs. Instead, we mean running a business that makes money by rebuilding the industries that simply don't work anymore. We spent the last three years researching and writing Making Good: Finding Meaning, Money & Community in a Changing World (which is coming out this week) to map out where these opportunities are—and show people how to capitalize on them. We're excited to begin this column with Inc.com and hope to begin a dialogue with the community of entrepreneurs here.

 The following four steps are a simplified process for developing the idea for a billion dollar business—a way to look at the world and zero in on a game-changing solution. You may not initially get the insane traffic an online scrapbooking service like Pinterest has gotten, but you'll build a business that has lasting value in every sense of the word.

Step 1: Pick an Industry

 It may be something you have spent your life getting to know or it may be something you have been interested in following from the sidelines. It doesn't matter. There are opportunities everywhere. Once you have your industry ask yourself what fundamental need does this industry meet?  Does the industry help us travel great distances quickly or does it answer the question of what we do with our trash? Today there is an opportunity to rebuild every industry in a way that does good for the world. The first step is to pick the industry you want to work in and write the core problem it solves in our society.

Step 2: Figure Out What's Broken

 Does the industry rely on cheap labor from the developing world or does their business model rely on doing harm to the environment?  Sometimes the answer to what is broken is found in conversations with people that have been in the industry for years and other times it is commonly understood by almost everyone. Know what is wrong with the industry, what the community says, what the industry insiders say and you will begin to understand the opportunity to make good. How could the industry's needs be met in a better more sustainable way? How could smarter processes, software innovations, new materials change the game? Where are the opportunities for reinvention?

Step 3: Find the Rebuilders

 Once you begin to look, you will find people that are already working on these core questions, rethinking industries from the ground-up. They are one of your greatest assets. They may be answering the question in a different way than you envision answering it, but like you they are just beginning to figure it out—improvising, experimenting, piloting new untested methods, and answering similar questions. Get to know what they are doing, what questions they are asking, and how they are funding themselves. They will not only be a source of new ideas but also begin connecting you with a movement of others working towards the same thing.

Step 4: Figure Out Who Wins

 Understanding who profits as a result of your industry's improved redesign will help you immediately recognize who will fund your work or who will eventually acquire the company you start. Who currently "wins" as a result of this industry being fixed?  You can guarantee that the companies that are already firmly entrenched in answering this question are looking for the ways to recreate, and rebuild in response to our changing environment. The people who stand to profit from your redesign are the people to look to in order to pay your bills and to help you launch the next big company that makes money and changes the world.

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.inc.com/billy-parish-dev-aujla/find-a-billion-dollar-business-opportunity.html

How to Find New Business Opportunities

Generating business ideas is a skill. You can develop a habit to see an economic opportunity in everything around you.

1. Live in the future

Be close to cutting edge technology. Use something that was not available yesterday. Read news about new inventions. Think about products for young people.

The future belongs to wearable computers, self-driving cars, DNA tests, and atom-thin materials. What product and services should exist around these big innovation themes?

Think of some major upcoming change and complete the sentence “if you live in the future ...”. For example, “if you live in the future, all cars are electric” or “if you live in the future, nobody uses cash”. Then build a company to make it happen.

2. Become an expert

There are specialized fields that are not open to anyone from the street. Customs, prisons, medical devices, military contracts, nuclear plants, bridge construction. Typically, you can start a company in these areas only after years of professional experience. Be an insider and you can start a business in a large market with high barrier to entry.

Michael Bloomberg was the head of IT at investment bank Salomon Brothers. He was laid off in 1981 with 10M$ severance package. Bloomberg used this money to start a new company to offer information services for financial organizations. To this day, Bloomberg L.P. is the leader of financial data market.

Be a master of some powerful tool. Learn how to make mobile apps, build online marketplaces, or use data science. Then meet a lot of people, learn about their challenges and see, whether you can use your skill to help.

Be really good at two different things. Medicine and sales, IT and government contracting, culinary arts and retail. Field intersections are full of unique opportunities.

3. Scratch your own itch

Find the problem you want to solve for yourself. Look for things you were not able to find a good solution for. New problems come when something changed in your life. E.g. you start seeing a lot of opportunities when you become a parent.

Same happens in B2B market. You have one company and can not find a good solution for something. You start a second company to solve it and the second one becomes bigger than the original one.

Stripe was founded by Patrick Collison out of frustration from payment solutions he used for his previous projects. Flickr was initially a game that has a need to store user images online.

4. Look for pain points

Look for wasted time and money, inefficiency, suffering, losses. Then start a project to fix it. Learn more about hunger, poverty, epidemics, unemployment, crime, road congestion, pollution, and corruption. Become friends with people who work on these problems for many years.

Generally it is much better to start with a great problem and no solution than with a brilliant solution that solves no problem.

5. Do something much better

Look for things people hate to do. Hunting for rent, parking, getting visas, commute, visiting a doctor. Figure out a better way to do these things.

Use technology to rethink how things should be done. How should construction workers do their job at the time of smartphones? How should hospitals work in the digital age?

There are market leaders with almost monopoly power over market and no incentive to improve. Challenging these monster incumbents can very hard, but sometimes it works. Virgin Atlantic started with a mission to beat British Airways in customer service.

6. Connect cheap supply with rich buyers

Buy low, sell high. This simple formula continues to work for centuries. There is a lot of cheap manufacturing resources in China. There is cheap labor in developing countries. There are cheap buildings to buy or rent. On the other side there are people with disposable income and unmet needs. Connect them!

Freelance marketplaces like Odesk or 99Designs are connecting remote workers in developing countries with companies across the world.

7. Copy and improve

Most ideas are derivative. Many successful businesses started as a copy. Look what you can add to existing ideas. Is it new sales channels, better customer service, better quality?

There always trendy ideas for small businesses. One year coworking spaces and bubble tea stands are popular, then everyone talks about private kindergartens, then there is a wave of SMM agencies.These waves move around the world with a significant delay. You can start a business inspired by one of the current waves. It is safer than unproven innovation and more fun than buying a franchise.

In USA every college has branded merchandise, like hoodies, t-shirts and caps. In Russia, it was not common. One student decided to change that. He started a company to produce university-themed clothing for all colleges in the country. Now you can see students in his clothing at every campus.

8. Travel

Learn about popular and successful businesses in other parts of the world. Every industry has its innovation centers. Fashion business ideas can come from Paris and Guangzhou, software ideas come from Silicon Valley, financial ideas come from New York and London.

In early eighties Howard Schultz was an employee at Starbucks. At the time Starbucks was only selling whole bean coffee. No drinks we offered in the store. On a buying trip to Milan, Italy, Schultz noted that coffee bars existed on practically every street. He learned that they not only served excellent espresso, they also served as meeting places or public squares; they were a big part of Italy's societal glue, and there were 200,000 of them in the country. On his return, he tried to persuade the owners (including Jerry Baldwin) to offer traditional espresso beverages. Howard failed to convince Jerry, left Starbucks and started his own chain of espresso bars. A few years later he bought Starbucks, merged it with his existing coffee bar chain and made Starbucks a global phenomenon.

9. Follow up a market change

New products from big companies create new markets. If you react fast enough, you can claim a part of newly created market.

Venture capitalists understand this rule. That’s why they create special investment funds for Facebook apps, iPhone apps, Google Glass apps, and Bitcoin ecosystem. Whenever there is a big change, entrepreneurs and investors come to take advantage of it.

The same method works for local businesses. Follow up new construction developments like new subway stations, airports, or gentrification processes.

In 1975 MITS developed the first commercially successful home computer, Altair 8800. One student from Harvard decided that selling software programs for Altair 8800 can be a business. He and his friends wrote BASIC interpreter for Altair 8800 and started selling it in partnership with MITS. The company was called Micro-Soft and the student was Bill Gates.

10. Iterate from useless product

Release anything in 1-3 days. Then ask friends what should you change to get them use it. Release an update. Ask again. Repeat until you have a mass-desired product.

Most European countries have the same fairy tale about a “stone soup”.

A lost soldier comes to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. The soldier fills the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing?. The soldier answers that he is making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of vegetables to improve the flavour. The villager does not mind parting with a few carrots to help them out, so that gets added to the soup. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.

11. Talk to smart people

There are people who have more good ideas that they can implement themselves. Ask them. You can get not only an idea, but also a set of initial customers.

Entrepreneurs love their own ideas and discount ideas from others. But sometimes the best opportunity can come from someone else.

Elon Musk gave an idea of solar panel installation and service company to his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive. SolarCity is now a multibillion-dollar public company.

Not so good ways to generate ideas

There are some popular ways to generate ideas that in many cases lead to failed projects. You should be very cautious to use them.

Analogy

Doing X for Y, like “Metropolitan Museum for digital art” is a common way to generate ideas. Unfortunately, most of these ideas fail. Most likely, your market has a very different problem and a solution from some other market would not work. If problems are, indeed, similar, then the original solution could have been extended to your market. “Google for restaurants” is just Google.

Clear you mind from all product visions 

“Product vision”

Many entrepreneurs start with a detailed vision of a new product with all its features. It’s quite easy to imagine a new restaurant concept or a TV Series idea. These visions have little relation to market demand and rarely take off. Most good ideas start with a customer.

Every idea has its drawbacks

Your best ideas will come with some disadvantage. Recognize and acknowledge their weaknesses. You can still pursue them, if there is a good way to counter the drawbacks.

Do not filter out ideas with a lot of hard and unpleasant work. If you can pull it off, there will be less competition and your business will be highly defensible against future entrants.

The presence of successful competitors is typically good, as it proves the existence of demand. If you have a clear differentiation and the proof that this difference can attract enough customers from competitors, you can enter a competitive market.

Sometimes a successful business starts with a tiny initial market. It can work out if (1) the demand is very strong, (2) there is a realistic way to extend your product to a broader market, and (3) you have enough resources to support your way to a broader market.


Ideas come from conversations. Discuss trends, markets and your current ideas with everyone. Fresh insights are guaranteed to follow.

Ideas come from empathy. Learn the pain of other people and you can discover new solutions.

Ideas come from curiosity. How the things should work? How the future will look like?

Ideas come from subconscious. Write down your business area and idea requirements. Then just go do the other work. Few days later a moment of enlightenment can come to you.

NOTE CREDIT: https://medium.com/@earlydays_io/how-to-find-new-business-opportunities-c2f314c7df86

Mark Zuckerberg reveló su proyecto para proveer internet desde el espacio

El dueño de Facebook anunció que tiene una sociedad con una empresa de satélites con la que desarrolla nuevas tecnologías. "La conectividad tradicional es ineficiente", dijo.

"Estoy emocionado de anunciar nuestro primer proyecto para entregar Internet desde el espacio. Como parte de nuestros esfuerzos para conectar el mundo a través de Internet.org,nos estamos asociando con eutelsat para lanzar un satélite en órbita que conecte a millones de personas", escribió el creador de Facebook en su perfil de la red social, donde además agregó varias imágenes sobre cómo marcha el proyecto.

 Zuckerberg agregó que "durante el último año Facebook ha ido explorando formas de utilizaraviones y satélites para transmitir el acceso a internet a las comunidades terrestres desde el cielo. Para conectar a las personas que viven en regiones remotas, la infraestructura de conectividad tradicional es a menudo difícil e ineficiente, por lo que tenemos que inventar nuevas tecnologías". Como parte de nuestra colaboración con eutelsat, un nuevo satélite llamado Amos-6 va a proporcionar cobertura de internet a grandes partes de la África subsahariana, reveló el empresario tecnológico.

"El satélite Amos 6 está en construcción y se lanzará en 2016 en una órbita geostacionaria que cubrirá grandes partes del oeste, el este y el sur de África", precisó el cofundador de la mayor red social del mundo. "Vamos a trabajar con los socios locales a través de estas regiones para ayudar a que las comunidades comiencen a acceder a los servicios de Internet provistos a través del satélite", añadió Zuckerberg. "Ésta es apenas una de las innovaciones en las que estamos trabajando para alcanzar nuestro objetivo con Internet.org. La conectividad transforma vidas y comunidades. Vamos a seguir trabajando para conectar al mundo entero -- incluso si eso significa mirar más allá de nuestro planeta", concluyó afirmando el propietario de Facebook.

NOTE CREDIT: http://www.infobae.com/2015/10/05/1760192-mark-zuckerberg-revelo-su-proyecto-proveer-internet-el-espacio