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Joe Rogan is an American podcast host. Rogan's podcast is downloaded nearly 200 million times per month and made $30 million last year, making him the highest-paid podcaster of 2019, per Forbes. It’s just him and his tech assistant in a small studio. So, there’s plenty that we can learn from Joe Rogan’s meteoric rise. Check it out! https://medium.com/swlh/how-joe-rogan-built-a-100-million-podcasting-empire-by-rejecting-traditional-marketing-3d931365f1e8

How Joe Rogan Built a $100 Million Podcasting Empire By Rejecting Traditional Marketing Embrace the new world of media

How can founders value their startup if it’s pre-revenue? Vuk Vegezzi from BV4, a certified startup valuation company, selected and described two popular valuation models that can be applied to startups. https://fundsup.co/popular-startup-valuation-models/

Popular startup valuation models How can founders value their startup if it’s pre-revenue? Vuk Vegezz from BV4 selected and described three popular startup valuation models.

Tech companies come in two flavors: those that are platforms and those that want to be platforms. A platform is one of those ideas that is easy to see yet hard to define, and therein lies the challenge for regulators. One important concept to understand about true platforms is that they have no boundaries. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/venturebeat/SZYF/~3/mqh_AsFaAtQ/

Are the hyper-platforms going to kill your business? By the time regulators figure out a company is prone to becoming a predatory monopolist, it’s often too late to reign that company in.

Facebook plans to launch its long-awaited digital currency Libra as soon as January, the Financial Times reported on Friday. The project will arrive in an even further slimmed-down version than originally planned. That's because the Silicon Valley-based social networking firm is attempting to woo critics and win regulatory approval from FINMA,. https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra-digital-token-january-slimmed-down-version-ft-2020-11

Facebook's digital token Libra to launch as soon as January in an even more slimmed-down version, report says The Libra Association, which manages Facebook's cryptocurrency project, plans to launch a single coin backed by the dollar.

Data Privacy is important and the proper handling of data with the focus on compliance with data protection regulations is a must for all companies… worldwide. However, we just learned that South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) has slapped Facebook with a US$6.1 million fine for sharing user information without consent. https://www.engadget.com/facebook-6-million-fine-korea-sharing-user-data-120542835.html

Facebook fined $6.1 million in South Korea for sharing user data without consent The Korea Communications Commission kickstarted the investigation in 2018 before ultimately handing it off to the PIPC a few months ago. According to Yonhap News, the PIPC determined that the social network shared the personal information of 3.3 million South Korean users (out of a total of 18 milli...

AppsFlyer, founded in 2011, is a SaaS mobile marketing analytics and attribution platform, headquartered in San Francisco. The company gives developers the tools to drive marketing success by connecting developers who want to advertise their apps and games to more than 8,000 partners via its marketplace. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/venturebeat/SZYF/~3/LoxkoLI2zYU/

AppsFlyer raises funding from Salesforce Ventures at $2 billion valuation AppsFlyer, the mobile measurement and marketing firm, raised a new round of funding from Salesforce Ventures at a $2 billion valuation.

In an age where user experience is key to a business’s success and differentiation, innovative teams know they have to prioritize UX from day one. A McKinsey report rates companies by strength of design and how design plays into their financial performance. Check these tactical tips to help your company prioritize design from day one. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/venturebeat/SZYF/~3/dB4h5HIaVqw/

Quick-start guide to building a design-first company User experience is key to a business’s success and differentiation, so innovative teams know they have to make it priority from day one.

Expanding your business internationally is an exciting prospect as it opens up new opportunities for business growth and development in a new market. However, one of the key aspects of a successful expansion is having the right team in place to lead that entry and that can be tricky. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechInAsia/~3/2vPehPFOLkM/managing-challenges-talent-localization-building-team-globally

Managing the challenges of talent localization when building your team globally Not having the right processes to manage talent can create problems for companies once they expand internationally.

A recent blog post from Hubspot addresses the importance of sales and marketing alignment. One key takeaway: Choose an ecosystem that offers advanced tools for both sales reps and marketers. The more your teams can align on tools and processes, the easier it will be for your entire company to reach tighter alignment. https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/use-sales-intelligence

How and Why Sales Intelligence Will Help You Close More Deals Discover how and why sales intelligence can empower your sales team to convert more leads and close more deals.

Boston-based DataRobot, a startup developing an end-to-end enterprise AI platform, was founded in 2012 and claims to have had triple-digit recurring revenue growth dating back to 2015. The infusion of capital brings DataRobot’s total raised to $700.6 million and making the company among the top-funded AI startups in the world. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/venturebeat/SZYF/~3/YNPmmKKd6uk/

AI dev platform startup DataRobot raises $270 million at a $2.7 billion valuation AI enterprise dev platform DataRobot has raised $270 million in venture capital at a $2.7 billion valuation.

Airbnb was launched by Chesky and Joe Gebbia 12 years ago as a website to take bookings for rooms during conferences, including the Democratic National Convention that year in Denver and now they are ready for an IPO (anticipated stock market debut in December). https://ca.reuters.com/article/us-airbnb-ipo-idCAKBN27W2WN

Airbnb IPO filing shows third-quarter earnings beating virus with cost cuts, new focus Airbnb Inc's initial public offering (IPO) registration showed on Monday that the home rental startup turned a profit in the third quarter despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as it gears up for one of the most anticipated stock market debuts in recent years.

The coronavirus had a negative impact on investment in early-stage crypto startups, early in the year. But in the third quarter of this year, crypto startups have raised $900 million in venture capital, more than 3x of what was raised in Q2 2020. https://dailyfintech.com/2020/11/16/bitcoin-and-defi-are-bringing-in-the-vc-dollars/

Bitcoin and Defi are bringing in more VC dollars - Daily Fintech The coronavirus had a negative impact on investment in early stage crypto startups, early in the year. The economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic made venture capital companies hesitant to invest in the first half of 2020. Yet, there is reason for optimism, as things are starting to turn around...

Swiss startup Koleda with its CEO Maxim Interbrick and his product Solus+ is amongst the top innovations helping us to be more sustainable at home. Solus+ delivers heat via infrared radiation, whereby heat is transferred directly to the objects in the room. https://www.springwise.com/innovation-snapshot/sustainable-home-business-ideas-2020

Top 7 Sustainable Home Innovations From 2020 - Springwise From laundry to air-con, smart bricks to fridge designs, here are our top innovations helping us to be more sustainable at home.

Malta-based virtual assistant firm Vaiot has integrated IBM’s Watson Assistant with the Cosmos blockchain to sell car insurance. The new platform features an end-to-end sales process that does not require human assistance to complete the car insurance contracts. Vaiot just recently raised $5.9 million in an ICO. https://cointelegraph.com/news/your-car-insurance-salesman-is-now-an-ai-bot-connected-to-blockchain

Your car insurance salesman is now an AI bot connected to blockchain Voit has partnered with IBM and Cosmos to deliver a fully-automated virtual assistant that can offer car insurance

Conversations with your Amazon-brand digital assistant could soon be far less stilted. Following the introduction of the natural conversation feature in September, Amazon announced on Tuesday that Alexa can now infer a user’s “latent goals” based on what the person is asking it. https://www.engadget.com/alexa-is-getting-better-at-guessing-your-intentions-202813759.html

Alexa is getting better at guessing your intentions Alexa can now infer a user's “latent goals” based on what the person is asking it.

Bulgaria is yet to produce a tech unicorn, but that doesn’t mean its startup ecosystem should be overlooked. Over the past decade, Sofia’s startup scene has flourished — even if it’s noticeably absent from the top positions in most tech rankings. The capital city is home to 23 universities with more than 100,000 students. https://thenextweb.com/growth-quarters/2020/11/09/sofias-startup-ecosystem-is-one-to-watch-just-give-it-time/

Sofia’s startup ecosystem is one to watch — just give it time The quality of life, cheap rent and nearby ski slopes may be enough to convince founders to set up base in Sofia — but bigger initiatives are coming.

Sarah Figueroa started Geojam last year with the goal of connecting fans at concerts. While the pandemic vastly curtailed live events, which like the hospitality, restaurant and travel industry ground to a near halt, the company and the artists found a way to come together and the company decided to connect fans directly to the artists. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/your-money/entrepreneur-pandemic.html

How One Entrepreneur Changed Her Business Model in the Pandemic Sarah Figueroa started Geojam with the goal of connecting fans at concerts. When those events were halted, the company decided to connect fans directly to the artists.

Are you too talking to “Wilson”? This is a good and helpful article from Mark Fogel, a Human Capital Leader, for a time, which is not easy for many employees because Covid has brought about a heightened level of loneliness for many of us. https://fistfuloftalent.com/2020/11/i-am-getting-lonely-how-about-you.html

I Am Getting Lonely, How About You? - Fistful of Talent Covid has brought about a heightened level of loneliness for many of us. While I have not stooped to talking to “Wilson:, the volleyball in the movie Castaway, I do spend 8-10 hour stretches many days by my lonesome. My dog Max is often my only companion and he is usually sleeping! My spouse is go...

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that flexibility, creativity and ‘pivoting’ are crucial for future success. Read more about creativity, problem solving, leadership, confidence and digital impact in this great article. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300150020/eight-things-employers-are-looking-for-in-2020

Eight things employers are looking for in 2020 OPINION: Eight values, skills and areas of expertise and interest employers are on the lookout for in post-lockdown Aotearoa.

12 years ago – exactly on October 31, 2008 Satoshi Nakamoto’s modest nine-page paper set in motion a revolution in finance. Depending on where one stands, that pseudonymous white paper — its author(s) still remain unidentified — fostered either a fintech revolution or, as some believe, “the greatest scam in history.” https://dailyfintech.com/2020/11/02/bitcoin-by-the-numbers/

Bitcoin by the numbers - Daily Fintech I’ve always been a numbers guy when it come to bitcoin’s growth, especially as we try to predict future adoption. Yesterday was bitcoin’s 12th anniversary, and since the bitcoin whitepaper has been published on 350 web sites and cited by over 1,100 scholarly articles. This weekend, bitcoin’s...

You don’t need any more proof to understand that poor customer experience can chase your customers away. Great customer experience, even if it demands a slightly higher price will make even customers on a fence to make a purchase. In short, great customer experience can tune up the conversion rate for your business. https://customerthink.com/5-customer-experience-strategies-that-will-make-your-business-conversion-friendly/

5 Customer Experience Strategies That Will Make Your Business Conversion Friendly | CustomerThink 5 Customer Experience Strategies That Will Make Your Business Conversion Friendly By Dhaval Sarvaiya - October 25, 2020 0 19 views Tweet Price and quality. Across the ages, these have remained the top considerations for customers when it came to making a buying decision. But, the modern customer con...

Europe Days 2020 on October 27 is a virtual conference later this month in a bid to lead European companies to greater digitalization and innovation. Among the more than 50 speakers will be Olaf Koch, the CEO of Metro AG, a retail giant with 27 billion euros annual turnover, and Rene Obermann, the chairman of Airbus. https://www.timesofisrael.com/european-firms-seek-tie-ups-with-israeli-startups-in-bid-for-innovation/

European firms seek tie-ups with Israeli startups in bid for innovation A virtual conference, Europe Days 2020, hopes to help companies in Germany, Switzerland and Austria meet demand for new tech solutions, spurred by competition and COVID-19

This new Smart Ring is a multifunctional piece of technology for those who want to enhance their daily life with more digital efficiency. The jewelry-like ring can be comfortably worn on the hand to let users keep essential technologies within reach at all times. This could include payment cards, business cards, transportation tickets and beyond. https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/aeklys-by-starck

Discreet Wearable Technology Rings Aeklys by Starck - The Aeklys by Starck smart ring has been designed in collaboration with Icare Technologies as a multifunctional piece of technology for those who w...

Shenzhen launched the first public test for the central bank digital currency, which will distribute RMB 100 million (about $1.48 million) through red envelopes. A lottery system will randomly select 50,000 individuals. Residents can apply through China’s big four banks and those selected will be able to use the coupons at 3,389 retail outlets around the city. https://technode.com/2020/10/13/blockheads-digital-yuan-rush-and-otc-crackdown/

Blockheads: digital yuan rush and OTC crackdown · TechNode Shenzhen will run a lottery to distribute almost $1.5 million worth of the digital yuan, while over-the-counter traders are feeling the heat of regulation.

Please check the launch trailer! Facebook is giving Messenger a fresh look. It’s rolling out a redesigned version of the app, which has a more vibrant logo and new default chat color, additional chat themes and custom reactions. The new look reflects a shift to the future of messaging. https://www.engadget.com/facebook-messenger-app-redesign-140445037.html

Facebook Messenger gets a new logo and a fresh design The redesigned app has more chat themes and custom reactions.

Israeli company Foretellix, which develops safety verification software for ADAS (advanced-driver-assisted-systems) and autonomous vehicles (AV), announced that it is acquiring California-based startup Metamoto, provider of Simulation-as-a-Service for autonomous vehicles. Metamoto was founded in 2016 and Foretellix was founded in 2018. https://www.geektime.com/foretellix-acquires-metamoto/

The catalyst of the autonomous future: Israeli Foretellix acquires Metamoto Foretellix is changing its roadmap with the acquisition of the Cali-based Simulation-as-a-Service company, as the Israeli company has recognized a COVID-accelerated-hole in autonomous vehicle validation...

The arrival of personalization and artificial intelligence-based technologies has vastly changed how marketers and sales can achieve the ultimate customer experience, equipping them to better connect with their target audiences. Interested in what real growth with personalization looks like? Read on. http://www.clickz.com/how-ai-has-evolved-in-the-marketing-industry-and-where-its-headed-next/263703/

How AI has evolved in the marketing industry – and where it’s headed next - ClickZ Dynamic Yield delves into the evolving role of AI in marketing & what marketers & brands should anticipate next as AI continues to reshape the industry.

Temenos, the Swiss banking software company, today announced that Banca Mediolanum Group’s digital bank, Flowe, has gone live with Temenos Transact and Financial Crime Mitigation (FCM) delivered as SaaS. Flowe launched in record time on Temenos SaaS after a remote implementation during the coronavirus pandemic. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201007005045/en/Temenos-SaaS-Supports-Flowe-in-Launching-an-Ethical-Challenger-Bank-in-Record-Time

Temenos SaaS Supports Flowe in Launching an Ethical Challenger Bank in Record Time Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company, today announced that Banca Mediolanum Group’s digital bank, Flowe, has gone live with Temenos Trans

GPT-3 stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3. In short, this means that it generates text using algorithms that are pre-trained – they’ve already been fed all of the data they need to carry out their task. Specifically, they’ve been fed around 570GB of text information gathered by crawling the internet along with other texts selected by OpenAI. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/10/05/what-is-gpt-3-and-why-is-it-revolutionizing-artificial-intelligence/

What Is GPT-3 And Why Is It Revolutionizing Artificial Intelligence? Could GPT-3 be the most powerful artificial intelligence ever developed? When OpenAI, a research business co-founded by Elon Musk, released the tool recently, it created a massive amount of hype. Here we look through the hype and outline what it is and what it isn’t.

Sometimes there are some really good articles and contributions that tell you straight to your face, what you need to do. This is one of those articles and if you are in the SaaS business and responsible for growth, it is a must read. It is important you become familiar with the 40% rule. This is about how to add up the numbers and to be on a positive track. https://contingencysales.com/2018/08/31/the-40-rule-an-indication-of-saas-software-health/

The 40% Rule -- An Indication of SaaS Software Health SaaS Software Needing the 40% Rule for Liquidity One would think with the stock market as hot as it is, now would be a great time to bring in new venture capit

Interesting analysis by Lilian Lee with excellent charts. She says, the US has Amazon, Facebook and Google, China has Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu. While the US has Salesforce, Adobe and ServiceNow, China… well, China has no equivalent. In China, mass SaaS adoption has the potential to address many of the country’s workplace challenges. https://technode.com/2020/09/30/where-are-chinas-saas-giants/

Where are China’s SaaS giants? · TechNode China has some of the largest software companies in the world—so where are the SaaS firms? A SaaS investor looks for answers.

If you are a startup in France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Germany maybe French fintech-startup October can help you. October has raised some fresh capital to invest in small and medium companies on its lending platform. Overall, the company has gathered $300 million from various partners that will be deployed over the next few years. http://techcrunch.com/2020/09/30/october-closes-300-million-in-new-funds-for-its-sme-lending-marketplace/

October closes $300 million in new funds for its SME lending marketplace – TechCrunch French fintech startup October has raised some fresh capital to invest in small and medium companies on its lending platform. Overall, the company has gathered $300 million (€258 million) from various partners that will be deployed over the next few years. This is not a traditional startup funding...

Amazon is rolling out a new contactless technology that enables consumers to pay and carry out other in-store transactions using the palm of their hands. The internet giant has grander plans for the technology in the future, with plans to offer the technology to third-parties. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/venturebeat/SZYF/~3/CbuL-l6YWLw/

Amazon One verifies consumers and office workers by scanning the palm of their hand Amazon is rolling out a new contactless technology that enables consumers to pay and carry out other in-store transactions using the palm of their hand.

Holidu is a Munich-based startup that compares the prices of vacation rentals across sites like Airbnb and Booking.com. In July alone, more than 27m users visited the Holidu platform, according to the company’s data. This resulted in a 2.6x growth in year-on-year bookings, and more than €130m in newly generated bookings that month. https://sifted.eu/articles/travel-startups-holidu/

Not all European travel startups are totally screwed | Sifted Amidst all the doom and gloom, some travel startups have begun to get back on their feet – and a few have even doing better than ever.

Next Insurance, Palo Alto-based and which aims to be the go-to insurance provider for any small business, has raised $250 million in a Series D round a few days ago. The round was led by new investor CapitalG and existing investor Munich Re and the transaction is valued at over $2 billion. https://www-nextinsurance-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nextinsurance.com/blog/next-insurance-raises-250-million-d-round/?amp

We’ve raised $250 million in new funding led by CapitalG - Next Insurance I’m excited to announce that we’ve raised a new round of financing led by CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund, with participation from FinTLV, and existing investors Munich RE Group. I’m thankful to have Sumiran Das from CapitalG joining our board of directors, as I believe he’ll ...

Microsoft’s Edge browser recently overtook Firefox as the most popular Chrome alternative, according to NetMarketshare stats. Chrome still has the lion’s share of the market with over a 70 percent share, and Firefox isn’t that far behind, but Microsoft’s contender has been slowly gaining popularity. Check the blog from the browser’s Principal PM Lead Kim Denny. https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-outlines-edge-improvements-050429243.html

Microsoft outlines recent Edge browser improvements In a new post on the Microsoft Edge blog, the browser’s Principal PM Lead Kim Denny has outlined how the company made it faster and more efficient over the past few months. PGOs prioritize the most important parts of the code, while LTOs optimize memory usage. Microsoft also introduced improvement...

Switzerland-based machine learning code review startup DeepCode has been acquired by Boston-based Snyk, a cybersecurity startup focused on helping developers secure their code. Snyk latest valuation has expanded to $2.6 billion. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The Swiss startup had only raised $5.2 million since being founded back in 2016. http://techcrunch.com/2020/09/24/snyk-acquires-deepcode-to-boost-its-code-review-smarts/

Snyk acquires DeepCode to boost its code review smarts – TechCrunch Switzerland-based machine learning code review startup DeepCode — which bills itself as “Grammarly for coders” — has been acquired by Snyk, a post-unicorn valuation cybersecurity startup focused on helping developers secure their code. Financial terms of the deal have not be…

EBAMed SA, a medical technology company based in Geneva, Switzerland, has been awarded EUR 2.4 million in a non-dilutive grant by the Enhanced European Innovation Council (EIC) to develop its cardiac motion management product for the non-invasive treatment of heart arrhythmias. Last year EBAMed closed a s seed investment round of CHF 1.2 Million. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200923005035/en/EBAMed-is-Awarded-EUR-2.4-Million-by-the-European-Union-to-Develop-Its-Cardiac-Motion-Management-Product-for-the-Non-invasive-Treatment-of-Heart-Arrhythmias

EBAMed is Awarded EUR 2.4 Million by the European Union to Develop Its Cardiac Motion Management Product for the Non-invasive Treatment of Heart Arrhythmias EBAMed SA, a Swiss medtech, awarded EUR 2.4 million in an EIC non-dilutive grant to develop its cardiac motion management product.