Why 2017 will a big year for tech exits
Why 2017 will a big year for tech exits.
Image Credit: Vintage Tone/Shutterstock I’ve been talking to some of my banker friends* about their thoughts on the M&A market for 2017 under the new Trump administration.
The Trump administration is projected to be very business friendly and will likely take the following steps that will lead to more cash in hand for larger corporations: Repatriation of cash trapped overseas in low tax jurisdictions.
The idea here is that companies have cash in low tax jurisdictions that they do not want to bring back to the U.S. due to our corporate tax rate being higher than where they are generating the cash (in 2016, the U.S. had the third highest corporate income tax rate in the world).
If the U.S. lowers its corporate tax rate, the idea is that these companies would bring that cash back to the U.S. and invest it in projects here.
Following the financial crisis, interest rates were lowered in order to stimulate corporate borrowing, this ushering in extremely low interest rates for when companies borrowed cash to make acquisitions.
With the improvement of the economy, the Fed is starting to raise interest rates again, which will make it more expensive for companies to borrow money for acquisitions.
Regulation is effectively a tax on an organization (it costs companies money), and reducing regulation means companies will have more to spend on other things, one of which is M&A.
Venture Capitalists are hopeful for higher M&A and IPO activity this year as always, but this year is critical.
Many firms are are already predicting such outcomes for higher IPOs and M&As this year.
Tilt Brush artists become animators with update to toolkit
Tilt Brush artists become animators with update to toolkit.
Google’s Tilt Brush app is evolving from a new way for artists to create into an important new tool in a developer’s arsenal.
Back in October 2016 the search engine giant open-sourced the Tilt Brush Toolkit, a set of scripts that allows developers to utilize .tilt files (your saved creations) in various ways, bringing them into other applications.
Even the markers for movement are drawn within Tilt Brush.
This could be a gateway to getting more people into the development of 3D content, be it games, movies or otherwise.
That’s a powerful tool in the context of development.
A big part of Editor VR is tools, which brings in features from third-party creation apps like Tvori.
Now that Unity developers can use Tilt Brush creations with the standard editing modes, could we see Editor VR integration follow on?
This story originally appeared on Uploadvr.com.
Copyright 2017
5 industries ripe for human-machine learning
This year, it’s time to embrace what humans can learn by interacting with machine learning.
While the use of neural networks in AlphaGo was proof of how human thinking influences machine learning, AlphaGo’s interaction with human players also suggested a future in which machine learning could influence human thinking.
What happens when we approach machine learning not as a replacement for human expertise, but as a partner in a collaborative relationship where humans and machines learn from each other?
Learning from machine learning could have an immediate impact on a number of industries.
Human capital Human capital, from recruiting to management, is an ideal context in which to embrace the reciprocal relationship between human and machine learning.
We could enhance professional development by using machine learning to identify and predict human capital trends and needs, and then create a dialogue between employees and algorithms.
AI Combinator: A start-up incubator driven by VC expertise and machine learning, drawing from the latest angel investing and industry trends to identify new market opportunities.
It can identify existing patterns (e.g. cat vs. blueberry muffin), but it can also generate new content, whether visual images or musical compositions.
Musicians, writers, and artists see machine learning as a collaborative partner and influence, and in turn actually create differently.
But as it replaces some parts of our lives, how might our collaboration with machines also influence us as humans – how we think, learn, and create?
Why you won’t have to worry about parking your 2018 Ford Mustang
Why you won’t have to worry about parking your 2018 Ford Mustang.
Image Credit: Ford For anyone who lives near a major city, you know there are many stress points.
Ford recently announced a new app called FordPass that will debut in the 2018 Ford Mustang that could solve this problem.
For someone like me who hates how much time it takes to find a spot and then find the terminal to pay for your parking, the app is a welcome perk.
Eventually, it could pay for more than a parking spot.
Let’s say you know you need to head downtown for the day.
You can also bookmark a spot as a favorite and use it each time you go to a downtown area.
The FordPass app works with ParkWhiz and FlightCar and will go live in April.
Parking garages in places like Minneapolis are not exactly high-tech in terms of using sensors that know how long you actually parked and which stalls are open, even if there is an ecosystem for paying at an automated terminal.
If sensors tracked where you park and when you leave (similar to the Amazon Go store) you wouldn’t need to use a terminal Once it comes out, the real test will be whether the apps are easy to use and help you find spots near your destination.
Hands-on with Tobii’s eye-tracking laptop controls
Among the laptops that using the technology is the Acer Aspire V 17 Nitro Black Edition, which was introduced at CES, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas earlier this month.
When you release your button, you can throw a knife at each target simultaneously, taking out several targets at once.
My conclusion is that you can shoot and target faster using Aim@Gaze eye-tracking compared to using a computer mouse, just as using a mouse is faster than using a console game controller.
I used a game controller to drive a car in the game.
With eye-tracking, I was able to glance at other objects and target them using my eyes, rather than the cursor controlled by the game controller.
“It takes a little getting used to,” Werner said.
Cameras built into the VR headsets will be able to detect where you are looking on a screen.
That is useful in VR because it takes a lot of graphics processing power to render VR images for both of your eyes.
And foveated rendering — which will likely prove to be necessary for stand-alone VR headsets — doesn’t really work that well unless you know exactly where the user is gazing.
“This year, we are going to work very closely with foveated rendering in VR and on the PC,” Werner said.
How to Give a Killer Presentation (Infographic)
How to Give a Killer Presentation (Infographic).
When someone says the words “public speaking,” there’s no need to run for the hills.
When you’re able to impress clients, potential investors and even co-workers with a stellar presentation, you’re positioning yourself for success.
And you don’t have to think of it as scary either.
In fact, presentations should be fun and exciting — if you’re doing them correctly.
That means properly preparing, identifying your purpose, creating visuals and telling a story.
So what’s the secret sauce to a smooth presentation?
To start, identify the message you want to leave with your audience.
Creating a strong structure, writing out notes, using metaphors, keeping eye contact — there are a number of things you can do to knock it out of the park.
Check out Business Backer’s infographic below to learn how you can give the presentation of your dreams.
Not Having a Phenomenal Entrepreneurial Journey? Here’s What’s Missing.
You want to be a better entrepreneur and most assume that means the advice will be 99 percent business related.
Here are the four things that are missing from your entrepreneurial journey: 1.
People will just assume you’re a jerk, which is, unfortunately, bad for business — really bad for business.
The thing about numbers is that they are boring and humans fundamentally don’t care or get drawn in by them.
Yes, you need to make revenue to keep the lights on, but what’s missing in your entrepreneurial journey is talk about momentum.
You want to be talking about things that the people on your team (even if they are all freelancers) care about.
Not enough action and too much strategy.
The success you have in doing this will determine whether your ideas are any good.
You’re looking for the leaders that stand up and get others to take action.
How the people you bring on your team make you feel is just as important as to the value they can create.
Now smaller firms developing antibiotics but will society, politicians accept high prices?
Although Astra-Zeneca closed down its antibiotics programmes, the ideas they developed in this project emboldened them to start Bugworks, which moved on from TB drugs to tackling infections at a broader level.
“I realised that hospital infections are going to get more and more serious,” says Bugworks CEO Anand Anandkumar.
Bugworks quickly evolved a platform, from which it developed few possible drug candidates to tackle bacteria that are resistant to a large number of drugs.
Public health experts agree that regulating the use of antibiotics is the first step towards tackling antibiotic resistance.
Since drug resistance is the main problem, four of these startups — Bugworks and Gangagen in Bengaluru, Vitas Pharma in Hyderabad and Vyome Biosciences in New Delhi — are specifically targeting drug-resistant bacteria.
Barriers become very high once a drug candidate is getting ready to go to clinical trials.
If everything goes well, Vitas Pharma could get a product to market in five to seven years.
The company’s molecules are supposedly completely novel, and work against the dreaded gram negative bacteria.
Even with its lean operation, Vitas Pharma would need about $5 million to take two molecules through toxicology and Phase I clinical trials.
“I am certain phage therapy will come one day,” says Balganesh.
How to Stay Positive at Work
How to Stay Positive at Work.
It is important to stay positive at work in order to maintain your productivity.
However, in order to behave professionally and keep doing your work, you need to learn how to bring up your mood.
In order to keep this positive attitude, say things like “sounds great,” “I would love to” and “thank you.”
However, having a friendly and respectful relationship with your co-workers, managers and others will make your workplace seem more positive.
Decorate your desk You are spending most of your time in the office at your desk.
You don’t even need to spend money to attend classes, seminars or workshops for this.
You can try free online classes or videos on YouTube to improve your skills.
You can give yourself small treats like eating your favorite desert in the afternoon, seeing a new movie after work or buying that purse you have been craving for.
Giving yourself small gifts will make you proud of yourself, increase your self-esteem and therefore, stay positive.
10 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When They Write a Book
10 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When They Write a Book.
Most of all, publishing a book is a powerful way to share your story and expertise in a way that can change someone’s life.
Unless your business creates bestselling book covers, hire a professional, and utilize focus-group testing.
People buy books to find answers and solve problems.
Develop a clear value proposition for your book, and make sure each chapter delivers on that promise.
I have two goals for chapter one of any nonfiction book I help develop — the reader must like the author, and the reader must trust the author.
The most strategic endorsements are from either well-known authors or those with well-known brands in their title.
As with the development of any product, build a prototype, test it and improve.
No matter how riveting your worldview and ideas are, stories are the life blood of a good book.
And, believe it or not, your readers want to hear your stories.
For This Successful Entrepreneur, Family Always Comes First
On this episode of Leaders Create Leaders, Entrepreneur Network partner Gerard Adams discusses the importance of family and giving back.
From paying off his parent’s mortgage to surprising his little sister with her dream car, it’s the moments that Adams has given back to his family that have been the most fulfilling in his entire life.
He asks his mother her advice for others out there and she says, “Think positive, anything is possible.”
Adams shares a story about a tragic fire that his mother experienced when she was younger, causing her family to lose everything.
To help support her family, his mother dropped out of high school and began working.
Whenever Adams feels down, he thinks about his mom and all of her hard work.
It’s important to take the time to thank the people in your life that have always supported you.
Related: Entrepreneurs Ryan Blair and Gerard Adams on the Importance of Having a Mentor Entrepreneur Network is a premium video network providing entertainment, education and inspiration from successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders.
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The Snapchat IPO Will NOT Go Off Without a Hitch
The Snapchat IPO Will NOT Go Off Without a Hitch.
Frankly, I don’t really care.
How could I not be excited about Snapchat, the greatest thing since sliced bread?
I’ve never been a fan of initial public offerings and I’m not about to start now.
Take Facebook, for example.
It went public on May 18, 2012, at an initial price of $38 per share, closing its first day of trading gaining a whopping 23 cents; it then proceeded to spiral downward over the summer hitting an all-time low of $17.55 less than four months into its life as a public company.
While it soon could be possible for companies going public to wait until 15 days before their IPO roadshow to reveal their filings.
That’s huge growth for sure, but still nowhere near the $42.2 billion eMarketer estimates Facebook will generate in 2018 and well below the $2.2 billion generated by Zuckerberg and company in 2012, the year of its IPO.
Finally, one must remember that when Facebook went public, it was making a billion dollars on the bottom line, and yet it still managed to stumble in its first year as a public company.
In a sensible world, there is no way that Snapchat has a successful IPO, but considering that investors wanted nothing to do with Facebook stock in the beginning, I’m betting Snapchat stock doubles whenever it goes public and our two 20-somethings get extremely rich.
3 Considerations for Increasing Engagement With Your Content
Once we found out we were actually a soccer mom brand, we kept our same marketing approach and only changed up a few featured items to match who was actually receiving our content.
Worst case, you’ll be way off, but you’ll have all the data you need to change course quickly.
How does your audience like to receive content from you?
How does your audience interact with you?
But you can still go deeper to find out if your interactions are surface-level engagement or if you’re actually inspiring deep-seeded brand commitment.
Engaged audiences are interested in your content and maybe your product or service offerings.
They’re often in the early stages of the buyer journey and may interact with you by asking questions pre-purchase.
If you can say with confidence that the majority of your audience is committed on a deeper level, then you’re talking to the right people.
How frequently does your audience interact with you?
Are you providing content that piques your audience’s interest, even when they’re not looking to make a purchase?
Don’t Let Marketing Zest Lead You Into the Fake News Morass
The Surprising Reason This Startup Got 11,000 New Customers in One Day
The Surprising Reason This Startup Got 11,000 New Customers in One Day.
The day after Jan. 21’s Women’s March on Washington was first announced, the team behind Skedaddle, a ridesharing startup that charts group bus trips, found themselves in the midst of a surge of bookings.
“We hadn’t expected to reach this kind of volume this soon for a single day,” co-founder and CEO Adam Nestler tells Entrepreneur.
“Given the logistical challenge of moving 11,000 people to one location at one time, we needed our whole team to wear multiple hats.
We are also leveraging a ground team in D.C. to ensure easy ingress and egress of people and vehicles.” Nestler says that as the march has grown — more than 200,000 people are expected to travel to the nation’s capital for it — he and his team have been in contact with many of the organizers of the 53 state chapters to give them the tools and information they need to help transport as many participants as possible.
The business was founded in 2013, and Nestler says that the experience has affirmed for the company that they are heading in the right direction.
“Long distance travel as a category has been left untouched,” he says. “We will only see that need grow as people begin to ditch cars and look to travel to new cities, destinations and experiences.” Initially, Nestler says that over the last few years, the company has been focused on 18 to 40 year olds living in major cities, but this experience has changed how he and his team view their customers.
“We’ve learned that our platform applies to all demographics in all geographic areas,” he says. “This march has changed that faster than we ever anticipated.”
These Are the Most Inspiring Words From President Trump’s Inauguration Speech
These Are the Most Inspiring Words From President Trump’s Inauguration Speech.
Donald J. Trump on Friday was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.
In a portion of his inaugural address, he spoke about the power of innovation. “We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.
A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions.”
Frothy Market: Startup Breweries Raise Millions via Crowdfunding
Breweries are still using platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo to raise capital, but the amount of money they could raise — and the types of investors who could help them raise it — changed significantly through the final ratification of Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, in May 2016.
Two breweries have already maxed out their campaigns.
However, the way that Title III is currently written limits both businesses and investors in how much money they could potentially raise and earn.
“How does an investor invest wisely in Title III?” Harvey said.
Ninety percent of the investments in Hops & Grain’s campaign were between $3,000 and $5,000, Hare said.
“It’s hard for a company like Hopster’s to go to accredited investors and ask for money,” Cooper told Brewbound.
For the folks with money to burn, consider this pitch from Park City, Utah’s Mine Shaft Brewing, which has already crowdfunded nearly $6 million and plans to sell its yet-to-be-built brewery in the same time period.
“We need to do this big or go home,” Mine Shaft managing member Tim Nemeckay told Brewbound.
“Within 24 hours, we had our first investor.” Several investors, some of whom have kicked in $100,000 or more, are members of a New York private equity firm, Nemeckay added.
Phase two would include growing to 150,000 barrels of capacity and selling to either a large craft player such as Duvel Moortgat or a major beer company like Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors or Constellation Brands.
Jack Ma on Why Alibaba Isn’t the Chinese Amazon
Jack Ma on Why Alibaba Isn’t the Chinese Amazon.
Though they are both global ecommerce companies that were founded in the 1990s and have names that begin with the letter A, Jack Ma wants you to know that’s all Alibaba and Amazon have in common.
In a conversation at the World Economic Forum, the Alibaba founder and executive chairman explained where he and Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos differ in their approaches to running their companies.
He told interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin that there is no one right business model — that if that was the case, the world would be a boring place.
But Ma said that no matter what model you follow, you should believe in the work you are doing.
When asked about Amazon’s apparent goal to own its entire supply chain, from servers to warehouses to delivery vehicles, Ma said that wasn’t the path he saw for Alibaba.
He said he viewed Amazon as an empire, and Alibaba like an ecosystem.
“We want to empower others to sell, to service, to make sure that other people are more powerful than us,” he said.
“Making sure that with our technology and innovation, our partners and 10 billion small-business sellers, they can compete with Microsoft and IBM.
… We think, using our technology, we can make every company become Amazon.”