In the tech industry, we celebrate raising money as a victory second only to that of a successful exit.
And while I recognize that venture capital is often an unavoidable requirement for growing a business, most entrepreneurs, and the tech community at large — who often seem to push people into raising VC — would be better served viewing it as a necessary evil as opposed to an absolute win.
Continue reading… “Trading in your Soul for Venture Capital”
Audrey Watters: “The business of ed-tech” is also the “politics of ed-tech.” The business and the politics of ed-tech together dictate almost all the other trends that I’ll cover in this year-end series. MOOCs. Big data. Learning analytics. Privacy. Competency-based education. Buzzwords.
One way to identify the dominant ed-tech trends is to look at what venture capitalists are funding. Another is to look at what government policies are demanding. The state of Maryland, for example, said this year that it would need to invest $100 million in technology upgrades in order to be ready for the new online testing mandated by the Common Core State Standards.
New hardware. New infrastructure. New curriculum. New expenditures. So… who benefits?
Continue reading… “Coding Education & Tech Trends of 2014”
With little ceremony and only two days before Christmas, Google filed an antitrust law against Visa and MasterCard for setting “supracompetitive” interchange rates from 2004 to 2012. This is but one more volley in the Battle Royale between big companies like Wal-Mart, Target, and Macy’s and major players in the payments industry.
Continue reading… “Google sues Visa and MasterCard”
PayPal announced several partnerships, recently, aimed towards enabling certain PayPal merchants to be able to accept bitcoin as a form of payment from their customers. This was a significant announcement on multiple fronts as many had wondered if and what PayPal’s foray into the cryptocurrency space would be.
Continue reading… “PayPal, Bitcoin, and the future of digital currency adoption”
Corporate venture capital is picking up speed in the investment industry, as large companies start setting aside funds for external investment in fledgling companies or startups.
Tech giants like Intel, Dell and AMD all have strong track records with their proprietary funds, and more companies like Microsoft and Salesforce are now entering the venture-fund game. During the past four years more than 475 corporate venture funds have started, bringing the worldwide total to more than 1,100, according to Global Corporate Venturing.
With this surge comes a lot of uncertainty. How will corporate venture-capital players influence the funding ecosystem? What do entrepreneurs need to know when choosing between corporate and traditional venture-capital partnerships?
Continue reading… “The Rise of Corporate Venture Capital”
Russian Rouble hits all time low
It may already be too late for Russia’s Central Bank to regain control. The collapse of the ruble has prompted a flight of capital as investors and savers in Russia seek shelter outside the country’s borders.
A CNBC.com analysis of money flows monitored by the Russian Central Bank shows that large cash hoards have already left the country. Nations in the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have been disproportionate recipients of those funds. Ukraine is also a major destination for Russian cash.
Continue reading… “Russian cash has already fled the country”
Could Bitcoin become the dominant currency of the gaming industry?
Jeff Grubb – The United States dollar bill only has value because you believe it does. Now, a game developer in Chile wants to apply that same concept to Minecraft and bitcoin.
Continue reading… “Will Minecraft make Bitcoin the ‘official currency of virtual worlds?’”
Matt Bernier at the DaVinci Institute’s “Night with a Futurist” talking about the future of cryptocurrencies
The first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was created in 2009 by a mysterious developer using the pseudo-name Satoshi Nakamoto. In 2010, the secretive Satoshi handed the reigns of Bitcoin over to Gavin Andresen, a like-minded developer who now manages the operation along with a team of five senior developers.
Less than a third of the original Satoshi code still exists. The rest has been rewritten by Gavin and his team to plug security holes, improve usability, and make it operationally more efficient. Andresen is the one who conceived of the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation—established in 2013—which is the closest thing to a central authority in the world of Bitcoin.
While we hear a lot about Bitcoin there are many other cryptocurrencies entering the startup arena.
Continue reading… “The Future of Cryptocurrency”
Setting ambitious goals goes a long way in a company’s development.
There is a big disparity when it comes to the gender wage gap. But there is even a bigger disparity when it comes to how much male- and female-run businesses make. There are more women-run businesses now than there ever was, but they still aren’t making as much money as their male-run competition. Here’s how to change that.
Naval Ravikant at the AngelList office.
Recently, Naval Ravikant, a wildly successful angel investor—Uber, Twitter, etc.—and serial entrepreneur met with a group of institutional money managers to pitch them his latest venture. He didn’t ask them to invest in it, but he asked them to invest through it. If enough of the money managers take him up on the offer, it could usher in an era of radical disruption in the world of angel investing.
Continue reading… “AngelList: A disruptor that is upending angel investing”
Tilt is a platform for people to receive money from a group of friends or colleagues.
Reports of the crowdfunding revolution have been greatly exaggerated.James Beshara, chief executive of a crowdfunding company, acknowledges that the crowdfunding revolution has been greatly exaggerated. “The amount of attention it gets far outweighs the number of people using it,” he says. (Video)
Continue reading… “Is Tilt the future of crowdfunding?”
Futurist Thomas Frey: A few weeks ago I got into a discussion with some friends centered around this question. “What, in your mind, will be the most powerful entity in the world 100 years from now?”
Continue reading… “What Industries will produce the First Trillionaires?”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.