We’ll be covering all the important news from IFA next week, live from the event. But, in the meantime, let’s round-up all the rumors and conjecture about what will be unveiled at Europe’s largest tech shows. Traditionally, the IFA show is dominated by TVs and smart home appliances. And, while we’ll doubtless see loads of new home entertainment products and some bizarre smart home stuff, we’re also expecting to see a number of phones and computing products at this year’s show....

This year, we’re excited to announce new additions to the program that will amplify the experience. To start, we’re hosting our conference in downtown San Francisco, October 9th-11th, near some of the most innovative startups and businesses. Next, we will be showcasing 100 amazing semifinalist startups from around the world at our Startup of the Year competition. In keeping with tradition, the conference will still have our famous mentoring sessions and excursions around the city, and a possible llama sighting....

What’s the Draw? The positions can be described as “opportunity jobs” and they’re defined as the ones that are paying particularly well. It makes sense that people would be drawn to uproot their lives for a higher payout than they’d otherwise get, and the evidence pulled from international job searches backs up that assumption: Talent Shortages Are Easier Than Ever to Identify There are two main reasons behind the international interest: These opportunity positions are hard to automate, and they are currently experiencing a talent shortage....

I work with founders and entrepreneurs regularly to prepare them for fundraising. It’s not just about putting together a good elevator pitch. When it comes time for a meeting, founders should make sure their pitch deck is clear and succinct. They need to have the proper financial statements assembled. And finally, they need to speak competently and confidently about the future of their business. But even with proper preparations and a killer presentation, you may not be able to convince your target to buy in....

By they, Jay-Z means streaming companies like Spotify with 15 million paying users, and 60 million overall users. As of today, Tidal has less than 40,000 paying subscribers. However, things may quickly change since Tidal already has 25 million songs in its library. That’s a comparable library to Spotify, Rdio, and Google’s music service. And there is also the “celebrity factor” that can be an advantage. According to The New York Times, Jay-Z granted all of the 17 artists on stage during the launch small stakes in the new service in return for their participation in promotion....

In addition, funding will enable the company to add more partnerships and enhance the product’s scope of capabilities. One of the biggest challenges companies face today, is managing and prioritizing communication. Emails that slow productivity by consuming a large portion of time. Knowmail’s technology was developed to understand each professional and their goals so that they can rely on Knowmail’s “intelligence” to help manage time and be more productive on the job....

Please keep in mind, this is a founder’s view, I am not a lawyer – this isn’t legal advice. There are always exceptions to every rule. Starting at Incorporation Let’s start with incorporation. Who owns what percentage and what is a common number of Issued and Granted share and how do Stock Options play into the equation. When you incorporate, you will Authorize (Authorized) Shares and Issue (Issued) Shares. Authorized is the total number of shares the company many issue over the lifespan of the company without changing its Charter with the State (incorporating entity)....

At least, that’s what it says on the website of Paris-based startup accelerator TheFamily. And if their rising popularity and gigantic funding deals are any indication, they might be right. So, if you are looking to start a business in Europe, this is definitely the place to start. TheFamily launched as a small French startup accelerator. In recent years, they have morphed into a larger accelerator, while also taking on entrepreneur education....

Over the course of a month, we used the Yoga Book as an alternative to our tablet and smartphone, while traveling, and of course to write this review. So if you see any typos, blame the new Halo Keyboard (mostly kidding). Overall we found the Yoga Book to be a delightful little computer, but fully expect the next iterations to polish some of the rough spots. Features More tablet than computer, the Yoga Book boasts a lightweight, sleek metallic design with several unique twists....

You seldom hear CEOs of major international companies being so bullish about their business during one of the sharpish global economic downturns in history, but Dasilva radiates positivity. On the back of surprisingly strong quarterly earnings for his point of sale business, Lightspeed, Dasilva was keen to talk about the changing nature of retail and what it means for both his company and your local retailers. Democratizing Retail Lightspeed is one of the biggest point of sale companies in the world and is growing rapidly....

The platform currently gives language learners the option to learn 18 different languages, including English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Hebrew. The new iOS app also includes some new gamification features, such as word collection challenges and a practice session tracker that rewards power users. This past May, the education startup competed in 1776’s Challenge Cup Global Competition, where it made it all the way to the top 8 startups that competed in the Global Finals....

Eric Thaller, VP of Investor Services for Prosper Marketplace, took the stage at one point and made an interesting prediction about the future of the industry. As he said, the top disruption by marketplace lending will be at the point of sale, blurring the line between lending and payment. Fun fact, there’s a company here in San Diego that specializes in this specific field, and they were at the Expo listening....

Recently, Vessenes pioneered the founding of CoinLab to be the gateway to Bitcoin markets. (Read an overview of Bitcoin here.) Being the entrepreneur he is, it was no surprise when he sought out the single-largest Bitcoin exchange in the world, Mt. Gox, for a partnership. However, the partnership was short-lived, and CoinLab filed a formal, $75 million lawsuit against Mt. Gox on May 2, 2013. It raises the question, though: Will Vessenes let this lawsuit slow CoinLab down?...

While I dig the fact that their goal is to make a commercial-quality espresso machine for consumers at a decent, non-$1,000+ price point, all of you espresso enthusiasts/software geeks out there will also love the fact that the machine is open-source. Yup, you read that right: you will be able to import and share code and hardware modifications – which of course will lead to an even better machine. I spoke with Janet Tambasco via email about why they chose to make the machine open source: Open-source code will improve things like the native PID control loop and adding their own features that can then be uploaded to the web and shared with other users....

That’s why they’re thrilled to share this story written by self-proclaimed productivity junkie Tammie Vicente. Any entrepreneur knows that once they find a great collaboration tool for their team, they often invite their own household to adopt it. And that’s why Tammie’s personal use of Mammoth just might set off some ideas on how you can make your startup more productive using this collaboration platform. Tammie Vicente is the author of the testimonial below....

Mobi2Market, the company he started with his son Mike, helps businesses send promotions, coupons, and event announcements to customers. Customers just sign up, choose their preferred communication (like email or text), then get offers tailored to them. Over time, the system learns what they like and don’t like, and small businesses get feedback on which campaigns perform best. That all starts at $99 per month. Below, Mike Blackburn shares some lessons from his startup journey in Boise....

As we all know by now, Microsoft is always adding new features to its popular Teams platform. Whether it be the ability to send and receive videos or compatibility with new Apple devices, it’s safe to assume that if Microsoft Teams is lacking in some way, a change will be coming soon to appease the complaints of its users. Now, it looks like Microsoft Teams will be adding a new feature that will make exiting meetings across your devices notably easier....

The tool, which was recently unveiled at the company’s latest product roadmap, will allow users to integrate their webcam feed into their PowerPoint slides for a more immersive audience experience. As the demand for remote working technologies remains strong, Microsoft’s new Cameo tool is just one of many improvements the video conferencing software is making to improve digital collaboration. Read on to discover more about the handy feature. Microsoft Teams Announces New Cameo Tool Since the advent of Covid-19, virtual presentations have become commonplace in many workplaces around the world....

Foldable phones went from ambitious pipe dream to complicated reality this year with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X, but rollouts have been far from flawless. The Galaxy Fold endured multiple launches due to flimsy press devices, and the Mate X saw more than its fair share of delays before its eventual launch in China. However, these devices are now on the market, which is ushering in a new era of smartphone technology....

The trade show is one of the biggest events in the tech calendar, regularly attracting more than 100,000 businesspeople, journalists, and industry figures to the Catalonian capital. Given the size of the event, many of the world’s largest smartphone companies use the event to launch their most exciting new models. However, with the entire event cancelled less than two weeks before it was due to start, everything has been thrown up in the air....