Posts

In a recent infographic that looks at the responses from more than 1,400 surveyed individuals, successful leaders of industry throughout our history had their respective sleep habits plotted on a map of all the other responses. From people like inventors Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell in the field of engineering, to former Facebook CTO Bret Taylor and Microsoft founder Bill Gates in technology, the infographic aims to understand whether or not those who sleep less are actually capable of achieving more throughout the day....

To obtain some customer validation, Veebie founder and CEO Steven Sperry ran a 10-day test in the middle of downtown Portland, Maine to see if there was a demand and if people would use the kiosk for lunch. The results were more than expected. By 1:30 that day all but one of the kiosk’s 48 cubbies, all of which were filled at 11:30 that morning by sandwiches made by Sisters Gourmet Deli, were empty....

Last week, I judged the Delta Entrepreneurship Network Pitch Competition, put on by the Delta Regional Authority at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. I saw a bevy of passionate entrepreneurs from great companies spanning the middle of the country from Missouri to Alabama. And while every startup demonstrated their undeniable value in the national startup ecosystem, two startups stood out as the winners of the pitch competition: Somavac Medical Solutions and HABERDAShe....

The music industry has been cranking out a plethora of subscription based services in order to capitalize on the listeners’ tendency towards streaming rather than buying nowadays. With Soundcloud Go, listeners have unlimited access to a variety of commercial and indie artists. To stand itself apart from the competition – namely, Spotify – Soundcloud Go’s appeal is hoisted on its extensive already-existing library. The site currently hosts more than 125 million tracks of unique music and podcasts, all of which will be available for download for Soundcloud Go-exclusive users....

It’s a sign of Square’s continued success, as well as growing interest in the “pay later” financial service model, one which has only increased in popularity in recent years, a trend it appears that Square has sat up and noticed. With rumors that Apple is investing in the space too and looking to launch its own service, could ‘pay later’ become the next finance tech battleground? How Afterpay Works Afterpay offers a “pay later” service: Customers can buy a product immediately at any in-store or online location that supports Afterpay, and can then complete the payment in installments afterwards....

Now, the company has debuted the next iteration of that classic POS hardware, Square Stand, with updated features to make sales and inventory tracking easier than ever. Here’s what the new countertop device has to offer, and why Square’s updating now. Square Stand The two biggest new features in the Stand are built-in payments for both chip cards and contactless payments, and a “customer-driven” checkout process that’s designed to be simpler and more streamlined than past processes....

Stitch Labs has found great opportunity in providing inventory management tools to small businesses, as the prior alternatives were bulky, large enterprise systems or managing inventory manually through spreadsheets or even (gulp) pen and paper. In their most recent blog post, Stitch Labs co-founder/VP marketing Willo O’Brien says, “We couldn’t be more honored that True recognizes our vision and the need for independent business owners everywhere to have access to an intuitive business management suite that helps them be more successful....

Over the years, I have seen many businesses with stunning-looking websites fail to take off. The main reason I see for this failure is that they focus primarily on the look and design of the website and forget about the marketing of it. Search engines need content: they don’t fully understand images or videos, albeit you can tell them what the images and videos are, but good quality content is what they love....

According to research out of the University of Bergen and Nottingham Trent University, conducted by Cecilie Schou Andreaseen, Mark D. Griffiths, Rajita Sinha, Jørn Hetland, and Ståle Pallesen, being a workaholic is measurably bad for your mental health. The study focused on ADHD, OCD, anxiety, and depression, all of which were notably increased in those considered workaholics. The Stats The research is pretty cut and dry when it comes to the effects of workaholism on mental health....

According to a study from the Pew Research Center, 41 percent of American adults have experienced some form of online harassment. In the context of the study, online harassment refers to offensive name-calling (27 percent have experienced), purposeful efforts to embarrass them (22 percent), physical threats (10 percent), stalking (7 percent), harassment over a sustained period of time (7 percent), or sexual harassment (6 percent). To make matters worse, the study, which surveyed 4,248 American adults, showed that 66 percent of American adults admit to witnessing the online harassment of another person at some point in their life....

Need more funding news? You can get the Tech.Co deals roundup send directly to your inbox by subscribing here. Funding Milwaukee’s Subscription Wine Startup Bright Cellars Raises $1.8M Seed Round The Milwaukee, WI-based Bright Cellars, a subscription wine startup whose machine-learning taste preference algorithm matches wines to user preferences, announced yesterday the closing of a $1.8 million seed round led by CSA Partners. The startup is the result of MIT grads and is an alumni Gener8tor’s summer program....

If you’re thinking about a new career or wanting to work at a different company, then check out some of the recent Tech.Co job posts and consider applying for one! If you’re looking for jobs at startups – or anywhere else – look no further than the Tech.Co Jobs Board. Here are this week’s top technology jobs: Front End Developer Levy Online in Las Vegas, NV Levy Online is a full service Digital Agency....

According to a blog post on the Tesla website Sunday night, this non-binding letter of intent will help move both companies towards the ultimate goal of a sustainable energy future. The agreement is solely contingent on shareholders’ approval of the partnership, a move that should be a no-brainer for the both companies involved. While the partnership is already well-cemented in the production of electric vehicles and grid storage battery cells, the collaboration should further develop the commitment for these forward thinking companies....

The three companies launched the #GetStarted2014 challenge as a quest to find new ideas for web or mobile startups. These ideas could come from an existing or aspiring entrepreneur or just someone with an idea and no business or technical experience. Perhaps you started an idea and just abandoned it because you didn’t quite know where to go next. So, why should you resurrect it with #GetStarted2014? “The winner will get their idea turned into a working product (by Simpleweb), a marketing plan to help them spread the word about their product and get some users (from Onboardly) and web hosting will be taken care of by Rackspace,” said Kylie Whitehead of Simpleweb....

We’re bound to be surprised by many of the image innovations that strike our eyeballs in 2017, but we’re pretty sure that some of the best work will be in the following fields and trends. Virtual Reality Some day soon, virtual reality will be a big part of all of our lives. For now, it remains on the fringe. Perhaps you are an early adopter, or maybe you’ve come across a virtual reality device through a friend or at a trade show....

We round up the best tech deals for Christmas and tell you the last day you’ll be able to order them. Best Christmas Tech Deals If you’re stuck and in a rush for present for the techy in your life (or if you’re after a present for yourself) here are the best deals you can find. Xbox Deals Xbox One S 1TB bundle with Battlefield V – Was $299.99, now $199....

While the affordability of password managers and similar cybersecurity tools makes equipping staff with protections a no-brainer, the cost of cyber insurance coverage creates a daunting decision for business chiefs. In fact, for some, it’s not even an economically viable option, leaving companies to shoulder the risks themselves. The Cost of Cyber Insurance Head of international cyber insurance Broker Marsh, Sara Stephens, told the Financial Times that cyber insurance prices started to rise towards the end of 2019....

Industry analysts were notably underwhelmed by the iPhone 7, with many considering it an interim upgrade until the much-anticipated iPhone 8. However, despite this lackluster launch, the most recent installment of Apple’s flagship product has shown that people are still excited about anything this company churns out. A survey conducted by Piper Jaffray with over 1,000 consumers discussed on CNBC “Squawk Box” showed that Apple has the top two products on everyone’s holiday wish list....

So, what security measures do users have when free speech turns toxic? How Digital Companies Are Cracking Down The solution to finding the middle ground of morality in digital free speech could be found in Europe. It was reported today that the EU allowed for Facebook, Twitter, Google’s YouTube and Microsoft to collectively tackle online hate speech within 24 hours. This crackdown is important because it’s the first time that many of these digital companies are responding to issues of harassment and rising online violence on a large scale ....

So what do we know about these upcoming iPhones and, perhaps more importantly, are they worth waiting for? iPhone 11 Release Date As we mentioned above, the next generation of iPhones is set to be unveiled on September 10. We don’t know where, or what time, but the second Tuesday in September should be marked in your calendars. Technically, Apple hasn’t confirmed this date yet, but assets discovered in the iOS 13 beta code (the operating system that will be launched at the same time as the new iPhones) point to September 10 as the release date....