#Has Raised $13 Million To Integrate With Salesforce

[zestful1122]

Scratchpad is a start-up company whose primary objective is to put a notation layer on top of Sales force in order to make it easier for information to be transferred from salespeople to that platform.

[stoweboyd]

Looking Back: Reviewing 2017 Predictions

Here’s the recap of last year’s predictions. See this year’s predictions, here.

Below, the prediction indented, my comments follow. Bolding is from the original post:

1. Work chat will continue to dominate the market for enterprise ‘collaboration’, and AI-based ‘team members’ with deep learning skill sets will become commonplace, building on chatbot models of interaction but assuming larger roles in project management, development, marketing, and HR. Slack is acquired by Amazon for $35 billion, and loosely integrated into AWS.

Got the first part right.  Many, many bots are in use, so kinda good on that. Slack was NOT acquired by Amazon or anyone else in 2017.

2. The hottest business trend of 2017 will be AI-based ‘driverless management’, displacing Holocracy and other management ‘business operating systems’ fads. AI will play a significantly larger role in areas that human cognitive biases are most problematic, like hiring and promotion, decision support, and ensuring diversity, equality, and well-being in the workplace. (Daemon (via Daniel Saurez) meets the workplace.) Several unknown start-ups will lead this new exploding sector.

I was just too early with this, although the driverless management trend is heating up.

3. Following Trump’s proposed withdrawal of US supporting NATO troops in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin’s Russia will occupy some part of the Baltics, like the Latgale region of Latvia, which is ~40% ethnic Russian. Mike Pence resigns as Vice President following major disagreements with Trump on the Baltics and NATO. Trump nominates Elaine Chao as Vice President, his Secretary of Transportation, and she is appointed in October, the first woman and first Asian American to serve in that role.

This move by Putin didn’t happen, but joint military exercises in Belarus involved as many as 100,000 Russian troops. Russia rejects Ukrainian assertions that most of the troops were left in place.

4. North Korea will fire a rocket that hits Kodiak Island in Alaska, although it carries only a conventional warhead. Kim Jong-un says the rocket was supposed to have crashed in the ocean before landfall, but many believe it was on track to hit Anchorage.

This has not happened, but the degree of staging up to a new war state with North Korea has been fairly terrifying. NK can now hit all continental US with nuclear warheads, experts agree.

5. Trump raises massive trade barriers to Chinese goods, sparking a trade war that damages both countries’ economies. This is in part because of an inability to get China to – in effect – take control of North Korea, but also as part of an attempt by US and European companies to make China’s markets more open: a second Opium War.

Trump’s trade war has been minimized by the conventional GOP buffer zone around him now. Score that a miss.

6. Britain begins that actual process of Brexit in mid 2017, leading Scotland to a referendum in favor of leaving the UK and applying to the EU for membership.

Yes, they did start the process.

7. The US Congress will pass legislation in early 2017 to repeal Obamacare, but defers any implementation until 2018 at the earliest, because they can’t agree on how it will be replaced or by what approach. Trump proposes a single payer system as a companion to a radical restructuring of the tax code, as he had hinted in his campaign, and falls into open discord with the establishment wing of the GOP.

Trump and company were unable to repeal ACA, but they did sneak a repeal of the individual mandate into the tax cut bill, so I’d say that a mixed result.

8. Driverless car fleets are rolled out by various car companies (Ford, Chrysler, Tesla, etc.) and car hailing platforms (Uber, Lyft, etc.). Car ownership in major urban areas continues to decline, and many municipalities create partnerships with fleet owners to augment conventional mass transportation solutions. The value of New York City taxi medallions drops over 75%.

A little early on the rollout of car fleets, but it’s coming soon. We’ve only seen small pilots in 2017. But the taxi medallions fell like a rock in 2017.

9. Amazon will buy Snapchat, and announce a new take on augmented reality glasses, picking up where Google dropped the ball years ago. Building on the success of Alexa-based Echo devices, Kindle, Fire TV, Amazon Prime, and the growing popularity of Snapchat, Amazon Eyes are the hit of Christmas 2017, with over 50 million ordered in November and December.

Amazon did announce Echo-enabled glasses are coming, but they haven’t shipped them in 2017. Snapchat has not been acquired.

10. The war in Syria comes to a Korean War-like end, with a partition of the country into various regions, and a unceasing belligerence on all parts. It is clearly a shadow war between factions backed by the West, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and Russia. The stalemate here is a reflection of the reappraisal of loyalties and goals of the shadow players, more than the aims of the Syrian government and the insurgents. Bashar al-Assad rules a rump state of western Syrian, with much of the rest of ‘Syria’ in shambles.

Looks like the end state accelerated faster than I imagined, because of close work between Russia and US to crush ISIS, along with the complicity of Iran.

11. Hillary Clinton files for divorce from Bill Clinton in March 2017, and assumes the role of president of Harvard University, two weeks later.

Didn’t happen.

12. Marine Le Pen loses an unexpectedly close run-off with François Fillon, but the close election pulled Fillon and his Republicans farther right than in recent decades.

Emmanuel Macron didn’t even have a political party at the start of 2017, so that was a real surprise. The collapse of the conventional parties is the real story, and Le Pen did get to a direct election for the presidency, and lost, which is part of my prediction.

13. Oprah announces that she intends to run for President in the next election.

Still possible?

14. Angela Merkel narrowly wins reelection, after wide-spread controversy of scandals uncovered by leaks generally attributed to Putin’s brigade of hackers.

A few scandals, but mostly growing concerns about immigration and the direction for Europe: this one I got right.

15. Barack Obama joins Andreessen Horowitz as a partner, and leads a round funding AdjectiveNoun (fictitious, note), one of the most promising ‘driverless management’ startups. He also comes out in support of Oprah Winfrey’s candidacy.

Obama seems content to take it easy, and hasn’t decided what to do aside from writing some books.

16. Microsoft acquires Salesforce for $75 billion. Marc Benioff leaves to run philanthropy (amid discussions of political ambitions).

Didn’t happen, but still could.

17. Apple acquires Tesla for $75 billion. Tim Cook announces retirement, Elon Musk becomes CEO.

Now that the iPhone X is starting to look like a dud, this might become more realistic. But it didn’t happen.

18. Despite inaction by the US Federal Government, and chaos in the EPA and Energy Department, CO2 levels continue to fall worldwide. Environmental groups suggest that we may have turned the corner on energy in 2017, because solar is now cheaper than other energy sources in most places in the world. However, global temperatures continues to rise, and many models show that it might take 1000 years to reduce global temperatures.

Alas, we hit record levels of CO2 in the atmosphere in 2017. But solar is falling in price, leading to more coal power plants to close.

19. California and San Francisco, with support from Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and other platform companies, announced a project to convert increasingly unneeded parking lots to small ‘park villages’ with dense, micro-apartment developments, for low-income and homeless residents. Trump-sponsored infrastructure funds are directed to US micro-building factories and a new California Construction Corps, which is strongly supported by both Democrats and Republicans. The state’s program is seen as a blueprint for the rest of the country.

This was far too hopeful. None of this has happened, and Trump -- despite his infrastructure mumbo-jumbo -- is cutting funding that might be used for projects like ‘park villages’.

20. Michael Bloomberg announces plans to create a third ‘Pragmatist’ party, based on economic conservatism and social liberalism, and rapidly attracts a large minority of GOP and Democratic legislators in Washington who have been whipsawed by the 2016 elections, and by the growing discord in both major parties over the future of their platforms. Some project that the Pragmatists could gain as many as 30% of the seats in the House, and as many as 10 governorships in coming years. Bloomberg announces his plans to run for President.

It may be more reasonable to imagine Steven Bannon starting an independent run for the White House. But at this point it doesn’t seem that Bloomberg is planning a run.

On the whole, I did fairly badly, really. None of my acquisitions came together, North Korea didn’t bomb us, the Clintons didn’t divorce, CO2 levels continue to rise. And of course, astride the year like Godzilla was Trump, and I made very few predictions about him, and those I did were really off. I don’t think we realized how bizarroland it was going to get.

Even though my results were lousy, I am taking another run at it, in Some Predictions, 2018. 

[beda3tk]

What is Zoom and what you do not know about it

software program, led to a $1 billion valuation in 2017, making it a "unicorn" company.[6] The enterprise first became worthwhile in 2019.[7][4] In 2019, the business enterprise finished a preliminary public providing.[8] The enterprise joined the NASDAQ-a hundred inventory index on April 30, 2020.[9]  with protection and privateness problems.[11][12][13] In April 2020, the Wall avenue magazine determined that "the hottest video-chat app proper now is Zoom, but with recognition comes abuse, as well as extended scrutiny."[1Zoom turned into based via Eric Yuan, a former corporate vice president for Cisco Webex. He left Cisco in April 2011 with forty engineers to start a new enterprise,[5] originally named Saasbee, Inc.[15] The corporation had trouble locating investors due to the fact many humans notion the videotelephony marketplace turned into already saturated.[15] In June 2011, the enterprise raised $3 million of seed money from WebEx founder Subrah Iyar, former Cisco SVP and general suggest Dan Scheinman, and challenge capitalists Matt very well, a brand of TSVC, and invoice Tai.[15] In might also 2012, the company changed its call to Zoom.[15] In September 2012, Zoom released a beta model that might host conferences with up to fifteen video individuals.[16] In November 2012, the organization signed Stanford university as its first purchaser.[15] In January 2013, the employer raised a $6 million collection A round from Qualcomm Ventures, Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang, WebEx founder Subrah Iyar, and former Cisco SVP and widespread counsel Dan Scheinman. moreover, Zoom launched model 1.zero of the program with an increase inside the number of individuals in keeping with the conference to twenty-five.[17] through the give up of its first month, Zoom had four hundred,000 customers and by may additionally 2013 it had 1 million customers.[18][19]

boom

Logitech, Vaddio,, and InFocus. In September 2013, the organization raised $6.five million in a chain B spherical from FB, Waze, and existing traders. At that point, it had three million users.[18] by means of June 2014, IPO and onward On April 18, 2019, the company have become a public organization through preliminary public supplying. After pricing at US$36 in keeping with share, the share fee elevated over seventy-two % on the first day of trading.[40][41][8] The organization become valued at US$sixteen billion via the give up of its first day of trading.[8] previous to the IPO, Dropbox invested $five million in Zoom.[42] all through the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom noticed the main increase in usage for far-flung paintings, distance training,[43], and online social family members.[3] lots of educational establishments switched to on-line classes the use of Zoom.[44][10] The employer supplied its offerings to k–12 colleges free of price in many nations.[45][46] via February 2020, Zoom had received 2.22 million users in 2020 — more customers than it collected inside the entirety of 2019.[47] On sooner or later in March 2020, the Zoom app turned into downloaded 2.13 million times.[42][48] each day common customers rose from about 10 million in December 2019 to about 200 million in March 2020,[49] with three hundred million every day meeting members by using the quit of April 2020.[50][51] This led to a widespread boom within the corporation's inventory charge in early 2020, despite a well-known stock marketplace downturn;[52] it went from underneath $70 in line with share in January 2020 to $150 in step with proportion by means of the quit of March, giving the employer a market value of $42 billion.[42] services and products Zoom is compatible with home windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. The use of the platform is free for video conferences of as much as one hundred members right away, with a forty-minute time restriction if there are greater than two participants. For longer or larger conferences with greater features, paid subscriptions are available, costing $15–20 according to month. capabilities geared closer to enterprise meetings, which include Zoom Rooms, are to be had for $50–a hundred according to month.[53][54][14] Zoom has several degrees: simple, pro, business, and business enterprise.[55] contributors do not ought to download the app if they are the use of Google Chrome or Firefox; they are able to click on a link and be part of the browser. Zoom is not like-minded with Safari for Macs.[14] Zoom is referred to for its easy interface and value, specifically for non-tech human beings.[54][56] features consist of one-on-one conferences, group video meetings, screen sharing, plugins, browser extensions, and the capability to report meetings and have them routinely transcribed.[57] On some computer systems and working systems, customers are able to pick a virtual heritage, which may be downloaded from special sites, to apply as a backdrop in the back of themselves.[14]Zoom had 10 million customers.[25] On February four, 2015, the employer obtained US$30 million in collection C investment from traders along with Emergence Capital, Horizons Ventures (Li Ka-Shing), Qualcomm Ventures, Jerry Yang, and Patrick quickly-Shiong.[26] At that time, Zoom had forty million users, with sixty-five,000 groups subscribed and a total of one billion assembly mins because it changed into established.[27] In 2015 and 2016, the enterprise integrated its software with Slack, Salesforce, and Skype for commercial enterprise.[28][29][30] With version 2.five in October 2015, Zoom increased the variety of members consistent with the conference to 50[31] and later to 1,000 for business clients.[32][33] In November 2015, former president of RingCentral David Berman changed into named president of the employer, and Peter Gassner, the founder, and CEO of Veeva structures joined Zoom's board of directors.[34] The organization raised US$one hundred million in series D funding from Sequoia Capital in January 2017 at a US$1 billion valuation, making it a so-known as unicorn.[35] In April 2017, Zoom released a scalable telehealth product permitting doctors to host far-flung consultations with patients.[36][37] In may additionally, Zoom introduced integration with Polycom's conferencing structures, permitting capabilities inclusive of multiple display conference in which it announced a partnership with Meta to integrate Zoom with augmented truth, integration with Slack and place of job by FB, and primary steps closer to a synthetic intelligence speech recognition program.[39] personnel In January 2020, Zoom had over 2,500 personnel, most of the people of whom are primarily based in the united states.[58][59] The business enterprise ranked second area in Glassdoor's 2019 "exceptional places to work" survey.[60][61] grievance Zoom has been criticized for "protection lapses and bad layout picks" that have led to heightened scrutiny of its software.[62][13] lots of Zoom's troubles "surround planned capabilities designed to reduce friction in meetings", which Citizen Lab found to "also, by means of design, reduce privacy or safety".[59][63] In April 2020, CEO Yuan apologized for the safety problems, claiming that a number of the troubles had been an end result of Zoom having been designed for "large establishments with full and privacy concerns. It includes passwords via default, progressed encryption, and a new security icon for meetings.[69] In March 2020, new york nation lawyer fashionable Letitia James released an inquiry into Zoom's privateness and protection practices.[70] As of April 2020, many agencies, schools, and government entities restriction or limit the usage of Zoom on their networks, which include Google[71], Siemens[72], the Australian Defence force, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Indian Ministry of domestic Affairs, SpaceX, and the ny town department of training.[73][74] privateness beings collaborating in their calls in step with the FBI, while Zoom is used for distance schooling, students’ non-public information which includes IP addresses, internet surfing history, educational development, and biometrics can be at risk throughout using comparable online mastering offerings.[10] There will also be issues with unauthorized surveillance of students and feasible violations of students’ rights below the family academic Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).[78] in step with the company the video services are FERPA-compliant, and it collects and shops user records best for tech support.[78] In March 2020, a Motherboard article determined that the organization's iOS app turned into sending device analytics data to FB on startup, regardless of whether or not a FB account became being used with the service, and without disclosing it to the person.[79] Zoom replied that it currently been made privy to the difficulty, and that it had patched the app to remove the SDK. The corporation stated that the SDK became only accumulating facts at the consumer's tool specifications (including model names and operating machine versions) if you want to optimize its service, and became now not gathering private information.[14][80][81] within the equal month, Zoom becomes sued via a consumer in U.S. Federal courtroom for illegally and secretly disclosing non-public information to 1/3 events which includes Facebook.[82] In April 2020, a Zoom records-mining characteristic was found that automatically sent person names and email addresses to LinkedIn, allowing a few contributors to surreptitiously get right of entry to LinkedIn profile facts about other customers.[83] The groups disabled their integration.[84] safety in addition facts: Zoombombing In November 2018, a protection vulnerability become discovered that allowed a far-flung unauthenticated attacker to spoof UDP messages that allowed the attacker to dispose of attendees from conferences, spoof messages from customers, or hijack shared monitors.[85][86] The employer released fixes shortly after the vulnerability become observed.[87] In July 2019, security researcher Jonathan Leitschuh disclosed a 0-day vulnerability permitting any internet site to pressure a macOS person to sign up for a Zoom name, with their video digicam activated, without the consumer's permission.[88] further, tries to uninstall the Zoom purchaser on macOS could set off the software program to re-deploy routinely inside the historical past, the use of a hidden internet server that turned into the installation on the machine for the duration of the primary installation and remained lively even after trying to eliminate the client. After receiving public complaints, Zoom removed the vulnerability and the hidden web server, allowing the whole uninstallation.[89] issued a repair in April 2020.[94] within the identical month, "Zoombombing", when an undesirable participant joins a meeting to reason disruption, prompted a warning from the Federal Bureau of research.[95][96][97][98] Motherboard stated that there had been two Zoom 0-days for macOS and home windows respectively, selling for $500,000, on April 15, 2020.[99] In reaction to the multitude of safety and privateness issues discovered, Zoom began a complete protection plan, which included consulting with Luta safety, path of Bits, former Facebook CSO Alex Stamos, former global Lead of privateness generation at Google Lea Kissner, BishopFox, the NCC group, and Johns Hopkins cryptographer Matthew D. green. [100] Encryption practices Zoom encrypts its public statistics streams, using TLS 1.2 with AES-256 (superior Encryption general) to protect signaling, and AES-128 to defend streaming media.[101] protection researchers and newshounds have criticized the corporation for its lack of transparency and negative encryption practices. Zoom, to begin with, claimed to use "stop-to-quit encryption" in its advertising and marketing materials,[102] but later clarified it supposed "from Zoom end factor to Zoom give up point" (meaning successfully among Zoom servers and Zoom customers), which The Intercept described as misleading and "cheating".[103] Alex Stamos, a Zoom advisor who was formerly protection chief at FB, referred to that a lack of cease-to-quit encryption is commonplace in such merchandise, as it's also actual of Google Hangouts, Microsoft groups, and Cisco Webex.[104] the ciphertext.[105] at some point of take a look at calls between individuals in Canada and u.s. the important thing changed into provisioned from servers positioned in mainland China wherein they're challenged to the China net security regulation.[59] On may also 7, 2020, Zoom introduced that it had received Keybase, as a part of an effort to bolster its safety practices moving ahead.[106]

source https://worldstyle1.blogspot.com/2020/05/what-is-zoom-and-what-you-do-not-know.html

[sheminecrafts]

Dfinity launches an open-source platform aimed at the social networking giants

When Dfinity raised $102 million in funding in 2018 at a $2 billion valuation in a round jointly led by Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital, it was thought of as a step change in the world of blockchain technology. In an area that was synonymous with generating a lot of headlines around cryptocurrency speculation, this was a shift in focus, looking instead at the architecture behind Bitcoin, Ethereum and the rest, and how it could be used for more than just “mining,” distributing and using new financial instruments — with a major, mainstream VC backing the idea, no less.

Dfinity launched with a very lofty goal: to build what it called the “Internet Computer”: a decentralized and non-proprietary network to run the next generation of mega-applications. It dubbed this public network “Cloud 3.0”.

Now, it looks like this Cloud is now about to break.

In Davos this week, Dfinity launched the Bronze edition of its Internet Computer, a limited release that takes the startup one step closer to its full commercial release, expected later this year.

And to prove out the concept of how an application would run on its new network, Dfinity today demonstrated an open social network called LinkedUp.

The startup has rather cheekily called this “an open version of LinkedIn,” the Microsoft-owned social network for professionals. Unlike LinkedIn, LinkedUp, which runs on any browser, is not owned or controlled by a corporate entity.

LinkedUp is built on Dfinity’s so-called Internet Computer, its name for the platform it is building to distribute the next generation of software and open internet services.

The software is hosted directly on the internet on a Switzerland-based independent data center, but in the concept of the Internet Computer, it could be hosted at your house or mine: the compute power to run the application — LinkedUp, in this case — is coming not from Amazon AWS, Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure, but is instead based on the distributed architecture that Dfinity is building.

Specifically, Dfinity notes that when enterprises and developers run their web apps and enterprise systems on the Internet Computer, the content is decentralised across a minimum of four or a maximum of an unlimited number of nodes in Dfinity’s global network of independent data centers.

And while the company initially was described as a blockchain-based system, that’s also had some refinement. A spokesperson describes the Internet Computer as a “next-generation distributed computing system — similar to its Mainframe, Client Server, and Public Cloud predecessors” that is based on cryptography.

“While DFINITY is not building a traditional blockchain/smart contract platform, it uses advanced cryptography in its consensus layer [of the Internet Computer stack] to ensure apps and workloads have the same security guarantees as Bitcoin or Ethereum,” the spokesperson added, “but its network of independent data centres ensures the speed and scale required by corporates and entrepreneurs.” The Internet Computer also has governance tokens to ensure the ownership of the technology is distributed, he said.

LinkedUp is a test case for all of this, and so Dfinity is open-sourcing LinkedUp for developers to create other types of open internet services on the structure it has built.

This “open social network for professional profiles” suggests that, on Dfinity’s model, one could create an “Open WhatsApp,” “Open eBay,” “Open Salesforce” or “Open Facebook.”

(Good news, since LinkedIn might not be so happy about a lookalike service with a name and layout that also looks very familiar, were it to go much further as a commercial endeavor. “While we can’t comment specifically on any proposed trademark, LinkedIn does monitor and take action as necessary to protect our trademarks,” a spokesperson said.)

“Big tech has hijacked the internet and stifled innovation by owning the proprietary infrastructure and user relationships,” said Dominic Williams, founder and chief scientist at Dfinity in a statement. “As a result, a handful of for-profit companies have created a monopolistic and closed internet. The Internet Computer provides a means to rebuild internet services in open form.”

So perhaps what we should be calling this is not LinkedUp, but more a new sort of “Linux for the cloud.”

Dfinity claims the application was built by “1.5 engineers in three weeks,” thus demonstrating how easy the infrastructure is to use.

The tools include a Canister Software Developer Kit and a simple programming language called Motoko that is optimized for Dfinity’s Internet Computer.

“The Internet Computer is conceived as an alternative to the $3.8 trillion legacy IT stack, and empowers the next-generation of developers to build a new breed of tamper-proof enterprise software systems and open internet services. We are democratizing software development,” Williams said. “The Bronze release of the Internet Computer provides developers and enterprises a glimpse into the infinite possibilities of building on the Internet Computer — which also reflects the strength of the Dfinity team we have built so far.”

Dfinity says its “Internet Computer Protocol” allows for a new type of software called autonomous software, which can guarantee permanent APIs that cannot be revoked. When all these open internet services (e.g. open versions of WhatsApp, Facebook, eBay, Salesforce, etc.) are combined with other open software and services it creates “mutual network effects” where everyone benefits.

We quizzed Dfinity a little more on all this and asked whether this was an actual launch.

A spokesperson told us: “Since our first major milestone of launching a terminal-based SDK and new programming language called Motoko — by the co-creator of WebAssembly — on 1 November, DFINITY has released 13 new public versions of the SDK, to our second major milestone [at WEF Davos] of demoing a decentralized web app called LinkedUp on the Internet Computer running on an independent data center in Switzerland. Subsequent milestones towards the public launch of the Internet Computer will involve (1) on-boarding a global network of independent data centers, (2) fully tested economic system, and (3) fully tested Network Nervous Systems for configuration and upgrades.”

It also looks like Dfinity will not be raising more money just yet.

But the question is how they plan to woo people to it? “Dfinity has been working with a select group of Fortune 500 companies, strategic consultancies, systems integrators, venture capitalists, and universities,” the company said.

We are not sure that will quite suffice to take out Facebook, LinkedIn and all the other tech giants, but we’re fascinated to see how this plays out.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/37gLZFA via IFTTT

[technicalsolutions88]

When Dfinity raised $102 million in funding in 2018 at a $2 billion valuation in a round jointly led by Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital, it was thought of as a step change in the world of blockchain technology. In an area that was synonymous with generating a lot of headlines around cryptocurrency speculation, this was a shift in focus, looking instead at the architecture behind Bitcoin, Ethereum and the rest, and how it could be used for more than just “mining,” distributing and using new financial instruments — with a major, mainstream VC backing the idea, no less.

Dfinity launched with a very lofty goal: to build what it called the “Internet Computer”: a decentralized and non-proprietary network to run the next generation of mega-applications. It dubbed this public network “Cloud 3.0”.

Now, it looks like this Cloud is now about to break.

In Davos this week, Dfinity launched the Bronze edition of its Internet Computer, a limited release that takes the startup one step closer to its full commercial release, expected later this year.

And to prove out the concept of how an application would run on its new network, Dfinity today demonstrated an open social network called LinkedUp.

The startup has rather cheekily called this “an open version of LinkedIn,” the Microsoft-owned social network for professionals. Unlike LinkedIn, LinkedUp, which runs on any browser, is not owned or controlled by a corporate entity.

LinkedUp is built on Dfinity’s so-called Internet Computer, its name for the platform it is building to distribute the next generation of software and open internet services.

The software is hosted directly on the internet on a Switzerland-based independent data center, but in the concept of the Internet Computer, it could be hosted at your house or mine: the compute power to run the application — LinkedUp, in this case — is coming not from Amazon AWS, Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure, but is instead based on the distributed architecture that Dfinity is building.

Specifically, Dfinity notes that when enterprises and developers run their web apps and enterprise systems on the Internet Computer, the content is decentralised across a minimum of four or a maximum of an unlimited number of nodes in Dfinity’s global network of independent data centers.

And while the company initially was described as a blockchain-based system, that’s also had some refinement. A spokesperson describes the Internet Computer as a “next-generation distributed computing system — similar to its Mainframe, Client Server, and Public Cloud predecessors” that is based on cryptography.

“While DFINITY is not building a traditional blockchain/smart contract platform, it uses advanced cryptography in its consensus layer [of the Internet Computer stack] to ensure apps and workloads have the same security guarantees as Bitcoin or Ethereum,” the spokesperson added, “but its network of independent data centres ensures the speed and scale required by corporates and entrepreneurs.” The Internet Computer also has governance tokens to ensure the ownership of the technology is distributed, he said.

LinkedUp is a test case for all of this, and so Dfinity is open-sourcing LinkedUp for developers to create other types of open internet services on the structure it has built.

This “open social network for professional profiles” suggests that, on Dfinity’s model, one could create an “Open WhatsApp,” “Open eBay,” “Open Salesforce” or “Open Facebook.”

(Good news, since LinkedIn might not be so happy about a lookalike service with a name and layout that also looks very familiar, were it to go much further as a commercial endeavor. “While we can’t comment specifically on any proposed trademark, LinkedIn does monitor and take action as necessary to protect our trademarks,” a spokesperson said.)

“Big tech has hijacked the internet and stifled innovation by owning the proprietary infrastructure and user relationships,” said Dominic Williams, founder and chief scientist at Dfinity in a statement. “As a result, a handful of for-profit companies have created a monopolistic and closed internet. The Internet Computer provides a means to rebuild internet services in open form.”

So perhaps what we should be calling this is not LinkedUp, but more a new sort of “Linux for the cloud.”

Dfinity claims the application was built by “1.5 engineers in three weeks,” thus demonstrating how easy the infrastructure is to use.

The tools include a Canister Software Developer Kit and a simple programming language called Motoko that is optimized for Dfinity’s Internet Computer.

“The Internet Computer is conceived as an alternative to the $3.8 trillion legacy IT stack, and empowers the next-generation of developers to build a new breed of tamper-proof enterprise software systems and open internet services. We are democratizing software development,” Williams said. “The Bronze release of the Internet Computer provides developers and enterprises a glimpse into the infinite possibilities of building on the Internet Computer — which also reflects the strength of the Dfinity team we have built so far.”

Dfinity says its “Internet Computer Protocol” allows for a new type of software called autonomous software, which can guarantee permanent APIs that cannot be revoked. When all these open internet services (e.g. open versions of WhatsApp, Facebook, eBay, Salesforce, etc.) are combined with other open software and services it creates “mutual network effects” where everyone benefits.

We quizzed Dfinity a little more on all this and asked whether this was an actual launch.

A spokesperson told us: “Since our first major milestone of launching a terminal-based SDK and new programming language called Motoko — by the co-creator of WebAssembly — on 1 November, DFINITY has released 13 new public versions of the SDK, to our second major milestone [at WEF Davos] of demoing a decentralized web app called LinkedUp on the Internet Computer running on an independent data center in Switzerland. Subsequent milestones towards the public launch of the Internet Computer will involve (1) on-boarding a global network of independent data centers, (2) fully tested economic system, and (3) fully tested Network Nervous Systems for configuration and upgrades.”

It also looks like Dfinity will not be raising more money just yet.

But the question is how they plan to woo people to it? “Dfinity has been working with a select group of Fortune 500 companies, strategic consultancies, systems integrators, venture capitalists, and universities,” the company said.

We are not sure that will quite suffice to take out Facebook, LinkedIn and all the other tech giants, but we’re fascinated to see how this plays out.

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/37gLZFA Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com

[endenogatai]

Dfinity launches an open source platform aimed at the social networking giants

When Dfinity raised $102 million in funding in 2018 at a $2 billion valuation in a round jointly led by Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital, it was thought of as a step change in the world of blockchain technology. In an area that was  synonymous generating a lot of headlines around cryptocurrency speculation, this was a shift in focus, looking instead at the architecture behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the rest, and how it could be used for more than just “mining”, distributing and using new financial instruments — with a major, mainstream VC backing the idea, no less.

Dfinity launched with a very lofty goal: to build what it called the “Internet Computer”: a decentralized and non-proprietary network to run the next generation of mega-applications. It dubbed this public network “Cloud 3.0”.

Now, looks like this is Cloud is now about to break.

In Davos this week, Dfinity launched the Bronze edition of its Internet Computer, a limited release that takes the startup one step closer to its full commercial release, expected later this year.

And to prove out the concept of how an application would run on its new network, Dfinity today demonstrated an open social network called LinkedUp.

The start-up has rather cheekily called this “an open version of LinkedIn,” the Microsoft-owned social network for professional. Unlike LikedIn, LinkedUp — which runs on any browser, is not owned or controlled by a corporate entity.

LinkedUp is built on Dfinity’s co-called Internet Computer, its name for the platform it is building to distribute the next generation of software and open internet services.

The software is hosted directly on the internet on a Switzerland-based independent data center, but in the concept of the Internet Computer, it could be hosted at your house or mine: the compute power to run the application — LinkedUp, in this case — is coming not from Amazon AWS, Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure, and is instead based on the distributed architecture that Dfinity is building.

Dfinity is open-sourcing LinkedUp for developers to create other types of open internet services on the structure it has built. This ‘open social network for professional profiles’ suggests that, on Difinity’s opensource software, one could create an ‘Open WhatsApp’, ‘Open eBay’, ‘Open Salesforce’, or ‘Open Facebook’.

(Good news, since LinkedIn might not be so happy about a lookalike service with a name and layout that also looks very familiar. “While we can’t comment specifically on any proposed trademark, LinkedIn does monitor and take action as necessary to protect our trademarks,” a spokesperson said.)

“Big tech has hijacked the internet and stifled innovation by owning the proprietary infrastructure and user relationships,” said Dominic Williams, Founder and Chief Scientist at Dfinity in a statement. “As a result, a handful of for-profit companies have created a monopolistic and closed internet. The Internet Computer provides a means to rebuild internet services in open form.”

So perhaps what we should be calling this is not LinkedUp, but more a new sort of “Linux for the cloud”.

Dfinity claims the application was built by “1.5 engineers in three weeks,” thus demonstrating how easy the infrastructure is to use.

The tools include a Canister Software Developer Kit and a simple programming language called Motoko that is optimized for Dfinity’s Internet Computer.

“The Internet Computer is conceived as an alternative to the $3.8 trillion dollar legacy IT stack, and empower the next-generation of developers to build a new breed of tamper-proof enterprise software systems and open internet services. We are democratizing software development,” Williams said. “The Bronze release of the Internet Computer provides developers and enterprises a glimpse into the infinite possibilities of building on the Internet Computer — which also reflects the strength of the Dfinity team we have built so far.”

Dfinity says its “Internet Computer Protocol” allows for a new type of software called autonomous software, which can guarantee permanent APIs that cannot be revoked. When all these open internet services (e.g., open versions of WhatsApp, Facebook, eBay, Salesforce, etc) are combined with other open software and services it creates “mutual network effects” where everyone benefits.

We quizzed Dfinity a little more on all this and asked whether this was an actual launch.

A spokesperson told us: “Since our first major milestone of launching a terminal-based SDK and new programming language called Motoko — by the co-creator of WebAssembly — on 1 November, DFINITY has released 13 new public versions of the SDK, to our second major milestone [at WEF Davos] of demoing a decentralized web app called LinkedUp on the Internet Computer running on an independent data center in Switzerland. Subsequent milestones towards the public launch of the Internet Computer will involve (1) on-boarding a global network of independent data centers, (2) fully tested economic system, and (3) fully tested Network Nervous Systems for configuration and upgrades.”

It also looks like Dfinity will not be raising more money just yet.

But the question is how they plan to woo people to it? “Dfinity has been working with a select group of Fortune 500 companies, strategic consultancies, systems integrators, venture capitalists, and universities,” the company said.

We are not sure that will quite suffice to take out Facebook, LinkedIn and all the other tech giants, but we’re fascinated to see how this plays out.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8204425 https://ift.tt/37gLZFA via IFTTT

[cameronwjones]

18 Time-saving Event Planning Tips

Save time, work more efficiently, own your events. While event hacks might be a stretch, these time-saving event tips will help cut out the noise and focus on your main objectives.

Let's be honest, event planning is a stressful job. At any given time there are a number of jobs that need to get done and it can seem like every deadline comes right down to the wire. The 18 tips in this blog post will help you save time during the event planning process and ensure your next event is wildly successful. Let's dive right in.

1. Start Early

As you know, planning an event is a monumental task. The more time you can give yourself to nail down every little detail, the better. So start as early as possible. This will not only allow you to maintain your sanity, but also give you an advantage when booking a venue, finding event staff (we'll talk more about this later in the post), and putting out unavoidable fires.

2. Leverage Event Software

Want to maximize event ROI? Then do yourself a favor and leverage the power of event software when planning and managing your next event. This type of tool will save you time (on average, businesses that use event software save 223 hours a year) and craft a unified brand experience for each of your attendees.

"[Event software] helped us take full advantage of our event data and draw key insights that were crucial to our success."

—Melissa Moore, Co-founder of the Lean Startup Co.

3. Invest In Essential Event Tools

Even software, while incredibly important, isn't the only tool you should consider investing in. There are other important event tools worthy of your consideration as well, such as project management apps like Trello, marketing automation tools like HubSpot (more on this below), software integration tools like Zapier, and event streaming software like Livestream.

There are plenty of amazing apps out there that will make your life as an event planner less stressful. The key is finding the tools that work for you and the kind of events you manage. So do some experimenting and create a custom event technology stack that fits your needs and your budget.

4. Focus on the Priority

Knowing how to best prioritize your time and efforts is a common productivity tip. The more focused you can be on the right objectives, the more success you'll see. This is especially true when planning an event.

There are a million different things that need to be accomplished in order for your event to be deemed a success. Where do you start? Understanding what's most important and what deserves priority will allow you to focus on the big wins; the things that really matter.

First, determine what your overarching vision is. Then prioritize your to-do list based on important tasks, not just urgent ones. Finally, tackle each item on your list one at a time. This simple framework will ensure proper time management when event planning.

5. Follow A Proven Process

As we've already mentioned, event planning isn't for the faint of heart. The good news is, there are proven templates and processes you can follow. You aren't the first person to plan an event and you won't be the last. Look to the successes and failures of those who have gone before you to gain valuable insights.

This event strategy guidewill get you started. In it, you'll learn everything you need to know about hosting a successful event in 2019 — the planning, launching, promoting, managing, and even wrapping processes are all covered in detail (more on this below).

6. Create A List

Let's delve deeper into prioritization and how creating lists can assist. Whether you consider yourself a "list person" or not, writing things down and structuring your day in a specific way has its benefits.

Start by determining every single thing you need to get done. This list should include the big things like booking a venue and finding sponsors, and the smaller (but still important) things like hiring an event logo designer (or coordinating with your in-house design team).

Once everything has been written down, you can begin to schedule each task for specific days. Remember to set deadlines for every to-do item and check them off once they've been completed. This will keep you organized and on track.

An example of a prioritization sheet could look like this:

Task Name

Priority

Size

Owner

Due Date

Launch Event Website

High

Large

Sam

7/20/19

Confirm Catering Details With Vendor

Low

Small

Alex

8/16/19

Event Press Release

Medium

Medium

Alex

7/23/19

7. Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Have we mentioned yet that event planning is a colossal endeavor? It is. And that's why you shouldn't attempt to do everything by yourself. Delegation is key to hosting a successful event

It will also engage your team and help them feel more invested in their work, which will boost their productivity and decrease company turnover. 

Do your best to delegate the right tasks to the right employees, give them clear guidelines and expectations. Then allow them to work independently. Delegation isn't useful if you constantly need to look over their shoulder.

8. Hire Quality Help

Sometimes delegating tasks to your team isn't enough. You may find it necessary to hire event freelancers to help you achieve your goals. What can a freelancer help you with? Many things including website development, customer support, and event photography.

Discover where the holes are in your team, then plug with talented individuals from sites like UpWork and Freelancer or online communities like Eventovation.

9. Find Volunteers

Not every event helper needs to be a hired gun. Finding event volunteers is totally possible, especially if your event's main purpose is to raise awareness or money for a charitable cause. You just have to ask.

Start with the people you know. Will any of your employees be willing to lend a helping hand. When you've exhausted your personal contacts, look to volunteer networks. Software tools like Volgistics and VolunteerHub give event planners access to information on thousands of skilled volunteers.

Remember, just because you aren't paying volunteers doesn't mean they shouldn't receive any incentives for helping out. If possible, offer helpers free admission to your event, complimentary food, or free products from your company to drum up interest.

10. Partner With An Agency

Sometimes the best way to ensure your event is a success is to partner with an event agency that specializes in helping companies host amazing get-togethers. Fortunately for you, we've already done the hard work of finding these organizations.

The list, linked to below, contains over 150 top-tier event and experiential marketing companies. Some focus on specific event types, others are full-service, but each is great at what they do. If you feel in over your head, enlist the help of one of these event agencies.

11. Use Marketing Automation Software

Event marketing automation software such as HubSpot, Marketo, and Salesforce, and to a lesser extent, Get Response, Infusionsoft, and Autopilot, allows event organizers to better engage attendees and produce more personalized event experiences.

Imagine being able to, once an attendee registers for an event, automatically add them to your company's CRM records, send them pre-written emails at specific times that correspond with exactly where they're at in the customer journey, and more.

This is all possible with the right software platforms and a bit of knowledge and forethought.

A sample marketing automation workflow for an event.

12. Invest In CRM Software

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is essential for most businesses in this day and age. Your company's customers want personalized experiences. This is nearly impossible to provide without an accurate and deep knowledge of your customer base.

Events are key touchpoints in multichannel marketing strategies. Tracking how an event contributes to a customer or prospect’s lifetime journey with your company is a valuable metric to have. Every registrant's details should be synced to the CRM of your choice after your event, then incorporated into future marketing and sales efforts.

13. Say Goodbye To Manual Reporting

Many event planners tend to do their reporting manually via spreadsheets. Not only does this take a lot more time than it needs to, but it's also more error-prone. Instead, use software to automatically crunch event metrics and generate reports.

We recommend using data visualization software that can reconcile data from multiple sources including your company's CRM and marketing automation solutions. But it would also be wise to invest in software tools (like Bizzabo) that are able to generate their own comprehensible and easy to understand reports about event performance.

A glance at reporting in Bizzabo.

14. Integrate Your Event Technology Stack

We've mentioned numerous pieces of software and technology so far in this post. Each, when used correctly, is incredibly useful. But the real trick is getting each tool to play nicely with the other apps you plan to use. That's where event software integrations come into play.

Some software solutions will integrate with one another out-of-the box. Others require using a third-party integration solution like Zapier. This means that your event management software, CRM tool, email marketing platform, and more will all work together seamlessly, reducing the amount of tedious data entry you'll need to do.

15. Create A System To Scale

We recently got a chance to sit down with our friend Aleksandra Panyukhina, Head of Event Marketing at SEMrush, and learned quite a bit. Her team participated in dozens of events in 2018 on five different continents. So when it comes to event planning, she's a verified expert.

In the interview, Aleksandra talked about the importance of systems and scaling. One of the SEMrush keys to success has been their ability to maintain a consistent brand image, no matter the size or location of their next event. This can only be done by developing the proper systems that will scale and maintaining clear communication with team members.

16. Measure, Measure, Measure!

Measuring event ROI is an important practice. After all, you can't accurately determine if an event is successful or not without understanding what your company is gaining in return for all the time, effort, and expenses it's taken to host the event.

Unfortunately, tracking event ROI isn't always easy, but there are a few tools that can help. Marketing platforms like Bizzabo and HubSpot, business intelligence software such as Sisense and Tableau, attribution platforms like Google Analytics, and your company's CRM software can all help you track event ROI.

It's important to remember that you should be aiming to create value with your events, not just immediate monetary gain. An event that loses money, but generates a large amount of high-quality leads may still be deemed successful.

17. Make Sure Your Email Game Is On Point

Email for event planners is a necessity, though it's all too easy to get bogged down when messages are constantly hitting your inbox. It can feel like you're always playing catch-up and the goal of inbox-zero will never be met. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Here are a few of our favorite email management tips for event planners:

Use Technology: An app like Boomerang can help remind you to follow up on emails you don't hear back on.

Use Canned Responses: How much of your time is wasted sending essentially the same reply to multiple people? Get that time back and leverage canned responses.

Filter Your Messages: By better organizing your inbox, you can reduce stress levels and increase efficiency. Perhaps all messages from a certain client go into one folder. Or maybe you create a "Respond Later" folder so you don't constantly feel the need to respond to every message right away.

Hit the Unsubscribe Button: Do you honestly read and enjoy every single message that floats through your inbox? Probably not. Start unsubscribing and reduce the emails you need to filter through every day.

18. Expect The Unexpected

Finally, with so many variables involved in event planning, not everything will always go as expected. It's better to plan for this.

We recommend you schedule extra time for last minute requests, especially in the final few weeks before your event takes place. That way you aren't caught off-guard and will have enough time to accomplish what needs to get done.

Your Turn: Efficiently Planning Your Event

These tips, when used together, act as a sort of event planning template and will help ensure your next event is a success. We encourage you to read through these strategies again and begin implementing as many as possible into your event planning workflow.

Looking for more event planning wisdom, check out this report on the latest event trends.

from Cameron Jones Updates https://blog.bizzabo.com/time-saving-event-planning-tips

[shuying877]

Front-end Developer job at Capbridge Pte Ltd Singapore

CapBridge is a private institutional capital raising platform that connects institutional and accredited investors to mid to late stage growth companies. Our platform provides a secure and effective environment where investors can confidentially access growth stage companies seeking financing. The CapBridge platform efficiently tailors specific deal types to each investor, showing them only the deals that meet their investment criteria. Our platform also integrates useful tools that optimise time and resources. Functions include due diligence, deal flow management, secure data-room, FAQs, closing, and completion checklists. Our innovative digital platform is fully integrated with leading industry databases. With access to over 5 million records, the platform provides a sophisticated and targeted environment for intelligent deal sourcing and matching. Capbridge has a partnership with the Singapore Exchange (SGX) that allows us to facilitate and accelerate the IPO process for growth companies. Our management team is from multiple disciplines, including venture capital, investment banking, technology commercialisation and portfolio management. Our vision is to build Capbridge into a world-class marketplace for investors and companies to achieve their growth objectives in an intelligent, secure and efficient manner

Roles & Responsibilities – Front-end Developer

Translate business requirements into visually stunning and institutive User Interfaces

Lead design of assets and wireframes for rapid prototyping and iteration

Develop responsive UI/UX using Javascript/Jquery and Bootstrap

Develop and maintain Visualforce pages in Saleforce Community, and further expand building and maintaining pages on the Heroku Platform

Requirements

Development experience with web technologies: JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS, and use of frameworks such as jQuery and Bootstrap.  

Experience Java Programming with Angular JS

Proficient in programming using Salesforce.com’s Apex, Visualforce and Components

Experience of using Javascript Remoting/Action Function in Salesforce.com.

Knowledge of Force.com development best practices and design patterns. 

Hands on experience with Heroku is a plus.

Able to work on multiple projects against aggressive deadlines and have organizational and time management skills.

Minimum 1 years’ experience in implementing salesforce solutions or Minimum 3 – 4 years of experience working on Web UI Design and Development

From http://www.startupjobs.asia/job/37114-front-end-developer-it-job-at-capbridge-pte-ltd-singapore

from https://startupjobsasiablog.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/front-end-developer-job-at-capbridge-pte-ltd-singapore/

[martechadvisor-blog]

TrustRadius Secures $5.5M Funding; Gets Bill Macaitis as a Board Advisor

Austin, Texas: TrustRadius, the review platform for B2B technology, announced today that it has secured an additional $5.5 million in financing to accelerate its growth and fuel continued product innovation. The latest round is led by LiveOak Venture Partners with ongoing participation from Mayfield. The company also added Bill Macaitis, former CMO at Slack and Zendesk and SVP Marketing at Salesforce, as a board advisor. To date, TrustRadius has raised $13 million in its quest to transform how business technology is bought and sold.

"The B2B buyer's journey has changed, and authentic user insights are now a critical component of the technology purchasing process," said Venu Shamapant, General Partner at LiveOak Venture Partners. "TrustRadius has succeeded in building a trusted resource for buyers as well as a powerful platform for vendors to leverage their customer's voice in marketing, sales, product strategy and more. Given their strong execution and innovative approach, LiveOak is thrilled to partner with TrustRadius to accelerate their growth and redefine how B2B vendors use customer reviews."

The Series B follows two years of strong revenue growth and achieving positive operating cash flow as technology vendors have embraced the TrustRadius platform. With the new funding, the company plans to increase its investment in product development and go-to-market while tripling headcount over the next 24 months. 

"While buyers are conducting more independent research than ever before, marketing and sales engagement remains a critical influence in considered B2B purchases," said Vinay Bhagat, founder and CEO of TrustRadius. "Vendors that proactively use the voice of their customers are seeing tremendous results across their funnel, from increasing lead conversion to closing deals faster. Our unique strategy centers around driving the highest-quality customer content via in-depth reviews, and empowering vendors to effectively use that content in their own channels, as well as ensuring buyers can easily access the trusted insights they seek." 

TrustRadius also welcomes Bill Macaitis as a strategic board advisor. Macaitis, who has led marketing at some of B2B technology's most iconic and fastest growing companies, will help structure and scale go-to-market strategy. 

"When you look at TrustRadius compared to some of the of the other players in the space, you realize that they are doing this the right way," added board advisor Bill Macaitis. "First, TrustRadius solves a serious pain point, which is getting customers on the record. But unlike other sites, TrustRadius helps you take all these authentic user reviews and integrate them directly into your sales and marketing process. Now reviews can dynamically appear on your website to increase conversion, or instantly show up in Salesforce so reps can have relevant and authentic testimonials right at their fingertips. What marketer wouldn't love that? Combine all those factors with great leadership, and it's an honor to join the team." 

This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor

[un-enfant-immature]

VTEX, an e-commerce platform used by Walmart, raises $140M led by SoftBank’s LatAm fund

E-commerce now accounts for 14% of all retail sales, and its growth has led to a rise in the fortunes of startups that build tools to enable businesses to sell online. In the latest development, a company called VTEX — which originally got its start in Latin America helping companies like Walmart expand their business to new markets with an end-to-end e-commerce service covering things like order and inventory management; front-end customer experience and customer service — has raised $140 million in funding, money that it will be using to continue taking its business deeper into more international markets.

The investment is being led by SoftBank, specifically via its Latin American fund, with participation also from Gávea Investimentos and Constellation Asset Management. Previous investors include Riverwood and Naspers, and Riverwood continues to be a backer, too, the company said.

Mariano Gomide, the CEO who co-founded VTEX with Geraldo Thomaz, said the valuation is not being disclosed, but he confirmed that the founders and founding team continue to hold more than 50% of the company. In addition to Walmart, VTEX customers include Levi’s, Sony, L’Oréal and Motorola . Annually, it processes some $2.4 billion in gross merchandise value across some 2,500 stores, growing 43% per year in the last five years.

VTEX is in that category of tech businesses that has been around for some time — it was founded in 1999 — but has largely been able to operate and grow off its own balance sheet. Before now, it had raised less than $13 million, according to PitchBook data.

This is one of the big rounds to come out of the relatively new SoftBank Innovation Fund, an effort dedicated to investing in tech companies focused on Latin America. The fund was announced earlier this year at $2 billion and has since expanded to $5 billion. Other Latin American companies that SoftBank has backed include online delivery business Rappi, lending platform Creditas, and proptech startup QuintoAndar.

The common theme among many SoftBank investments is a focus on e-commerce in its many forms (whether that’s transactions for loans or to get a pizza delivered) and VTEX is positioned as a platform player that enables a lot of that to happen in the wider marketplace, providing not just the tools to build a front end, but to manage the inventory, ordering and customer relations at the back end.

“VTEX has three attributes that we believe will fuel the company’s success: a strong team culture, a best-in-class product and entrepreneurs with profitability mindset,” said Paulo Passoni, managing investment partner at SoftBank’s Latin America fund, in a statement. “Brands and retailers want reliability and the ability to test their own innovations. VTEX offers both, filling a gap in the market. With VTEX, companies get access to a proven, cloud-native platform with the flexibility to test add-ons in the same data layer.”

Although VTEX has been expanding into markets like the US (where it acquired UniteU earlier this year), the company still makes some 80% of its revenues annually in Latin America, Gomide said in an interview.

There, it has been a key partner to retailers and brands interested in expanding into the region, providing integrations to localise storefronts, a platform to help brands manage customer and marketplace relations, and analytics, competing against the likes of SAP, Oracle, Adobe, and Salesforce (but not, he said in answer to my question, Commercetools, which builds Shopify -style API tools for mid- and large-sized enterprises and itself raised $145 million last month).

E-commerce, as we’ve pointed out before, is a business of economies of scale. Case in point, while VTEX processes some $2.5 billion in transactions annually, it makes a relative small return on that: $69 million, to be exact. This, plus the benefit of analytics on a wider set of big data (another economy of scale play), are two of the big reasons why VTEX is now doubling down on growth in newer markets like Europe and North America. The company now has 122 integrations with localised payment methods.

“At the end of the day, e-commerce software is a combination of knowledge. If you don’t have access to thousands of global cases you can’t imbue the software with knowledge,” Gomide said. “Companies that have been focused on one specific region and now realising that trade is a global thing. China has proven that, so a lot of companies are now coming to us because their existing providers of e-commerce tools can’t ‘do international.'” There are very few companies that can serve that global approach and that is why we are betting on being a global commerce platform, not just one focused on Latin America.”

[martechadvisor-blog]

TrustRadius Secures $5.5M Funding; Gets Bill Macaitis to its Board of Directors

Austin, Texas: TrustRadius, the review platform for B2B technology, announced today that it has secured an additional $5.5 million in financing to accelerate its growth and fuel continued product innovation. The latest round is led by LiveOak Venture Partners with ongoing participation from Mayfield. The company also added Bill Macaitis, former CMO at Slack and Zendesk and SVP Marketing at Salesforce, as a board advisor. To date, TrustRadius has raised $13 million in its quest to transform how business technology is bought and sold.

"The B2B buyer's journey has changed, and authentic user insights are now a critical component of the technology purchasing process," said Venu Shamapant, General Partner at LiveOak Venture Partners. "TrustRadius has succeeded in building a trusted resource for buyers as well as a powerful platform for vendors to leverage their customer's voice in marketing, sales, product strategy and more. Given their strong execution and innovative approach, LiveOak is thrilled to partner with TrustRadius to accelerate their growth and redefine how B2B vendors use customer reviews."

The Series B follows two years of strong revenue growth and achieving positive operating cash flow as technology vendors have embraced the TrustRadius platform. With the new funding, the company plans to increase its investment in product development and go-to-market while tripling headcount over the next 24 months. 

"While buyers are conducting more independent research than ever before, marketing and sales engagement remains a critical influence in considered B2B purchases," said Vinay Bhagat, founder and CEO of TrustRadius. "Vendors that proactively use the voice of their customers are seeing tremendous results across their funnel, from increasing lead conversion to closing deals faster. Our unique strategy centers around driving the highest-quality customer content via in-depth reviews, and empowering vendors to effectively use that content in their own channels, as well as ensuring buyers can easily access the trusted insights they seek." 

TrustRadius also welcomes Bill Macaitis as a strategic board advisor. Macaitis, who has led marketing at some of B2B technology's most iconic and fastest growing companies, will help structure and scale go-to-market strategy. 

"When you look at TrustRadius compared to some of the of the other players in the space, you realize that they are doing this the right way," added board advisor Bill Macaitis. "First, TrustRadius solves a serious pain point, which is getting customers on the record. But unlike other sites, TrustRadius helps you take all these authentic user reviews and integrate them directly into your sales and marketing process. Now reviews can dynamically appear on your website to increase conversion, or instantly show up in Salesforce so reps can have relevant and authentic testimonials right at their fingertips. What marketer wouldn't love that? Combine all those factors with great leadership, and it's an honor to join the team." 

This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor