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For Americans: How to move to Europe

On the 9th of November the official Canadian immigration website broke, apparently because of the huge number of people looking to emigrate there. Just admit it: since Donald Trump won the presidency, you’re seriously thinking about leaving USA. Ok, moving to Canada means to just cross the border: they speak English and the quality of life is high…but why not Europe? It’s warmer than Canada. We do have art, culture, good food, great wines, universal healthcare, at least 29 days of paid holidays and paid parental leave. Even if we do often refer to ourselves as Europeans, it’s better to be clear: there is no such thing as “Europe”, apart from geography. Each European country has his own language, habits, mindset. For instance food is great in France, Italy or Spain and less great in The Netherlands or in Germany. European variety permits you to choose your perfect country match. And if you’re unhappy with the country you’ve picked up first, you can jump on a flight and in just 1 hour you’ll move from Spain to France: flying from Barcelona to Paris costs less than a dinner and movie in U.S.

How to prepare yourself to move to Europe?

We put together a list of things you should do before packing up your entire life into a suitcase.

Which country?

If we do consider geography, there are 44 countries (including Russia) in Europe. The first step is to narrow down your selection to 5 or 6 nations. Some countries can be more attractive simply because you won’t experience a language barrier. People in The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Scandinavia usually speak a good English. Other countries like Germany, Italy, France, Spain may require you to learn the local language. Generally speaking Europe is a bargain: you’ll get the best baguette you’ve ever had for just 0,80 cents and a good glass of wine is cheaper than orange juice. Compared to U.S., we just have a different pricing model: petrol and subway are expensive, whilst foie gras, tobacco, healthcare are affordable or even free. We do know how to enjoy life ;-)

France. Are you in love with sophisticated food, great wine and french kisses? France is your country. Just remind that to live there you will need to speak not just good French but near-native French.

Germany. Are you an engineer, you love structure and world-standard public transport? Pack immediately for Germany. You’ll still need fluent, but not near-native, German. Beer, sausage, sauerkraut, Oktoberfest and Christmas markets are some of the good things you’ll experience in Germany. Customer service and public transportation are probably the best in Europe.

Switzerland. Do you like to ski? Do you work in finance and love chocolate? Switzerland! It’s a quite expensive place, so be sure you do have enough savings. In Bern or Geneva you actually can live with only English. Alps are never far from you, and the ski infrastructure is world-class.

United Kingdom. Polite, classy, cultured like Benedict Cumberbatch? Queen Elisabeth is waiting for you! Well, it seems Brits don’t always consider themselves as part of Europe, but remember we are speaking of Europe from a geography standpoint. London is expensive, but everything is cool&edgy.

Italy. Stylish, funny, know good food. If there ever were a universally-liked cuisine, it would be Italian. And what about fashion, design and being sexy? Just think about Armani, Lamborghini and Monica Bellucci.

Spain. Never heard about the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria? Well, Colombo, the Italian explorer, was able to discover America thanks to the Spaniards! Spanish are generous, funny, welcoming. Landscapes and food — Tapas! — are amazing. It’s always warm and sunny in Spain and it’s one of the European country with the lowest cost of living.

Scandinavia. Last year Norway replaced Sweden as the №1 place to live, as measured by four key issues: income security, health, personal capability and an enabling environment. Sweden is №2, followed by Switzerland, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands and Iceland. The U.S. came in at №7. On top, they are all tall and blonde, technologically advanced and they speak a perfect english.

Ireland. Exuberant leprechauns hiding pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. Maybe leprechauns are just a fairytale, but Ireland is green, beautiful, full of welcoming people and Guinness. And they seem to feel a protective love for Apple.

And there is much more. Remember? 44 countries!

Language barrier

If you’re an english monoglot, you may experience some troubles when dealing with bureaucracy and daily activities. Even if you move to a country where English is commonly spoken, to be able to communicate with local people in their native language, will help you a lot to be integrated. This is not the only benefit: learning another language will make you smarter (proofed by science). Start learning the language spoken in your new home before packing. If you’re looking to learn French, Spanish, German or Italian FlashAcademy can be the perfect solution for you: it combines lessons, word games, object translation and flash cards for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners. You can get FlashAcademy app with a 10% discount using the code EXPATGENIUS10 on www.flashsticks.com.

Bureaucracy

We all know: it’s boring, it takes a lot of time and it often causes frustration. Before packing up, it’s helpful to gain a basic understanding of immigration laws, banking, taxes and other bureaucratic issues. And when you feel lost, just remind that you can always find a Genius on ExpatGenius ready to help you out!

VISA. The travel VISA allows you to stay 90 days, but, in some countries, you can remain longer without an additional visa. France, for instance, will allow you to apply for a one-year visa. In Austria, foreigners can apply for a job seekers visa, which allow you to live in the county for six months while you’re looking for a job. Also Germany has a new 6 months residency permit for qualified workers, but it’s valid only for university graduates and you can’t work while on this permit, you can only look for a job. Most countries will require you to register with the police. There isn’t any standard rule across Europe, you should check the immigration law in the country you’ve chosen. You can find an extensive visa guide on The savvy backpacker. Remind to sign up for the STEP, the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program: it provides up-to-date travel alert and information and makes sure expats are on the radar of the local embassy.

Tax system. Don’t forget to fill all the required paperwork before leaving U.S. to avoid double taxation and to keep your banks and investment accounts open. Usually banks want proof expats are still U.S. resident: you can set up a State Department Federal Credit Union account. As soon as you get settled in Europe, apply for your personal tax ID number. The process can take few months, but most employers will let you start work without your number as long as you’ve requested it. You will be taxed at a higher rate until your number is issued, but this will all be refunded once the proper paper work has been processed. Be aware that to get reimbursed you’ll need to fill several additional forms.

Banking. Before leaving U.S., get in contact with your financial institution to make sure you have a backup card in case you lose your card. Banking in Europe has totally different fees and regulations than in U.S. Most banks are only open Monday-Friday 10–4: so pick a bank and branch office near where you work or rather than near where you live. Consider that nearly everything aside from withdrawing money from an ATM has a fee associated with it. Ask the locals about which bank has the best features before making a decision.

Driving Licence. According to EU regulations, a US driver’s license only qualifies as a provisional license for up to 1 year during which time you are expected to complete all written and practical driving tests required by the country in which you are residing. Once you’ve gained your new driving licence, don’t expect to get a big and squared car with automatic gear. European cars are usually rounded, small, with manual gears: are easier to park. And maybe you won’t need your driving licence at all since most european cities have excellent public transportation.

Working

Are you looking for short-term jobs that require little commitment, or for a long- term job? If you’re looking for a short-term option you can rely on the tourism industry: you can work as a bar tender or in a hostel or as Au Pair.

One of the most lucrative yet competitive option is Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). You need to earn a TEFL certification and you can either teach on a freelance basis or work for a language school.

For longer-term positions you’ll likely have to secure a work permit first. You can’t ask a working permit for yourself, an employer will have to get one on your behalf. Unluckily it’s not easy to get an employer to ask a work permit for you since they have to prove to the government that they can not find anyone in Europe to fill the vacancy. The good news is that there are many places specifically seeking americans to join their team such as in English language magazines, tour companies or tech startups. You can find job offers for english-speaking expats on ExpatGenius job board.

Accommodation

It could take time to find the perfect neighborhood. Ask locals for information about your new chosen home and start by renting a short-term place for the first 1 or 2 months. Some cities such as Paris, Dublin, and London are crowded in general: prepare yourself to compromise on size, location, or price. Prices outside of any major urban center will drop significantly, so consider a safe suburb if you’re on a budget or aren’t planning to stay for long.

Embrace diversity: Home is wherever you arrive

Washing machines in Europe have only cold water inlet and are loaded from the front. Thanksgiving, baby showers and bachelor(ette)’s night are still typically American. Using numbers (e.g. 5th Avenue) to name a street it’s typically North American, in Europe streets take their naming from famous people or cities or historical places/dates. You’ll find the good, the bad and the different. You’ll be challenged, amused, surprised. Based on our experience as serial expats it’s important to adapt to the local culture, embrace diversity, befriend natives and it’s just as important to stay in touch with your roots. Multiculturalism and diversity are the greatest strengths of our society. Everyone has the right to belong: our mission is that every expat will feel at HOME wherever she arrives.

Are you looking for help to settle in abroad? ExpatGenius is the first marketplace connecting (new) expats with local people and long-time expats able to support them. Find the perfect Genius for you on www.expatgenius.com. Contact us at [email protected]

#expat #trump #america #expatriate #europe #moving #travel

#Beacons technology: is it here to stay? That's not the right question.

From 2013 beacons technology started to become the new hype, also thanks to Apple iBeacons launch. Beacons were welcomed as the marketers dreams coming true. Enabling a more granular location awareness compared to GPS and being able to target customers with relevant, personalised and appropriately timed messages, beacons poised to transform how retailers, events, transit systems, museums and educational institutions communicate with people indoors.

The reality? Beacons technology has been experimentally piloted by big retailers (Macy's, Virgin, Walmart, ...) but not fully adopted (yet) by many, especially in Europe. Despite the potential revolutionary applications, consumers interest seems to be tepid and current implementations appears to be more a trick to generate PR coverage than a revolutionary approach to the in-shop experience.

Last week I was in London, attending the Nielsen Norman Group Usability week, and I took the opportunity to scout for beacons implementations. My first stop was Regent street: The Regent Street App made the headlines last year: a one-app-one-street taking advantage of location-aware beacon technology to deliver timely, personalised, context&location-relevant content like discounts, (new) products promotions, special offers and alike to smartphone owners shopping in proximity. The Regent Street App beacons deployment is quite innovative: it doesn't promote an individual brand or a single shop or a chain of stores, it's, instead, a multi-retailer implementation covering ca. 1.5Km and more than 130 shops. Design and usability: the app has a pleasant design and it scores well as usability. It doesn't require a subscription, it asks permission to use your location data and through a simple brands/categories swipe it investigates your shopping preferences. Then the app is supposed to start sending you notifications based on your brand affinity offering discounts and alike. Targeting and content: unluckily the targeting is not yet perfect -I got not only offers related to womenswear, the category I selected- and push notifications are often poorly crafted trying to promote a product or a loyalty program...without even a clear call to action. I checked some blogs and it seems that others shoppers had similar experiences. Read Barraclough&co blog post for a full report. Visibility: the app is mildly mentioned on Regent Street Twitter/Facebook pages and advertised only on the footer of their website.

My second stop, a must do during Christmas season, was Harrods. Surrounded by shining gold decoration, Egypt style stairs, luxury clothes, too precious to be true jewellery, I downloaded the Harrods iPhone app eager to enhance my in-shop experience thanks to location based technology. Scanning some of the rooms I saw several beacons placed around. But..I couldn't find any personalised offers based on beacons technology. It seems that beacons were given only the function to track how many people are visiting the store.

Is beacons technology just an empty buzz-word intended to be over in 2016?

That's not the right question. It's not a matter of technology. It's a matter of understanding what's the value of using a technology. Current implementations are clearly showing that retailers are often replicating on a new technology a traditional way to communicate. Often not considering the overall customer experience and how new technologies and traditional channels could benefit and enhance each other. If you're going to send shoppers a push notification while they're walking inside a mall, you should provide them a (personalised) content boosting the shopping experience and not the same printed promotion they will notice as soon as they will walk towards the shops windows. When downloading an app and accepting to receive push notifications, customers are trading their preferences and personal data expecting to receive a service genuinely useful. If this expectation is betrayed they will quickly (and rightly) switch off.

Analysts forecast that by 2019 there will be about 60 million beacons in use. It means shopping malls, individual shops and streets saturated with beacons. The math is easy made: all the smartphones developed during the latest 2 years support beacons technology. And it's not only on iOS. Google launched Eddystone few months ago, permitting to retailers to deliver location based messages to consumers, not only downloading an app, but as well through browsers (Eddystone protocol permits beacons to broadcast a web URL). It means breaking an adoption barrier. And Eddystone can be implemented by any Bluetooth-equipped device: light bulbs, home security systems, thermostats, thermometers could collect specific data (location, temperature, humidity) and send messages to nearby Android smartphones.

So are beacons here to stay? Probably beacons will stay for the next 4 or 5 years or, better said, they will stay until the raise of another technology, good enough to compete with the cost-to-benefit ratio. What we should better ask is:

Are retailers ready to profit from the opportunity? The opportunity to offer a truly über personalised and revolutionary in-store experience thanks to contextual and not-contextual data collected through smart devices, apps, social media, websites, loyalty programs, third-parties. The opportunity of predictive marketing and "smart" retargeting campaigns - hopefully we will get rid of the stalking banner screaming to buy the same pair of shoes you just bought! The opportunity to exit from the seasonal/spamming offers to start building a truly long-term and personalised relationship with their customers.

Shoppercentric in July published a report, interviewing +1000 UK shoppers. The outcome? Retailers are failing to engage with shoppers in the right way.Some data: 70% of UK shoppers have a smartphone, 30% of them have used their smartphone to shop in the past month, 1 in 3 have shopped through an appBUT just 1 in 10 regularly use mobile apps as part of the purchase process. And what people do on their smartphones while shopping? 47% share ideas, 29% compare prices, 20% look for product information, 17% share photos, take pictures as a reminder, store location and browse – with no intention to purchase. This suggests that retailers are failing to provide the right content. Consumers are checking internet via smartphones while shopping. Since they can't find the right content on mobile apps, they open the retailers' websites via smartphone. I'm pretty sure that often they will suffer from a bad user experience, not finding the information they are craving for, due to a not responsive design website - only 20% of top 200 retailers worldwide has a responsive design site.

Are retailer just slow on upgrading the in-store experience or do there are other reasons? In-store product&price comparison via smartphones are amongst the preferred customers activities (49% in UK). Retailers consider price transparency either as a distant enemy - "only early adopters are checking prices while shopping" either as a threat to be faced by activating a range of protective behaviours. They fear margin shrinking, to fail to keep their price advantage against competitors and, in sum, to lose sales. Many sales. Shoppers can probably discover they can buy the same item on amazon.com at 15% less and get it even delivered at home. For free and in few hours. But clumsy hiding information to mislead customers won't help. Shoppers are increasingly questioning the prices behind the products they buy. The actual trend is the total pricing transparency: not only sale pricing, but as well production cost, labour cost, distribution cost, duties are expected to be transparent. Retailers are often failing to consider price transparency as an opportunity. The total transparency should be leveraged as an advantage, as a tactic to "romance" the brand, highlighting why the brand is different and better. Retailers efforts should be focused on identifying which are the costs - purchasing incentives, superior services, higher quality, assortment, personalised offers, shopping environment - consumers perceive as added value, worth the price. Short-term tactics? Personalisation and loyalty are the keywords: emphasise the purchase incentive over the single item price, reward with the “best price” the truly high value/loyal customers, design and promote über personalised membership/subscription models where savings are linked to quarterly/yearly contracts.

The long term goal? To strengthen the brand equity developing a broader value proposition, a personalised and trusted relationship with customers. Retail startups like Everlane or Honest by are surfing the wave. They got that trust matters. Everlane encourages consumers to "Know your factories. Know your costs. Always ask why." Radical transparency is the new motto. Everlane publishes the full break down of their production cost, claiming that one dress, for instance, sold for $98 at Everlane, would cost $190 in a traditional retailer. On Honest by website you can read "Honest by offers products with complete transparency in price and manufacturing, creating a new paradigm in fashion and retail". And they strongly benefit of an active presence on social media, transparent by nature. Sharing means caring, in our interpersonal relationships and also in our relationship with companies.

This post was originally published on my blog vegashark.com

Elevator pitch: the investors’ version

There are plenty of articles and books advising you on how to start up your start up, on how to prepare a perfect business plan, the ideal deck, your invincible elevator pitch. Probably what you’ll find below is neither original neither new to your ears. The aim of this post is to report what 5 Venture Capitalists shared during a training session for entrepreneurs. I hope that reading some investors’ perspective will boost your confidence and will help you to raise faster and more money than expected!

#1 Quoting almost literally an investor: “Get rid of the mindset that is hard to get money. You must believe in yourself. The more you can have the confidence in yourself and in your business, the more you can convince the person on the other side of the table”.

#2 Look for the VC strategically valuable for you. Not all investors are alike. Check Crunchbase, visit VCs’ websites and blogs, be focused and targeted. If you can get referenced is even better: VC world is a small community. Pay attention to the size of the fund, where their portfolio is located, when the fund was raised: if they are the end of a lifecycle, they will probably be less prone to investment. Before pitching do your own portfolio of investors.

#3 The place where you are located counts. To get funded is also a relationship game, if your company is located in the middle of nowhere, it could be difficult to meet the right VC and to engage them. If you can’t be based in the same area where your targeted investors are, be sure you build a strong bridge to where they are located.

#4 Investors want to hear that your business will be a big business. Many founders are uncomfortable on having a big vision and it could be, unluckily, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe your are extremely risk averse and your aim is to provide a 100% accurate business plan and roadmap. Maybe you are scared to over promise and then underdeliver…ok, fair enough. Anyway be sure to assess the risks without falling in the trap to compromise your pitch cutting the power of dreaming. Too much realism could kill the enthusiasm. When you go to pitch you must have a big vision. Dream big, don’t be conservative, feel what success looks like, picture your company as the dominant player in the industry. Shoot for the moon! If you are not shooting for the moon people (= investors) can think that your business is not a big business and so not worth investing on.

#5 Do the primary research and put together the numbers before pitching. I saw a couple of investors becoming pretty nervous when confronted with a guy who didn’t present a primary research for his new business. Quite easy to grab the reason why the investors get irritated: a primary research usually don’t require a big investment and you can do it in-house, by yourself. The fact of not taking advantage of interviews or online surveys to deep understand your target audience, your competitors, your opportunity in the market, could be perceived as being a naive amateur. Would you buy a car without knowing how much petrol it consumes or how much fast you can drive it?

#6 The ideal deck for your pitch? For many investors, especially if we are talking about consumers products, the ideal deck/pitch is experiencing the product. Or at least a prototype. If you can show already some numbers or traction is even better. Maybe you have only 300 users, but they are checking the apps at least 6 times per day: good for you, it means high engagement level. Having traction could be a key factor to win the investment. As Guy Kawasaki would say: “prove the dogs are already eating the food”. Don’t forget you are telling a story and that your pitching deck should be like an appetizer, you should tease to learn more, don’t give anything away (yet). Remember that people are there to listen to you, to be astonished by your energy and passion…they are not there to read a bunch of slides. Your slides are a support to your story, they are not the story. It’s not the number of slides that will make the difference, what makes the difference is the way are presented, the dreaming power, the curiosity you are able to unleash, the passion and energy you are able to emanate. Be focused on the story, get the minimum number of slides needed and put the slides with detailed numbers and info in the appendix. You can flip to them, if required, in case of specific questions, without messing up your story. What about a deck sent via email? A deck of 60 pages is not going to be read, try to stick to 10 or 12 pages. Many VC firms have a really tight screening process. The must have informations they are looking for, especially in case of tech companies, are: details about who is the team, what’s their background, are they qualified enough, what’s the competitive space of the company, how far is the company in the curve, which level of maturity. Other informations like why you launched the company, what makes you up in the night …in sum the rest of the story it’s something investors prefer hearing during a conversation.

#7 A common mistake investors noticed in pitch: your voice. The texture of your voice can affect people opinion: avoid your voice fading away when you’re talking, avoid laughing nervously. Be confident, be serious, be relaxed, be extremely coincise, provide only informations business critical and relevant to the storytelling. How you should be dressed? Adapt to your audience. If they are extremely formal you should as well be dressed formally.

#8 Raising angel fund is a sprint, raising VC is a marathon. The process of raising venture capital can be extremely long and stressful. The process can move as fast as few days for very hot deals, even if it’s not to be recommended: it doesn’t give you the time to evaluate deeply what you are offered. Generally speaking the process can last from 6 to 9 months. The ideal time would be from 3 to 5 weeks. Looking for funding could become a full time job. You can pitch simultaneously multiple investors: try to obtain several feedback, it’s a good way to improve your pitch and your business model (if 3 people provide you the same insight, well, maybe it’s the case to incorporate it in your pitch/business model). Remember to communicate to all the investors you are pitching the process you are following, don’t lie, it’s a small community. A frequent communication can help you as well to keep the momentum, investors are opportunistic, they don’t have a defined process for themselves.

#9 “Money is green” only works if you really understand the terms of what you are signing. You can try to push the boundaries, but first you really need to understand deeply what the boundaries are. Many investors claimed to apply a vanilla approach and to be entrepreneurs’ friendly. All of them agreed that they would never touch or invest on uncapped notes.

#10 Lawyers…well, several investors reported that they do often encounter entrepreneurs advised by corporate lawyers, not familiar with startups. Corporate lawyers could extremely expensive and sometimes not being the best match for startups. Investors’ advise: you can find several informations about terms online, google it and do your homework, before selecting a lawyer…maybe you even don’t need one!

Investopedia could be a good tool for learning investments basic terminology.

“The perfect pitch” infographic below:

#entrepreneur #entrepreneuship #startup #startups #innovation #innovative #creative #pitch #pitch perfect #pitching

One evening there was an Investor...

A couple of weeks ago I was in NYC and I had the chance to attend 3 different pitching events involving start-ups at different stages of maturity. Social commerce, copyrights, focus groups, data arbitrage, health, fashion, market places… The first (astonishing!) finding is that Venture Capitalists are humans and as The Dress showed up and as Wittgenstein would confirm, they filter, as all humans, the reality through their own coloured glasses. Can we find a common denominator in the way they think, on what they expect from a pitch and on what could persuade them to fund your company? Maybe…

Before you start thinking to look for Angel Investors and Venture Capital, the FIRST and the most important question you should ask to yourself is: Do I really need to get funded? In USA 600.000 new business are launched every year and only 1% of them got funded by VCs. Be sure you deeply grasp the difference between angel investors, seeding and venture capital. If you need 100K, 200K, 500K go for angels or seeding. If you need near or more than 1 million look for venture capital. Usually you first start with angels/seeding and then you move to VC. How to understand if you need VC funding? Well, if you do have a solid business idea that can grow with little capital, do it yourself or with seeding. If you do have an innovative and great business idea not flying without big investments and you are aiming for a long term growth, look for VC. It’s not easy to get in contact with VC firms. The best way is to be introduced through your seeding fund or by your angel investors. Be aware that as soon as you get VC funding you don’t own anymore the 100% of the business. In short: if you don’t need the money don’t take the money.

What investors consider as a key element to invest? If we are talking about tech start ups, well...the technology side could be a key factor, both as a novel technology or as a different approach to a component. Efficiency and back-end scalability are also key elements. A strong technology not only permits to scale faster, but it acts as well as a barrier to new entrants, preventing competitors to weaken your position. (Porter is nodding) Don't build on someone else platform: your core business shouldn't depend by someone else business. Get a full understanding of what APIs can do for you and build an ecosystem around your own technology.

What are the industries considered worth to investing in (by VCs)? Fintech: many investors reported that they would die for a bidding infrastructure or whatever can change the current payment infrastructure. One of the pain point is the fee system: a dream come true would be a system fees-free permitting to transfer money in 3 secs instead than in 3 days (your turn, cryptocurrencies?). Virtual reality and 3D printing. Connection between offline and online: mobile is changing the way we interact with and think about goods. Concierge services and market places: people nowadays want to get access in real time to services and expertise.

Carefully select your investor. Not all investors are the same. Find the one that usually fund the kind of business you are in. If you are talking with someone interested in 3D printing and you are developing an ecommerce...you are both wasting your time. To select the right investors spend sometime on Google. Do your homework: read VCs and angels investors blogs.

Dare to ask. If you are going to meet investors dare to ask for 1 million or more. Obviously it must be for a reason - often this reason is called marketing - and the amount heavily depends by the stage your start up is in. REMIND: think big when asking for money.

What is the Entrepreneur profile that tends to be more successful than others? Some investors' opinions: FAST AND FURIOUS The one rising fast and furious, the one who goes for his/her idea in any case and in the go he/she recognise he/she needs funding. He/she will go fast and furious with or without investors. NEVER GIVE UP Persistent, truly committed, full of passion and energy are the basic must have skills. Many people think that is cool and trendy to start a company, indeed it’s really hard work and it’s astonishing easy to give up. BEING TECHNICAL many investors love technical founders because...well... they know how to do things. BEING STUDENTS OF THE INTERNET it means someone who deeply understand the Internet, the users, the trends. It's not related to your age but to your attitude. If you are in your 20s you should be aware of the history of the Internet, what happened since 10 years ago. In Fintech, an highly regulated market, a key trait is to have the relevant experience and knowledge of the industry. BEING INTELLECTUALLY HONEST even in case of failure. If you are in a bad period be honest with yourself and with your business partners: ask for help, find people able to execute the vision or, if needed, to sell your idea or your company.

How much and what kind of involvement investors really expect? Quite obviously someone would see the dress blue and black whilst someone else would swear that it's gold and white. Generally speaking all investors in the panel expressed that they like to be quite involved in the business they are funding. Many of them would like to build a good relationship with founders, based on trust, and to be helpful in case of crisis. Others prefer to stay in the observer role and be involved only when they can truly support, like in case of opening up their networks. Some of them aim to be proactive and intuitive, anticipating when a founder needs something. Others investors likes to be really hands on, they see themselves as an extension of the team. Some VC funds, like Google Venture get in charge of the operational side providing experts' teams of designers, engineers...

Talking about valuations, what seems to be fair? or expressed differently, what is too high? again investors differ. Are we talking about angels, seeding or traditional VCs? What is the stage your start up is in? To the question what is too high one VC replied: " above 5 millions", another "there is not too high", others that "it depends by the floor price. As a founder be aware that if your floor at the start is a way too high, you have even more and more strict milestones to respect. Usually the floor price is much lower in NYC than in California. Why? mainly because if you are in California and the company doesn’t work, you can still sell the team (trying to be acqui-hired) and from an investor perspective you can still get 2 or 3 times your investment. Some investors are quite bold: they clearly told they like to get the highest percent for the lowest cash. In case of a really high floor price, the valuation is driven by the stage of the company, by what other people would like to pay for it, by what is going on in the market. The investors, quite obviously, will always try to get something out of their investment. As a founder you should consider that sometimes it could be more convenient selling a business that didn't work out in order to still be able to cover the initial investment and get some surplus to be shared with investors. Valuations are a complex topic, there are indeed many differences driven by being at early, scaling or exit stage. Check out the fundersandfounders blog.

#startups #startup #entrepreneur #entrepreneuship #venture capital #angel investor #seeding #seed funding #funding #investment #investor #valuation #early stage #exit #the dress

Wanna build insanely addictive apps? Tips&tactics. Bonus track: The Manipulation Matrix

Let’s do a simple test. Be honest and reply YES or NO to the list of questions below:

I never turn my mobile off Y/ N

I often send text while walking Y/ N

I’m compelled to make calls even in quite places like cinema or library Y/ N

I regularly make personal calls while I’m at work Y/ N

I post social networking updates during work meetings Y/ N

I sometimes use my smartphone while in the toilet Y/ N

I use my phone to avoid social interactions Y/ N

I use my smartphone instead of watching TV Y/ N

I get up in the night to check my Twitter, Facebook, Instagram… Y/ N

If you replied YES to 7 of those questions, welcome to the tribe: you are a smartphone addict. No worries, you are not alone: 5 in 10 people have confessed it. It means 49% of population. Before you ask: yes, I am. I admit it. I have the 7 signs of smartphone addiction.

Why some apps are more engaging than others? Could we isolate some common characteristics making an app a hooking app? This is the last post of the series dedicated to the effort to understand how to conquer the world transforming your genius app into an insanely addictive app. This post has the aim to list the main findings which seems to rule human motivations and actions when interacting with mobile apps:

Gamification is not the solution to everything. Ok, whatever is related to gamification will be one of the growing future trends. Anyway remind it: gaming mechanisms can work only as a support and only if you or the user really want to achieve an objective. An app won’t make you lose weight, it can trigger and motivate you to exercise and to count the calories you intake. MyFitness Pal.

Trigger, trigger, trigger. External triggers (rules, rewards, prizes) are less powerful than internal triggers. Do some efforts to engage your users: find strong internal triggers linked to positive emotions …like learning or belonging. Owning an app could mean that you belong to a subculture. Are you addicted to Instagram and Pic Stitch? Never heard about Hipsters

If you use frequently an app it’s because you feel gain, not pain. Negative emotions could be an effective trigger…but not so strong and long-lasting like apps linked to positive feelings. I personally recognise that Glympse shines for its utility: people waiting for me could be notified, in real-time, about where I am and that I’m late. Anyway, when talking about geoloc apps, I do prefer Swarm: I get the narcissistic gratification and maybe a FOMO effect on my social media friends. I can show off the cool places and events I am in…without the pain of the mixed guilty-ashamed feeling of sharing that I’m late! If you are curious to discover if you are Yolo, Fomo or Jomo take the test here.

Give people a real motivation to keep using your apps. The most engaging motivations are: Autonomy: your user is in charge. That’s a key human driver: when you feel like you’re in charge, you stick to your goals for a longer period of time. If you add as well some fun…well you get Dubmash. Competence: the better you get at something, the more likely is that you’ll continue doing it. That’s why your app should be simple and focused on one of the abilities your users would be proud of excelling in: time, money, knowledge, brain power, social recognition. Try Trivia Crack. Value and commitment: it could sound obvious. You’re more motivated to complete a goal when you value it. We are always at risk to spend our time doing things because influenced by incidental needs or driven by what other people or society give value to, things not meaningful to us. Many productivity apps, in the effort of minimising your set up time, offer you a drop down menu with pre-filled categories to choose from…slightly pushing you to go on auto-pilot. Full, for instance, is a productivity app sending you gentle reminders but avoiding all the easy mechanisms to push you in a direction you could not be fully committed to pursue. No to pre-populated categories, no to automatically broadcast your progress into social media, no to rely mainly on social control to reach your own goals, no to transform your personal achievements into a collective affair. The logic behind Full is that your goals should be meaningful to you and to reach them you should cut off the noise and be focused on the result.

Implement a rewarding system, but don’t buy your users. The technique of offering a prize is a short-term trigger. Prizes should be part of contests and marketing campaigns, it shouldn’t be your main users acquisition strategy. To keep your users you should associate simple actions/motivations (autonomy, social rewarding, competence…) to an easy and intuitive rewarding system. Yes, it’s gamification again! Remember KISS. Keep it simple and stupid. Try aa or zigzag.

Let people do efforts within your apps. An investment is often based on what is called the Ikea effect: if you built something by yourself you will be emotionally attached to it. It is called cognitive dissonance: we have the tendency to review the past based on our present actions. I invested on it = it must be worth.

Be clear about the service you are offering. To provide a useful and valuable service is one of the best way to build a habit. Think about Waze.

Likes are addictive: You tweet, scroll over, see how long it takes to get some love. And if nobody loves your tweet…you’ll be thrown down into a deep sense of disappointment. The 2014 Ford Consumer Trends report found out that 62% of adults claims to have better self-esteem after a positive social-media feedback. Our social media persona is in constant need of instant gratification. We live in a world where faster is better and if I want something I must get it now. Consider it when building your app. The Lovematically experiment proves how much likes are addictive and how much could be easy to hack social apps. Back to 2014Rameet Chawla developed a bot, Lovematically, for automatically crawling his Instagram feeds and AUTOMATICALLY liking every single picture that every single person he followed posted. He become extremely popular: he got as average more than 30 new followers per day, the number of likes to his pictures went up to the roof and he created a huge amount of leads. #Instafamous.

Bonus track: The Manipulation Matrix

For building addictive apps a must read is Nir Eyal’s blog. He built an easy model called “the Manipulation Matrix” that would like to help you answer not to the question “Can I hook users?” but to “Should I attempt to?”. First, as the creator of the app, you are the maker. And you should ask to yourself: “Will I use the product?” The second question to ask is: “Will the app improve users lives?”

#mobile #mobile marketing #apps #ios #android #mobile devices #social #social media #social networking #instagram #twitter #startup #startups #create #app #fomo #jomo #yolo

WEFestival: The top 10 future trends you should look after.

I fully agree with the "Entrepreneur" article. The New York City Women Entrepreneurs Festival (WeFestival) is one of the few events still worth attending. I was fortunate enough to be there this year.

Focus, the 2015 keyword.

Conversation is the format.

Celebration, the mood.

Diane Von Furstenberg inaugurated the first evening: every sentence she told was an authentic life lesson. This post is dedicated to the speech performed by Erica Orange Vice President of Weiner, Edrich, Brown, Inc., a leading futurist consulting group.

Looking back to the Macroeconomics Bias, we will notice that we were in the Agricultural Economy for 10.000 years, in the Industrial Age for about 250 years, in the Post-industrial Era for 50 years, in the Information Economy for now almost 25 years. The course between the stages of the economy it's becoming shorter and shorter: we are experiencing a compression of time. It's driven by technological change. Happening at exponential rate. The new technologies are having a big impact on conversions: improved efficiencies in markets, things becoming commoditised, profit margins are shifting. In many cases it means that we are not any more able to make money on all those things we were able to monetise in the past.

Recession or transformation?

2008 was a key milestone to understand future trends. 2008 was the black year, the year of the recession. The economic shift became endemic, it started restructuring the entire landscape. Someone would see only the caterpillar, someone else will be able to see the caterpillar that is turning into a butterfly.

Where people are spending their money? Where jobs have been created? What is driving this new economy? Those are the questions to which the futurist consulting group would like to answer. They found out 10 major growing areas supporting the economy we are moving into. We may not have flying cars, self-tying shoelaces and Xray vision as pictured in 1989 "Back to the future", but we are moving from a linear and tangible evolution to something intangible and not linear. A set of disruptive technologies intended to be combined and recombined in an infinite loop in order to create newer and newer disruptive changes leading us to the "metaspace economy".

INNER SPACE: understanding what technology makes to us. We are living the neurification of everything. Neurofinance, Neuroeconomics, Neuroadvertising. We can know how brands resonate to the brain. It will drastically impact consumer studies, business intelligence, market researches. Privacy and security implications will be profound.

DESIGN SPACE: it will be the most important differentiator in the market space. Design and design thinking will become a must have skill for managers. Everything will have a design aspect. Ergonomic, safe, consumer friendly, female friendly, culturally designed. It will affect every level of the organisations.

PLAY SPACE: gamification. Levelling up, rewards, prizes all gaming structures you can use to attract and keep consumers. Millenials and youngest generation love it. It changed already the office space -Google and Facebook, as usual, were pretty ahead! We will see more and more studies about the effects of playing and rewarding on the brain.

MICROSPACE..or better BAANGFUEL: bits, atoms, antimatter, neurons, genes, frequencies and vibrations, ultra and intraspectral energy and light. All the evolutions related to nanotechnology, new materials technology, 3D printing and 4D printing. Compression of time applied to technology in action: few years ago 3D printing was known by few experts. Now 3D printing is becoming democratised, open and commoditised: prices are dropping down and we 3D print food, body parts, electronics. It's one of the largest frontiers out there. We are fast moving into 4D printing: an emerging area of research which involves nanobots with the ability to self replicate, transform and self assemble on their own into a pre-determined form. Advantages could be impressive: no manual labour, faster, cheaper, printing larger objects in a smaller volume. A company named Nervous is experimenting 4D printed jewellery and dresses. Check out 4 printing explained on Pinterest.

GREEN TO BLUE SPACE it describes a spectrum of activities from "Doing Green" to "Being Green" to "Being Blue". Doing Green is now expected and obvious, not anymore a competitive advantage. The goal now is Being Green: successfully, authentically holistically leveraging the value proposition of Doing Green. It means to scrutiny how the product was produced, where the material was sourced, who built it, how it was shipped, which packaging was used...its entire holistic framework. An example? Greenbutts. The problem: 5 trillion cigarette butts - over 30x of the total garbage collected- become litter every year, the synthetic filters they are made of are resistant to degradation. The solution: Greenbutts literally transform litter into flowers. They produce cigarette butts made of cotton and seeds: when you throw it away the seed will go into the Earth and flowers will grow. The ultimate goal for companies? Be Blue. Blue is the colour of the Earth when you see it from the space. Blue means putting back in the environment more than what you took in the first place. Brooklyn is becoming blue: vertical gardening and vegetables on rooftops. We will see companies leap frogging from Doing Green to Being Blue.

INTERSPACE all the new nets that use the architecture from the Internet. For instance IoT: the smart home, the smart car. Ecolingua is the new word to describe what is happening: devices talking to each other without human intervention. The ecology of language is moving away from just person to person interaction, it's focusing on smart things talking each other. The shift is from who is talking to WHAT is talking.

STORAGE SPACE we are running out of room to put our stuff, which is why the personal storage business is one of the fastest growing in USA. Nowadays 54% of people lives in cities, this proportion is expected to increase up to 66% by 2050. We are also running out of room to store our data. We are operating in something called the Yotta sphere, million of trillion of megabyte. Housing people and data will be a critical issue for the future.

OUTER SPACE diving deeper into space, quantum physics, uncovering the mysteries of the Universe.

TIME it will be the resource to be the most in higher demand and in shorter supply. Time is going to move from being linear and sequential to be multilinear and simultaneous. Virtual reality permits us to live many lives at once and have multiple personalities. Life trajectories, the stages of careers are no longer linear: you can have a set of micro careers and life trajectories. The whole notion of retirement is under review: older people are reinventing themselves. Timimplosion: the implosion of time in smaller chunks. Collaborative consumption is becoming massive. The sharing economy represents a tremendous value shift: from ownership to valuing in access. It's all about access now: people want what they want immediately. The sharing economy is creating a set of new micro part-time jobs for the middle class like being a Uber driver or renting your flat with Airbnb. Also the concept of generations that last 12-15 years, demographically based should be rethought. Bucketing people in Millenials or Gen Z is no longer mirroring the reality. We should bucket a generation in small chunks of 2 or 3 years.

CYBER SPACE not only what is happening with the Internet, but also with MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Games) and virtual reality. Oculus Rift headset was just the beginning. Immersive virtual reality experiences could potentially transform everything: how we learn, how we communicate, how we date, how we get work done. The boundaries between what is done in the virtual space and what is done in the real world are going to be completely blurred. Two major weaknesses are holding us back from claiming to be fully in the virtual reality age: the sense of touch and the sense of smell. Those senses can't be replicated (yet). Too difficult since closely tight to memory -Google Nose was a nice trial...of a funny April's Fool prank. Last but not least: the democratisation of finance and the digital, virtual and alternatives currencies. Not only Bitcoin, there are already over 70 currencies in circulation and in the future we will have hundreds more.

Watch the Livestream video

Originally published on vegashark.com