Week in Focus 

Global Trends  WC – September 20th

The world constantly provides reasons for enthusiasts to cheer. In technology, tech enthusiasts get excited from week to week.  From exceptional crypto and investment innovations to nostalgia triggering updates, the ever-evolving tech space constantly leaves us craving for more. 

Having raised a high bar in the quality of products that are chunked out, the tech space has had to keep getting better every single time and it has!. From tips to enjoy a proper boost in startups to tweaks that help to boost conversion rates on websites, even small business owners have reasons to be excited every week just like the previous week. 

In this article, we explore all the exciting changes in the tech space as well as tips to help you get the very best of investments and businesses. Are any fancies tickled? Let’s hop right in! 

Leaves Of Advice From The Best – 5 Things That Could Quench Your Blooming Startup on its early birth. 

Startups are an absolute gem upon discovery. They provide a creative platform for you to experiment with ideas that come from you directly. 

Despite how exciting the idea of a startup could be, it is a fragile one. Simple mistakes could put off the potentials of progress for the startup. Avoiding these mistakes also provides a handy platform for growth and stability. 

Co-founder of wildebeest, Ryan Craycraft lists out five things that could potentially burn promising startups. These mistakes include; 

• Waiting for a special aha! a moment before launch: Most startups tend to wait for the stars to align before launching. The truth is that no first time is perfect. To avoid waiting too long before launch, consider launching with a small paid group. This group would be a test group for the delivery of full unbiased reviews on your idea. The first launch for a startup is not usually perfect but it sheds light on parts that need improvement. 
• Trying To Hire A Cofounder That Ticks all the Boxes: Just like waiting for all features to be all set before launching, waiting for the perfect Cofounder could also shoot ideas in the foot. Searching for a Co-founder that ticks all the boxes could be frustrating as there are so many factors to consider. To make this easier, technical digital co-founders may be a way to go. This digital co-founder has the necessary features incorporated into it. It acts as a worthy assistant in the space of finding a co-founder that fits in. If finding a co-founder yourself proves difficult, you may utilize consultancy agencies. Cofounders are important aspects of startups as they’d help you mitigate emergencies and ensure workflow. Trying to find the perfect one may take a lot of time. Forget about the unemployment rate and just take your time.  

• Looking at the Wrong Aspects for Consultants: When you’re trying to handle your startup like a golden baby, hiring consultants in the wrong aspects could cost quite a lot. You may consider hiring in-house for aspects that are important to help your startup grow. What is important is working with people who understand and believe in aspects of your idea. This helps to reduce cost and increase efficiency in performing tasks. Hiring a consultant in branding may not be a choice to consider when your startup is still a fresh idea. What is necessary is hiring individuals who are essential to your idea functioning. Consultants in branding, top-quality video production etc. may be a later choice. 

• Making Lawyer Hiring a Big Deal: In getting a startup up and running, hiring lawyers who get paid thousands may be expensive. Launching some startups may come with professional and personal protections on platforms that keep your business flowing. While putting in some basic protective rules, it is necessary to check out competitors and the basic rules to have locked in. You may work with these rules till you have enough money as your clients begin to reach tens of thousands. 

• Over-analyzing Your Idea: Most startups are born out of a moment where everything seems to click. They are not always perfect ideas, but they work. Startup ideas keep getting better as it grows, as you keep adding to it. Comparing your startup to already perfect ones could make you keep waiting till everything is perfect (which they most likely won’t till launch). What is most important is having the basics of your ideas nailed down. 

A Step To Acquiring Leads and Improving Conversion Rates

Introducing Upflowy!, a drag and drop tool that helps to improve the customer website experience. It does this by building tools that design and integrate interactive flows aimed at improving conversion rates. 

Upflowy lets you analyze your potential client’s behavior upon signup and design ways to improve service delivery towards them subscribing to your services. It makes changes like providing articles with graphics. 

The Kings Of Domain Sale 

Domain names are a way for businesses to enjoy a professional look while setting themselves apart from others. In this year, there have been some quite staggering domain sales. Some of these domains are listed below: 

BrandForce sold the Floor.com domain name for $3,144,000. It was the third-largest public domain name sale behind two others from previous weeks. 

James Booth sold BetU.com for $180,000.

DVDS.com sold for $10,000. This is on the low side. It goes to show how DVDs as a digital method may be fading away. 

Taking A 20-100% Conversion Rate Leap 

A 20% to 100% increase in conversion rate means a healthy return on investments. It even almost sounds too good to be true. 

This is the case with Convertica. It is a conversion rate optimizing platform that redesigns flaws that limit conversion rates. Through algorithms, it redesigns these flaws to become a positive outlook for your company. 

With over 700 satisfied users, it is a setup to look into. 

Taking Video Conferencing To A Whole New Level 

Ever wondered what it’d be like not having to refer to video conferencing apps each time you need to connect? Well, you don’t have to imagine anymore because, with Brave Talk, all that and more is now possible. 

Having already created a non-tracking browser, Brave-Talk is a Beta add-on out of Beta. Brave aims to ensure privacy in communication is out again with a new innovative piece. This addition allows video calling with a browser that prevents tracking to protect privacy. 

The Private Marketing Investing – A Gold Mine for the Patient. 

Your guts telling you to take an investment opportunity and it turning out super successful feels so empowering right? For me, it does. 

But… 

When you miss that handy opportunity, there is this awful feeling in your gut saying “I should have done it!” 

Just imagine how excited investors in Bitcoin for a decade have been upon its popularity. 

Investing in ideas right before they blow up takes looking for signals, completing outreach and maintaining connections to sell the stake at a later stage. 

Another welcoming investment is private marketing investing. PMI involves investment in equity and debts in a privately held business.

Investing in Uber as a startup at the time of being built up is called PMI. 

To get the best out of investment options like this, Matt Sherman from Seedscout discusses three investment choices to make: 

1. Build your way up through angel investing – providing capital for startups. 

2. Investing with a group with the same investment beliefs as you. 

3. Invest via equity crowdfunding. 

A Tool That Shows how much NFT transaction costs 

TechOptimist released a tool that shows how much transactions across major NFT platforms cost. 

An Under $5,000 Business Gem 

Nothing is too small to start investing with and this holds for Tiny Acquisitions. 

Tiny Acquisition as a platform allows users to buy or sell micro startups priced at $5,000 competitive rate and below. 

Digital assets listed in Tiny Acquisitions include indie, no-code applications, side-projects, unique service delivery projects and more. 

An option to also chat privately with owners and make offers is also available. If you find any startup with encouraging growth rate, simply slide in and own your startup.

Parade – Creating Designs That Stand Out. 

In creating a startup and building your very own empire from the start, there are quite a lot of things to navigate. 

One of these aspects is creating an aesthetically pleasing design. Not only aesthetically pleasing but one that tells the story of your brand. 

This service is what Parade offers. It allows you to describe your preferred brand style. 

After the description, it presents you with a complete set of brand assets. These assets include logos, colours, designs and fonts. 

Initial building blocks for unique brand outlook like logos, colour and fonts are free. 

Should additions be necessary, you may keep purchasing all that you’ll need. 

Tech Tailored To Suit You Literally 

In the past and even presently, fabrics have been essential to self-definition as it gives us a plain canvas to express ourselves. 

Considering how influential and innovative technology has been, it is expected that fashion and tech meet at a point. 

In recent times, technology and fashion fusion are becoming next level functional. 

Protective garments contain air conditioners and memory storage. 

Remember how the NFT jackets were like? Well, this one incorporates more functionality. 

More functional clothing items like Ralph Lauren’s recently introduced cooling jackets for the US Olympic team are beginning to take comfort to another level. 

Most innovative technology usually grow over time. The tech and garment space are about to experience similar growth. 

There is about to be a jump in defining how clothing care for humans. An intersection of physical and mental care introduced by technology is exciting to see. 

E-skins is introducing biodegradable, organic polymers designed to feel like skin. Having skin-like properties enables this technology to perceive changes in body chemistry. The changes that could be detected range from anxiety to depression. 

When this clothing identifies these changes, it generates suiting vibration patterns to change your feeling. 

In addition to sensing anxiety and depression, new materials that sense other properties are also being designed. 

These materials incorporate the skin’s response to heat, pressure, and pain and how the brain reacts to it. 

More impressively, electronic displays are getting incorporated into garments. They could sense signals from the brain and display those thoughts on the clothes. 

These garments are environmentally friendly and can be maintained with coating spray to keep them clean. 

Facebook Aiming To Incorporate More Yellow Pages 

Yellow pages allow users to focus list their products and services out for more outreach and patronage. 

Google through maps were the kings of the yellow page setup but, Facebook apps through recent updates are beginning to make changes towards this. 

A Facebook update called Facebook’s Business Explore currently does something similar. The business explore tool allows you to scroll through several local business setups.

When you focus on a single business for a few seconds, it brings up local businesses around your regions. 

On Instagram, a tool that does a similar job is Instagram’s Map Search. This tool is not global yet but is getting tested out in New Zealand and Australia. 

Comparable to what Google Maps offers, Instagram’s Map Search allows you to discover physical businesses via a map on the Instagram app. 

WhatsApp incorporates a directory currently tested out in Brazil. This directory allows users to discover new places based on what users view. 

Empire Flippers Capital – Making Buying Online Businesses Easy 

Online businesses which are empowering and profit yielding also come with their fair share of hassle. From personal sacrifices to skill acquisition and putting a team together, there are so many parallels to navigate. 

To escape this hassle while still enjoying a reasonable turnover of investments, EFC provides a way out. 

They connect accredited investors to entrepreneurs. They connect people with an idea, time and skill to those with funding capital. 

EFC converts active traditional investments to passive investment opportunities.

Investors own a range of shares across different online business models and can draw interests from them all. After a successful first round which saw $7m used to fund startups, EFC are at it again!

Taking Personal Health and Wellness Personally 

Virtually everyone has their feel-good routine. One which separates you from the hustle and bustle of life while keeping you in your own quiet space. 

During the coronavirus pandemic, for most people, the getaway treats the bitter-sweet taste of alcoholic beverages. A 54% increase in alcohol sales during the first days of the pandemic outbreak supports this claim. 

Apart from just a surge in alcohol consumption, one thing the pandemic brought to us is awareness. 

Now more than ever, people are consistent about maintaining top-notch physical and mental well-being. 

As always, the market responds to satisfy needs. 

Beverages that keep users calm, restrain anxiety and perform optimally are saturating the market. Although these beverages offer so much, there is still an existent gap between them all. Not everyone reacts to these beverages the same way. 

Well, personal health care may be taking another leap in filling this gap. Modified diagnostic procedures aimed at providing more detailed diagnoses based on even genetic differences are getting developed. 

Combining diagnosis as detailed as genetic diagnosis and machine learning via AI could provide flexible treatment options. 

Biomarkers could even help in checking emotional levels while AI provides mixtures that counteract those states. 

In essence, a combination of detailed diagnostic procedures and artificial intelligence is a wonderful addition to physical health. People would have personalized treatment that works for them to directly meet their needs. 

Inviting Stakeholders To Address the Climate Crisis 

Most times in trying to solve the climate crisis, a common theme is an unsatisfaction on both sides. This crisis is only partly solved. Devices meant to replace former ones aren’t sufficiently distributed. Humans aren’t properly satisfied as well. In doing this, the projects don’t move forward because, in essence, humans are the fuel of innovation. 

For efficiency, deployment-focused funds are being suggested as a way out. These funds are project-specific and are released to fund certain projects against funding a company or private firm. 

An example of a fund like this is Breakthrough Energy funded by Bill Gates in 2015. This investment focused on solving the climate crisis via technology. 

These funds are deployed to work in conjunction with companies, the government and innovative founders. Major companies like Microsoft and American Airlines are currently involved in investment funds like this. 

Current aspects currently invested in include; Direct Air Capture, Green Hydrogen, Lon-duration energy storage and Sustainable Aviation Fuel. 

Further Interesting Trends you should consider

Two-Way Ceiling Fan

Getting a successful business together does not necessarily mean bringing something new. It sometimes involves taking an existing idea and making it way better. 

Ceiling fans that can change direction for downward pressure and upward pressure are saturating the market. This function isn’t new but is becoming popular. 

As with most trends, social media is playing a role in its growing popularity. TikTok inspired the popularity of this fan. 

Apart from just being cool, some reasons for these fan’s popularity include; 

Space management: 
At a time where everyone is looking to get not the biggest space but a functional one, two-way fans are a way to go. They do not interfere with floor space and still provide excellent headroom as well. 

Double functions: 
Also quite related to space management, these fans are a way to go in offices, churches and even malls. With how efficiently they function, they help in circulation in combination with low power AC. They also provide a way to keep large spaces cool. 

Rechargeable Lawn Mowers

Another trending tech piece popping on and about are rechargeable lawnmowers. 

Apart from restricting the amount spent on fuel, these machines are also really silent. 

A silent engine means quite a lot when put into perspective. They allow workers to function at any hour, are useful in cities with noise restrictions and are easy to maintain.

Lawns cover large areas in the united states. They offer this prestigious feel and they certainly cost healthy amounts to maintain. 
This industry is certainly a growing one with a $36 billion valuation. The only way is up for these cool machines especially signalling how people look to reduce gas consumption due to crude oil price. 

Summary of News Making Events

Throughout this article, we have gone through several news rounds that are surely able to get anyone excited. The influence of technology on how we function becomes more glaring with each passing moment. 

Ryan Craycaft, CEO of LA digital agency explains how to not handle startups. Ideas like waiting too long before launch, looking for the perfect co-founder, hiring consultants in the wrong aspects and more could be hugely detrimental to the growth of startups. 

Domain sales aren’t slowing down any time soon and Upflowy is a prospect to be excited about. Upflowy improves conversion rates by designing tools that suit your brand. 

Still, on conversion rates, Convertica is also an active, functional prospect.  With a 20% to 100% expectant conversion rate, it redesigns flaws that often limit conversion rates. 

Privacy has always been a hot topic. Brave Talk takes privacy to another level. They do so by allowing calling with a browser that prevents tracking. 

Investing in startups could be a gold mine if done the right way. Matt Sherman from Seedscout gives three pieces of advice to enjoy a profitable investment. 

Tiny Acquisitions provide a handy way to purchase mini startups. 

The parade moves brand development steps forward by allowing users to create aesthetically pleasing designs. 

Comfort and technology are two quite similar words for improving standards of living. 
Jackets that respond to different sensations are being developed with numerous features incorporated into them. 

Yellow pages have been essential to how brands get their businesses out there. Facebook through WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram are providing Yellow Pages to help businesses advertise their services. 

Empire flippers capital connect entrepreneurs with funders to keep everyone satisfied. 

After the COVID-19 outbreaks, it is expected that everyone begins taking notes of their health. Detailed diagnostic procedures and artificial intelligence could move personal health several steps forward. 

Two-way ceiling fans and rechargeable lawn mowers are certainly getting more exposure.