Chinese brands are coming, for these two reasons | Dominique Turpin | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20141014071001-3458678-chinese-brands-are-coming-for-these-two-reasons?_mSplash=1

Chinese brands are coming, for these two reasons

About 10 years ago the Chinese government invited me to give a talk in Beijing on global brands. Afterwards a government official came up to me and predicted that by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, there would be at least five Chinese companies in Interbrand’s list of the top 100 global brands.

He was wrong in 2008, and he’s still wrong today. Six years on from the Beijing games, there is only one Chinese brand in the top 100. That’s Huawei, a telecoms equipment maker, which has just become the first Chinese company to enter the top 100 and is at number 94 in Interbrand’s new 2014 list.

Some of the current chatter is not encouraging. Late last month I was at the World Marketing Summit in Tokyo with top marketers from around the globe, and there was very little buzz about Chinese brands.

Why the relative silence? Largely it’s because Chinese products, rightly or wrongly, are still often perceived as being low-quality copycat versions of better products elsewhere. Sportswear company Li-Ning is struggling to develop a global brand because its products are not seen as being innovative or distinctive enough. So it finds itself squeezed between cheap local brands and big global ones such as Nike and Adidas. Likewise, consumer electronics firm Aigo is often regarded as a Samsung imitator rather than an emerging brand with its own distinctive story.

But the entry of Huawei into the top 100 this year is significant. I think the Chinese brand breakthrough is coming. And I think it will come sooner rather than later, for two reasons.

First, China’s economic weight and competitive strength are simply becoming too great for the country not to have global brands.

China will soon overtake the US as the world's largest economy on some measures, and Chinese firms are investing billions to compete overseas with established western brands. The recent $25bn initial public offering (IPO) in New York from Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba was the biggest ever. And, symbolically, Chinese insurance group Anbang is now buying the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan for almost $2bn.

At some point, all this Chinese economic muscle will translate into the soft power of brands. In fact this is already happening. Some of you reading this might use a Lenovo PC, have a Haier refrigerator at home and drink the occasional Tsingtao beer, for example.

Second, Chinese companies can’t keep relying on low-cost production of standard products for their competitive edge. As manufacturing shifts to lower-cost locations such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, Chinese firms need to add more value and beef up their branding.

As I wrote in a previous post, the next big global brands will come from companies that follow five rules: having a clear product focus; making it different and meaningful; investing in communication; innovating constantly; and staying in touch with customers and staff. Underpinning all this are guts and plenty of emotion, which separate brands from mere products.

Global brand-building is a tough business and takes time. Just ask Japanese and South Korean companies, which took decades establishing themselves on the world stage. Or ask the handful of emerging-market brands that have made it big in the past 10 years or so, such as La Martina, the upscale polo company from Argentina, and my old favorite Havaianas, the Brazilian flip-flop sandal maker.

Now it’s the turn of Chinese brands. Xiaomi Technology, a Chinese mobile phone maker, was only founded in 2010 but has quickly built a strong brand at home. The company co-develops its operating system with its keenest users via online forums, and as a result its new product launches are like rock concerts. Xiaomi is one to watch, for sure, and there will be others too.

Huawei is now in the top 100, and other Chinese brands are knocking at the door. In fact they might go global faster than other emerging-market brands because of China’s economic strength and the urgent need for its companies to shift away from a low-cost focus.

The government official I met 10 years ago probably won’t be wrong for much longer.

What’s your view? Which Chinese companies will be next to enter Interbrand’s top 100 list? Which sectors are most likely to be disrupted by the entry of Chinese brands? What might hold Chinese brands back?

The Collaborative Economy Is Exploding, And Brands That Ignore It Are Out Of Luck | Co.Exist | World changing ideas and innovation

http://m.fastcoexist.com/3027062/the-collaborative-economy-is-exploding-and-brands-that-ignore-it-are-out-of-luck

THE COLLABORATIVE ECONOMY IS EXPLODING, AND BRANDS THAT IGNORE IT ARE OUT OF LUCK

The so-called "collaborative economy" is gaining steam, as people increasingly choose to share and crowdsource goods, services, funding, transportation, and more. And if brands don't adapt soon, they'll be left behind.

That's the takeaway from Sharing is the New Buying, the first-ever large scale look at the participants in the collaborative economy. A collaboration between the brand council Crowd Companies, Jeremiah Owyang, and Vision Critical, a cloud-based customer community platform provider, the report surveyed more than 90,000 people in the U.S., U.K., and Canada to find out how and why people participate in the growing movement.

The first step in analyzing the report is to define the term "collaborative economy". Owyang, a long-time tech industry analyst, defines it as the convergence of three ideas: the sharing economy, the maker movement, and the "co-innovation" movement. This is a fairly broad definition, which includes everything from ridesharing to 3-D printing to crowdsourcing designs for new products. "The big trend here is that the crowd is empowered to get the physical world from each other rather than buying it from brands," he says.

According to the study, there are three kinds of people in the collaborative economy: non-sharers, re-sharers, and neo-sharers. Non-sharers haven't yet engaged in the new economy, but think they'll try it out in the next year. This is 60% of the survey population in the U.S. and Canada, and 48% of U.K. residents. Re-sharers use established services like eBay and Craigslist to buy and sell goods. This is 16% of the U.S. and Canada population, and 29% in the U.K. Finally, there are the neo-sharers, who use newer services like Uber, Airbnb, Kickstarter, and Taskrabbit. This is actually a considerable portion of people surveyed: about 25% in all three countries.

Sharers have certain traits in common. Nearly half are between 18 and 34 years old, almost three quarters use social networking sites, and they tend to be affluent. But these somewhat obvious demographics don't tell the whole story. "You think about sharing typically, and it's kind of the Brooklyn hipster image. You picture this person who is a vegan and doesn't own a car and gets their bike from a bike share and doesn't use hotels, and all that. It turns out that the sharers are extremely mainstream," says Alexandra Samuel, Vision Critical's vice president of social media.

Nearly 30% of neo-sharers in the U.S. have incomes between $50,000 and $100,000, which is on par with the general population. While certain services, like ridesharing, are optimized for denser cities, Owyang maintains that there are plenty of opportunities for suburban and rural participants in the collaborative economy. Job marketplaces like e-lance and oDesk and goods marketplaces like eBay can be used anywhere.

Some other big takeaways from the report:

Most people share because of convenience and price, not an overwhelming desire to live sustainably. Still, they associate qualities like sustainability and community with sharing services more than they do with retail stores. Urban centers are more likely to contain people who have borrowed or lent vehicles and money, but this may be partially because cities have more 18 to 34 year olds compared to suburban and rural areas. The "neo-sharing" population could double over the next year, since there are nearly equal numbers of both recent and prospective sharers in all neo-sharing categories (transportation, money, etc.). Neo-sharers are slightly less likely likely to own a home or be married, but are more likely to have kids. They're also a bit more progressive than the general population (39% of neo-sharers in the U.S. are Democrat, compared to 34% of non-sharers and 29% of re-sharers). More than 90% of sharers surveyed said they would recommend the service they most recently used. There are a few reasons why the collaborative economy has taken off so rapidly in recent years. The rise of smartphones and easy Internet access has certainly helped the collaborative economy take off rapidly. Also, the recent recession pushed people to experiment more with new services that could save them money, like Airbnb and Lending Club. Finally, the movement has been pushed along by a general societal shift towards denser cities and consumer disillusionment.

For big brands that haven't been paying attention, now's the time to start. "For businesses, this is going to change the game of how customers expect to deal with them," says Samuel. "There is a big risk here for companies who don't engage in this space given that it's a mainstream phenomenon."

So what can companies do? Owyang believes there are three approaches they can take. First, there's the marketplace model. Patagonia has used this in a partnership with eBay, where it encourages customers to buy used clothes instead of new ones. "This shows a thriving community a brand and products that last," says Owyang. Second, they can try out service models--specifically, on-demand, rental, or subscription services. BMW has done this with its DriveNow electric carsharing program. Finally, there's the co-innovation model. U-Haul, for example allows people to crowdfund trucks and equipment through its Investors Club, creating customer loyalty. A partnership between GE and Quirky allows people to submit ideas for products, while a team designs and manufactures them for retail.

"In the radical future, we may not be able to tell the difference between an employee and a customer," Owyang speculates. "The most successful companies will let the crowd determine products, design, and share them. The crowd is doing most of the work. The only thing that could be left would be the logo."

Check out the full report here.

The Google Effect: The use of external storage systems as an extension of our memory.

"What if our brains actually work better with external storage?" - Kim William Gordon

Wednesday, October 1, 2014 The Google Effect and it's impact on our future. http://thegoogleeffect.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-google-effect-and-its-impact-on-our.html

*As we move further into the 21st century, indeed, what can be called the century of the communications network, we will become deeply integrated into the emerging global machine. Why fight it?*

*If there is a "Google Effect", was there a "Library Effect" with the first known library - the Library of Alexandria in the third century BC?*

*Or perhaps the "Table of Contents Effect" when it's use became popular in 82 BC, making retrieval of information within a book faster and easier?*

*Maybe there was a "Printing Press Effect"  in the 1400's when Gutenberg developed inexpensive (for it's time) printing - thus eventually igniting literacy planet wide.*

*There will always be "an effect". The end result of the effect is simply faster access to information. And what can be faster than the sum of all human information right within the palm of your hand?*

*So really, welcome to the "human effect". Our brains are now becoming wired to the library. The "Knowledge Effect" is the final result - and this is where our education systems should focus. Pattern deduction, insight jumps, conceptualization, imagineering, vision, day dreaming - these are the skills of a 21st century student.*

*Let's let the machines provide the library of information, and let the human mind do what it's best at - the mining of knowledge. *

21st Century version of the Library of Alexandria

Six New Papers Detail NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission on Journey to Mars | NASA

http://www.nasa.gov/content/six-new-papers-detail-nasas-asteroid-redirect-mission-on-journey-to-mars/

Six New Papers Detail NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission on Journey to Mars

NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission will test new capabilities to support future human missions to Mars, including Solar Electric Propulsion, which could be used to send cargo in advance of astronaut arrival. To meet NASA's goal of sending humans to Mars, the agency plans to test a number of new spaceflight capabilities in the 2020s through an innovative mission to redirect an asteroid to orbit the moon and send humans to explore it. Six new papers by NASA engineers and officials detail ways this Asteroid Redirect Mission and planned advances in new technologies will directly enable the ambitious human Journey to Mars.

The papers are being presented at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) taking place in Toronto, Sept. 29 through Oct. 3. The papers are available at the Asteroid Initiative Related Documents page.

NASA plans to launch an ARM robotic spacecraft to rendezvous with, capture and redirect an asteroid mass near the end of this decade. The spacecraft will redirect it to a stable orbit around the moon called a "Distant Retrograde Orbit." Astronauts aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft, launched from a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, will explore the asteroid in the mid-2020s.

Within the papers, authors offer a current status of work taking place across the country to examine options for these robotic and crewed missions. This includes advanced Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP)—one of the critical technologies needed to send larger payloads into deep space and to the Mars system.

SEP creates thrust powered by solar arrays, which transforms sunlight into electromagnetic fields that accelerate and expel charged atoms (ions). This is a very efficient way to power a spacecraft and significantly cuts down on the amount of propellant a spacecraft needs to carry, which can be heavy and expensive to launch from Earth. Current studies at NASA detailed in the papers are examining ways SEP will be used to power the ARM robotic mission.

NASA is working on two mission concepts for asteroid capture: one would fully enclose an asteroid using an inflatable system and the other would capture a boulder off of a much larger asteroid using robotic arms. The agency will choose one of the two concepts in late 2014. The new papers provide details on these concepts under study and ways their technologies can be advanced for future missions to the Mars system.

The ARM crewed mission, in which astronauts will explore the redirected asteroid mass around the moon, provides unique opportunities to test human spaceflight capabilities as well. The papers detail current work underway at NASA to upgrade spacesuits in preparation for the first spacewalks in deep space since the 1960s and farther from Earth than ever before. Concepts for a new common suite of hardware for rendezvous and docking between vehicles is also in development, which also will allow the crew aboard Orion to attach to the ARM robotic spacecraft. This capability could be used in the future to connect Orion with a deep space habitat bound for the Mars system, or even cargo and fuel depots positioned in strategic places, like lunar orbit.

Astronauts returning home with samples of Mars will hold a treasure trove of research scientists will study to unlock new knowledge about Mars and the solar system's history. Returning samples of an asteroid first will help astronauts and NASA develop the right tools and techniques for safe sample collection and containment.

This early experience with raw materials could also help advance in-situ resource utilization—the ability to find and use natural resources beyond Earth. Rocky bodies like asteroids and our moon could hold enough oxygen and hydrogen to create breathable air, drinkable water or even components for rocket fuel. There also is growing interest in the commercial space industry to potentially mine asteroids for resources in the future. As the papers look ahead to ways ARM will extend spaceflight capabilities for human missions to Mars, some also outline the additional benefits ARM represents, like these future commercial activities.

Likewise, ARM holds new promise for international cooperation both in the mission and on the Journey to Mars it will help enable. Overall, the papers describe how ARM will help test new technologies using existing capabilities in an affordable, compelling way as the agency takes steps toward the ultimate goal of human missions to Mars.

Find out more information about NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission.

To Sell Products to Millennials, First Invite Them To Help Develop It

To Sell Products to Millennials, First Invite Them To Help Develop It. Welcome to the collaboration economy... The democratization of opportunity. To Sell Products to Millennials, First Invite Them To Help Develop It http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237925

With more than $1.3 trillion in direct annual spending, the millennial consumer better be on the radar of every brand considering the launch of a new product.

Millennials have an unparalleled thirst to participate and co-create with the brands they love. They are they the most digitally engaged generation, which makes them influential beyond their own purchasing power. Their need to have an active “voice” during product development is good news for companies that want to develop better-fit products and a loyal consumer base, all in one fell swoop.

Consumer brands thrive when they successfully tap into and channel the millennial desire for product development participation. Focus on these three tips to better conduct and utilize effective market research with influential millennial consumers.

1. Understand their motivators. As a millennial, I know first-hand how much our generation desires to have a "voice" in the world. Thanks to the technological advances over the past decade, we have more vocal power than generations that came before. From presidential campaigns to regime changes in the Middle East to new product design, millennials are changing the course of "business as usual."

From our research, we know that millennials average 200 more friends on Facebook than older generations. They are more likely to use social media to express their feelings and opinions. All of that makes them more influential by increasing their ability to spread the word farther and faster.

As consumers, millennials' purchasing decisions are also more likely to be influenced by what their peers have to say. It’s critical for companies to figure out how to be a part of these conversations. One way is to ask millennials to help "co-create" the products they want.

1. Use the right tools and techniques. Online surveys and community engagement strategies (i.e., posting questions on Facebook or Twitter) are some the best and most cost-effective tools for conducting market research with millennial consumers.

From my research, millennials like to weigh-in on the market research process, another example of their desire to have a say in the world. Whether it's simply positioned as an "exclusive opportunity" to be a part of a new product launch or tied to an incentive like a gift card, millennials are open to being engaged in this manner.

Better yet, figure out a way to follow up with them for additional feedback once the product has launched. Asking "did we get it right?" opens the door for additional engagement and feedback that benefits future product development, and strengthens your relationship with those millennial consumers.

1. Be transparent. When it comes to product development, the desire for instant gratification in the digital age can make the millennial consumers' expectation quite high.

If something goes wrong – and yes, even Facebook can get it wrong at times – millennials are more likely to share their angst on social media. Because of their larger and stronger social networks, their despair can travel wide and far, becoming viral within a few hours of the first unhappy Tweet. Companies can manage these higher expectations by being transparent from the start of the product development process.

Millennials are a powerhouse generation. If your company can successfully harness their enthusiasm, passion for innovation and desire to co-create, you’ll develop a strong, loyal following that will positively impact your bottom line.

Related: Millennials Check Their Phones 43 Times a Day. This Is What They're Looking For. (Infographic)

(Idea)ology group via Instapaper)

Beloved Brands Connect Emotionally to Lead the Pack

The emotive aspect of branding in product ideation is often overlooked. When people "feel" connected to a group or a place or in this case a brand, they can become fiercely loyal brand ambassadors. Apple and Walt Disney are perfect examples of this. Take some time to digest this well written article on the subject.

-Max Daves

CEO (idea)ology group

Beloved Brands Connect Emotionally to Lead the Pack http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237890

Beloved Brands Connect Emotionally to Lead the Pack At the end of the day, and at the end of your positioning statement, your brand must rest on an emotional benefit.

Sure, functional benefits are important because they outline what your product will do for your customer, which is critical to your success. They get you in the door of your customer, but they won’t keep you there.

The problem is that any product in a given category generally offers the same functional benefits. It’s very hard to differentiate based on a product attribute.

You may temporarily have a competitive claim that you can hang you hat on, but only until your competitors match it. It’s very easy to play catch up.

Take a look at the skin-care category. Virtually every single moisturizer in the world will hydrate your skin, minimize fine lines and wrinkles and even out texture. Every brand has a way of serving up those features differently, and that’s important, but at the end of the day they are all kind of the same.

In almost any industry, it’s about the same phenomenon.

To really differentiate, you have to go beyond product attributes and connect emotionally with your customers. That’s when you move beyond selling a product and becoming a brand.

It’s the “so that” in our classic positioning statement that we’ve been formulating.

The emotional benefit is ultimately what differentiates your brand and positions it in people’s mind. The emotional benefit is how you want people to feel about your brand, whether they use the product or not. The emotional benefit is what allows a brand to expand across product categories and customer targets. The emotional benefit is what gives the brand legs.

Take a look again at the skin-care category. While brands like L’Oreal, Neutrogena and Olay have much the same “product line” and functional benefits, the emotional benefits and the brand positioning for each couldn’t be farther apart. Take a look at their advertising messages:

L’Oreal: Because I’m Worth It (confidence, self-esteem) Neutrogena: #1 Dermatologist Recommended (security, best available) Olay: Your Best Beautiful (control, determination) While these product lines may differ, the fundamental product attributes and benefits are nearly the same -- but the brands couldn’t be farther apart.

By using emotional benefits to differentiate, each brand is positioning itself to appeal to its target audience and aligning to what’s most important to them.

It’s the emotional benefit that puts the finishing and magical touch on your positioning. Without it, you’d simply have a product, instead of a beloved brand.

From www.idea-ology.com (via Instapaper)

Why Your Brand Should Appeal to Sustainability-Friendly Millennials | Inc.com

Why Your Brand Should Appeal to Sustainability-Friendly Millennials | Inc.com http://www.inc.com/maureen-kline/why-your-brand-should-appeal-to-sustainability-friendly-millennials.html

Metrics show sustainability is catching on fast among consumers, investors, and companies. Don’t get left behind. Advertisement Sustainability leaders gathered in Boston at the Sustainable Brands New Metrics ‘14 conference to crunch numbers, aggregate data sets and measure everything from social impact to organic food sales. They unveiled new scorecards, measurement models, data streams, web-based tracking tools and social progress indices. Practically the only thing they left to economists to figure out (and they are!) was how to measure happiness.

What did they find?

Companies are leading great environmental and social change in the world. Sometimes they are innovative and forward-thinking. But today, all it takes is having a marketing department that responds to sustainability-focused consumers, or a finance department that responds to sustainability-focused investors.

Two consumer segments in particular are driving the change: millennials, and a rising middle class in developing countries. Data cited at the conference showed consistently that brands associated with green, sustainability, and trust sell more products than brands that don’t stand out as “good.” And millennials not only are capable of seeing right through “greenwashing,” or false promises; they actively punish “bad” brands or brands simply not doing any good.

A Nielsen study released in June 2014 showed that a global average of 55% of consumers surveyed said they were willing to pay more for products and services from companies committed to positive social and environmental impact. But the data point that should really make brands wake up was this one: the 55% figure represented a 10% increase over the same measure only three years earlier. “The trend is growing very fast,” said Amy Fenton of Nielsen.

Entrepreneur Alexander Gillett and his brother Arthur, who founded the food ratings company HowGood, tested whether consumers really would pay more for products perceived as more sustainable. HowGood does research on food products, looking into ingredients, sourcing locations, food policy, environmental policy, labor rights and food processing. They give each product a score. On the highest scoring produce, rated ‘great,’ they noted an increase in sales of 26%, sustained over a four-month test period.

Tom LaForge, Director of Human and Cultural Insights at Coca Cola, said people choosing which brand to buy are now thinking, “The good I want to see in the world is possible if I partner with the right people.” Trust has become fundamental, and companies can lose consumers’ trust much faster than it took to earn it. Of course, it can be devastating for a brand to lose its reputation.

But corporate leaders are starting to realize sustainability needs to be a given, built into company strategy as much as quality or any other basic value. Time for everyone to get on board.

IMAGE: REB Images/Flickr Last updated: Sep 30, 2014

@kline_maureen

MAUREEN KLINE

Maureen Kline writes about corporate sustainability and social responsibility. She is in charge of Public Affairs and Sustainability for Pirelli Tire North America. She lived in Italy for 23 years and is a former correspondent for The Wall Street Journal Europe, Business Week and Breaking Views. She can be reached at maureenkline@gmail.com.

(via Instapaper)

The Daily Startup: Small VC Funds Gaining Support of Limited Partners - WSJ

The Daily Startup: Small VC Funds Gaining Support of Limited Partners - WSJ http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/09/30/the-daily-startup-small-vc-funds-gaining-support-of-limited-partners/

Art by Mike Lucas

Limited partners are actively returning to venture capital and many are looking beyond the industry’s giants. “I think this is the first year that LPs have realized that you can make a lot of money in small venture funds as well,” said Hans Swildens, founder and CEO of Industry Ventures.

The firm has closed on $170 million, more than twice the size of its previous fund, for a fund of funds targeting venture capital funds of less than $250 million. That’s another sign of rising investor interest in these smaller pools, Russ Garland reports for Dow Jones VentureWire.

“Micro-VC” funds, or funds totaling $100 million or less, especially are on the rise, with 62 debut funds in that range closing in 2012 and 2013, and 19 closing in the first half this year. Both those figures are the highest recorded.

Mr. Swildens said he’s seen an explosion in the number of small VC funds, which, if managed properly, can deliver great returns. “There’s a subset of these managers that have just done unbelievably well,” he said.

With so many such funds forming in the last couple of years, however, chances are that only a select few will provide hoped-for returns. The pension funds, endowments, family offices and individual investors that are jumping into the micro-VC game will have to choose carefully to make sure they don’t get stuck with sub-par performers.

ALSO IN TODAY’S VENTUREWIRE (subscription required):

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is leading a $40 million Series C investment in San Francisco-based Remind, formerly Remind101, an app that enables teachers to communicate with students and families through a mobile app.

Foko, a Canadian startup whose software lets corporate workforces internally share photos, has hired former Blackberry executive Marc Gingras as its CEO and has raised $450,000 in seed funding from several angel investors.

AnyPresence, which provides a secure platform for enterprises to build custom mobile apps for both internal and external uses, has raised a $6 million Series C round from CNF Investments, Citrix Systems, Kinetic Ventures and Grotech Ventures.

Pristine has landed $5.4 million in Series A funding for a Google Glass-based hardware-software system that will enable doctors, emergency medical technicians, nurses and others to collaborate on patient care without interrupting work flow, the company said.

LifeBond, an Israeli company in clinical trials with biocompatible devices for tissue repair, has raised around half of a $25 million Series D from existing investors including Pitango Venture Capital, Giza Venture Capital, Aurum Ventures MKI and GlenRock Israel.

Cowboy Ventures is raising its second fund, targeting $55 million for Cowboy Ventures Fund II LLC, according to a regulatory filing. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm previously invested out of a $40 million seed fund.

(VentureWire is a daily newsletter with comprehensive analysis of all the investments, deals and personnel moves involving start-ups and their venture backers. For a two-week trial, click here.)

ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WEB:

Peter Thiel: The World Hates Tech. Forget all the buzz over driverless cars; the days spent waiting in line for the latest iPhone; the drones delivering medicine. Tech investor Peter Thiel says that, fundamentally, our society hates tech. “We live in a financial and capitalistic age,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “We do not live in a scientific or technological age. We live in an age that’s dominated by hostility and unfriendliness towards all things technological.” Silicon Valley, he said, has people who believe in technology and scientific innovation, while much of the rest of the U.S. doesn’t.

Google Capital Gets Busy. The growth-stage vehicle backed by U.S. Internet giant Google co-led a Series C round totaling $38 million into a Suzhou-based business called InnoLight Technology, a manufacturer of high-speed optical transceivers that are used by computer servers, the WSJ’s Sonja Cheung reports. Until now, Google Capital‘s investments have been centered on the U.S., with existing portfolio companies including online survey startup SurveyMonkey and financial-services business Lending Club…on Monday, Google Capital also announced it had taken part along with Tiger Global Management and Susquehanna Growth Equity in a $75 million growth round for Credit Karma that valued the personal-finance tools company at more than $1 billion, the WSJ’s Lora Kolodny reports.

Israeli VC Firm Magma Raises $150 Million Fund. Israeli venture capital firm Magma Venture Partners closed a $150 million fund for early stage, Israel-based technology companies, the WSJ’s Orr Hirschauge reports. Magma was a backer of transport navigation app Waze, sold in 2013 to Google for more than $1 billion.

Lyft Defies Legal Threat in L.A. With New Carpooling Service. Ride-sharing startup Lyft is officially expanding its new carpooling service to Los Angeles, seemingly defying the Los Angeles district attorney, who last week joined with San Francisco’s district attorney in alleging that ridesharing services are breaking the law and misleading consumers, the WSJ’s Douglas MacMillan reports.

Mayfield’s Navin Chaddha on ‘Frothy’ VC Environment. With Mayfield Fund this week celebrating its 45th anniversary, Managing Director Navin Chaddha talked to the WSJ’s Deborah Gage about the changes he sees in the venture industry and how his firm avoids following the herd.

Downtown Las Vegas Is An American Techtopia. Since buying 60 acres and promising a $350 million investment in 2012, Tony Hsieh, the founder of Vegas-based shoe-sales site Zappos, has turned the downtrodden, recession-hit heart of Las Vegas into an experimental startup city, re/code’s Nellie Bowles reports.

The Way to Become the Next Big Thing. Tech entrepreneurs and investors are always looking for the next big thing. Cheryl Cheng, partner of BlueRun Ventures, says in a WSJ Accelerators blog post that people cannot always articulate what problems they need solved, but consumers are willing to part with a lot if your product solves it.

Smoking Gun on Startup Burn Rates. After Bill Gurley, Fred Wilson and Marc Andreessen caused a stir in the venture world by expressing concerns about how quickly many startups were burning through their cash, Pitchbook took a look at the data and concluded that the VCs are on to something.

Write to Zoran Basich at zoran.basich@wsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @zoranbasich

(via Instapaper)

3 Ways Sales Is Like War

3 Ways Sales Is Like War http://tech.co/3-ways-sales-like-war-2014-09

You can’t be afraid of sales. In any business, you are going to have to sell. It doesn’t matter whether it’s to customers, investors, or recruits. Many entrepreneurs are scared to go out and sell their business, and it prevents many companies from ever taking off.

The brave ones who are sent to close deals are the people in their company who carry its fate in their hands. Much like battle, sales determines a company’s position. You need revenue to survive. Recruiting a great team is essential for building an amazing experience. Finally, when you pitch an investor, you’ve got to sell them on the whole package. If salespeople are like warriors we send into battle, then the art of selling is like the art of war. Here are some similarities between the two.

1. It takes courage to be on the front lines

Fear of rejection is one of the strongest reasons why people are scared of sales. Typically, you’re going to get a lot of losses before you score that big win. In that process, you constantly have to keep getting back up and charging forward. Like being in the front of the army, the people who sell are the most vulnerable. The only way to win the war is to keep battling. As a salesperson your team puts a lot of faith in you to carry out the mission. All the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into your product only matters if you can sell it. Like the Spartans’ philosophy on war, once the line is broken the battle is lost. If your job is to sell and you give up, the whole company will suffer.

1. Strategy is key for success

Too many entrepreneurs undervalue the importance for preparation before heading into a sales meeting. Napoleon was arguably the best war commander of all time. He was known for spending countless hours strategizing before the actual battle began. He would think through every possible scenario. So, while others were surprised by setbacks, he already prepared in advance for them.

Having this mindset is what will make you great at selling. Whenever I head into a client meeting, I always come prepared. That consists of doing background checks on the people you are meeting and preparing for objections. When your potential customer pushes back on the price, have an answer ready. One of the best ways to build a relationship with a client is by finding a similarity between the two of you. If you look hard enough at their LinkedIn or do a Google Search, chances are you’ll find something.

Would a leader of an army head into battle with no strategy? No. To be exceptional at sales, learn from Napoleon and have every scenario planned out.

1. Never Stop Until The Job Is Done

In Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power, one of the rules is to Crush Your Enemy Completely. In many sales meetings, you’ll have the client sold but you’ll be too scared to make the ask. Instead, you’ll ask to follow up with them and before the next meeting, they’ll have bought someone else’s product.

Don’t let this happen to you. In war, when you have a chance to defeat your enemy, you take it. You don’t want the risk of your enemy getting away and coming back to attack you. Similarly in sales, when you have a chance to close, you take it. The worst part of losing a sale is when you know you could’ve won if you only had went in for the ask. Sell the customer on the problem. Then sell them on the solution. Once you have an opening, make the “ask” for their business and hand them the contract right then and there. You want to limit any chance of them getting away.

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Are You Prepared for What the Future of Business Looks Like? | Inc.com

Are You Prepared for What the Future of Business Looks Like? | Inc.com http://www.inc.com/neil-parmar/are-you-prepared-for-what-the-future-of-business-looks-like.html

The CEOs of Alibaba, IBM and General Motors predict how the business world will be transformed in the years to come. Advertisement The future is a funny thing: It’s impossible to predict.

Or is it?

Chief executives at some the world’s most well-known companies recently gathered at the Clinton Global Initiative and discussed where they see the business world headed. Their predictions follow.

IBM: Big data becomes a natural resource Ginni Rometty, the chairman and CEO of IBM, thinks there is a “promise of a breakthrough” that will impact many industries, including the social sector: big data. “It’ll be the world’s next big natural resource,” she said.

But the information will only be helpful if you do something with it, such as predicting future consumer behavior.

“This is not about data running your life,” said Rometty. “It’s about being informed.”

Alibaba: Data technology will overtake information technology “The world is going to change from IT technology to data technology,” said Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba who helped lead the company to the biggest initial public offering in history.

“IT technology is for me, myself—I can manage my company better,” he added. “Data technology is to make other people better. Then you will be successful. Only when others are successful can you be successful.”

General Motors: Tech changes… everything “There is tremendous change happening in the auto industry,” said Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors. “I think it’ll change more in the next 5 to 10 years than it has in the last 30 to 40.”

How, exactly, will the sector morph?

“There’s so much we can do with technologies, when we look at where it’s going, whether it’s electrification, internal combustion engines, connectivity,” said Barra. “That’ll change the way that we can attack safety, congestion and fuel economy.”

Alibaba: Corporate social responsibility becomes the norm Known simply as CSR programs, corporate social responsibility initiatives can be found in most major companies—and more are expected to adopt them. That’s according to Ma, at least, who advocates using some corporate good to assist young entrepreneurs and small businesses as they try to scale to the next level.

“I strongly believe we should bury social responsibility into our business model,” said Ma, who helped start Alibaba 15 years ago in a one-bedroom apartment. “Help small guys because small guys will be big.”

What trend do you see playing a bigger part of the future in the world of business? Tweet @NeilSParmar.

IMAGE: Shutterstock Last updated: Sep 30, 2014

@NeilSParmar

NEIL PARMAR | Columnist

Neil Parmar writes about technology and startups. He’s also a professor of journalism and resident storyteller at Jolt, a startup accelerator.

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10 Israeli Companies At The Forefront Of Life Saving Tech | Health News

10 Israeli Companies At The Forefront Of Life Saving Tech | Health News http://nocamels.com/2014/09/these-ten-israeli-companies-are-saving-lives-with-their-cutting-edge-technology/

Lifesavers come in many forms: for some it’s a doctor, for others, a superhero, and even for some, chocolate. However, when it comes to saving lives on the practical level, there is one country whose technological innovation in the field outdoes the rest – Israel.

Freezing tumors with ice, creating nano-sized virus killers and helping people out of the rubble with a robotic snake is all in a day’s work for these Israeli companies whose technology is helping to save many a life.

NaNose

It’s a well-known fact that dogs have a an extraordinarily acute sense of smell. Their snouts are used to sniff out drugs at borders and in dangerous search and rescue missions. Now dogs’ incredible sense of smell has been harnessed to detect cancer and other life-threatening diseases. NaNose is a device created by Technion Institute of Technology Professor Hossam Haick, which has been proven to detect and differentiate between different kinds of cancers with up to 95 percent accuracy. The patient simply breathes into a tube and the nanotechnological devices inside the NaNose analyze up to 1,000 different gases on the patient’s breath, providing results within an incredible time frame of five minutes to an hour. The NaNose has proven most successful in detecting lung cancer, which kills nearly 85 percent of those diagnosed, but Prof. Haick hopes to develop the technology to detect other serious diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis in just one breath.

IceCure

What, if any, could be the connection between cancer and ice? It’s a tough one, but the Israeli scientists at IceCure seem to have figured it out. IceCure’s cryoablation technology, which has already shown promise in clinical trials in Japan and the United States, actually turns small benign and malignant breast and lung tumors into balls of ice, eliminating the need for painful surgical procedures. The cryoablation system uses below-freezing temperatures and liquid nitrogen to essentially freeze the tumor in place, in a procedure that takes just 15 minutes and requires only a bit of local anesthetic. Watch out cancer – it’s about to get cold.

Exelon

10 Israeli Companies At The Cutting Edge Of Life Saving Tech Over 36 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia, a statistic that will only continue to grow as the baby boomer generation ages. While it is still unclear how this terrible disease develops in the brain, one woman is not willing to give up just yet. Prof. Marta Weinstock-Rosin has developed the Exelon pill and skin patch to treat dementia and confusion associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s using a powerful enzyme called acetylcholinesterase. A Holocaust survivor and winner of the Israel Prize for her breakthrough discovery, Prof. Weinstock-Rosin found that the more the powerful enzyme was present in the bloodstream, the better the nerves communicated with each other, preventing the breakdown of neural transmitters and halting the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. With no cure in sight, the Exelon patch was quickly approved by the FDA as one of the more effective treatments for Alzheimer’s-associated dementia, providing much needed hope to the millions who grapple daily with this relentless disease.

 SEE ALSO: Israeli 3D Printing Makes Life-Saving Blood Recycling Machine 96 Percent Cheaper

Real View

If an ordinary picture is worth a thousand words, then what is a 3D holographic image of your heart worth? For the future of medicine; everything, and Real Time’s 3D holographic imaging technology is what will make it possible. Real Time’s live-saving technology “floats” 3D images of the body in the air by projecting real-time ultrasound holograms which allow doctors to maneuver their way through the body’s most complex organs. The revolutionary potential of Real View’s technology was realized in a clinical trial at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Israel when a doctor successfully used 3D angiography to repair the heart of a 16 year-old girl. According to Dr. Elchanan Bruckheimer who performed the lifesaving surgery, said: “For the first time in my career I had the patient’s virtual heart literally beating in the palm of my hand.”

Mobileye

Car accidents are one of the deadliest and most constant threats to our lives. But don’t let this make you too anxious, because one Israeli technological firm is here to change all of that. Mobileye developed its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to provide prior warning for incoming collisions and accidents. The creator of the “driverless car,” Mobileye’s technology uses cameras, radars and sensors to scan the vehicle’s surroundings, letting the driver know when they are prone to an accident or should change lanes to avoid a collision. The technology is based on five cameras: two in the front, one on each side and one in the back, which when synchronized with a programed navigation system, will make sure that the driver is extra cautious and safe en route to their destination. Mobileye’s technology has won numerous awards for its important contribution to the automotive industry, and the company has seen unprecedented success, recently raising $890 million in a NASDAQ IPO.

Hervana

10 Israeli Companies At The Cutting Edge Of Life Saving Tech Food security has and will continue to be one of the most difficult challenges to growth in the developing world, which is where Israeli biopharmaceutical company Hervana steps in. Using breakthrough technology to create non-hormonal, long-lasting female contraception with added STD protection, Hervana hopes to make family planning easier in countries where conventional methods of contraceptives are limited or considered socially unacceptable. The Hervana method of birth control is based on a probiotic compound called Lactobacilli which is already present in the female reproductive system. Hervana’s suppository methods have shown that a boost of the bacteria creates an increased resistance to fertilization of eggs in the reproductive system and fights off dangerous microorganisms that spread life-threatening sexually transmitted diseases. The company recently received a $1 million development grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the development of the drug, which is set to provide cheaper, healthier and more socially acceptable access to family planning methods in the developing world.

Vecoy Nanomedicines

10 Israeli Companies At The Cutting Edge Of Life Saving Tech Since the gloomy days of Black Plague and until the current Ebola scare, pandemic infections have been an imminent threat to all walks of human life. Yet for Israeli company Vecoy Nanomedicines, tackling an unstoppable virus is all in a day’s work. The company has developed a nano-scale therapy to “trap,” capture and destroy dangerous viruses before they are able to spread throughout the body and infect other cells. The vecoy (“virus decoy”) cells use a tailor-made virus to act like regular human host cells, confusing the body into thinking they are a virus, but then deactivating the infected cells, making them unable to spread disease. Currently, the cells are being developed to combat serious diseases like HIV/AIDS, Asian Bird Flus, and Hepatitis B and C. With the limitations of current viral treatments like antibiotics and vaccines, which take time to develop and can induce toxic reactions, Vecoy’s ingeniously deceptive cells could offer a quick and toxin-free cure to the next world health pandemic.

 SEE ALSO: Wear It Well: The Top Ten Wearable Tech Made In Israel

MobileOCT

Although cervical cancer is treatable in 95 percent of cases, hundreds of thousands of women in low-resource environments die each year because they do not receive proper diagnosis. MobileOCT, a social startup with Israeli roots, is looking to erase this disturbing statistic using breakthrough smartphone technology to detect cancer earlier on. Recently featured on the ‘Forbes’ list of 25 Hot Israeli Tech Startups To Watch, MobileOCT takes advantage of the fact that many have access to smartphones, (but not always to a physician) to create a mobile colposcopy for the early detection of cervical cancer. The technology works by sending an image of the woman’s cervix to a gynecologist who can then assess the patient’s case. MobileOCT currently has programs in five different countries and partnerships with a number of hospitals, with hopes to expand in order to help save lives across third-world countries.

eVigilo

What country does national security better than Israel? Well, not many and that’s why the creators of the mass emergency alert platform eVigilo, which has already proven itself successful in the Chilean tsunami and earthquake in early April, hail from that country. The Israeli start-up created a web-based platform for national and global authorities to send out automatic e-mail and SMS messages to millions of people in the case of an imminent emergency. eVigilo’s technology also automatically collects its own data to calculate the anticipated levels of destruction, immediately sending out geo-targeted alerts to global response teams, via TV, radio, sirens, billboards and even smartphone push notifications. The system is currently used by the Israeli government to alert the public, and following the recent events in Chile, the efficiency and speed of eVigilo’s technology was praised by the international community.

Robotic Snake

Both snakes and robots are can be fearsome creatures, but when they come together into one, the lifesaving possibilities are remarkable. A robotic snake developed in association with the Technion Israel Institute of Technology could save thousands of lives in the wake of natural and human disasters. The robotic snake is perfect for the worst damage control because it was constructed to be very flexible and maneuverable in order to reach the most distant of corners. Each one of the snake’s segments is equipped with a monitor, computer, sensors, batteries and wireless communication, which all come together to provide a clearer picture of the scale of the damage. As the snake slithers through the rubble, response teams are able to direct their help to trapped individuals or to remove potentially dangerous materials from a building site. Finally, a snake that is too good to be feared.

Photos: JD Hancock/ courtesy

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6 Subject Line Essentials for Your Next Email Campaign | Inc.com

6 Subject Line Essentials for Your Next Email Campaign | Inc.com http://www.inc.com/janine-popick/6-subject-line-essentials-for-your-next-email-campaign.html

Here’s how to get a better email open rate and catch your subscribers’ attention in a cluttered inbox. Advertisement You have an awesome email marketing campaign queued up promoting your great offer, and now you’re ready to send it to everyone on your subscriber list. You read it over one more time, and nervously hit “send.” Hooray, you did it!

Except now you’re checking to see how many people opened your email, and the number isn’t looking so hot.

What happened?

First off, you’re far from being alone. Many of our small business customers at my email marketing company, VerticalResponse, wonder how they can get a better open rate and catch their readers’ attention in an increasingly cluttered inbox.

Here’s a rundown of six subject line essentials—tried-and-true tactics we’ve gathered over the years to help increase that open rate and get your readers intrigued enough to click on your email:

1. Include a Call-to-action (CTA)

People are driven by action. An email with the subject line, “October Garden Newsletter,” isn’t nearly as compelling as one with the subject line, “October Garden News + Learn How to Extend Tomato Season.”

Similar to the content inside your email, the subject line can be even more effective if you tell your readers what’s in store when they open the email or what you want them to ultimately do. CTAs are important because they encourage people to take action, whether it’s to sign up for something, redeem an offer or learn something new.

1. Be Fun

Fun, catchy or topical subject lines are often very successful. A subject line that includes an idea, event or story in the news or pop culture may engage your readers quickly—just be sure it relates to the content of your email and can’t be misconstrued as being in poor taste.

BarkBox, a company that ships boxes of pet treats and toys to dog owners on a monthly subscription basis, does this really well; sample subject lines include, “13 GIFs of Fuzzy Puppies Who Think They’re About That Thug Life” and “There’s a Dog in the New Royal Family Portrait.” As a dog lover, it would be hard to resist opening these emails.

1. Have a Sense of Urgency

Including a limit in which your recipients has to act, like “1 Day Only” or “Only 20 Available,” can help motivate them to click on your email. This works particularly well if you sell products or services online and they can buy directly from your site.

1. Get Personal

Try personalizing your subject line with a first name, location, past purchase, etc. to grab attention. Tread carefully, though; we’ve gotten feedback that while some people appreciate that extra level of customization, others find it too Big Brother-ish and could be turned off.

If you do try personalization, include it within the actual email, too, so that it feels more natural. For example, a recent email from gourmet gifts company Harry & David had the subject line, “Janine, There’s Still Time to Order from Your Gift History.” Within the email content it greeted me with, “Hi, Janine,” and referenced the last purchase I made. For me, this was a convenient reminder from a company I haven’t ordered from in awhile.

1. Use an Alternative to “Free”

There’s a whole lot of “free” this or that in promotional emails; it’s one of the most commonly used phrases in subject lines. Unfortunately, this means it no longer makes your email stand out, especial now that Gmail filters all promotional emails into a special tab in a user’s inbox. Instead of relying on a “free” promotion, try a percentage or dollar-off discount.

1. Offer Useful, Relevant Content

Unless you specifically state in the sign-up process that you’ll only send deals and promotions, try providing helpful, relevant content to your subscribers—tips, tricks and how tos that make their lives easier and/or more meaningful. This is especially important if you aren’t a retailer and/or can’t regularly offer discounts or promotions.

Tasting Table, a website for foodies, isn’t in the business of selling a physical product or service. Instead, their goal is to build a readership. The company hits a home run with their informative emails, like “Say Hello to the Summer’s Hottest Pasta Salad” and “Where to Get Your Fried-Chicken Fix,” which get their subscribers clicking and reading again and again.

For more tips, check out this guide on writing effective subject lines.

If you enjoyed this post, sign up for the free VR Buzz and check out the VerticalResponse Marketing Blog.

IMAGE: shutterstock images Last updated: Sep 30, 2014

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