What are our partners reading this week? Big news from our portfolio companies, innovation in our investment focus areas, and general strategies for personal/business improvement.
News About Our Portfolio Companies
· Newswhip on how Instagram influencers drive 100x the engagement for brands
· MagicCube closes 8.5M Series A funding with Social Starts participating + CTO featured in Women in Tech series
· Roikoi named an IDC innovator in talent discovery
· Why soft skills training is more important than ever from Grovo
· Werk raises $3M with Social Starts participating
· Ambassador on harnessing the power of word of mouth
· Wellthy featured in Forbes
· Boxed hotels
· Binded unveils one-click US copyright registration for photos
Industry Trends
· PE doubles down on VC backed startups + low performing PE funds still holding their own vs. public markets
· High valuations seeing reality checks at exit
· The new copycats: how Facebook squashes competition from startups
· 52K patents have been filed by Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon since 2009
· Amazon’s one click patent to expire
· Nielsen to track e-sports
· 3 big ideas on technology innovation cycles
· Are index funds evil?
· Best and worst performing public equities in 2017
· VC Confidence Index at 3.83 of 5
· Edge computing could push the cloud to the fringe
· The next billion
Artificial Intelligences
· The race for AI
· 9 AI startups per month are being acquired in 2017
Commerce
· How AI will impact retail
· E-commerce jobs are coming to steel industry
Edtech
· Education in the digital age
· Toys aren’t play for VCs as connected fun and edu goes big
IoT
· Wireless mesh networks
· How the world’s smartest cities are being built
· US senators to release bill to secure IoT
Work Platforms
· LinkedIn rolling out new service to pair users with mentors
· Workplace flexibility is the way to win the war for talent
Experiences
· Disney dumping Netflix and launching own service
· IPhone 8 could scan your face
· The history of VR
· Why eyetracking is a huge deal for VR/AR
· NBC Snapchat news gains 29M viewers in 1st month
· The state of mobile AR
· Who will be the world’s first AR/VR social media giant?
· Facebook’s entry into TV shows is an attack on YouTube, not Netflix
Blockchain
· How blockchain tech can help get musicians paid
· 500K stolen from hackers before Enigma ICO
· Bitcoin and Ethereum google searches inversely correlated
· From bartering to blockchain
· Startup incubator Science raising 100M ICO
Health
· SV’s bright future in health tech, genomics, and crypto
· Mental health startups and investment $s on the rise
· Digital Health deals and funding hit all time high
· Mental health tech on the rise
· New Apple patent aims to turn iPhone into all-purpose heatlh tracker
· A comprehensive guide to the new science of treating lower back pain
Business and Personal Strategy
· The future and the process
· The secret to happiness at work – caring less?
· Growth hacker is the new VP of marketing