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Amazon vs. Walmart: Bezos Goes for the Jugular with Whole Foods Acquisition

2017-07-21T13:25:00.000+01:00

Key Highlights

On Friday, June 16, Amazon announced it was acquiring Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, the largest acquisition in the online retailer's history.
Just a few hours later, Walmart announced the completion of its $310 million acquisition of the men's apparel direct-to-consumer retailer Bonobos.
Whole Foods' prime real estate allows Amazon to finally get into last-mile delivery, something the online retailer has historically struggled to do. Whole Foods has a 456-store footprint in the US, Canada, and the UK, mostly in upmarket, urban areas.
The significant implications of the Amazon/Whole Foods deal for the grocery and retail spaces explain why many retailers' stocks took a big hit after the news (down 5-10%).
Walmart is pushing a strategy to buy vertically integrated companies because of higher gross profit margins. Whole Foods has some private label, but it accounts for only around 15% of revenues.
Groceries is an important category - a recent report by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) found that US grocery sales could grow five-fold over the course of the next decade, with spending estimated at more than $100 billion by 2025.
The FMI survey highlighted how 69% of shoppers valued the store's reputation when choosing which store to buy groceries at, making Whole Foods' brand an important asset for Amazon to leverage.
Walmart is the nation's largest seller of groceries, selling over $170 billion last year, and the category is a key driver of store traffic and customer loyalty. Walmart has invested and tested in click-and-collect programs, stand-alone grocery pick-up sites, and even testing of an automated kiosk for 24-hour pick-up.
Many voice concerns that not only do Walmart and Bonobos customers not overlap, but that Walmart's acquisition may in fact push several away.

In just the space of a few days, the retail world was shaken by two big acquisition announcements from the industry’s goliaths: Walmart and Amazon. The latter grabbed the lion’s share of the headlines, announcing its acquisition of Whole Foods Market last Friday for a whopping $13.7 billion, making it the largest acquisition in the company’s history (dwarfing their $1.2 billion acquisition of Zappos in 2009).

As the markets were still coming to terms with the news, Walmart quickly followed up with its announcement of its acquisition of Bonobos, the direct-to-consumer (DTC) menswear retailer, for $310 million. As Fast Company highlighted, “The move threw into relief exactly how fiercely [Amazon and Walmart] are competing for the American consumer by working to seamlessly integrate online and offline shopping experiences.”

As the dust settles, it does seem clear that Amazon’s move will be far more significant, influential, and disruptive than Walmart’s. With the acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon is possibly embarking on a radical disruption of brick & mortar retailing in the US, leaving Walmart to play defense.

Amazon Buying Whole Foods Is a Big Deal

Consensus is overwhelmingly that Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods is a big deal. “Amazon buying Whole Foods is incredibly interesting, highly strategic, and definitely not standard” said Toptal Finance Expert Josh Chapman. Recalling the video introducing Amazon Go (below) which surfaced at the end of last year, Chapman believes “[it was] Amazon’s vision all along and I believe it is front and center in their vision for Whole Foods. Amazon Go will now become the tech that will engulf every Whole Foods store across the country. I’ll be as bold as to say that Amazon buying Whole Foods is the start of an incredible wave of innovation across the grocery/shopping landscape.”

The belief in Amazon’s capacity to revolutionize the in-store grocery experience (on the tails of Amazon’s other recent foray into brick-and-mortar bookstores), is echoed by several others. Toptal Finance Expert Sebastian Fainbraun, who is an investor and board member of Dolcezza Gelato, a distributor to Whole Foods in the Mid-Atlantic, envisions a radically different in-store experience: “Imagine going to Whole Foods to get fruits, meats, and vegetables, plus other cool impulse buys, but also at your checkout having a bag of your monthly automated items waiting for you. Amazon has the analytics as well as the logistics. It’s going to revolutionize shopping. For Whole Foods, they have prime real estate and eventually can use that space for things other than food. If I were a retail landlord, I would be very worried unless I have those types of properties. Imagine the same model but at a mall with clothing and accessories.”

Putting aside the potential for change in the retail experience, both see implications that go far beyond. Chapman, a former investment banker at Morgan Stanley turned entrepreneur with experience across retail, real estate, energy, and SaaS industries, believes that “after Whole Foods, Amazon will probably replicate this exact acquisition strategy by buying a convenience store (CVS), major clothing retailer (Macy’s), then perhaps a tech appliance retailer (Best Buy). This shift will have enormous impact on job redistribution and will also create a wave of new tech and apps that will be ‘service providers’ for this new shopping experience.”

The view that Amazon’s tie-up with Whole Foods marks the beginning of a bigger push into traditional retail is shared by Fainbraun: “If this works out, Amazon will eventually buy a retailer like Nordstrom as well. It’s all about optimizing retail space with the right items and experience and having delivery options and automation for the rest.”

The widespread potential implications for the grocery and larger retail space might explain why so many retailers’ stocks took a big hit in the aftermath of the news (Chart 1). Toptal Finance Expert Neel Bhargava, whose experience in private equity and management consulting focused particularly on retail companies, points out: “Whole Foods is a major category leader that allows Amazon to enter the brick-and-mortar space in one fell swoop, and they can leverage for a lot of other things. This is why other grocers’ share prices are getting hit. It will be very hard to compete with.”

However, some are a bit more cautious in drawing conclusions too quickly. Toptal Finance Expert Ethan Bohbot, an investment banking and hedge fund analyst turned entrepreneur, says, “I think the initial drop in retailer stock prices is an overreaction and it is still to be determined if that large of a move is justified—Amazon has long tried to break into grocery and has basically admitted they need help by acquiring Whole Foods, so their success doesn’t seem like a guarantee. The market seems to already assume Amazon is going to significantly disrupt the market and take a big chunk of share, when a scenario that the impact is only incremental is not unreasonable, particularly in the near-term. At the same time, if things go well for Amazon, we could look back and say it was an underreaction, but just given the uncertainty, I think the magnitude of the move was excessive (not the direction—this is certainly a competitive threat).”

Walmart’s Acquisition of Bonobos Is More Incremental

Turning to Walmart’s acquisition of Bonobos, most agree that this acquisition is more additive than it is game-changing. Chapman says “Walmart buying Bonobos makes sense just because it’s an extension of Walmart’s clothing portfolio. This acquisition feels much more standard, cookie cutter, and kind of “boring,” honestly. The Bonobos brand will probably remain the same, hopefully not sacrificing quality (who knows), but now it will be integrated in a major way into the Walmart ecosystem.”

Fainbraun agrees: “It’s more like a hedge. Like McDonald’s buying Chipotle. Investing in a new model to learn. Amazon/Whole Foods is to completely change the model or take it to the next level—total sales channel/analytics/logistics optimization.”

Expanding on the strategic rationales of the deal, Bohbot outlines, “This just seems like a bolt-on to their eCommerce business. I understand the strategic rationale in getting talent from a successful online-based retailer, but they have made several similar acquisitions (and at larger scale) in the past that would seemingly achieve the same goal (Jet.com, ModCloth, etc.), so I am not sure the incremental benefit is going to be as great as Amazon/Whole Foods.”

A perhaps underestimated—and certainly underreported—component of the Walmart/Bonobos deal relates to margins. On this, Toptal Finance Expert Tayfun Uslu points out that “it is important to mention that Bonobos is a vertically integrated company and, as a company that is both brand and distributor of its products, this means very high gross profit margins that cannot be easily achieved by buyers and resellers or marketplaces (i.e., Whole Foods and Amazon). Whole Foods has some private label, but it accounts for around 15% of revenue. Walmart is pushing a strategy to buy vertically integrated companies because, in the end, they do have higher gross profit margins.”

Whatever one thinks of Walmart’s strategy of diving into eCommerce via fashion, it is clear that the general trend in this space has been moving towards DTC. Established brands have been steadily increasing their share of sales from this channel as opposed to the traditional retail channels (Chart 2). Building a strong online presence in fashion in many ways necessitates a strong positioning in DTC, something which shines through in Walmart’s recent acquisitions in the space.

Compared to Amazon’s recent move, from a margin perspective, Walmart’s strategy certainly seems more accretive. Bohbot sums it up as follows: “This specific transaction for Walmart is negligible, and given the stage/scale, it may not even impact Walmart’s margins, but the overall goal is to bolster the eCommerce business, which will theoretically have higher margins and provide uplift to the overall company as the mix continues to shift towards eCommerce.”

Bohbot goes on to say: “For Amazon, the Whole Foods acquisition is a different story—brick and mortar channels have a lower margin profile than online channels given higher fixed and variable costs, so by increasing the mix of brick and mortar, Amazon is seemingly diluting their margins. Additionally, across the retail sector, grocers have a pretty poor margin profile, so increasing grocery mix of revenue will further prove to be dilutive.”

The lower margins in groceries were something that Jeff Bezos himself highlighted earlier this year. Turning to Twitter to respond to a NY Post article that claimed that Amazon Go had operating profits of more than 20% and could operate with just three human workers, the Amazon CEO had this to say:

Figure 2: Jeff Bezos on Grocery Margins

Source: Twitter

But Bohbot doesn’t seem to be concerned about this latter point. Aside from the fact—as the Wall Street Journal points out—“Whole Foods […] operates at much higher profit margins than other grocers, thanks in part to the higher markups it gets for many of its upscale items” (Chart 3), Bohbot believes “I don’t think you can simply apply Whole Foods margins to the incremental revenue Amazon is acquiring and say that will be the incremental profits - there are undoubtedly synergies (supply chain, etc.), and further, we don’t know what future Whole Foods stores are going to look like once Amazon gets in there. It is possible Amazon cuts the footprint across major stores dramatically, takes out labor, and automates a lot of the day-to-day operations such that the margins are a lot higher than Whole Foods stand-alone (reasonably somewhere in between margins achieved by online-only and brick-and-mortar-only sales channels). How much higher Amazon can drive margins is still to be seen, but I think Whole Foods stores will look very different under Amazon, and likely in a way that cuts costs and improves margins from the status quo.”

Amazon’s Acquisition Has a Strong Strategic Rationale—Walmart’s Less So.

Comparing the two moves from a strategic standpoint, Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods clearly comes out on top. Finance Expert Alex Graham, a former fixed income trader who has moved into venture capital, points out, “Walmart wants to buy a brand and get some soft learning from their tactics, backing them up with cash and logistics if necessary but largely treating it as a quasi aqui-hire/financial investment. Amazon probably wants to come in more directly and harness the fixed assets of Whole Foods.”

Important Real Estate Component For Amazon

The importance of the real estate component in the Amazon transaction is widely acknowledged. As Figure 3 below shows, Amazon is acquiring a strong retail footprint in many major geographical markets. Toptal Finance Expert Jeffrey Mazer, a financial expert and lawyer who has served as a transactional and valuation expert witness in the past, weighs in on this, saying, “The Amazon/Whole Foods possibilities are endless. With Whole Foods’ footprint in affluent areas and Amazon’s expertise in supply chain and delivery, they could upend both food retailing and food delivery.”

In particular, the key benefit that many have pointed to is that acquiring prime real estate allows Amazon to finally get into last-mile delivery, something the retailer has historically struggled to do. Alex Graham delves further into this: “Last mile delivery is a critical component that startups in the grocery space have been able to capitalize in Amazon’s absence. Buying an upmarket chain of supermarkets in upmarket urban areas will allow Amazon to significantly enhance its hub and spoke approach. For that reason alone, the physical assets of whole foods are a key component of this deal (and potentially a future source of contention between the two management teams if their dual use compromises the activity of the other).”

Fainbraun, however, takes a higher-level view: “I’m not so worried about grocery retailers themselves. It’s the other retailers that will be hurting more. People will still go to grocery stores for location and convenience. The ones who suffer will be the Walmarts of the world—Home Depot, big box retailers. Amazon is eating their lunch and will have class A retail location.” He continues, “Retail of the future will be about Class A experiential real estate, and Class C convenience. If Whole Foods ends up working out for Amazon, I think they will buy Nordstrom and Kmart. Nordstrom is the best department store and very efficient with space and creating stores within a store. And Kmart is cheap, good big box real estate. If I’m right, Amazon will have lifestyle center real estate, big box, and inside malls. All as drop off and pick up locations and showrooms for online ordering.”

Strong Move into Groceries

The other major benefit most Toptal Experts see is that the Whole Foods acquisition will significantly help Amazon push into a difficult niche: groceries. Groceries is an important category—a recent report by the Food Marketing Institute found that US grocery sales could grow five-fold over the course of the next decade, with spending estimated at more than $100 billion by 2025. While currently, around 25% of US households shop online for groceries (up from 20% three years ago), that number will grow to more than 70% within the next ten years.

Toptal Finance Expert Ethan Bohbot had this to say on the matter: “I think that the Amazon/Whole Foods tie-up has the potential to prove more beneficial to Amazon [than Walmart’s acquisition of Bonobos] and more disruptive to the broader grocery industry. The general shift of buying groceries online has been happening for a while if you think of platforms like Fresh Direct or Blue Apron, but it has been slow and, based on Amazon’s historical execution across other business segments and now accelerated push, I think that bodes well for them to do something game-changing—but, of course, this is still to be determined.”

Part of the reason why Amazon has had such difficulties in breaking into the online grocery shopping space comes down to trust. The FMI survey highlighted how 69% of shoppers valued the store’s reputation when choosing which store to buy groceries at (Chart 4). Bohbot sees Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods as beneficial in this respect, “To me, Amazon is validating the brick-and-mortar channel for grocery and acquiring a quality brand with a large footprint, which is accelerating their push into grocery by allowing them to overlay their insights and supply chain/eCommerce dominance on top of an existing strong foundation.”

Limited Customer Overlap for Walmart and Potential Backlash by Bonobos Consumers

As far as Walmart’s acquisition of Bonobos is concerned, Bohbot thinks that it was motivated by the following factors: “Acquisition of eCommerce retail talent, acquisition of proven hybrid channel (physical storefront + online fulfillment), acquisition of a quality brand, and customer acquisition of Bonobos’ client base—outside of that, I am not really sure. This would certainly expand their eCommerce presence, which theoretically would have higher margins, but given stage/scale, that may not hold true for this acquisition.”

The issue of overlapping (or lack thereof) customer bases comes up several times. Many are concerned that Walmart and Bonobos customers lack overlap, and that Walmart’s acquisition might in fact alienate them. Toptal Finance Expert Jeffrey Mazer says so himself: “I’m a customer of Bonobos, Amazon, and Whole Foods. I can’t see that I would ever purchase anything from Bonobos again. Too many stories of acquirers seeking cost savings and other synergies by cutting quality. Men’s clothing has a lot of players; it’s lower risk to just start buying from someone else.”

And he doesn’t seem to be alone. A Business Insider article recently highlighted similar sentiment by looking at the Twitter-verse post announcement (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Customer Reactions on Twitter to Bonobos/Walmart Deal

Source: Business Insider

Graham says, “Strategically, I think Amazon/Whole Foods will prevail, as it seems like there are more exciting overlaps between the customer bases of the two businesses—i.e., a Whole Foods customer probably shops on Amazon. Not sure if the same can be said about Walmart and Bonobos and that will be Walmart’s issue to contend with. And if Walmart tries too hard to force through some unnatural synergies between these two groups (like moving Bonobos’ online store into their system) they may ultimately jeopardize it all.”

Toptal Finance Expert Zachary Elfman, however, takes a different view. “An oft-cited justification for why an acquirer is willing to pay an above-market price for a target are synergies. Synergies can come in many forms, but it is not immediately clear if any meaningful revenue synergies through complementary customer bases can be achieved through the integration of Whole Foods into Amazon. There are few if any revenue synergies that Amazon is gaining with the Whole Foods acquisition because Whole Foods has a very similar customer base, if not identical. If I were to draw a Venn diagram of the companies’ customer bases, Whole Foods would sit nearly inside the (much larger) Amazon circle. Yes, this makes cross-selling existing products and services easier, but I cannot think of too many existing Whole Foods shoppers that do not already use Amazon. Flipping this around, products from Whole Foods can be sold to the expansive Amazon customer base, but I am not convinced that the Amazon distribution channel is going to really cause much greater Whole Foods penetration in an age when Instacart already allows for online ordering and home delivery.”

The Walmart-Amazon War?

Are these moves clear shots fired in a longer-term retail war between two retail giants? Bohbot takes a more measured stance on the issue: “I don’t really see it this way. Amazon isn’t attacking Walmart; they are attacking the world. Walmart is just included and is seemingly the most likely to fall victim to this specific announcement (given their grocery share), which is why people may be seeing it that way today.”

On his last point, it is important to note that Walmart’s share of grocery is very significant (Chart 5). As Retail Dive highlighted in a recent article: “Grocery is where Walmart really shines. It is the nation’s largest seller of groceries with category sales of $170 billion last year, and the category is key to driving store visits and customer loyalty. Walmart has been investing in click-and-collect programs, stand-alone grocery pick-up sites, and is even testing an automated kiosk for 24-hour pick-up.”

With the above in mind, it’s hard not to see how Amazon/Whole Foods puts Walmart on the back foot. And in fact, other Toptal Experts are more sanguine. Finance Expert Tayfun Uslu thinks that “in the race to become the first monopoly, Amazon is now ahead.” And on the monopoly point, he is not alone. In the wake of the acquisition, several articles have come out assessing the question of whether the Seattle-based retailer has perhaps gone too far. Toptal VP of Business Talent Rajeev Jeyakumar admits, “I already get most of my groceries from either Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh. So they’ve got a lock on my wallet share! Especially if you throw in Alexa ordering and if they acquired Grubhub—I may never leave the couch. I might as well get my Amazon credit card now and let them take that part of the value chain too.”

So perhaps the picture is a far more aggressive one, with Amazon’s move an all-out declaration of war. Finance Expert Sebastian Fainbraun certainly seems to think so: “They aren’t declaring war—they are declaring victory. Walmart has a good web presence but Amazon runs the internet. If they integrate properly, war over. Amazon is the new Walmart and Bezos is the new Walton.”

This article is originally posted at Toptal

Facebook community is now officially 2 billion people!

2017-06-28T00:03:00.000+01:00

Facebook CEO, and founder Mark Zuckerberg shared a Facebook status announcing and sharing his joy on the growth of his social media empire which he founded and launched from his dorm room at Harvard.

More people expressed in words how Facebook has really helped them.

On this same post, users laid complains, more of them proffered solutions too.

Some asked questions on how to use the service better

Chief Scientist @ Bitcoin Unlimited's Introduction To Bitcoin

2017-06-21T18:10:00.003+01:00

Peter R. Rizun, Chief Scientist @ Bitcoin Unlimited started by saying:
(5 minutes read)

Bitcoin has no center. It has no Board of Directors. It has no CEO, no President, no Chieftain, Sheikh or Shah. Bitcoin is a decentralized network made up of voluntary participants — only loosely connected — who come together for their mutual benefit. There are users who transact in bitcoin to take advantage of its privacy and convenience, and investors who hold bitcoin hoping to profit from its price appreciation. There are node operators whose computers validate and relay the transactions made by Bitcoin users, and there are miners — a special type of node operator — whose mining farms append blocks of new transactions to the permanent block chain ledger, rewarding themselves for this service with 12.5 newly-minted bitcoins.

The fact that Bitcoin has no center— that Bitcoin is decentralized — is the very essence of its nature. It is this lack of a center that helps to ensure the integrity of Bitcoin as money. If Bitcoin had a center, users would have to trust it not to reverse or censor payments for political reasons, or reward itself unfairly with newly-created bitcoins. If Bitcoin had a center, it would be much less useful as peer-to-peer electronic cash.

And there is no doubt: Bitcoin is useful as electronic cash. One measure of its usefulness is the price of a bitcoin, which has increased from $1.08 six years ago, to $993 today.

A second measure of Bitcoin’s usefulness is how often it is used. The total volume of transactions processed by the Bitcoin network has likewise climbed from 1 transaction per minute six years ago to an average just shy of 3 transactions per second today.

A third measure of Bitcoin’s usefulness is the number of people using it. Due to Bitcoin’s pseudonymous nature, user-base estimates are often disputed, today ranging anywhere from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions. But one thing that is not disputed is that the growth of Bitcoin’s user base was a primary driver increasing both the total volume of transactions and the price of a bitcoin.

Bitcoin’s lack of a center comes with a cost too: there is no conductor waving his baton, coordinating the network participants while they play from a curated score. Even changes that are widely perceived as positive are difficult to roll out, as doing so involves communication and cooperation between the loosely-connected participants who make up the Bitcoin network.

The most pertinent example of a need for change is the “1 MB block size limit.” In 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto added a protocol rule that limited the volume of transactions committed to the blockchain to roughly 3 per second (3 transactions per second typically fills blocks up to the 1 MB limit). When the limit was added, it was 800 times greater than the natural transaction volume, and so the limit did not constrain the natural growth of the system (it served only as an anti-spam measure). But today, the network is “maxed out,” regularly hitting this limit, and no longer free to grow how it did during the first 7 years of its history.

How might we increase this limit, if Bitcoin has no center that can do it for us? To answer this question, we must first understand who it is that is enforcing the block size limit.

So who is it? Why can’t Bitcoin users make more than the 3 transactions per second on average today? The reason is related to the fact that when a payment is sent between two users, it doesn’t actually go directly from User A to User B; instead it is relayed to, and approved by, every node on the network. There are approximately 6000 accessible nodes, or assuming bitcoin has 5 million users, about 1 node for every 800 users.

When a miner finds a new block of transactions to add to the blockchain, each node checks the size of that block. If the block is larger than 1 MB (i.e., if it contains more than approximately 3 transactions per second worth of data), 9 out of 10 nodes today would reject that block as being invalid. No miner would risk intentionally producing a block larger than 1 MB because he knows that the network as a whole would reject it and his 12.5 BTC reward would be lost. And so even though miners may want to process more transactions per second, they don’t because effectively they can’t — the other nodes won’t let them.

We see then that to increase the limit — to allow miners to process more than 3 transactions per second —it is the people operating these nodes who must take action. Node operators must convincingly communicate to the miners that they are ready and willing to accept larger blocks. This is especially true for economically-significant nodes such as those running Bitcoin exchanges, payment processors, and web wallets. What Bitcoin Unlimited is doing, is giving node operators a flexible set of tools to allow them to do this.

Very simply:

Bitcoin Unlimited allows a node operator to quickly and easily change his node’s block size limit.
Bitcoin Unlimited allows a miner to quickly and easily change the maximum size of blocks his node will produce.
Bitcoin Unlimited helps node operators and miners signal their block size preferences to the rest of the network.

Today, approximately 1 in every 10 network nodes is running Bitcoin Unlimited, with a median block size limit of 16 MB. As more and more node operators take similar initiatives and raise their node’s block size limits, miners become more and more tempted to produce larger blocks that contain more transactions. At some point — when miners are comfortable that a sizeable majority of the network is ready and willing to accept larger blocks — a miner will produce one, it will be accepted into the permanent blockchain ledger, and Bitcoin will be free to continue growing.

What we’re doing with Bitcoin Unlimited is that simple.

Acknowledgement
The author thanks Andrea Suisani, Peter Tschipper, Jerry Chan, and his mom for their reviews.

Do More With Your Google Mail Account

2017-05-24T09:16:00.000+01:00

Google is no doubt one of the biggest tech companies in this modern century, with various products and offers to be accessed from only one platform, which is the internet.

Apart from just sending and receiving mails from business associates, clients, family, friends, i will offer 5 other services offered with an email account registered on mail.google.com

1. Money transfer and payment options

In May 2013, Google announced the integration between Google Wallet and Gmail, which would allow Gmail users to send money as email attachments. Although the sender must use a Gmail account, the recipient does not need to be using a Gmail address. The feature has no transaction fees, but there are limits to amount of money that can be sent. Initially only available on the web, the feature was expanded to the Android app in March 2017, for people living in the United States.

2. Storage

Gmail was initially launched with 1 gigabyte of storage space. On April 1, 2005, the first anniversary of Gmail, the limit was doubled to 2 gigabytes of storage. Georges Harik, the product management director for Gmail, stated that Google would "keep giving people more space forever."

On April 24, 2012, Google announced the increase of free storage in Gmail from 7.5 to 10 gigabytes ("and counting") as part of the launch of Google Drive.

On May 13, 2013, Google announced the overall merge of storage across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google+ Photos, allowing users 15 gigabytes of free storage among the three services.

Users can buy additional storage, shared among Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos, through a monthly subscription plan. As of 2017, storage of up to 15 gigabytes is free, and paid plans are available for up to 30 terabytes for personal use.

There are also storage limits to individual Gmail messages. One message, including all attachments, cannot be larger than 25 megabytes. This was changed in March 2017, to allow receiving of email up to 50 megabytes, with the limit for sending email staying at 25 megabytes. In order to send larger files, users can insert files from Google Drive into the message.

3. Content Creation and Monetization

With Google's development of content services - Blogger and YouTube, it is easy for anyone with a gmail account to get contents like news posts, articles, editorials, DIY videos, and as many more contents as you can think of. (But not Porn related), gain readership, build authority and get paid by advertisers.

Google owns the largest digital media advertising agency - Google AdSense, which will deliver ads based on keywords, topics and also possible real-life advertisers seeking to display adverts on your platform.

4.Google Business

With all of your information in one simple place. That’s how Google My Business works for you.

Choose how you want to reach your customers. With text-based search ads, graphic display ads, YouTube video ads, or in-app mobile ads, you have plenty of ways to reach your target customer with AdWords - an advert placement platform developed by Google. Reach out to potential customers within a few miles of your business, or broadcast your ads to entire regions or countries. With AdWords, it’s up to you

5. Google Calendar

Never miss an important event anymore. Google Calendar allows users to create and edit events. Reminders can be enabled for events, with options available for type and time. Event locations can also be added, and other users can be invited to events. Users can enable or disable the visibility of special calendars, including Birthdays, where the app retrieves dates of births from Google contacts and displays birthday cards on a yearly basis, and Holidays, a country-specific calendar that displays dates of special occasions.

Over time, Google has added functionality that makes use of machine learning, including "Events from Gmail", where event information from a user's Gmail messages are automatically added to Google Calendar; "Reminders", where users add to-do activities that can be automatically updated with new information; "Smart Suggestions", where the app recommends titles, contacts, and locations when creating events; and "Goals", where users enter information on a specified personal goal, and the app automatically schedules the activity at optimal times.

Selling Your Business? Stop Leaving Money on the Table

2017-05-24T03:44:00.000+01:00

Key Highlights

Current market conditions are prime for selling a business. The market is experiencing high multiples due to plentiful dry powder held by private equity firms, record amounts of cash held by strategic corporate buyers, a low interest rate environment, and high prices for publicly-traded equities.
The time it takes to sell generally ranges from five to twelve months. The determining factors around timing include the size of your business and the dynamic balance between buyers and sellers in the market.
Valuations are more of an art than a science. The best business valuation methods typically involve cash-flow. Still, the three most commonly utilized valuation calculations are the discounted cash flow, market multiples, and asset valuation.
The best practices for maximizing shareholder value include the following:
- Make sure the business can thrive without you. You need a management team or key employees that can continue to drive cash flow, especially if you plan to exit the business or will have limited involvement in day-to-day operations. You should also broaden your customer base so that the business is not at risk if a couple key customers leave post-sale.
- Learn the dynamics driving acquisitions in your industry. Many business owners spend their time focused on keeping the business running instead of devoting energy to planning for its sale. Stay apprised of the motivations for financial and strategic buyers in your industry, as this can help you negotiate a higher exit value.
- Hire the right advisors. Don’t do it alone. An experienced M&A advisor can market your company to a larger group of potential buyers than you can access on your own. Early engagement of an independent valuation specialist can provide a market check on valuation and allow you to incorporate value drivers into your pre-sale planning.
- Examine and adjust operational efficiencies strategically. If necessary, it could be worth adopting efficient operating procedures before the sale. This may involve investments in new equipment or technology or changes in staffing.
- Factor tax considerations into sale decisions. Decisions around how to sell your business (merger, sale of stock, sale of assets) should consider tax implications carefully. It is also important to anticipate changes in tax law.

Investing in the Sale

For many business owners, their business represents the culmination of their life’s work and a primary source of wealth. The reasons leading one to sell a business can vary—perhaps a competitor has presented you with an unsolicited, lucrative offer. Or, perhaps you are simply ready to retire. Regardless of your motivation, the sale process can prove to be complex, with considerations including the right time to sell, whether or not to employ advisors, which business valuation method to use, and how to maximize the valuation. Therefore, when thinking about how to sell a business, you will want to maximize the value through a combination of planning and timing. Building a solid exit plan can take several years, and business owners ideally should start planning for a sale 3-5 years before they wish to transition out. You’ve invested in growing your business. When it comes time to sell your business, you must do the same.

The following analysis will help you understand the current acquisition market environment, how long it takes to sell businesses (small and large), other major considerations during the sale, how an accurate price is determined, and how to maximize acquisition value.

Current Market Conditions for Selling a Business

Currently, with acquisition multiples at a record high, market conditions are optimal for selling a business. According to PitchBook, the median EV/EBITDA multiple hit 10.8x in 1Q 2017, a significant difference from the 8.1x multiple in 2010.

The following factors have converged to create a robust market for acquisitions with high acquisition multiples:

Record “Dry Powder” Held by Private Equity Firms

Research company Preqin reports dry powder for private equity buyout funds of $530 billion at the end of 1Q2017, a significant increase from the recent low of approximately $350 billion at the end of 2012. Further, new fundraising by private equity fund managers shows no signs of slowing. In the early part of 2017, Apollo was seeking $20 billion for a new fund, and KKR had raised $13.9 billion for its new fund.

Strategic Corporate Buyers are Holding Record Amounts of Cash

According to Factset, US corporations held $1.54 trillion in cash reserves as of the end of 3Q2016, the highest total in at least ten years, and a dramatic increase from the $700+ billion figure reported in 2007. Of this, much is held overseas, and if repatriated, a portion may be used for acquisitions.

For a strategic buyer, acquisitions can deploy cash reserves and generate returns in excess of corporate treasury bank accounts and investments. Corporations also seek acquisitions that create operating efficiencies or bolster their position in consolidating industries. Consequently, strategic buyers often pay a premium for acquisitions compared to financial buyers such as private equity firms.

Low Interest Rate Environment

Those interested in selling a business benefit from low interest rates, as they directly affect acquisition prices. Duff & Phelps, which publishes a widely-used study of the cost of equity capital, incorporates the ten-year trailing rate on the 20-year Treasury bond in its benchmark figure. The 3.5% figure reflects the low yields of the last ten years. Duff & Phelps’ comparable rate at the end of 2008 was 4.5%. At the same time, the equity risk premium also decreased, from 6.0% to 5.5%.

High Prices for Publicly-traded Equities

Business values are often determined with reference to public equities, and with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ at or near record levels, those looking to sell a business benefit from a comparable increase in prices.

All of these factors have led to an acquisition market ideal for selling a business. Large acquisitions have recently been made for eye-popping prices. Over the past year:

JAB Holding Company offered to acquire Panera Bread for $7.5 billion, approximately 19.5x Panera’s EBITDA according to Nation’s Restaurant News.
Private equity owned Petsmart acquired pet product site Chewy in the largest acquisition of a VC-backed internet retailer. Chewy is one of the fastest-growing eCommerce retailers on the planet.
Unilever acquired Dollar Shave Club in 2016 for $1 billion, paying 6.67x 2015 sales and 5x projected 2016 sales.

Despite these favorable conditions, selling a business still requires advance planning and thought. Numerous factors can positively or negatively affect the value of your business. Addressing these issues early can be beneficial when it comes time to sell.

How Long Does Selling a Business Take?

The duration of the sale process varies. One determining factor is the size of your company. As of the end of 2016, the median time a small business was on the market was a little over 5 months (160 days), down from a peak of 200 days in mid-2012. For larger companies, the sale process can take between 5 and 12 months, as indicated below.

As a business valuation expert, my experience is much the same. The owner of a larger business is more likely to employ a M&A advisor to sell the business, and the advisor is more likely to conduct an auction process to maximize the business value. In addition, as the business becomes more complex, the involvement of more people can lengthen the due diligence process. I have led due diligence teams in large acquisitions where we regularly conducted meetings with as many as fifteen people, including specialists from various departments. Inevitably, inboxes became crowded and the frequency of meetings increased. It became more difficult to ensure that everybody involved was on the same page.

The time it takes to sell your business is also based on the dynamic balance of business sellers and business buyers in the market. The importance of this is particularly pronounced in the small business acquisition market, as seen in the chart below. In 2012, fewer buyers had the resources to buy a business, and acquisition financing from banks and other lenders was still negatively affected by the 2008 financial crisis. As the number of buyers and availability of financing increased, the demand by buyers increased, and median time to sell a business decreased.

Considerations in Determining When to Sell Your Business

Your Motivations for Selling

In general, the value of a business is equal to the sum of all expected future cash flows. When the value of the offer is greater than your projected future value of the firm, it’s time to sell.

“Value” can have many meanings. For one, the business may hold financial or strategic value that makes it compelling to an acquirer. Alternately, the business owner may have other financial uses for the sale proceeds—if the return on the alternative investment is higher than on the business, it’s also time to sell.

However, there can be non-financial motivations for selling a business. I frequently see business owners who have spent a significant portion of their lives building a business and are simply ready to move on to the next venture. Others sell for lifestyle reasons: a former client sold several businesses over 20+ years to fund his travels around the world. Had he agreed to stay with these companies post-sale, he would have received higher valuations. Still, the flexibility to travel and pursue adventures remained his priority.

This is consistent with seller surveys. According to a 2016 survey, the top motivation for small business owners to sell their businesses was retirement (40%), followed by burnout (21%) and the desire to own a bigger business (20%).

Business Growth

Above all else, a buyer wants assurance that the cash flows paid for will be realized after the sale. Selling a business will be easier, and the value received by shareholders maximized, if the business is growing and profitable. The ideal time at which to sell a business is when cash flow, growth, and consequent valuations are going to peak. When a seller or buyer anticipates a decline in the rate of growth, it could result in a significant drop in value. As you might expect, this is not a recommended time to pursue a sale.

The importance of growth to business value and sale timing can be illustrated by the Constant (Gordon) Dividend Growth Model: Value of the Stock = Dividend / (Required Rate of Return - Expected Dividend Growth Rate)

Let’s apply this formula to an example. If a business pays $1 million in dividends, and the required rate of return is 13.5%, a business that has no dividend growth, all other factors held constant, would be worth approximately $7.4 million. On the other hand, if the same business is expected to grow 1% per year, the value increases to $8 million. For a company that does not pay dividends, the same principle can be applied to cash flow. In this example, each percent increase in expected growth leads to an 8% increase in value.

Tax Considerations

Just as the legal form of business at a business’ inception is determined by tax considerations, when it comes time to sell a business, the choice among a merger, sale of stock, or sale of assets should also factor in tax implications.

For example, a sale of assets will likely result in capital gain or loss treatment, whereas an employment agreement results in ordinary income and is taxed at a higher rate. Even in a sale of assets, you should allocate the purchase price among assets in a tax-efficient manner. An allocation to inventory or short-lived assets will typically result in more favorable tax treatment than an allocation to real property or goodwill.

Even expectations of a change in the US tax laws can impact the sale of businesses. If the current presidential administration were likely to simplify the tax code and decrease the capital gains tax rate, business owners would likely wait to sell. When I’ve experienced cases such as these, the running joke among M&A professionals was that business sellers would likely live on artificial life support in order to survive into the new tax year and reap higher net proceeds.

Buyer Motivations

The market for acquisitions is dynamic. An owner or manager seeking to sell a business should be aware of industry-specific developments and direct their selling efforts to leverage those trends.

In my acquisitions work for an insurance company, our growth strategy was to acquire companies in markets that were overseas and less competitive. We also focused on acquisitions that would add internet sales to our existing team of insurance agents. Some of our competitors were seeking similar acquisitions. Business owners aware of those industry dynamics were able to develop a business sale strategy based on these dynamics, maximizing shareholder value.

Here are additional examples of industry-specific strategies:

A fast-growing business in a slow-growth industry should focus on strategic buyers seeking high growth. In May 2016, food company Hormel paid $286 million for Justin’s, a fast-growing producer of organic nut butters.
Companies with a younger customer base can be good acquisitions for established companies in the same space. Wal-Mart recently sought to expand its customer base to younger consumers by spending $200 million on eCommerce startups with direct-to-consumer models, including Jet.com, Moosejaw, Shoebuy, and ModCloth.
For private equity buyers, businesses that lead to increased sales, lowered overhead, and increased gross margins continue to be attractive. These buyers are attracted to assets with considerable scope for optimization and efficiency enhancements.
For strategic buyers, decisions about capital investments are often made by comparing build vs. buy options. A business that enables a strategic buyer to reach its financial or strategic goals will always have a pool of potential acquirers.

The Value of Advisors

In selling a business, you may be tempted to cut costs and undertake the task alone. However, the utilization of experienced M&A lawyers is always advisable, as contracts allocate the risk of the transaction between parties, and often contain detailed financial terms. Retaining an M&A advisor can also lead to a higher price for the sale of a business. Additional advisors such as accountants or technology and human resource specialists can also add value in specific situations.

As a financial consultant, I worked with a business owner who initially attempted to sell his business on his own by generating his own list of competitors and other potential buyers. After failing, he assembled a team of lawyers and M&A advisors late in the process. Ultimately, this unsuccessful sales attempt tarnished the sale process and raised questions about the value of the business, ultimately leading to a 25% lower sale price. In addition, the owner, who was originally interested in remaining with the business post-sale, was forced to sell to a financial buyer with a different strategic vision. He was soon forced out of the company. Though this was an extreme case, I cannot overstate the importance of building out an experienced team of advisors.

Financial Intermediaries

The two types of financial intermediaries include a) M&A advisors, and b) business brokers.

Business brokers are generally involved in the sale of smaller firms (typically with values of under $5 million). Many business brokers list businesses for sale in an online database with basic information but do not proactively call potential acquirers. With transactions of this size, the broker faces more difficulty “fully marketing” the transaction and contacting a large number of potential strategic and financial buyers. Compared to business brokers, M&A advisors handle larger transactions and engage in more pre-transaction business planning. They also contact a wider variety and larger number of potential buyers.

The Benefits of Using a Financial Intermediary Include:

Reduced time and attention necessary from the business owner. The process of selling a business can often last between six and twelve months. Most business owners don’t have the time or ability to supervise each stage of the process without diverting needed attention away from current business operations.
Buffer between buyer and seller. This is especially important in situations where the seller of the business is seeking to keep its plans confidential; an intermediary can solicit interest on a “no-names” basis.
A level playing field between novice sellers and experienced buyers. Especially with financial buyers or active strategic buyers, the difference in knowledge of the acquisition process can be vast. Private equity buyers can buy dozens of businesses each year, and the most active strategic buyers, such as Google, can acquire 10+ companies in a year. A business owner selling a business will have trouble competing in knowledge.
Network of potential buyers and knowledge of marketing pitches. An experienced financial intermediary with a strong network and marketing knowledge is well-positioned to generate interest in your business. If successful, the price at which you can sell your business will be enhanced by creating competition among buyers in an auction process.
Experience with the due diligence process and legal documentation. The due diligence process whereby buyers examine the books and records of the business being sold, can be too time-consuming and complex a task for business owners to undertake themselves. In addition, experienced financial intermediaries help create a transaction structure and collaborate with attorneys on legal documentation.

The Drawbacks of Using a Financial Intermediary Include:

Price

Financial intermediaries can either charge a fixed transaction fee, a retainer, or both. The business seller will also be responsible for the expenses of the intermediary.

Business broker fees are generally in the range of 10% of the acquisition price. They typically do not charge a retainer, and fees are only paid upon the sale of the business.
Fees for M&A advisors vary more widely. The fixed transaction fee for selling a business generally starts in the $40-60,000 range, and many advisors base their “success fees” on the “Double Lehman” formula: 10% of first $1 million of transaction value, 8% of second $1 million, 6% of the third $1 million, 4% of the fourth $1 million, and 2% of everything above that. According to a 2016 survey, typical middle market transaction fees were as follows (based on percentage of transaction value):
- $10 million 3.5% – 5%
- $50 million 2% – 3%
- $100 million 1% – 1.5%
- $250 million 0.75% – 1%

You should align your incentives with those of the intermediary. If an advisor’s retainer is disproportionately high, their incentive to complete a deal is lessened. In these cases, the business owner should resist fee arrangements that include a relatively large up-front fee. On the other hand, if the “success fee” is disproportionately high and the advisor only receives significant compensation upon a sale, it creates an incentive for the advisor to complete a deal—even a bad one.

Disclosure of sensitive information

An M&A advisor may contact hundreds of potential buyers and circulate confidential business information in an effort to create a robust auction and maximize business value. The mere disclosure that the business owner is considering a sale can significantly impact customers, competitors, and employees. An experienced advisor can limit the risk of confidential information being disclosed.

Independent Valuation Experts

Retaining an independent valuation expert can maximize value, especially when used in conjunction with an M&A advisor. With a large percentage of M&A advisor fees being paid only if a transaction closes, the M&A advisor experiences an inherent conflict of interest. That is, a business cheaply valued will sell more quickly than one that is fully valued. An independent valuation expert provides the business owner with a second opinion and a market check.

As with employing a financial intermediary, the downside of retaining an independent business valuation expert is price. They can also lengthen the sale process. For many businesses, an appraisal can cost between $3,000 and $40,000 and take 4-6 weeks, although more cost-effective options are available for smaller companies. Valuations of larger or more complicated business can take months and be far more costly.

Legal Advisors

The involvement of experienced merger and acquisition lawyers is critical. After all, structuring a business sale transaction and negotiating the documents are exercises in risk allocation. These documents ensure that the seller will receive the full amount owed to them and will have limited liability post-sale, while also ensuring that buyers receive the value from the acquisition.

To counter typical buyer protection provisions such as representations and warranties or noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements, experienced legal advisors can help you obtain favorable terms and secure protections for you. This is especially important if you are selling to a business of much larger size, which would inherently have more negotiating power.

Determining the Right Price

Over the years, I’ve come to find that business valuation is as much art as science, as evidenced by the fact that 27% of business sale transactions don’t close. Of those that don’t close, 30% fail because of a gap in valuation. However, experts generally agree that there are three primary methods of business valuation: discounted cash flow, market multiples, and asset valuation.

While all of these methods can prove useful in the right situation, valuing earnings or cash flow will generally provide a more accurate view of the value of the business being sold. Even better, a business owner selling a business knows of an identical business that has been recently sold and knows the price that it has been sold at.

Discounted Cash Flow and Capitalization of Earnings Methods

Absent a recent comparable business sale for benchmarking, discounted cash flow or capitalization of earnings valuation methods can be utilized. On one hand, discounted cash flow models are typically used to model growing businesses, and they estimate pro forma projected cash flows for a reasonable period into the future. These are then discounted back to the present using a market-derived discount rate. Capitalization of earnings models, on the other hand, are used for businesses where future growth is difficult to estimate. This method’s valuations take pro forma earnings and divide them by a capitalization rate.

The pro formas are adjusted for unusual or nonrecurring events and are intended to normalize the numbers. For example, with private companies, it’s not uncommon for executive compensation to vary from industry standards. The model should be adjusted to reflect compensation levels that would be more typical. Similarly, private companies may have contracts with other companies also owned by the owner, and the pro formas should include adjustments if those contracts vary from industry norms.

It is important to note that the appropriate discount rate can be difficult to determine. The discount rate always starts with the “risk-free rate,” a long-term US Treasury bond, and is adjusted upward to take into account the extra risk of buying a business. An equity risk premium is then considered, available from sources such as Duff & Phelps, and may create an additional premium for a smaller company or a company in a more uncertain industry. On top of those adjustments, the discount rate may be adjusted even higher on the basis of “rule of thumb” estimates that the business appraiser believes are appropriate to determine the true risk of the company.

Market Multiples

The starting point for a market multiple valuation is a public company in the same industry. Multiples such as price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, price-to-EBITDA, and price-to-book are widely available from sources such as Bloomberg and Google Finance. The multiples for the public companies are then applied to the appropriate data for the business being valued. Adjustments to the resulting number are then applied to account for the difference in liquidity between publicly traded stock, which can be sold easily, and a controlling interest in a company, especially if it’s privately held.

Though high public comparables are great for owners selling their business, they may not reflect the actual value of the company. This is because the prices for public stocks are strongly influenced by general stock market sentiment and investor enthusiasm for sectors that are currently in favor. For example, a technology company will currently have higher market multiples than companies with similar business prospects because of keen investor interest in stocks in the technology sector. In addition, business valuation experts relying on market multiples often find it difficult to develop an appropriate group of public companies. A business valuation that starts with a broad group of comparable companies may not truly reflect the value of the company being sold.

Asset Valuation

The asset valuation method of valuing a company being sold is generally limited to holding companies or asset-rich companies since the value of a business’ assets have little to do with the company’s future cash flow generation. In the case of a holding company, the value of the company is made up of a collection of other corporations or equity or debt investments. Each asset may have its own policy about cash flow distributions to the holding company, so a discounted cash flow valuation is meaningless.

However, exceptions exist with energy or commodity companies. In the case of natural resource companies, cash flow is important, but the value is ultimately determined by the company’s assets underneath the ground. Similarly, a gold company may provide cash to its owners on a regular basis, but its gold is the most important value driver. The price of gold decreasing from $1,850 per ounce in 2011 to $1,200 per ounce in 2017 will outweigh any change in dividend policy by management.

Maximizing Shareholder Value

A significant portion of businesses that are offered for sale eventually don’t sell. As mentioned previously, one of the major causes is the gap between what the owner believes the business is worth and the price the buyer is willing to pay. Oftentimes, this is because an owner has focused too much on business operations, and not done enough to research or plan for its eventual sale. To avoid this issue, implement the following best practices:

Create a Deep Management Team

The common advice for employees is to “make yourself indispensable”—that is, contribute so much that you become irreplaceable by others. However, for business owners, the best course of action is the opposite: you should ensure that the rest of the team can operate without you. Though you may have been the main point of contact with key customers for years, consider delegating and transitioning these relationships to your team. Otherwise, if and when you leave, there is no guarantee that these clients will stay with the company. The risk of losing important sources of revenue or supply can significantly reduce a purchase price or lead to a failed transaction.

Examine and Adjust Operational Efficiencies Strategically

Examine your current business practices and, if necessary, adopt efficient operating procedures before the sale. This may involve investments in new equipment or technology, or it may mean adding or reducing staff. For example, buyers will be less interested in a business that diverts the time of highly-compensated employees towards tasks that can be done more cost-effectively by others.

I have been involved in many transactions where the pro forma financials and resulting purchase price are adjusted to account for needed or excess employees. If a buyer senses a risk that efficiencies and cost savings are not achievable, they will adjust the purchase price downward. Therefore, implementing these measures before a sale reduces can help justify a higher valuation.

Broaden Your Customer Base

For most businesses, sales revenue dictates the majority of its value. Buyers will always examine the business’ customer base and evaluate the risk of customers leaving after the sale. For businesses with a concentrated customer base, the risk of losing of one or two customers can place downward pressure on the purchase price. You should broaden the customer base to reduce reliance on a small number of key customers.

Alternatively, if you are heavily reliant on a single distribution channel, diversifying the distribution of products or services can also help maximize value. Multiple sources of revenue are always going to lead to a higher valuation.

Build Out Robust Financial Reports and Systems

Buyers need to rely on accurate financial statements and systems to assess the financial performance of a business. I’ve seen many large and complex businesses lack robust accounting and financial processes, relying too heavily on basic financial systems. This represents a risk to buyers. Ultimately, if the buyer can’t rely on the seller’s numbers, the buyer will either adjust the purchase price downward or cancel the transaction completely.

Buyers prefer seller financial statements that are audited by a high-quality, independent, auditing firm. Many business owners use local accounting firms when they start their businesses, and stay with them as the business grows. As a result, the numbers may not properly incorporate procedures that would be used by a larger firm specializing in business accounting. The inability to provide comprehensive and professionally-prepared statements to a buyer might reduce the value of the company.

This article originally appeared on Toptal

Meet Robocop, World's First Robot Police

2017-05-23T21:18:00.003+01:00

Just as illustrated on cinemas wayback 1987 and 2014, “Robocop,” is the newest member of the Dubai police force, debuted on Sunday at the Fourth Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference, where it greeted guests.

Gulf Information Security Expo & Conference is a 3 day event being held from 21st to 23rd May 2017 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This event showcases products like space to security systems and technologies, security services, security alerts and earning systems and all associated with the security industry etc. in the Industrial Products, Telecom Products & Equipment industries.

At about 70 inches tall and weighing nearly 220 pounds, Robocop seeks to engage with residents and tourists. Featuring an “emotion detector,” the robot can recognize a person’s gestures and body language from nearly 5 feet away. Robocop’s skills don’t stop there -- the emotionally intelligent bot can detect if a person is happy, sad and even angry by studying his or her facial expression. And just like your human friends would do, if Robocop sees you’re unhappy, it will try to lift your spirits.

More importantly, when it comes to fighting crime, the robot uses the internet of things, artificial intelligence and other smart technologies to spot offenders using facial recognition. Its navigation skills grant it the ability to map out areas and travel on its own.

A machine with no soul to "protect and serve" living beings-- what can go wrong? Do you think Dubai is overdue for a cleansing?

Post Idea Initiated from The Entrepreneur

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What Is Hindering You From Getting Promoted At Work?

2017-05-23T19:56:00.000+01:00

Career progression is a major key in every job you spend time and efforts on. The ultimate nightmare is to be stuck in the same job, doing the same thing at the same pay for the rest of your life, as costs around you continue to rise.
So why has your career been progressing so slowly? What is hindering you from getting that promotion year after year? Here are five reasons that could be causing your bosses to withhold those promotions.

1. Your boss just doesn’t like you

I’m sure you’re a wonderful person who’s loved by many. But if your boss isn’t part of your legion of fans, that can seriously stagnant your career progress. If your workplace is intensely political and your boss is someone who practises favouritism and will only promote those he personally likes, you might be fighting a losing battle by staying on

2. You’re underperforming

Just because your friend got promoted after 2 years doesn’t mean you can expect the same treatment. Performance does matter when you’re being considered for a promotion, and if you’ve been underperforming in the eyes of your boss, don’t expect much. Issues arise when you and your boss have a different idea of what constitutes performing well.

Your boss might think you’re underperforming because you leave at 6pm every day, while you might think you’re doing great because it shows you’re efficient. Have a talk with your boss at least once a year so you know exactly what his criteria are.

3. Choosing Popularity Over Respect

“If everyone likes you, then nobody likes you.” This means that the only way to be popular with everyone is to avoid taking a meaningful stance on anything. Once you abandon wishy-washiness by demonstrating that you have something to offer, you will earn the respect that will drive your career forward.

Yes, there may be some at work who disagree. But working through conflicts is a part of having a successful career. Don’t hold yourself back by trying to please everyone at the expense of sharing your own opinions and ideas.

4. Always Putting Work First

We all make choices every day, and true balance means that sometimes your personal life has to take precedence. Working 80 hours a week may appear to be productive and career-enhancing, but the day you run out of steam won’t be a good one for anyone.

Instead of burning yourself out trying to meet your own perfectionist expectations, focus on a few key priorities, work to accomplish them when your energy is naturally highest, and let other people help you. Creating a calendar that lists all of your work and personal activities in one place can help ensure that you’re properly managing your balance and making smarter decisions about it.

5. Painting A Vivid Picture

Keeping your supervisor’s interests in mind, paint a clear picture of what the future could hold. Why would everyone’s lives be better if you got your promotion? Seriously, make the case for how you would be better equipped to do more for them.

This isn’t about you paying down your student loans, this is about you helping further the mission of the organization. Pitch them on what you’d want to do more, better, or differently in your new role. Emphasize the mutual benefits of your expanded role - not just a raise and title bump for you.

Keep in mind, losing you as an employee is costly. Turnover is tough in a competitive hiring market. But by keeping the focus on all the benefits you’d (continue to) bring to the role, you’re also painting a picture of what your employer could miss if they lose you to an outside offer.

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The Truth About Website Speed Evolution

2017-05-21T21:51:00.001+01:00

A key part of fixing web speed is a programming movement called progressive web apps, or PWAs, that Google helped develop and that it's now promoting at its Google I/O developer conference. With PWAs, using the web can be a lot more like using a native app. Websites load fast, work even when there's no network connection, and notify you when a message arrives.

Progressive Web App (PWA) is a term used to denote web apps that uses the latest web technologies. Progressive web apps are technically regular web pages (or websites) but can appear to the user like traditional applications or (native) mobile applications. This new application type attempts to combine features offered by most modern browsers with the benefits of mobile experience.

Google I/O (simply I/O) is an annual developer conference held by Google in San Francisco, California. I/O showcases technical in-depth sessions focused on building web, mobile, and enterprise applications with Google and open sources such as Android, Chrome and Chrome OS, APIs, Google Web Toolkit, App Engine, and more. I/O was inaugurated in 2008, and is organized by the executive team. "I/O" stands for input/output, as well as the slogan "Innovation in the Open". The event's format is similar to Google Developer Day.

Google is pushing for a faster mobile web experience. Google has tried for years to rehabilitate the web on your phone -- and it now has evidence it says shows the effort is paying off. When you're on your phone, tapping that link in Facebook to a news story or opening the browser to look up movie times can be a wince-inducing process. Even on a fast network with a high-end phone, the web today can be painfully slow and hard to use.

Google's "progressive" approach to web speed evolution

Don't expect to dump your native apps for progressive web apps. But do expect them to spread.

Roy-Chowdhury unveiled new progressive web app plans at Google I/O on Wednesday.
At the show, he's announcing three steps to try to make PWAs work better.

Firstly, Google's Workbox developer tool is designed to help programmers build PWAs, and its Lighthouse service to test those apps is now built directly into Chrome itself. Lastly, Google has finished Polymer 2.0, a collection of code that developers can use for a related technology called web components.

Twitter loves PWAs

Twitter is a big progressive web app fan. If you visit mobile.twitter.com with your phone, you can try it for yourself.
With a compact 400 kilobyte download size, Twitter Lite is just 2.5 percent the size of the Android app, Twitter said. That's an important consideration for people using slow networks or paying by the byte. It's also easier on phone batteries than the native version, according to the company.
It also fires up quickly -- several seconds faster than the native app, once you've created a home screen icon for it. They're easier to install, too, since all you do is open the web site. It installs its full abilities automatically in the background as you use it.
Chrome and Firefox have built in the foundations for progressive web app technology. Microsoft is building it into its Edge browser -- and into Windows 10 and the Windows Store, moves that should help encourage programmers to embrace PWAs. Illustrating the openness advantages of the web, Microsoft will add PWAs to the Windows Store even without developers having to submit them.

Apple lags

Among major browser makers, Apple is a step behind. That means the full PWA experience isn't an option today on iPhones, in particular because Apple requires other browsers like Chrome and Firefox to use Apple's own browser foundation on its iOS-powered devices.
But even on iOS, app developers are taking what steps they can toward progressive web apps. French perfumier Lancome needed a better e-commerce system for mobile devices and pondered writing a native app, but decided on PWA instead since it expected few people to bother with downloading, installing and launching a sales app.

Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.

The result, according to Google, was 53 percent more people using the mobile website on iOS. On all mobile devices, people were 17 percent more likely to take an action like actually buying something, according to Google's stats.
You might not have a particular passion for Lancome's profitability. But everybody likes technology that responds quickly. So chances are good that even if you don't know how somebody's app was built, you'll like PWAs as much as Lancome.

Post Idea initiated from CNet.com

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Is a Cashless Society the New Reality?

2017-05-18T15:20:00.002+01:00

Key Takeaways

Only have a minute? Here are the salient points from the article:

Many countries (Sweden and India) and regions (EU) are adopting cashless habits or policies. Driven by “contactless” pay technology, increasing digital penetration, costs of using cash, and policy initiatives, the idea of a cashless society is no longer a figment of the imagination.
In the near term, we are likely to witness a transition to less-cash societies, rather than a switch to cashless societies. Cash still accounts for 85% of total consumer transactions globally. Among established alternatives to cash, cards are the fastest growing payment instrument.
Cashless economy pros: increased scope for monetary policy, reduced tax evasion, less crime and corruption, savings on costs of cash, and accelerated modernization of citizens.
Cashless economy cons: potential violation of privacy, increased risk of large scale personal and national security breaches, and technology-dependent financial inclusion.
Migrations to a cashless economy include considerations ranging from the purely financial, to those social in nature. Consequently, a country’s specific technological, financial, and social situations will inform its specific benefits, drawbacks, and approach to such a transition.
Two case studies in the transition to cashless are 1) India, driven by a governmental digitization and demonetization measures, and 2) Sweden, driven by a high-tech culture and digital consumer habits. In Sweden, the government and central bank play facilitatory roles.
Countries best positioned to go cashless include the US, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Czech Republic, China, and Brazil.

Money is Technology. Will it Be Replaced?

From barter to cash to checks to online banking, money is an evolving technology that has been part of human history for thousands of years. While cash is expected to remain a significant payment instrument in the near future, factors such as “contactless” pay systems, increasing mobile penetration, and high costs of cash (ATM fees for individuals, cash storage for businesses, currency printing for governments, etc.) are prompting society to reconsider its ubiquity. Some experts support less-cash operations, arguing that high denomination notes should be phased out as smaller bills slowly fall towards disuse. Others are more extreme, declaring a war on cash and advocating for an outright ban on physical currency.

We conclude that we are likely approaching a less-cash future, not a completely cashless future. And, while progress has been made in this transition, it has hardly been universal or uniform. A migration to a cashless economy includes considerations ranging from the purely financial to those social in nature. Consequently, a country’s specific technological, financial, and social situations will inform its specific benefits, drawbacks, and approach to such a transition.

The following discussion of cashless societies pertains to a shift whereby physical cash is replaced by its digital equivalent. Money will still serve as a unit of account and store of value, but no longer as a physical medium of exchange. This piece delves into current global payment trends, the pros and cons of a cashless society, an analysis of country readiness, and case studies of India and Sweden.

Global Payment Trends

Despite adoption of digital payment methods, global cash use remains high. In fact, cash still accounts for 85% of all consumer transactions globally. Across the world, cash in circulation has remained stable, with the ratio of cash circulation to GDP even increasing across major markets. It continues to be resilient because it provides anonymity and universality to the payer. According to a 2016 report, cash is still expected to remain a significant payment method in the near future. However, services based on immediate payments are more efficient than cash and are expected to accelerate the move to digital payments.

Global non-cash transaction volumes reached 387 billion in 2014, experiencing an unprecedented growth rate of 8.9%. This increase was primarily driven by close to 17% growth in developing markets, compared to 6% in mature markets.

Among established alternatives to cash, cards—debit cards in particular—have been the fastest growing payment instrument since 2010. Meanwhile, check usage has declined consistently for the past thirteen years. More recently, the emergence of mobile card readers, electronic networks for processing large volumes of credit and debit transactions, and digitized private currency have threatened the prevalence of cash.

Though cash will remain prevalent for the foreseeable future, a migration to a cashless society is undoubtedly underway in certain countries. Sweden has long embraced cashless transactions, and the EU has imposed restrictions on large cash payments. In 2014, China had the fourth largest non-cash transaction market by volume, behind only the US, the Eurozone, and Brazil. Financial analysts have estimated that by 2020, eCommerce in China will be worth more than eCommerce in the US, the UK, Japan, Germany, and France combined. So, what are the drivers behind such a major shift?

Pros of a Cashless Society

Increased scope for monetary policy: In normal times, people choose cash’s convenience (at a zero interest rate) over other safe assets offering higher yields. During economic downturns, governments have difficulty stimulating the economy by lowering interest rates, because people choose to hold cash instead. Therefore, due to the existence of paper currency, governments and central banks possess limited power to stimulate economic growth. This is known as the zero lower bound theory.

However, in a cashless society, the inability of consumers to withdraw money from the financial system and store it in physical cash would provide governments and central banks with greater control of the economy through monetary policy. In particular, the unusual solution of a negative interest rate during economic downturns could more effectively be introduced. In a negative interest rate environment, people would pay banks to store their deposits, instead of earning interest on their deposits. This is intended to incentivize banks to lend more. It is also meant to encourage businesses and individuals to invest, lend, and spend money rather than hoard it. In short, a cashless society would enable governments and central banks to more effectively utilize negative interest rates. If -0.5% doesn’t create enough stimulus, perhaps -1% will. If -1% still doesn’t do the trick, then perhaps -3%. In theory, negative interest rates do not have limits to how low they can go. Carnegie Mellon’s Marvin Goodfriend argues in favor of negative interest rates, contending that they would allow central banks to independently pursue monetary policies to stabilize domestic employment and inflation.

Reduced tax evasion: Digital money and money services would bring about increased transparency in transactions, providing governments with enhanced abilities to track and analyze citizens’ financial activities. Ultimately, this would decrease tax evasion and increase tax payouts to the government. A 2016 study conducted by the nonpartisan Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF) studied the effects of electronic payments on tax evasion in Europe. CSEF found that the use of electronic payments such as debit and credit cards reduced tax evasion, and that there was a positive statistical relationship between cash withdrawals and tax evasion.

Though difficult to pinpoint, experts estimate that the tax evasion amounts to between $100 billion and $700 billion a year in the US The IRS estimates that in 2006, taxes not paid voluntarily were over $450 billion, with a gap of $385 billion still remaining after tax collection efforts. These costs would be even higher in Europe, where tax rates are even higher.

Less crime in black markets: The anonymity and untraceability of paper currency facilitates the operations of corrupt activities. In a cashless society, the elimination of this medium of exchange would disrupt their normal operations and force them to rethink their business models. As Peter Sands writes for the Harvard Kennedy School, without high denomination notes, those engaged in illicit activities would face higher costs and greater risks of detection.

The size of the black market, or shadow economy, is substantial. Estimates of its size in the US start at around 8% of GDP . In Europe, where taxes are higher and regulation more onerous, estimates suggest that the size of the underground economy is considerably larger than in the US.

According to Harvard e conomist Kenneth Rogoff, there is an enormous difference between the amount of currency most OECD countries have in circulation, compared to the amount that can be traced to legal usage in domestic economies. Currency not in the domestic legal economy or in the global economy is mainly in the the domestic underground economy. As of March 2013, there was $1.3 trillion US currency in circulation. This translates to around $4,000 for every man, woman and child living in the United States. Further, nearly 78% of the total currency value was in $100 bills, meaning more than thirty $100 bills per person. By contrast, denominations of $10 and under accounted for less than 4% of the total value of currency in use.

Savings on costs of cash: Nations can benefit from the shift to cashless transactions by saving on the cost of cash. These costs of cash include ATM fees for individuals, cash storage and transportation expenses for businesses, and currency printing costs for governments. According to research conducted by the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the aggregate cost of cash in the US is $200 billion annually. The estimated cost of cash is MXN 3-6 billion annually in Mexico, and over Rs 200 billion annually in India.

Proponents claim that cashless transactions and elimination of cash costs can be advantageous for poor individuals and small businesses. These are the parties for which the costs of cash are disproportionately borne. For individuals, cash imposes a regressive tax and impacts the unbanked the most. The unbanked pay four times more in fees to access their money than those with bank accounts, and are at five times higher risk of paying cash access fees on payroll and EBT cards.

For businesses, paper currency must be stored, guarded, and accounted for. Mom-and-pop stores, many of which operate in poor neighborhoods and rural areas, often cannot afford security and cash transportation services. Removing cash from the equation could result in savings for the marginalized. As The Fletcher School’s Bhaskar Chakravorti declares, “It is time we acknowledged the cash paradox: While cash may be considered the poor man’s best friend, it also places a disproportionate burden on the poor.”

Fostering the adoption of new wireless technologies: A cashless society could accelerate the path to digitization, pushing those who might otherwise be reluctant—or previously have no need—to modernize. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, digital finance could provide an additional $2.1 trillion of loans to individuals and small businesses as providers gain improved abilities to assess credit risk for a larger pool of borrowers. Financial services providers would also benefit from a shift from traditional to digital accounts, potentially saving $400 billion annually in servicing fees.

Cons of a Cashless Society

In addition to myriad potential benefits, this transition might be accompanied by several drawbacks:

Violation of privacy: In a cashless society where all money, payments, and money services are digitized, there is concern around “big brother” surveillance activities by the government and organizations seeking to profit from the traceable data. Some opponents of cashless societies view the ability to take one’s ability to spend cash anonymously as central to freedom within society.

Elaine Ou, former lecturer at the University of Sydney, equates a cashless society with the surrendering of individual monetary control to financial institutions. As she articulates in her editorial, “A world without paper money is a world without money. Money belongs to its current holder. It doesn’t matter if a banknote was lost or stolen at some point in the past. Money is current; that’s why it’s called currency! A bank deposit, however, grants custody of money to the bank. An account balance is not actually money, but a claim on money.”

Importantly, a claim on money means that every transaction in a cashless society would have to pass through a financial gatekeeper. If banks and other private institutions hold our money, they would also have the right to refuse transactions at their discretion. Inevitably, then, certain payments would not be given due process. After all, previous attempts to prevent money laundering have sometimes resulted in the removal of financial services access for legitimate individuals, businesses, and charities.

Increased risk of security breach: A cashless society may bring about increased risks to personal and national security. From a personal security standpoint, the risks we already experience when we lose credit cards or our phones would only be exacerbated in an environment without paper currency. Today, becoming a victim of digital hackers can lead to denied payments, identity theft, account takeover, fraudulent transactions and data breaches. These risks would still exist in a cashless society, though the volume of cashless transactions and points of exposure for the average consumer would be much higher. What’s more, without cash reserves in households and businesses, a cyber attack or computer malfunction would leave consumers without a safety net.

From a national security perspective, during financial and global crises, cash has repeatedly demonstrated its importance for consumers and members of society. During the financial crisis of 2008, cash provided a safe haven for consumers. For example, the Australian Reserve Bank experienced a 12% rise in demand for cash in late 2008 in response to the financial uncertainty.

Decreased financial inclusion: While some experts, as mentioned previously, believe a shift to cashless transactions could eliminate the costs of cash for the marginalized, others believe this shift would exacerbate the existing issue of financial inclusion. While utilizing cash is direct and simple, moving to a cashless society would place pressure on these individuals to sign up for formal financial services, something the poorest might be unable to do.

In developing countries, 2.5 billion people do not have access to traditional financial services. Traditional banking infrastructure struggles to serve low-income customers, particularly in rural areas. The issue of financial inclusion also extends to modern countries: in the US and Western Europe, nearly 70 million and 100 million are unbanked, respectively.

A method of combatting these effects is the promotion of mobile connectivity. According to research published by GSMA, mobile phones and mobile banking have been powerful tools for bringing access to payments, transfers, credit, and savings to unbanked people. In conjunction with governmental support and incentives, mobile is uniquely positioned to overcome the challenges of payments: It provides a platform to combine digital identity, digital value, and digital authentication for low-cost access to financial services.

While it may seem counterintuitive for developing countries to have high mobile money services usage, many off-the-grid families and small businesses own basic mobile phones with alphanumeric keypads and black and white display. Another enabling factor includes regulators, who are increasingly recognizing the role that non-bank providers of financial services can play in fostering financial inclusion. Consequently, they are establishing more enabling regulatory frameworks. In 47 out of 89 markets where mobile money is available, regulation allows banks and non-banks to provide mobile money services in a sustainable way. In addition, it would be helpful for governments to promote access to financial services or the technology necessary for the services as a public good, just as it does with education and water.

Currently, 255 mobile money services are now live across 89 countries, and the number of registered mobile money accounts globally also grew to around 300 million in 2014. Globally, there are now fifteen countries with more mobile money accounts than bank accounts, indicating that mobile money is a key enabler of financial inclusion.

A successful example of mobile in emerging markets is M-Pesa, which is transforming the financial landscape in Kenya. Launched in 2007 by large mobile network operators, the service allows users to deposit money into an account stored in their cell phone, to send balances via SMS text messages to other users, including retailers, and to redeem deposits for cash. It is considered to be a branchless banking service, whereby customers can withdraw and deposit money with an extensive network of agents that act as banking agents. In 2014, there were 81,000 M-Pesa agents in Kenya alone. To better understand the penetration of the service, consider the following: M-Pesa is used by 17 million Kenyans, equivalent to more than two-thirds of the adult population, and around 25% of the country’s GDP flows through it. M-Pesa has also launched in India, Albania, Romania, and multiple African countries.

The above benefits and drawbacks can help us understand the reasoning behind a country’s decision to go cashless, or the timing at which a country may go cashless. Let us now examine which countries are currently best positioned to adopt cashlessness.

Which Countries Are Best Positioned to Go Cashless?

According to the Harvard Business Review, the first major consideration is the aggregate cost of cash, which will identify the countries with the most to gain from the change. The cost of cash is derived from: 1) The cost of ATM maintenance for banks, 2) Cost of cash to consumers, including the costs of obtaining cash, such as transport to ATMs and ATM fees, and 3) The tax gap, which is the estimated amount of tax money owed to the government but goes uncollected or unreported due to cash transactions.

The map below represents these aggregate costs of cash. A caveat in its interpretation: Countries indicated with “low” costs are not necessarily closer to being cashless societies. The map simply indicates that the costs of cash in these countries are relatively lower than other countries.

Here is a breakdown of cost of cash categories, borne by different parties:

ATM maintenance costs borne by banking institutions: These are disproportionately high in many parts of the developing world, such as sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. It is also high in geographically large, sparsely populated countries, such as Canada, Russia, and Australia, where there are many logistics challenges.
The absolute cost of cash to consumers: These costs are high in some of the world’s most populous countries, including Indonesia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, China, and the United States. They are high in many of the major European countries, such as Germany and France, as well as in Japan. These costs are lower in several Scandinavian countries with relatively entrenched mobile payments systems, such as Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, as well as countries with rapidly evolving mobile payment systems, such as South Korea and Kenya.
Tax gap as a cost to governments: Tends to be higher in emerging markets, where shadow economies tend to be larger. In India, for example, the tax gap could be as large as two-thirds of overall taxes owed. The larger the tax gap, the more the country has to gain from a migration to a cashless economy.

The second major consideration in determining a country’s readiness is its level of digital advancement and infrastructure. Developing countries in Asia and Latin America are leading in momentum. They also benefit from ongoing investment, remaining attractive destinations for startups and for private equity and venture capital. On the other hand, most Western and Northern European countries, Australia, and Japan have been slowing down in momentum.

Based upon these factors, the US, Netherlands, Japan, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Czech Republic, China, and Brazil have the greatest potential for unlocking value by policy and innovation led migration to a cashless society.

Clearly, various regions have different benefits to consider and are at varying levels of readiness for a cashless economy. The following section details case studies of two countries already experiencing such a transition. The first country we explore is India, whose transition has largely been propelled by the government. The second country we examine is tech-forward Sweden, which has experienced a more natural progression towards a cashless society, prompting the Swedish government’s role to be more of a facilitator.

Spotlight on India’s Demonetization Campaign

India is an interesting case study because of its historical reliance on cash and its lower digital evolution index. Yet, it stands to benefit significantly with regards to financial inclusion, corruption, and relatively high costs of cash. Interestingly, much of the transition has been initiated and driven by the government through both voluntary and involuntary measures. It seems, then, that the Indian government believes the benefits of a cashless society significantly outweigh its potential issues.

A shocking mandate occurred in November 2016, when India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise public address via live television. He announced that after 50 days, all 500 ($7.50) and 1,000 ($15) rupee notes, representing 86% of the currency in circulation, would cease to be legal tender. While citizens were permitted to exchange 500 and 1,000 rupee notes for higher denominations, the government prohibited individuals from exchanging more than 4,000 rupees ($60) at a time.

Prior to the announcement, over 95% of India’s transactions were cash, 90% of vendors did not have means of accepting electronic payment, and nearly half of the population did not have bank accounts. Modi’s ostensible motivation was to reduce corruption, believing that these high denomination notes were used to finance terrorism, fund illegal drug sales, fuel the black market, drive counterfeiting, and pay bribes. Since the announcement, however, the claimed objective of the exercise has transitioned from rooting out black money to modernizing the Indian economy.

Modernization has been a priority for the Indian government in the last decade, during which it has taken several measures to accelerate digitization. In 2009, the government launched Aadhaar to improve digital identity. Then, to provide citizens with bank accounts, the government sanctioned the launch of 11 payment banks, offering incentives to open accounts. When the United Payment Interface launched in 2016 as a way for banks to transfer money directly to one another, the Reserve Bank of India advocated for it. After the demonetization announcement last year, the government introduced incentives for digital purchasing, including discounts on petrol, diesel, and railway season tickets.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the controversial demonetization policy has been met with both pointed criticism and praise. Here are a few details regarding the results:

Effects on citizens: In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, chaos erupted. Long lines formed at ATMs and banks, and altercations broke out as people waited for hours (sometimes for over twelve hours). Often, repeated trips to the bank were necessary. Banks, which also had not been notified of the change, did not have enough of the high denomination notes for the masses looking to redeem their canceled notes.

Monishankar Prasad, a New Delhi-based author, pointed out that the unbanked citizens and the poor were taken off guard. Without access to structural resources, these people were hit hardest.

University of Pennsylvania’s management professor Mauro F. Guillen, however, argues that the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term costs: “In the short term, [the move] could stifle some businesses that are legal and clean, if they use cash payments. But everyone will adjust. And while it can hurt some small businesses and individuals, it is better to do it than not.”

Effects on corruption: It was originally thought that the shadow economy would not be able to exchange or deposit their illicitly-obtained wealth. Theoretically, by having canceled banknotes going unredeemed, the Indian government would then add a large sum of assets on the balance sheet, an amount estimated to be $45 billion. However, even with strict limitations around banknote exchanges, the black market was still able to unload much of their money. It is still being investigated as to how they were able to achieve this, but it seems a variety of tactics were utilized, including cutting deals with corrupt bankers, threatening bank officials, or utilizing inactive bank accounts. India’s Enforcement Directorate has been investigating bank branches throughout the country.

While experts acknowledge that the move could create a temporary obstacle in black economy operations, many question its efficacy as a long-term solution. They assert that certain trades and areas cannot be digitized just by willing it. Others warn that it is only a matter of time until the black market utilizes alternative financing techniques such as the US dollar or the pound sterling.

Effects on digitization and modernization: As expected, Modi’s demonetization campaign has proved to be a boon for the country’s e-payment providers. For example, Paytm reported a 3x surge in new users while Oxigen Wallet’s daily average users increased by 167% since demonetization began.

Market and political response: The market has downgraded India’s growth in the short term, but is optimistic that they will be outweighed by the long-term benefits. In December 2016, S&P Global Ratings decreased its estimated economic growth rate for 2016-17 by one full percentage point to 6.9% to reflect the disruption. However, Dharmakirti Joshi, Chief Economist of Crisil, a subsidiary of S&P Global, noted that, “We expect lower private consumption in fiscal 2017, but expect demand to revive and growth to rebound in fiscal 2018. India should shortly revert back to an 8% annual growth trajectory.” The Wall street Journal similarly comments that while GDP growth slowed as a result of the demonetization policy, “India is expected to remain one of the world’s fastest-growing large economies.”

In addition, the March 2017 victory of the BJP party, of which Modi is a part, is viewed by some as an endorsement of Modi’s groundbreaking demonetization policy. The stock markets rallied at the prospect of the BJP victory. The next trading day, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index (Sensex) shot up 496 points (1.71%). The National Stock Exchange 50-share index also closed at more than 9,000 for first time in history.

Spotlight on Sweden

Next, we move onto Sweden, a country with lower costs of cash and advanced digital infrastructure. Unlike India, consumers’ habits and the markets have largely dictated the transition to a cashless society, with the government and central bank (Riksbank) helping to facilitate the change. Sweden is also one of the first countries to adopt a negative interest rate, leveraging its citizens’ cashless preferences to stimulate the economy.

The Swedes are notorious for their embrace of technology and cashless transactions. Swedish buses and the Stockholm metro do not accept cash, and retailers are legally entitled to refuse coins and notes. Street vendors and even churches increasingly prefer electronic payment. Hooked on the convenience of digital money, cash transactions made up a mere 2% of the value of all payments in Sweden last year. In shops, cash is now used for less than 20% of transactions, half the number five years ago and significantly below the global average of 75%. When it comes to alternative payment methods, Swedes use cards three times as often as the average European, yielding an average of 207 payments per card in 2015. Preferring to pay digitally, Swedes have low demand for cash, which is dropping at a rate of 20% a year. As a result, about 900 of Sweden’s 1,600 bank branches no longer keep cash on hand or take cash deposits. Cash machines are being dismantled, especially in rural areas. Circulation of the Swedish krona has fallen from around 106 billion in 2009 to 80 billion last year.

Taking note of its citizens’ preferences, the central bank and other major banks jointly created the popular digital wallet Swish to enable payments between bank accounts in real time. Riksbank’s involvement in Swish’s creation and the credibility it lends to the service, has been critical to Swish’s success. Swish is now used by close to half of the Swedish population. In addition, capitalizing upon its citizens’ embrace of technology and cashless transactions, Sweden is one of the first countries to have its central bank adopt a negative nominal interest rate. Earlier this year, in a continuous battle against deflation, the Riksbank held its nominal interest rate at negative 0.5% and stressed chances of further cuts. Although retail banks have yet to utilize negative interest rates, it may only be a matter of time until they do so.

For individual consumers, the move towards cashlessness has led to a number of complex issues. Last year, the number of electronic fraud cases reached 140,000, which represents more than double the amount more than a decade ago. In addition, there is concern that the ease of electronic payments in combination with negative interest rates are driving soaring debt burdens. Their fears are not unfounded, as Swedish household debt is at an all-time high, with the average Swedish household debt to disposable income metric at a record high of 180%. Sweden is also currently experiencing a housing crisis; money is so cheap to borrow that the Swedes are funneling cash into property.

Critics also point to concerns that pensioners in Sweden who use cash may be marginalized and excluded; only 50% of Swedish National Pensioners’ Organisation members use cash-cards everywhere. Perhaps for these reasons, cash is not dead—Swedish central bank Riksbank predicts it will decline quickly, but will still be circulating in twenty years.

The Paths to a Cashless World Are Many and Varied

A cashless society is no longer just a figment of the imagination. While cash still reigns globally on aggregate, progress towards cashlessness is particularly pronounced in specific countries. Additionally, it is clear that there is no “one size fits all” blanket solution for such a major shift. Because the migration involves technological, financial, and social considerations, we can expect each country to select an approach according to their unique positioning and capabilities.

Regardless of approach, the transition to digital money and money services will have profound implications on some of the most basic aspects of society. This great change presents opportunities for governments to improve issues surrounding income inequality and poverty, and opportunities for entrepreneurs to create innovative, disruptive businesses.

This post originally appeared on Toptal

What is An Open Source Software?

2017-04-02T16:58:00.002+01:00

While providing free software is obviously good for consumers, it still costs money to develop. Very few companies are able to live on donations and sponsorships. And with fierce competition from proprietary software vendors, growing R&D costs, and ever-increasing marketing requirements, providing a “free” product necessitates a sustainable path to market success.

As a result of the above, a commonly seen structure related to OSS projects is the following: A “parent” commercial company that is the key contributor to the OSS project provides support to users, maintains the product, and defines the product strategy.
Wiki defined OSS as:

Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose. Open-source software may be developed in a collaborative public manner. According to scientists who studied it, open-source software is a prominent example of open collaboration.

Latched on to this are the monetization strategies, the most common being the following:

Is OSS An Investable Business Model or Not?

Just as posted by NATALLIA CHYKINA on Toptal's post:

Open-source software (OSS) is a catalyst for growth and change in the IT industry, and one can’t overestimate its importance to the sector. Quoting Mike Olson, co-founder of Cloudera, “No dominant platform-level software infrastructure has emerged in the last ten years in closed-source, proprietary form.”

Apart from independent OSS projects, an increasing number of companies, including the blue chips, are opening their source code to the public. They start by distributing their internally developed products for free, giving rise to widespread frameworks and libraries that later become an industry standard (e.g., React, Flow, Angular, Kubernetes, Tensor Flow, V8, to name a few).

Adding to this momentum, there has been a surge in venture capital dollars being invested into the sector in recent years. Several high profile funding rounds have been completed, with multimillion dollar valuations emerging.

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'People Are Scared To Hire Me' - Here's the Reason

2017-03-25T06:13:00.004+01:00

“I am an innocent victim of somebody else’s crimes,” he said. Numerous people in Iraq were also given the name Saddam Hussein in tribute to the fifth President of Iraq, who ruled from
1979 until he was deposed by the Allied coalition in 2003. He was executed by hanging in 2006 after being convicted of crimes against humanity. An Indian engineer has claimed he has been rejected from 40 jobs because he shares a name with the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein (whose name is spelt slightly differently) has now gone to court to change his name to Sajid, but says he does not blame his grandfather for giving him the dictator's name 25 years ago.
Despite graduating from Tamil Nadu's Norrul Islam University, the marine engineer from Jamshedpur in Kharkhand has said shipping companies have turned him away because of his name.
"People are scared to hire me," he told The Hindustan Times. He said each of his former classmates who qualified as engineers in 2014 have found employment but his name was holding him back.

"I inquired with the HR departments of the companies and some of them told me my name was the problem," he said.

He said they told him having a crew member with that name arouses suspicion and could complicate encounters with immigration officials.
Even after changing his name, Mr Hussain has struggled to find employment.
Although his passport, voter ID and driver licence now carry his new name, prospective employers have asked for his educational certificates which are in his old name.

Good name is indeed so so much better than any other thing on earth. I hope this innocent intelligent engineer finds a good job that will match his qualifications.

Note: The Above Picture is not an illustration of Saddam Hussein. This is not how the graduate looks like in real life, and there is no official picture of him surfaced online yet!

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Cover Image Credits: inparis

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Another Energy Source- The World’s Largest Artificial Sun

2017-03-25T05:59:00.003+01:00

Scientists hope experiment, which can generate temperatures of around 3,500C, will help to develop carbon-neutral fuel. German scientists are switching on “the world’s largest artificial sun” in the hope that intense light sources can be used to generate climate-friendly fuel. According to The guardian

When all the lamps are swivelled to concentrate light on a single spot, the instrument can generate temperatures of around 3,500C – around two to three times the temperature of a blast furnace.

The ultimate aim of the experiment is devise a setup to concentrate natural sunlight and to come up with the optimal setup for concentrating natural sunlight to power a reaction to produce hydrogen fuel.

“We’d need billions of tonnes of hydrogen if we wanted to drive aeroplanes and cars on CO2-free fuel,”- Hoffschmidt

This new energy source will be used to power machines including aeroplanes and motor cars in Germany. Since this artificial sun emits Hydrogen fuel, don't you think it will be a major partner to ozone layer depletion in later future?

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Photo Credit: Picture-Alliance/Barcroft Images for The Guardian

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Blogger launches new Amazing Templates

2017-03-23T09:57:00.001+01:00

Has someone ever told them that their original templates suck. I'm really happy for the new updates on their Templates, having introduced some amazing ones having mobile responsiveness and sharing features.

Just according to Blogger Official Blog:

If you’re one of the millions of people who uses Blogger to share your views on current affairs, teach the world how to make sushi, or just offer a peek into your day, then you know how important it is to be able to put your personal stamp on your blog. After all, your blog isn’t just a place you share, it’s a reflection of who you are and the impression you’d like to leave with your readers.

To make it easier for you to express your unique style, we’ve created a new set of blog themes for you to choose from. Each theme comes in a variety of colors, is fully customizable, and can be added to your blog with just a few clicks.

These themes aren’t only designed to look great, they’re designed to work great too. Each one has been built to automatically adjust to any screen and load quickly, so you can rest assured that your readers will be able to easily see your work whether they’re on a computer, phone or tablet.

The various theme designs and their functions.
Contempo

As good for a photo as it is for a story, Contempo puts a fresh, modern spin on life’s many adventures

View a Sample Blog using The contempo Theme: Here>>

Emporio

From projects to objects, Emporio can take any array of posts and display them in a neat and tidy way.

View a Sample blog using the emporio theme: Here>>

Check out the full details about all new blogger themes:

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Gathered Updates On The Attack In Westminster -

2017-03-23T09:01:00.003+01:00

Turmoil arose in Westminster yesterday as some attack went down there and made some people unsafe.
It was gathered that:

1. Five people, including police officer Keith Palmer, have been confirmed killed and over 40 injured after a sole assailant drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge on March 22. Armed with a knife, he then ran into the Parliament complex before being shot dead by the police. According to security officials, the attack is being treated as a "terrorist incident" until further information surfaces.(Pictured) Met Police boats patrol along the Thames river following the attack.

2. Emergency services at the scene attend to the alleged attacker as two knives (circled) lay on the ground outside the Palace of Westminster.

3. MPs are seen in the Central Lobby during a lock down in the Parliament, A forensic expert at work at the site of attack. Prime Minister Theresa May was in a silver Jaguar, ushered away to safety, from the Houses of Parliament. According to a Downing Street source, the PM is safe.

You can get full details here on Photos
It is advisable to also answer the FaceBook security check : Here

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Blockchain Technology Explained: Powering Bitcoin

2017-03-17T09:33:00.000+01:00

Microsoft recently became the latest big name to officially associate with Bitcoin, the decentralized virtual currency. However, the Redmond company did not go all out, and will only support bitcoin payments on certain content platforms, making up a tiny fraction of its business.

What’s The Big Deal With Bitcoin?

Like most good stories, the bitcoin saga begins with a creation myth. The open-source cryptocurrency protocol was published in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, an anonymous developer (or group of bitcoin developers) hiding behind this alias. The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has not been revealed yet, although the concept traces its roots back to the cypher-punk movement; and there’s no shortage of speculative theories across the web regarding Satoshi’s identity.

Bitcoin spent the next few years languishing, viewed as nothing more than another internet curiosity reserved for geeks and crypto-enthusiasts. Bitcoin eventually gained traction within several crowds. The different groups had little to nothing in common – ranging from the gathering fans, to black hat hackers, anarchists, libertarians, and darknet drug dealers; and eventually became accepted by legitimate entrepreneurs and major brands like Dell, Microsoft, and Newegg.

While it is usually described as a “cryptocurrency,” “digital currency,” or “virtual currency” with no intrinsic value, Bitcoin is a little more than that.

Bitcoin is a technology, and therein lies its potential value.

This is why we won’t waste much time on the basics – the bitcoin protocol, proof-of-work, the economics of bitcoin “mining,” or the way the bitcoin network functions. Plenty of resources are available online, and implementing support for bitcoin payments is easily within the realm of the smallest app developer, let alone heavyweights like Microsoft.

This tutorial explains blockchain, the bitcoin technology.

Looking Beyond The Hype - Into The Blockchain

So what is blockchain? Bitcoin blockchain is the technology backbone of the network and provides a tamper-proof data structure, providing a shared public ledger open to all. The mathematics involved are impressive, and the use of specialized hardware to construct this vast chain of cryptographic data renders it practically impossible to replicate.

All confirmed transactions are embedded in the bitcoin blockchain. Use of SHA-256 cryptography ensures the integrity of the blockchain applications – all transactions must be signed using a private key or seed, which prevents third parties from tampering with it. Transactions are confirmed by the network within 10 minutes or so and this process is handled by bitcoin miners. Mining is used to confirm transactions through a shared consensus system, and usually requires several independent confirmations for the transaction to go through. This process guarantees random distribution and makes tampering very difficult.

This diagram explains bitcoin blockchain and how it works.

While it is theoretically possible to compromise or hijack the network through a so-called 51% attack the sheer size of the network and resources needed to pull off such an attack make it practically infeasible. Unlike many bitcoin-based businesses, the blockchain network has proven very resilient. This is the result of a number of factors, mainly including a large investment in the bitcoin mining industry.

Blockchain technology works, plainly and simply, even in its bitcoin incarnation. A cryptographic blockchain could be used to digitally sign sensitive information, and decentralize trust; along with being used to develop smart contracts and escrow services, tokenization, authentication, and much more. Blockchain technology has countless potential applications, but that’s the problem – the potential has yet to be realized. Accepting bitcoin payments for Xbox in-game content or a notebook battery doesn’t even come close.

So what about that potential? Is anyone taking blockchain technology seriously?

This article is originally posted in Toptal

#Facebook Plans Using #Whatsapp For Business

2017-03-11T00:27:00.001+01:00

According to a new report by Reuters, Facebook-owned WhatsApp is trialing a service that will allow businesses to talk directly to users on the service.

While the nature of the service isn’t yet fully understood, the report believes that this will allow Facebook to finally use WhatsApp as a revenue tool. Be it advertising revenue by allowing companies to send select users messages, or simply provide ads within content rolls like Status — much like what Facebook’s Instagram Stories achieves.

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#Empire Star: Gabourey Sidibe is Living A Slimmer Life.

2017-03-10T23:49:00.001+01:00

Last year, the Empire star underwent weight-loss surgery, and she’s opening up about the experience — and her battle with depression, anxiety and bulimia — for the first time in her first memoir, This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare, excerpted exclusively in the new issue of PEOPLE.

My surgeon said they’d cut my stomach in half. This would limit my hunger and capacity to eat. My brain chemistry would change and I’d want to eat healthier. I’ll take it! My lifelong relationship with food had to change,” she writes in her wise, witty and unapologetic memoir, out in May.

“I know I’m beautiful in my current face and my current body. What I don’t know about is what the next body,” she writes her in This Is Just My Face. “I admit it, I hope to God I don’t get skinny. If I could lose enough to just be a little chubby, I’ll be over the moon! Will I still be beautiful then? Probably. My beauty doesn’t come from a mirror. It never will.”

“There’s nothing ugly about me. Anyone trying to convince me that I am — and it’s usually me — is wasting her time,” she says. “I was in a war with my body for a long time. If I’d started treating it better sooner, I wouldn’t have spent so many years hating myself. But I love my body now."

Are you her fan? What movie did you get to know her?

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#Ghana Independence: 4 Improvements So Far.

2017-03-10T23:35:00.001+01:00

Ghana’s anniversary is well worth celebrating.

Over the last six decades Ghana has transitioned from military dictatorships to a well functioning democracy while it’s economy has seen both boom and near bust.
Its story offers both lessons and hope that Africa can fashion its own dignified path to peace and democracy. But the country has been unable to achieve the envisioned self-reliant and self-sufficient economic policies. But it’s not all gloom and doom.

Ghana has made remarkable progress as one of the success stories in Africa’s democratic project over the past 25 years. Political power has changed three times – all important milestones

Ghana has also made progress in numerous measures of well-being, especially poverty reduction and the provision of health and education is exemplary. It’s among the few countries around the world that have recorded significant reduction in poverty.

Ghana has emerged as one of the most peaceful nations on the globe. According to the 2016 Global Peace Index, Ghana – ranked 44th – is more peaceful than France – ranked 46th – and the United Kingdom – ranked 47th positions.

Cover Image

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Eazi Warns ShowBIZ Promoters

2017-02-27T08:26:00.001+01:00

This was what he shared via his official instagram handle.. It;s so obvious that the starboy has blown to become a mega superstar in the hearts of Nigerians.

A friend told me that in benin, he's the face of many shows..
So to those Unemployed Mr Eazi promoters go find another hustle o. E don warn una oo.

Don't deny Prestsblog did not disseminate this information. Share so others can get it too.

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How Fast Is Your Country's Internet?

2017-02-24T16:02:00.000+01:00

Open Signal measured data speeds that the average user in 87 countries would experience, meaning that both 4G and 3G speeds were aggregated instead of measured in isolation.
The average global speed for an LTE, or 4G, connection was 17.4 mbps, from an earlier Open Signal study, meaning the average mobile data connection in the top three fastest countries is nearly twice as fast as the global average.

My country Nigeria has an average range of 4.13Mbps despite having the grand masters of data and other telecom providers. I suggest the government should provide quality materials to telecommunication companies.

Credit: Joon Ian Wong - Quartz - Wednesday, 22 February 2017

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The World's Most Expensive Bottled Water: See the price

2017-02-22T12:52:00.002+01:00

Knightsbridge department store based in London, UK is soon to start selling bottles of Svalbardi 'luxury' water for an eye-popping £80 (₦31,472.36) each. The water is harvested from icebergs off the coast of Svalbard, a group of islands between northern Norway and the North Pole.
Only 13,000 750ml bottles of Svalbardi are produced at a time. An icebreaker collects 15 tons of ice per trip, which is then melted and bottled by hand. Two trips will be made a year. The water is almost entirely free of minerals, with no nitrates or pollutants, and is unprocessed, apart from being filtered and treated with UV light. At £80 a bottle, the water costs more than most wines - and the company does its best to pitch the product in the same way.

Svalbardi claims that there's nothing wrong with selling the water at this price, and says it donates a proportion of the profits to the Global Seed Vault, which stores every variety of seed in the world as insurance against the future.

However, with United Nations figures indicating that as many as 783 million people around the world lack access to any clean water at all, many people might see it as immoral.

How much would you pay for a bottle of water?

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President Buhari Wishes To Reassure Nigerians That There Is No Cause For Worry

2017-02-22T02:22:00.000+01:00

"President Buhari wishes to reassure Nigerians that there is no cause for worry," it said, without saying when Buhari might return. Buhari, 74, left for Britain for medical leave a month ago, putting Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, 59, in charge during his absence.
He had originally planned to stay 10 days. Officials have refused to disclose his illness, triggering fierce speculation in Nigerian media and on social media. That speculation has been fuelled by a previous illness, when he spent nearly two weeks in London last June treating an ear infection.

SOURCE: REUTERS

Nigeria said there was no cause for concern for President Muhammadu Buhari's health but he had to stay longer on medical leave in Britain than planned, the presidency said on Tuesday.
"During his normal annual checkup, tests showed he needed a longer period of rest, necessitating the president staying longer than originally planned," the presidency said in a statement.

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Mad over You Remake BY EmmaOMG

2017-02-21T02:55:00.001+01:00

According to the comedy skits superstar, Emma Oh Ma God, he was not planning or rather having no intentions on dissing Imo girls. But why did he do it then? Really hilarious. This guy can mumu for Africa. lol enjoy the show.

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Malawians Killing Albino For Their Body Parts.

2017-02-21T02:22:00.001+01:00

In Malawi, like other countries in the region, people with albinism are hunted down because of the belief that potions made from their body parts can bring good luck and wealth. This is a story of How a Malawian Albino woman was attacked in her home according to BBC.

It was a Friday. Five men and one woman came here at about 7 o'clock in the evening.
They arrived when I was in the kitchen preparing our supper and my husband was outside here.
They told him that they were looking for me. That they were policemen, and had come to protect me because they had got a tip that some people were looking for me to kill me.
I was scared because these were total strangers. I had never seen them before.
There was such commotion here that some of our neighbours gathered.
And although they said they were policemen, they were not wearing uniform.
I wasn't convinced at first, but then they mentioned the name of the police chief from this area. We even asked them to describe the police chief, and they did.
In fact, they showed us guns and even identity cards. But of course we could not know whether they were genuine or not.

POST SOURCE: BBC
IMAGE SOURCE: CNN

That is when my husband and I, and some of the neighbours agreed to go with them to the police unit. When we got there, the police post was locked.
The five who claimed to be police officers called three other people from a nearby bar. And they now tried to force my husband and me to go to a station further from our area.
It was very strange because they sent away anyone else that was curious and wanted to stop by. So it was just me, my husband, and the neighbours who had come with us.
My husband insisted that they shouldn't take me away by myself. He kept arguing with them that we hadn't committed any crime; why were we going to be taken to a police station?
When they realised we had decided to stand our ground, they were very angry, and they just left.
I have never seen them again since that day - we know the policemen that operate in our area. But those people were strangers to all of us.

Will you call this racism or what?

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Media Owners Arrested over False News

2017-02-21T02:03:00.001+01:00

Six journalists, including three media owners, have been arrested in the Ivory Coast for "spreading false information" about a mutiny by security forces, their newspapers and the public prosecutor said.

The move came after elite forces became the latest troops to protest over pay in recent weeks in the West African nation, firing into the air in the army barracks town of Adiake.

"Regarding recent action taken by the military ... we have come to believe that certain media organisations are spreading false information in a bid to encourage soldiers to revolt," said a statement from the public prosecutor broadcast on national television on Sunday.

The journalists will be questioned to "find out where responsibility lies" for the alleged false information, the prosecutor said.

They were arrested on suspicion of breaking the law which forbids inciting rebellion among the military, attacking state authority and publishing false information relating to defence and state security, the statement added.

SOURCE: AJ

The elite forces mutinied in Adiake, some 90 km from Abidjan, between Tuesday and Thursday, but later "apologized to the authorities", according to a high-level military source.

Troops first launched a mutiny over pay on January 5.

Those protests subsided when the government reached a deal with 8,500 mutineers, agreeing to give them 12 million CFA francs ($19,000) each.

However, more soldiers have since taken to the streets demanding similar bonuses

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Posts By Prest

Amazon vs. Walmart: Bezos Goes for the Jugular with Whole Foods Acquisition

Key Highlights

Amazon Buying Whole Foods Is a Big Deal

Walmart’s Acquisition of Bonobos Is More Incremental

Amazon’s Acquisition Has a Strong Strategic Rationale—Walmart’s Less So.

Important Real Estate Component For Amazon

Strong Move into Groceries

Limited Customer Overlap for Walmart and Potential Backlash by Bonobos Consumers

The Walmart-Amazon War?

Facebook community is now officially 2 billion people!

Chief Scientist @ Bitcoin Unlimited's Introduction To Bitcoin

AcknowledgementThe author thanks Andrea Suisani, Peter Tschipper, Jerry Chan, and his mom for their reviews.

Do More With Your Google Mail Account

1. Money transfer and payment options

2. Storage

3. Content Creation and Monetization

4.Google Business

5. Google Calendar

Selling Your Business? Stop Leaving Money on the Table

Key Highlights

Investing in the Sale

Current Market Conditions for Selling a Business

Record “Dry Powder” Held by Private Equity Firms

Strategic Corporate Buyers are Holding Record Amounts of Cash

Low Interest Rate Environment

High Prices for Publicly-traded Equities

How Long Does Selling a Business Take?

Considerations in Determining When to Sell Your Business

Your Motivations for Selling

Business Growth

Tax Considerations

Buyer Motivations

The Value of Advisors

Financial Intermediaries

The Benefits of Using a Financial Intermediary Include:

The Drawbacks of Using a Financial Intermediary Include:

Independent Valuation Experts

Legal Advisors

Determining the Right Price

Discounted Cash Flow and Capitalization of Earnings Methods

Market Multiples

Asset Valuation

Maximizing Shareholder Value

Create a Deep Management Team

Examine and Adjust Operational Efficiencies Strategically

Broaden Your Customer Base

Build Out Robust Financial Reports and Systems

Meet Robocop, World's First Robot Police

What Is Hindering You From Getting Promoted At Work?

1. Your boss just doesn’t like you

2. You’re underperforming

3. Choosing Popularity Over Respect

4. Always Putting Work First

5. Painting A Vivid Picture

The Truth About Website Speed Evolution

Google's "progressive" approach to web speed evolution

Twitter loves PWAs

Apple lags

Is a Cashless Society the New Reality?

Key Takeaways

Money is Technology. Will it Be Replaced?

Global Payment Trends

Pros of a Cashless Society

Cons of a Cashless Society

Which Countries Are Best Positioned to Go Cashless?

Spotlight on India’s Demonetization Campaign

Spotlight on Sweden

The Paths to a Cashless World Are Many and Varied

What is An Open Source Software?

Is OSS An Investable Business Model or Not?

'People Are Scared To Hire Me' - Here's the Reason

Note: The Above Picture is not an illustration of Saddam Hussein. This is not how the graduate looks like in real life, and there is no official picture of him surfaced online yet!

Another Energy Source- The World’s Largest Artificial Sun

Blogger launches new Amazing Templates

Gathered Updates On The Attack In Westminster -

Blockchain Technology Explained: Powering Bitcoin

#Facebook Plans Using #Whatsapp For Business

#Empire Star: Gabourey Sidibe is Living A Slimmer Life.

#Ghana Independence: 4 Improvements So Far.

Acknowledgement
The author thanks Andrea Suisani, Peter Tschipper, Jerry Chan, and his mom for their reviews.