Showing posts with label help. Show all posts
Showing posts with label help. Show all posts

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Investment Tips from Virgin Atlantic

Richard Branson's 5 rules of investment

As those of you who followed last week’s Pitch to Rich competition will know, Richard Branson isn’t afraid to invest in start-ups. In fact the Virgin Founder has made a string of investments in tech start-ups over the past couple years, but what does he look for when deciding where to place his funding?
In a recent entrepreneur.com blog Branson shed some light on his investment criteria, providing five rules which he adheres to when assessing an investment opportunity.
Check them out and let us know what you think, what do you think is important to look for in a start-up?
1. Does your company offer a smart, simple solution that improves customers' lives?
If I understand a startup's product or service on first glance, then customers will too - and if it solves a problem that needs fixing, there's a good chance that some will buy it.
That's why I invested in Square two years ago. It's a company that was started by the Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey when he was trying to help his friend, a glass-blower who wanted to sell his work but didn't have a credit card machine. Square's system allows entrepreneurs to accept credit card payments via smartphone. The company says it now handles about $12 billion in transactions annually, and in 2012, it announced a deal with Starbucks, so that customers can pay for their coffees and other items using the Square Wallet app.
2. Is your company's use of technology disruptive?
There are many companies that dress up their products by putting lights and screens on them, but don't exactly make a difference to anyone's everyday life. Such products may attract attention, but unless the technology adds easy functionality, the customers won't be back a second time.
Hailo, the yellow taxi cab app, is a great example of a disruptive technology, since it's so more efficient and responsive than our current options: trying to wave down a passing cab or placing a call to the cab company. We chose to invest in this company because it lets passengers hail free taxis on nearby blocks with their smartphones. It helps cabbies too, since they spend about 40 percent of their time driving around looking for passengers.

3. Does your company offer customers greater choice and better access?
However small a company, its founders should try to expand people's opportunities and choices.
The online coding tool Codecademy is giving anyone with an Internet connection the chance to learn basic programming skills for free. With its easy-to-use interface and lessons drawn from real-world examples, Codecademy is outshining the competition.
I decided to invest in Codecademy because many people need and will benefit from access to such skills, especially women who hesitate to enter such a male-dominated field -- one in which most students tend to be men as well. Already, over 35 percent of Codecademy's users are women.
4. Does your company's product or service encourage customers to share their work or experiences?
The development of Web-based applications has enabled collaboration on a scale that was unimaginable 30 years ago. In almost every industry, more sharing is helpful and useful: between friends and family members; between colleagues, and sometimes between customers.
The best way to encourage sharing is make it fun, which is why businesses like Pinterest have found such success. This beautiful platform is all about inspiration and discovery, providing people with a quick, easy, entertaining way to share photos. It has rapidly become a household name -- and inspired us to invest in their company.
5. Does your company care enough about people and the planet to use business as a force for good?
Every company can make a difference. New businesses can tackle local problems, growing businesses can tackle national problems, big businesses can tackle global problems. One example that stands out is Twitter, which activists have used to evade authoritarian leaders' controls on communication -- it has helped to topple governments. I use Twitter to generate awareness for causes that are meaningful to me and others, like ending the war on drugs, and this is why I've invested in this company.
Similarly, we've funded Tumblr, which is one of the most popular Web destinations in the United States, and it also gives people a digital platform where they can express themselves.
These are just a few of the promising startups that have helped me to learn more about the challenges and opportunities faced by tech companies today. Those that provide services that help entire communities may have built long-lasting businesses that will be influential for years to come.
By . Content Executive. Tweets at @JackPressedOn

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Mid Life: Crisis or Crossroad?


So you've reached mid-life...

Relax, don't panic and slowly step away from the dealership...the secretary...the pool boy...and the 'mirror, mirror on the wall'! It's going to be okay. Breathe. There you go. Now. Let's face it. It's midlife, most of us do not look forward to this day. We dread wearing black and cringe at jokes and wise cracks like Lordy, Lordy look who's 40! And god forbid someone gives you yet another card or balloon that says, "Over the Hill!" Who invented those anyway? Probably someone in their late 20's or early 30's.

Nonetheless, one thing is for certain, if you have reached your idea of what you consider to be your mid-life, remember that along the way, you have gained insight and wisdom and you have learned to perceive things differently. You have come to see things are not always as they seemed through the young and ambitious rose-colored glasses. You have come to learn and appreciate the old saying, "money can't buy you love" and of course, like most, you have come to find that "chasing the dollar bill" and "climbing the corporate ladder" only leads to two things: arthritis and migraines!

And then there are matters of the heart. If you are like most, you have been around the block a time or two when it comes to love and relationships. You have experienced the good and bad of healthy and unhealthy relationships, you have discovered what it means to love someone and you have learned to love yourself and others as God loves you...right? Okay, so maybe we don't always get that one completely right. But that's okay. It's all part of the journey.



Because you see, there is truth in the old saying, age before beauty. Things that were considered priority to you at 20, are not as important at 30. And things that were important to you at 30, don't seem to matter as much at 40. This is because as we get older, our tastes, likes and dislikes, even our habits, tend to change. This is a good thing. So you may or may not be the strongest guy at the gym or the hottest girl at the club, but you are the most distinguished gentleman among your peers and the most accomplished woman in your field.

Mid-life is not a crisis-it is a crossroad. It's all in how you look at it. Stop. Do the inventory on your life. Did you achieve the career and love goals you set out to attain? Did you make a string of decisions that led you astray? Were you on the right track and got detoured somewhere along the way? No matter how you got here, you're here! Welcome to today: the first day of the rest of your life. And it is a good place to be, because now you have the wonderful opportunity to apply a very simple but effective principle: concentrate on the present and use the past as a guide for future.

Today, you can choose to make healthier decisions for yourself and your family. If you've been meaning to start exercising and eating right, rebuilding or repairing a broken bond with your spouse, children, family or friends then guess what! You can! It starts with you and it starts today. The Corvette is not going to love you back. The secretary will disappear when the money does and the pool boy is tweeting that he bagged a cougar or a sugar mama literally within minutes on Facebook and Twitter.

If you've been meaning to start that new hobby, take that new class or that much needed vacation, now is the time.

There are several sites with activities, advice and information available online for mid-life crossroad travelers. Now there is something that you can take with you down the road of the second half of your life: that spark that burned inside of you to finish college, raise a family or run your own business, it's still there, waiting for you. All of the things on your list that you haven't done yet, with realistic approach, revisit them and when able, take the appropriate steps to experience them. This could be any of the things mentioned here or other things like write a book, start a website or take up a new interest like teaching or community volunteering. The applications of your accomplishments and knowledge cover such a wide variety of areas.

Many believe that once at the mid-life mark, they lose their ability to make a difference in the life of others and for themselves. Nothing is further from the truth. Maybe you didn't have children, there is adoption, foster parent programs and mentor programs. Maybe you didn't finish school, there are night classes, online courses and tailored education programs that fit just about any budget and assessment level. Maybe you never had a faith base or believed in yourself, there are several churches, organizations and non-denominational groups available that can help you to find the best path for your spiritual journey.

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Lastly, remember that you matter. You matter to others in more ways than you may imagine and you touch more people thank you think. You are at that fantastic point in life that rewards you with fulfillment of your purpose in life. You do have a purpose; you do have goals; you do have a reason. It is not about reliving the first half of your life all over again, it is not about giving up on the people and things in your life that truly matter and it's definitely not about giving up on the 2nd half of your life and doing nothing at all.


It is now, that you take your experience and turn it from success into significance. Everything you've been through up to this point, in some way or another, can be a lesson and blessing to someone else coming up behind you. Be ready to pass on your knowledge, love and passions to the ones who follow. Sometimes, your pothole is their speed bump; your failure is their success. Sometimes, you can help prevent or help someone else get through a similar situation in their life. Your mid life crossroad was the cure to their 1st half of life crisis. See how that works? 

By being a lesson and blessing to others, you will find new purpose, new fulfillment, new reason, new hope, new light: new faith in the foundation of your beliefs, new love in hearts of the ones closest to you and most importantly, yourself.

Until next time, I am De Thomas and this - is Real Living.