Today’s cities are living entities. They develop, grow and become more complex over time. Yet, many of their most pressing issues, such as the need for utility improvements and monitoring crime, remain the same. Like never before, city officials have the capabilities to implement analytics technology. But surveillance will be at the heart of smart cities.

These technologies will help with a myriad of everyday city demands, in addition to more intricate challenges pertaining to security, healthcare, mobility, energy and economic development.

We need accurate insights into cities like never before.

With more than half of the world’s population residing in cities, this need for smarter and more accurate insights into their everyday workings is monumental. City management officials could learn much from leaders like Cisco, Amazon and Google. These companies have made it their business to not just collect data, but  utilize it to improve livelihoods and communities.  As we look to their successes, it becomes increasingly evident that the answer to creating smarter cities lies largely in surveillance technology that captures data analytics.

With the rise in surveillance technology and predictive analytics, we can make smart cities smarter and effectively, increase their efficiency. The reality is, however, that connectivity is never a guarantee. Therefore, necessary data must be present, regardless of connectedness, to ensure real-time decisions can be made. Satisfactory amounts of local storage must exist to position the most perceptive data nearest to the point of compute. This speaks to the increasing importance of the edge, as well as embedded storage.

Growth in real-time data is causing a shift in digital storage needs.

The growth of real-time data though edge analytics is causing a shift in the type of digital storage cities need. Fast, uncompromised access to data is becoming ever more critical. With a recent study, Data Age 2025: The Digitization of the World from Edge to Core, estimating that 175 zettabytes of data will be generated by 2025, there has never been a greater volume of insights at our fingertips and cities must step up to develop ways to use this data for good. In many ways, cities are already doing this – from intelligent street lights optimizing routes based on traffic patterns to reduce emergency response time by 20 to 30 percent, to advanced surveillance cameras with analytics deployed to enhance security operations, leading to a reduction in crime by 30 to 40 percent. However, we can do so much more.

To be a true smart city today, cities will need an “edge tier” approach to store, filter and manage data closer to the sensors. To gain deeper insights, the data is then stored and analyzed for longer periods of time in the edge domain as well as in the cloud or backend. Edge analytics that capture and collect data on network video recorders (NVRs) make it possible to act in real-time. With this technology, cities can find missing persons, notify residents of nearby emergencies and send out traffic congestion warnings.

Data insights will provide many wide-ranging benefits to cities.

The opportunities data analysis and data-driven urban improvement present are both hugely exciting and impossible to ignore. Behavioral analytics, thermal cameras and AI engines in edge devices like NVRs are just a sampling of the technologies that have given us the ability to remain constantly connected on a vast network. By horizontally interrelating individual systems, we can now develop insights into various mechanisms. This includes patterns in electricity, water, sanitation, transportation, environmental monitoring and weather intelligence.

West Hollywood’s Innovation Division is an excellent example to look to.

Take for instance, West Hollywood’s Innovation Division, which recently received the American Planning Association (APA) Technology Division’s Smart Cities Award for the “WeHo Smart City” Strategic Plan. Its three-part plan consisted of strategies including:

• Data-driven decision-making rolling out to departments citywide
• Collaboration and experimentation designed to enable City Hall staff to work better together.
• Automation of processes to improve public safety and manage the built environment through smart city sensors and smart building programs.

With data collected from predictive analytics based on Deep Learning activities in the back-end, in some cases for over a year, we can pre-identify trends to manage incidents in one sector that directly impact another.

Access to real-time data and surveillance tech is key.

Cities need data in the moment and on the go. This places  a larger demand on the edge to produce the predictive and reliable information required, often in real-time. In fact, reports (Seagate) predict that due to the infusion of data into our city workflows and personal streams of life, nearly 30 percent of the “Global Datasphere” — meaning the amount of data created, captured or replicated across the globe – will be in real-time by 2025.

That’s a lot of real-time data. So, how can a city implement surveillance technology to better secure a city and enable smarter analyses? The first step is identifying video storage solutions positioned at the center of a smart city’s surveillance application. These solutions enable recordings, data retention, predictive analytics and real-time alerts. The next step is to position data at the edge and provide ample time for cities to make sense of patterns. More than ever before, cities will need to come together to integrate their technologies and ultimately make their networks smarter. This is a challenge that will require broad cooperation across its systems. Surveillance storage technology is the foundation to this strategy, ensuring timely data access and availability from edge to cloud.

https://samplecic.ch/surveillance-at-the-heart-of-smart-cities.html

Getting a startup off the ground isn’t easy. Instead of focusing solely on your baby, as in the actual product or service that you’re selling, you’ll also have to deal with administrative headaches. Managing your startup finances is one of these necessary evils. Here’s everythng you need to kow about finances for your startup.

As a business owner, you’re going to have to get involved with the financial side of things. There are no two ways about it. Here’s what you need to know to steer your company’s finances in the right direction.

Manage Your Finances 

Entrepreneurs will generally do everything except manage their finances properly. Making money is obviously a major concern and often a big driver in starting the business, but actually taking care of the day to day finances tends to take a backseat. And that’s a recipe for disaster. 

Managing your finances should be one of your top priorities. No “We need to focus on our product,” no, “I’m not a money person,” or “We’ll figure out the finer details later.” In short, no excuses. Manage your cash or you’ll go out of business, period. 

Your Accountant is Important

I’ve already emphasized that managing your money is super important. Accountancy deserves its own headline, as it’s the crux around which your financial health will be measured. Without it, your paperwork will be a mess, the IRS will start sending you threatening letters, and you won’t have a clue about how much money you really have.

Of course, a startup doesn’t always have the cash reserves to spend money on a fancy (and generally quite expensive) accountant. In the beginning, you’ll be able to do it in-house. You’ll need to brush up on your skills, however, and a course that covers the accountancy essentials should be plenty for Year one, either for yourself or for one of your designated employees. Once your numbers start getting a bit more complicated, hire a pro. 

Expensive Credit = Big No No 

You’re just starting out, which means you need money. And quickly. Trust me, as a former small business owner, I get it. When banks and credit card companies start sending you leaflets offering you a bunch of money and all you need to do is fill in a form, it’s easy to fall prey to temptation. 

I’m going to spell it out with some big letters (just to put some extra emphasis and also to be slightly annoying): NEVER GO FOR EXPENSIVE CREDIT.  It’ll (almost always) end in tears. If you’re relying on credit to get your business off the ground, you’ll likely run out of money before you can start paying it back. 

Keep Your Expenses Low

Working out of your basement or getting a cool office? Hiring a battalion of employees or working 18-hour days and hiring freelancers? Logo designed by expensive hipsters or something you got off Fiverr? 

These are choices you’ll be faced with, and while I’m not saying you should cut corners at every opportunity, keeping costs low, to begin with, are key to survival. You don’t want to burn through your finances in the first few months, nor do you want to get saddled with long-term contracts you can’t get out of. Spend money when you need to, but don’t be frivolous. 

Don’t Merge Personal and Business 

There’s business, and then there’s personal. They always say you should never mix the two, and ‘they’ are right. When you launch your startup, you’ll need a commercial bank account. For any business expenses, use this account only. 

Never, ever, use your personal bank account to cover any expenses. Even if it’s a short bridging loan or a matter of convenience. There are simple reasons for this:

1) You won’t be tempted to make it a regular occurrence and 

2) It makes doing your taxes a lot more straightforward. 

Know Your Tax Deductions 

Tax deductions can seriously lower your expenses. You should know them inside out, or hire an expert who does. You’ll be surprised by the type of things you can include: 

• Utilities. You can deduct electricity, gas, cell phones, internet connection, you name it. And yes, you can even claim this stuff if you work out of a home office. 

• Travel. If you need to go to a conference or on a business trip far from home, make sure you keep all of the receipts. Fully tax deductible. 

• Advertising. Whether you try and get the word out through the Google Ad network, Facebook ads, or traditional snail mail, the costs are fully deductible. 

• Business lunches. The government will pay 50% of your business lunches, as long as the expense can be substantiated (just check the small print first).

Aim for Market Rate Pay 

Most entrepreneurs won’t give themselves a salary. They’ll work day in, day out, and take a little bit of money when they desperately need it and the company can afford it. It makes sense; you’re just starting off, why waste cash? 

The problem with this ethos is that it creates an unsustainable business model and an unworkable financial picture. Long term, it just doesn’t work. You should either pay yourself what your role demands or fit it into your short-term financial plans. 

Expect a Rainy Day 

You have a fantastic idea. The buzz seems promising. People are buying what you’re selling. It’s all looking good. Until it doesn’t. No matter how good you are at your job or how rosy things look, there’s almost always a bump in the road somewhere. 

Budget for a rainy day. Keep a buffer for the times when cash flow isn’t good. Retain quality employees even if you’re going through a rough couple of months. Keep your doors open while you weather the storm. Having a rainy day fund will get you out of the tough spots, so make sure you build a decent one. 

Even If You Know Everything, It’s Still Hard! 

Startups are exciting, liberating, and have the promise to give you professional satisfaction and making you (potentially) millions of dollars. On the flip side, running a business isn’t a cakewalk.

Even if you know everything there is to know about startup finance, it’s not going to be an easy ride. With that in mind, equip yourself to deal with those difficult days. Keep learning about the dollar side of things as often as time allows. And don’t be afraid to call in the experts when you need to. 

https://samplecic.ch/everything-you-need-to-know-about-finances-for-your-startup.html

In the past decade or so, there has been a drastic shift in the way society consumes information, mainly due to the boom in smartphones and tablets. Many companies didn’t realize the potential of digital marketing and how it would affect everyday life. In days past, companies created templated and static websites with simplified box layouts and different colored backgrounds.

When companies update those websites, they often are faced with complete overhauls — costly in terms of time, money, and workforce power. In a recent survey of companies taking on website redesigns, 80% admitted that their websites overhauls would probably take more than a year to complete.

As information technology has evolved, the old method of designing and redesigning traditional websites has become inefficient. Thanks to an emphasis on IoT and integrated data, sites must be responsive in more ways than one.

In the current market, your brand’s website needs to be picturesque on any connected device. With new devices releasing every year, screen ratios and specs are continually changing. Your website also needs to be compatible to integrate with many other apps and platforms — when your sales team changes CRM providers, your website’s back end must work with the new system.

The only way to stay relevant and agile in this era of rapid digital flux is to practice growth-driven design.

Growth-driven design means launching a fully functional, scaled-down version of your website to accurately track data and then make incremental pivots and improvements that lead to more effective versions over time. Start lean and make smart, responsive decisions about how to expand based on how consumers act on your site.

Here’s how growth-driven design plays out: A shoe company wants to start selling its designs online, but the brand has no idea what its customers want from a website experience. The company should begin with a lovely but basic version of its site — a 10-page representation of the company and its offerings. The goal is to launch quickly with any necessary information its customers want and need so that the company can track consumer behavior and data.

That data will then inform future decisions about format, design, function, and content.

After the launch pad is live, the company can make monthly edits based on buyer behavior. If the company sees a big trend for women’s running shoes, for example, it can shift the homepage to point users in that direction.

How to Update Your Website Using Growth-Driven Design

Digital content is king — consumers are looking for the newest and most relevant answers to their pain points immediately. Your website has to provide up-to-date, relevant solutions.

Give your website the tools it needs for long-term success by creating a framework that allows for agile pivots, updates, and integrations. Now’s the time to put strategies in place to start practicing growth-driven design. Here’s how:

1. Track data properly.

The “magic” of growth-driven design is rooted in data. You need to add consumer behavior tracking to your daily routine, and that data should inform decisions about your website, content, and other marketing strategies. But you can’t build a responsive website without gathering the insights you’ll respond to.

Begin with basic tracking through platforms such as Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel. These tools allow you to see how people navigate your website, capturing data such as bounce and conversion rates. Add other tracking and optimization tools after you build a solid foundation. HotJar works well for heat-mapping, and HubSpot helps with A/B testing marketing messages.

2. Resist the temptation to change too much, too soon.

If you’re designing a website from scratch or working on a new version, it’s tempting to load up with every bell and whistle in an attempt to impress the passing consumer. But that’s not how to create a successful launchpad in growth-based design.

Avoid making assumptions about what your customers want and instead focus on obtaining as much data as you can. 

That way, you don’t have to guess what users need from your website — their behavior will tell you. Get your launchpad up and running as soon as possible so you can begin gathering data, growing your website from there.

3. Keep your target market top-of-mind.

The decision-makers in your business will often represent a different demographic than your target audience. A disconnect with the decision-makers can lead to design and functionality choices that appeal to the wrong people — certainly not your target market.

By learning everything you can about your targets through research and data collection, you can make confident choices based on what will most resonate with your target audience.

As you grow your website, remember to base each decision on what will connect best with the people who will use your website to find answers and make purchase decisions.

Growth-driven design is your key to dealing with a more agile site design that easily can be tested to deliver the best results at a lower cost. It takes away the looming fear of website redesign and puts you in control of navigating your users’ shifting needs and interests. Once you have a lean launchpad and behavior data at your disposal, you can make responsive, insightful decisions about content, functionality, and design.

Image: AdobeStock-207766247

https://samplecic.ch/how-growth-driven-design-keeps-your-website-relevant.html

The world has changed. You can crash and burn or you can get the right tools and information now and change your life, your business and the lives of your employees.

In this episode of How to CEO, I welcome Han Jin, the co-founder, and CEO of Lucid.

Han Jin and his partner created Lucid in 2015. Their company produces software and artificial intelligence. I invited Han Jin to talk about the various characteristics and skills that a CEO should have. Being a founder and CEO are two very different things and Han Jin helps us to differentiate both roles. He also shares his experiences and the challenges that he has faced switching back and forth between both of these vary complex roles over the past two and a half years.

Han Jin tells me at Lucid, “we have created software and artificial intelligence to capture 3D on mobile devices, or any device that has cameras.”

Every year we work toward becoming better CEO’s and building a better company and product. My co-founder worked in robotics  and worked on at improving things in the robotics field for a few years. He really wanted to humanize and leverage only the software. This decision was before we met. After we met we decided to “productize” the software and make something that would be sellable to the masses.

I asked Han Jin how much money they have been able to raise for their company.

Han indicated to me that this is not much money — but it sounded rather great to me. 2.6 million he told me — but adds that they have been able to raise that sum up to seven or eight digits. Remarkable in the short three and a half year span that they have been building the company.

What does it take to do the fund raising and what does it take to grow a company?

“This journey has been a lot of personal growth and mental growth.” Han says that it really isn’t about the title of being a CEO. It’s much larger than that.  Just the mindset takes more that the title says it is. Jin says that everyone should try to be the founder of their own company because of what you will learn.

You can grow your own company better that anyone else can do it. You’ll notice what you need to double or triple your company growth and revenue to address all of the requests for your product. Because you are right there at the top of your company you can see what has to be done and you do it. There is no waiting around for permissions or other help to come. You learn to grow yourself and your company at the same time.

Lucid now has over 50 people working in the company worldwide. Fantastc growth, but Jin says that he is not the perfect CEO yet.  He explains to me how much growth there is in growing with your people and learning how to “do” that growth. “Hopefully as I go through all of the stages in building a company I’ll become better and wiser in our company I will be able to learn.”

What personality differences are there to being a 10k company or a 50k company?

Every scale and stage of a business requires a different skill set. You become a better employer and CEO with each year that you practice this job. You get much better at hiring — because you have to get the right people in your company that you can trust. As the founder, co-founder and CEO you have to have more trust in your employees as each year goes by. You can’t always be there to manage them — they have to handle the day to day business for you, wherever they are.

Do you find that your employees then bring in other people that join your company?

Yes, each of the employees that you have hire end up bringing in people that they know and you have to have trust in that process too. You have to start breaking down your business into units of work and sections of work. You have to decide who to put over each section of work. The heiarchy must also grow so that you can keep growing. Again — every stage takes a great amount of trust, time and money.

What is the hardest thing you have had to teach your employees?

I have had to teach my employees about making mistakes. I have had to tell them not to worry about making errors. I have to actually encourage the employees to make mistakes and not worry about those issues. They have to get better at their jobs and better at coming up with new ways to build their section of the business. The only way to get better at your job is to go through the mistakes. If you’re a “little off ” or not doing well as a CEO or a team member — that not too bad. But I have to train the team to be okay about errors and to get over it and move on. I train the team to handle the errors — because they will make mistakes.

You have been in business three and a half years. If you could go back and say something to yourself three and a half years ago, what would that advice look like?

In what ever job you decide to do in your business it’s best to learn that a founder and CEO are totally different jobs. They require different strengths and you will have different weaknesses. You have to ask yourself if you even want to be a CEO because this job is certainly not for everyone. It’s a difficult journey. I asked my dad about this topic. He told me that if you are going to be a CEO, you have to be good at three things:

• Fundraising.
• Recruiting.
• Seeing — having the vision and seeing the future of the company.

At one point I really struggled with funding raising. I went through 300 rejections in a row from the investors. I questioned myself and told myself if I wanted to be a CEO I needed to stop whining and stand up and be the best fundraiser there was.

Where do you see you growth coming from in the future?

I want to see a bigger picture and see ahead to a bigger market and to new markets that come along. Getting in to new markets and growth will be required if we are to keep growing. I take the example of Uber. They changed the entire taxi system. The founder just wanted to make his product and go home and he couldn’t. The app came and he had to keep going.

What questions do you ask yourself as a founder?

• Are you willing to grow and willing to learn?
• What will happen if you stop growing?
• What type of business are you trying to build?  A lifestyle business, or a Google?
• What is your mindset?

Where do you go when you don’t have the answers you are searching for in your business?

Many people say to get an executive coach. I decided to seek out and find different adviors; these are paid advisors. The information that my advisors give is for the financial gains. But I have realized that many of the people that help me build Lucid, also care about the relationship. Many relationships in our company have become important with our coaches, mentors and adviors.

How do you find this sort of people?

Finding the right type of person goes back to any type of hiring or any type of finding. You will look for these people, but they will also begin to come to you for this work. You will look for the best of the best and these greats will usually be people who have gone through this startup up journey. They know what you are going through and what you need and they can help you. You need someone who has had a startup first of all. I look and keep an eye out for these people. We have been lucky to find individuals who care for our company, and also care about me and my co-founder personally.

Join  me here for other How to CEO podcasts.

https://samplecic.ch/how-to-ceo-podcast-interview-han-jin-ceo-of-lucid.html

Pitch decks are underestimated and overestimated. Some founders dismiss the deck as pure “show” and cobble together a few slides for their venture capital (VC) audience. But I suspect that most founders spend tens of hours perfecting their deck. I worry that their efforts are concentrated in the right place but on the wrong problems.

Pitch decks are powerful because they reflect on your brand and style. They can give life to your argument and supporting stories, but they cannot close the deal without you, the presenter. 

To get this three-part series on pitch decks rolling, let’s cover the purpose of a pitch, what it has to answer, and where it can go wrong. Let’s also identify some problems that are worth concentrating on.

Presenter v. Presentation

There’s a difference between the presenter, who does the heavy lifting in a pitch, and the deck, which supports the presenter. In a strong pitch, I find that founders focus on their story and use the deck like a stage prop or good lighting, which work best when they don’t draw attention away from the actors. 

Some decks are meant to stand alone without a presenter, but those are a different beast and belong in another series.

Personally, I believe the purpose of a deck is to guide you and your audience through the narrative of a vision. The deck can offer subtext, emotions, data, and imagery that are difficult or too time-consuming to articulate in words. A bad deck can ruin a pitch, but a good one can’t close deals on its own.

Different VCs, Similar Questions

VCs have different investment approaches and priorities. I notice that although they may evaluate startups from unique perspectives, they seem to converge on a shared set of questions. You may not hear them in these exact words, but these are the three main categories and what the questions sound like:

• Founder-Market Fit: Why are you and your team the best people to solve this problem? What unique expertise or background makes you perfect for this market?

• Differentiation: What’s special or inimitable about your idea? Are you trying something new, or are you the next Uber of ____?

• Why Now? What about this time and place makes your idea right? Why not five years ago, or five years from now? Why isn’t anyone else doing this?

Those questions will shape what you put in the deck, but the deck alone cannot answer them.

Credibility

First-time founders may not be sure what to emphasize in their pitch to VCs. Some go too heavy on the market opportunity without substantiating the vision behind it. Others find themselves immersed in the product features they worked so hard to build.

Part of us wants to share what we’re proud of and to emphasize what captured our interest most. While that can bring out our passion, it may not strike VCs as important.

As the a16z VC Andrew Chen reminds us, just six percent of VC deals produce 60 percent of the returns. VCs hunt for that six percent along with a much, much smaller cohort of startups that become the next Google, Facebook, or Amazon.

Credibility becomes the struggle for founders. We want to be forthright and realistic, but we also want VCs to believe that we are part of the six percent. It’s a delicate balance.

Pitching Around Vision

There is a difference between your pitch, a distillation of your vision, and the deck, a tool that facilitates your pitch. There’s also a difference between the presenter, the person who communicates the most important points, and the presentation, the cumulative experience that includes everything: data, voice, hand gestures, emotions, visuals, the Q&A, and many more things that we’ll discuss in this series.

A successful pitch makes a VC so excited about your vision that she will sing your praises to her colleagues and fight to make you one of the few deals of the year. She will work to convince her partners that you are part of the six percent.

Next up, let’s talk about how express a vision with that much impact. Vision can seem like an ambiguous concept, but a well-presented vision can be as aspirational as it is down to earth – and a good deck will help with that.

https://samplecic.ch/your-pitch-to-vcs-is-more-than-a-deck-2.html