Computers, internet, and mobile phones

The earliest known citation on the Internet is dated to 1986. It was attributed to Thomas J. Watson and posted in the signature of a poster from Convex Computer Corporation saying — “I think there is a world market for about five computers”. “Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense?

The truth is no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works” — argued by Clifford Stoll, a computer scientist in a featured article titled “The Internet? Bah!” published in Newsweek magazine. The go-to mobile business plan of Vodafone projected could sell only 1 million phones.

All these prove that there is a tendency to underestimate the real impact and commercial potential of technologies as there are no existing realistic use cases developed, or the technology is not mature yet to unleash its true potential.

Likewise, blockchain’s true potential is yet to be discovered. Despite still being in its early adoption phase, blockchain is being used in prominent case studies to bank the unbanked, to revolutionize the remittances market with even negative fees, to guarantee transparent voting process, or even to replace national currencies issued by governments. 

While the road towards blockchain mainstream adoption offers fascination for what it comes,  concerns are still expressed by corporations that wish to adopt the blockchain technology. We are still in the early infrastructure-building era, while new players are populating the market with cost-effective and scalable blockchain infrastructure platforms which fire the “battle” of blockchains. 

In this article, we attempt to clarify one of the key questions when it comes to blockchains as it pertains to the dilemma between private and public infrastructures. For this purpose, we will try to demystify the characteristics, advantages, and drawbacks of each blockchain type before making a decision. 

One of the most typical questions addressed is the difference between public and private blockchain. 

Positioning	Public Blockchain	Private Blockchain
Problem Statement	How to build an unstoppable X which is not managed by centralized entities.	How do I make business more efficient & compliant?
Network Participation	Unrestricted block creation Validators	Gated Participation/Restricted Roles
Participants’ Identities	Unknown by default	Linked to known identities
Throughput	Network-wide bottlenecks	Scalable throughput
Governance	Open governance tools like DAOs- smart contracts and digital communities	Governance by a known entity
Network Fees	Fluctuating depending on demand for the network/gas fees	A contract which is dependent on the “consumption”
Popular Platforms	Ethereum, Cardano, Harmony	HyperLedger, Ripple, Ethereum Express Coin

 

Private blockchains

Private (permissioned) blockchains allow different levels of permissions for users, so access can be restricted, and information can be encrypted to protect confidentiality. While private blockchains are faster and more scalable, their nature is more centralized which constitute them prone to potential manipulation from malicious actors. 

When it comes to permissioned blockchains, we refer to a small group of participants that control and maintain the network. Examples of private blockchains include but are not limited to HyperLedger, Corda-R2 Alliance, Ripple or the latest generation of projects such as Ethereum Express. 

Among the key characteristics of private blockchains is the transaction finality settlement, which is critical when we refer to financial transactions since there is no risk of a hard fork. 

Synopsizing the key benefits of private blockchains:

1. No 51 per cent attacks or hard forks

2. Faster and scalable

3. Transaction privacy

4. No orphaned blocks

5. Smart contracts can evolve, while more developer diverse programing language could be utilized 

Among the secondary benefits which might be important for decision-makers is the predictable nature of the pricing since they are mainly offered with a billing cycle and are not affected by the fluctuation of digital currencies which is known as a gas fee. There is enhanced control over the network’s participants, and more clear platform governance. 

Popular private blockchains: 

HyperLedger

The HyperLedger project launched by the Linux Foundation in an effort to standardize and democratize blockchain within the business world. Most of the people think its an individual blockchain, while in fact, it’s a group of blockchain projects with pseudonym a hyper ledger. The most widely used project is the FABRIC which is primarily built for enterprise use-cases. 

While HyperLedger has a huge developer community, developers still struggling to instantiate smart contractors. To solve that challenge, IBM introduced a package extension for visual studio code IDE (integrated development environment). All of them are non-currency projects and industrial applications.

IBM has a great influence on the development of the project since it’s holding 6 out 11 Technical Steering Committee. The Hyperledger TSC is responsible for creating working groups to focus on technical issues, approving projects and reviewing updates.

Today Hyperledger has more than 250 members with premier members to include but not limited to Airbus, Cisco, Deutsche Bank, American Express, SAP, Intel, and J.P. Morgan! 

Corda-R3 Alliance 

Corda is a Distributed Ledger Technology — some engineers might say this is not even a blockchain. This is also the comparative advantage of Corda which allows the platform to perform better when it comes to financial transactions. Built by US blockchain software firm Rin 2017, Corda it is at once a private network designed to record, manage and synchronize data between partners, and an open-source platform which can be used to build apps for financial institutions on top of it. 

Corda allows the creation of immutable records for financial events. But unlike other blockchains, the transactions are done privately in Corda. Financial institutions choose to use a Distributed Ledger Technology that utilises known identities to inject trust into the system and keeps transactions private between interacting parties, with the goal to reduce the effort required to maintain data consistency while still allowing it to handle a higher volume of transactions.

A new generation of permissioned blockchains:

Ethereum Express
Ethereum Express is an innovative project which differentiates significantly from permissioned blockchains are the Its developers found a way of using the Proof-of-Authority consensus algorithm to allow users to become validators and maintain their reputation by ensuring the successful throughput of blocks.

The platform is based on of the Ethereum blockchain architecture but removes inherent scalability limitations to Ethereum which cannot proceed more than 15 transactions per second. By enabling the community to make decisions through authoritative voting and capital appreciation, the EEX ecosystem intends to reach a whole new level of social significance and influence for society.

The speed and number of transactions offered by the project are 10 times higher than that of the Ethereum network. EEX operates on the principle of giving its users the ability to vote with their capital and authority. While the project is still new and tests are positioning to the markets, Ethereum Express project announced the launch of two pilot projects that will encompass over 15,000 users.

The first project in question is Mining Express, a mining company that was in need of a viable and technologically advanced solution for facilitating interaction with end-users. The second project that is using EEX’s technical solutions is betting company MYMI aiming to make the process of online entertainment more transparent and understandable for its users. Given the increasing volume of gambling-related transactions on blockchains, the need for better throughput and more streamlined solutions is becoming a pressing matter.

Public blockchains

Public blockchains are those networks that allow access for anyone. No one controls or limits the information, while no member can change the protocol of blockchains according to the users. There it’s safe to say that users of a public blockchain can put their complete trust in a third party.

Speaking about Bitcoin, anyone can create bitcoin’s cryptographic keys, anyone can be a node, join the network, and even become a miner to seek a reward for safeguarding the network.

Miners can walk away from being a node, return if and when they feel like it, and get a full account of all network activity since they left.

Synopsizing the key benefits of public blockchains:

1. Trustless

2. Secure

3. Open and Transparent

4. Pricing depends on the network’s demand

5. Decentralization 

6. Anonymity

7. Auditability

Public blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt current business models through disintermediation. In addition, there is no need to maintain servers or hiring system admins, which radically reduces the costs of creating and running decentralised applications.

Popular Public Blockchains: 

The most notable examples of Public Blockchains are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero and others. 

A new generation of public blockchains:

The new generation of public blockchains aims to solve the “blockchain trilemma” which stands for scalability, security, and decentralization. A few add a fourth layer, which is no other than privacy. 

The new generation platforms aim to build an open platform without sacrificing performance, without delegation to a central entity, and with verifiable security. Let’s not forget that a permissionless network is operated and governed by a large community.

Among the notable initiatives is Harmony Protocol — a San Francisco startup which is building a blockchain-based on a system called deep sharding — the process involving breaking up a large database into smaller, more manageable segments in order to speed up transactions on the network.

Harmony is already among the most decentralized operational PoS blockchains with more than 1,000 nodes operators and a notable selection of projects building on the network like Lympo, Quidd in a joint acquisition with Animoca Brands, SafeHaven, Carbon Money, Kamix, and more.

The battle between public vs private blockchains: is there a winner yet?

The public and private blockchains can co-exist and each of those to work in different industries by adopting approaches depending on the use cases.

It seems likely that financial institutions and closed consortiums might find private blockchains more appealing, while Decentralized Finance and projects that serve bigger communities they will find their safe havens in public blockchains.

 

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Sometimes the only way to truly understand a thing is to compare it to something else. Live in the same place for long enough and you’d be forgiven for forgetting that anything significant actually exists outside it. We adapt to our environment, allowing it (some more than others) to shape our thoughts and behaviours. While I’ve lived in China for a little over 10 years, it’s only been in the last two to three years that I’ve done any significant travel inside or outside the country.

In December 2017, I was invited to Italy to mentor for a China market entry program at HFarm, an accelerator and innovation consultancy. In April, I got the chance to speak at the Russia Internet Conference, an annual government-sponsored conference, in Moscow about the Chinese ecosystem and recent developments in blockchain. More recently, in June, I was invited to TechSauce, a conference held in Bangkok every year, as a moderator. Living in China breeds a certain arrogance about the rest of the world, an arrogance made clearer with each new country I visited.

In each country, I was able to witness a different manifestation of the fundamental ideal that forms the foundation of every tech-driven entrepreneurial environment: we can make the world a better place by creating great businesses. This was especially apparent at TechSauce. I had the pleasure to talk with entrepreneurs testing the limits of what can be done in Thailand and Southeast Asia, from working with regulators to deliver better insurance schemes to microfinance solutions for blue-collar workers who easily find themselves in debt they can’t handle.

It wasn’t until about a year ago that I started seriously studying China. I’ve tried my best to balance inputs from the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, various tech and non-tech media, as well as serious non-fiction. With all the new information, I’ve been trying my best to figure out how it all fits together. Visiting other countries and cultures has helped me put some of this in perspective.

The power of history

To steal a phrase from Dan Carlin, I’m no historian. I am, however, continually amazed by how much can be explained by historical forces and trends. In China, I still struggle with many aspects of the culture: the lack of basic politeness in public spaces, the dog-eat-dog/find the greater fool/screw or get screwed mentality, the consistent reminder of my alienness no matter how well I speak the language or understand the culture, and a pervasive cultural chauvinism that manifests itself both as an odd friendliness and strident pride. I came to China for an idealised escape from Western failings, I’ve stayed for reasons mundane: family, friends, and career.

Also Read: Taiwan’s travel experience e-commerce platform KKday raises funding from Alibaba to expand to China

Completely unplanned, over the last six months I have been in two countries scarred by a Marxist upheaval (China and Russia) and two with very well preserved cultural lineages (Italy and Thailand). A very good case can and has been made that we need to overturn the past to discover the future and increase human flourishing. Indeed, any contemporary entrepreneur worth their salt is doing exactly that. However, both China and Russia serve as warnings that some kinds of historical disruption are not only disastrous but can also change the people and culture in ways that isolate them from the rest of the world.

In both countries in the 20th century, a revolutionary view of the world was used to reshape politics, economics, and cultures. Past structures were only meant to justify the dominance of the ownership class and the oppression of the worker class. In China, this meant Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism (integral parts of the culture for thousands of years) were not only irrelevant but also antithetical to the new order; they were to be deleted as soon as possible. It’s hard to imagine what this must have been like for the people of China, supporters or not of the change.

Of course, this isn’t to say that current idiosyncrasies of Chinese culture are due solely to its recent history. Many current cultural phenomena were accurately described in the early 1900s by a Chinese author trying to explain Chinese culture to foreigners, including the propensity to treat everyone not family or friends as distrusted strangers, as well as the tendency for women to enact very feminine gender roles.

China is crazy entrepreneurial

Compared to the rest of the world, China is [insert expletive] insane. Lack of work-life balance is the norm and now, with instant communication tools, even personal time is consistently intruded upon by the demands of the employer. The post-90s and late-80s generations are changing some of these expectations, but human resources are still cheap until proven indispensable.

Even with these changes, including flaunting the fruits of their labour with well-framed and photoshopped pictures of lavish meals and exotic places, the basic economic and financial assumption in China is that there is money to be made and if you’re not making money somehow, you’re an overcautious fool.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news, June 22: Thailand tops ASEAN IoT exploration, Matrix Partner China raises US$750M

This is not new: the Chinese diaspora the world over proves the point. Ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia consistently have greater economic affluence than much of their “local” counterparts. Looked down upon in Confucian ideology, the merchant class has now basically expanded to the whole of the country. “To get rich is glorious” is no longer just a slogan, but has become a fundamental axiom. And mobile-first business models have exacerbated this trend: WeChat shops, Taobao villages, and the dream of becoming a KOL. Combine this with a status-driven culture where hierarchies are still somewhat plastic and you have a potent mix.

China is not international

Of all the countries I’ve visited so far, Thailand was the most international, with TechSauce being the most international conference I’ve attended outside China (I would say the same about RISE, but they’re in Hong Kong, technically part of China). This makes sense given the country’s relatively small size and reliance on tourism, but a tourist destination is more than just the place, it’s also the people.

The number of people who could communicate effectively (not necessarily fluently) in English was surprising. In China, every university graduate spends at least 12 years learning English and yet the number of people who can actually speak is dismally disappointing, revealing a fatal flaw in Chinese education. Not only are the children disciplined with medieval pedagogical methods, but they are rarely exposed to any English outside the classroom.

And it’s not just English. The entire educational system seems designed to keep its students looking inward, focussed on the result (exam scores) rather than enjoying the process of learning.

China is slowly returning to its old ways. The reform and opening-up period was more a blip than a trend and all those who thought China would liberalise have been proven wrong. Now that it has gained prominence on the world stage and become a “moderately prosperous” society, the country is slowly turning back inwards. Always quite protectionist, doing business in the country is becoming harder for expat entrepreneurs and MNCs alike.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news, June 18: Jack Ma meets Mahathir, Google makes China e-commerce play

Thailand is also quite protective of its business environment, mandating in most cases that companies must be majority Thai-owned. While certainly less favourable to foreigners in this sense, the sheer number of businesses catering to tourists and expats demonstrates a country with little concern about foreign influence in the broader culture.

Looking at the individual, one of the big issues we deal with at TechNode is how to connect Chinese founders and teams with the rest of the world. Unfortunately, even if they want that connection or exposure, if they are “too local,” cultural and psychological barriers prevent them from taking full advantage of international opportunities.

China, in this sense, is split: On the one hand, they are the most open of East Asian countries, but, on the other hand, this openness is born out of recent history and a fundamental pragmatism. They look at the success of others and do their best to emulate it, but Chinese culture looks inward and prizes intimacy among in-group members. The friction created by misunderstanding and miscommunication leads to discomfort and embarrassment. For many, avoiding this altogether is much more preferable.

China is full of trade-offs

I originally came to China because I wanted to understand a culture and people that were so different from me. That sense of difference has yet to fade. Visiting other countries has made me think of greener pastures. However, as Ben Thompson and James Allworth say, there’s always a trade-off.

China is reclaiming its position as the center of the world, like it or not. However, that’s being built on the back of an educational system based on obedience, a willingness to work excessively, a deteriorating environment, and a populace who gets the majority of their spiritual nourishment comes from 15-second videos. The trade-offs abound: Speed for professionalism, result for process, status for friendship, security for happiness, hard work for efficient process. And ultimately, economic power for freedom.

Also Read: Singapore’s GIC and Sequoia China invest US$40M into Korean fintech startup Viva Republica

I find it quite difficult to explain China to people with limited knowledge of the country. It’s a huge, complicated country that will never be just one easily understood thing. As I’ve said to many people, the Chinese language became much easier for me to learn once I admitted that I will never really understand why it is the way it is.

Any time someone tries to sell you a picture of China, whether it’s the land of opportunity, a country full of shysters, or has a [insert positive or negative superlative] government, I encourage you to question whether they actually understand what they are talking about. To paraphrase Laozi, the China that can be understood is not the real China.

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The article The China that can be understood is not the real China first appeared on TechNode.

Image Credit: Yasmin Dangor on Unsplash

The article The China that can be understood is not the real China by John Artman originally appeared on TechNode, the leading English authority on technology in China.

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“Don’t break the chain.”

These four simple words helped Jerry Seinfeld become one of the world’s most successful comedians.

Seinfeld’s mantra pushed him to write new jokes every single day.

Using a wall calendar, he drew an “X” through each day on which he wrote. Once the Xs started forming a chain, his motivation grew.

“You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain,” Seinfeld told a young comedian, who had asked for success tips.

Seinfeld’s technique, which ultimately led to him landing a hit television show, is a perfect example of how success doesn’t always begin with extraordinary motivation.

Like a snowball gathering speed, sometimes the motivation builds after you get started.

Also Read: In democracy, social media is the fruit of the poisoned tree

By nature, I’m not a highly motivated person. I’m not an early riser, I don’t particularly love the gym and I don’t read two new books each week.

But somehow I still managed to launch JotForm, and slowly grow a network of over 4.2 million users over the last twelve years. And I squeeze in a workout many mornings, too.

Getting stuff done doesn’t always depend on motivation. We can accomplish great things, even when we just don’t feel like it.

Procrastination can be a vicious cycle

The more we avoid something, the higher our anxiety, and so we put it off further.

To stop the procrastination cycle, we need to first identify the reason why we’re avoiding a task. Usually, it’s about prevention or promotion.

• A prevention focus is when we avoid doing something to prevent a loss. For example, you have to create a presentation for work, but are afraid it won’t be engaging. Worried about embarrassing yourself in front of colleagues, you postpone getting started on the presentation.
• A promotion focus is when we see a task as a way to end up better off than we are now — like training for a marathon — but can’t summon the motivation to get started. For example, the running club you joined meets at 6:00 am, but the snooze button triumphs every time.

Emotions play a key role both in promotion and prevention focus.

It’s the “feeling like” part that is the trickiest, but as Melissa Dahl shared in a 2016 article for The Cut:

“You don’t have to feel like getting something done in order to actually get it done.“ This is such a critical point. It’s so simple, but often so difficult to apply.

Similarly, if you think something is boring or unpleasant, you need to take your feelings out of the equation and decide in advance exactly when and where you’ll do it.

Say, every day at 7:00 am, you’re at the gym. No emotions. There’s no lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and weighing the pros and cons of exercise. Save yourself the decision fatigue and commit to your previously-determined schedule.

Act now, feel motivated later

“Where I’d had huge success, I had narrowed my concentration to one thing, and where my success varied, my focus had, too … Success is sequential, not simultaneous.”
– Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, Authors of The One Thing

Like my morning pages routine, motivation can be the result of an action, not the cause of it. Once we manage to get started, even in the smallest of ways, momentum will keep us going.

Sustained momentum toward a singular goal creates a compound effect. Which is, in essence, the concept that consistent, incremental changes can result in fundamental changes over time.

Between the ages of 32 and 44, Warren Buffett grew his net worth by 1,257 per cent. But it’s the next 12 years that are truly astounding.

From 44 to 56, he grew his net worth by 7,268 per cent.

Slowly but surely, he started building up a chain of investments and never stopped.

Don’t break the chain

The power of momentum can be explained with the idea called the Physics of Productivity, which is Newton’s First Law applied to habit formation:

Objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Once a task has begun, it’s easier to continue moving it forward.

If we start with a small action — putting on our running sneakers or finishing the presentation introduction — chances are we’ll find it easier to continue.

This is where routines come in handy — to eliminate the decision-making process and decide not only when you’ll do something, but also the exact steps.

Say you want to publish a new blog post but can’t muster the motivation to get started. Commit to completing just one paragraph each day until it’s done.

And to take it one step further: create a ritual to go with the activity. Pour a fresh cup of coffee, practice a couple minutes of mindful breathing and then get started.

Some of the most successful people believe in rituals. Take world-famous author and motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

Every morning, Robbins “primes” his mind before he starts his day. In just 10 minutes, he performs three sets of 30 Kapalbhati Pranayama breaths, expresses gratitude and prays for help, guidance, and strength throughout the day. Then, brain primed, he starts his day.

Whatever you choose, your ritual will reduce the chance that you’ll skip the activity. In fact, sometimes the ritual helps us look forward to it — like slipping on a pair of comfortable slippers the moment we get home.

Kindling the fire

Motivation isn’t the fire that starts your engine.

Jeff Haden, the author of The Motivation Myth, writes that it’s “… the fire that starts burning after you manually, painfully, coax it into existence, and it feeds on the satisfaction of seeing yourself make progress.”

Many times, motivation comes after we start working toward a goal. The trick lies in getting ourselves to take that first step.

Also Read: Asia is a red hot arena for e-sports athlete. Find out why in this Echelon Asia Summit panel

If we beat ourselves up for not having the motivation to start a task, then we’re not making any headway.

But by figuring out what’s stopping us, and then creating schedules and rituals, progress will come whether or not we feel like it. And in turn, the fire grows.

So, decide what you want to accomplish, commit to a routine and remember Seinfeld’s advice: don’t break the chain.

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Originally published on JotForm.com

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1. Flexible working hours 

 Offering flexible working hours to your staff can really help staff engagement and office morale without breaking the bank. Studies have shown that putting a flexible work scheme into your business enables your staff to feel more in control of their work-life balance and more trusted. This uplift in morale can result in workers becoming more motivated and often produces increased productivity around the office.  

The beauty of flexible working is that there’s no cookie-cutter approach to getting it right, meaning it can work around your business. There‘s a variety of different working structures you can integrate into how you operate the business; two popular ones are flexi-time office hours and remote working. 

Flexi-time: Your team won’t all work the same way, nor will their situations outside of work be the same. You may find that one employee is more productive in the morning and another in the afternoon. Either way, many companies have found their staff are more efficient when they can choose what time they start and finish their workday. Of course, there should still be some limits to ensure your business runs effectively: when implementing a flexi-time strategy, be sure to include guidelines, for example having all employees present in the office during certain core hours.  

Working remotely: In our recent marketing report, we found that working from home was in the top three desired benefits tech employees wanted in a perk scheme. 

Thanks to technology, it’s now possible for the vast majority of industries to incorporate remote working into their business strategy. To keep your employees happy, why not offer your staff a four day office week, or allocate a percentage of days a month when they can opt to work from home?  

 2. Insurance packages  

 You want your team to be not only happy but healthy, and an excellent way you can ensure this is by offering your employees a healthcare insurance package. Most businesses will supply a basic healthcare package, but to stand out from your competitors and give your employees an incentive to stay, why not try adding other healthcare perks like medical or dental expenses?

For start-ups or smaller SMEs, offering a ‘deluxe’ healthcare package to all your employees may seem expensive. However, it’s not impossible; it’s all about being frugal with your budget when planning the packages. 

Also Read:  The importance of one on one meetings with your employees

 3. Company incentives  

 Company incentives can be anything from performance-related bonuses or shares in the company, to or one-off gifts such as vouchers or trips away. 

Incentives like these shouldn’t be relied on as a bribe for staff, or a way to buy their loyalty, but rather an extra perk to show your appreciation of their work and contribution.   

Your incentive prizes don’t have to break the bank: even small allowances like dress down days, late starts, or extra vacation days can make a massive difference to employee morale. Your team won’t really mind what the incentive is, just as long as you’re acknowledging their hard work in some shape or form.   

 4. Office perks  

 The modern-day office has become more than a desk your employees work at eight hours a day. It’s an environment where your employees can blossom, not just professionally, but socially and personally.  

Your employee spends two-thirds of their life at work—to ensure they stay with your company, try to make the office a happy, comfortable, and fun space to work in. 

 Here are a few suggestions to start implementing around the office:  

1. Provide free breakfast or lunch once a week 

2. Sign up to a third-party discount or perk scheme 

3. Offer a gym membership  

4. Create a ‘comfy’ space for your staff to relax in at lunchtime or socialize in after work  

5. Hold monthly competitions to bring the team together 

6. Have social nights out with your team  

If you put effort into making the office a great place to work every day, then your staff will feel more positive and motivated to work with you and have less reason to look for a job at another company.   

 5. Career vision plan 

 If you want your company to grow, then you need to take care of the people helping you build it. No matter the size of the company, every business can afford to offer their employee a career vision plan; it shouldn’t cost you anything and could be the difference in an employee viewing their position with you like a long-term career and not just a job.  

You can develop a career vision plan with your employees simply by holding one-to-one meetings to talk about their career objectives, how the business can help them reach their goals, and how you can create a mutually beneficial situation by supporting them in improving their skillset. 

The error that most companies make with this scheme is consistency. For a career vision plan to work, you need to meet up with each employee regularly, perhaps once a month or quarter.   

Also Read:  5 incentives that can be helpful in attracting awesome employees

Employees will be more loyal to your company if you can demonstrate an interest in their career development and the progress they’re making within the business. Being coherent and predictable with your one-to-ones gives your employees, your team, and, ultimately, your entire business structure. 

No matter the size of your business, if you can provide regular feedback, a clear progression path, and a positive work environment, your staff will enjoy coming to work knowing that they have a valuable part to play in your company’s future. 

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The packaging is one of the most important things to inspire customers. It is considered a vital element of the marketing mix. It means that packaging plays a significant role in promoting your brand. Retail packaging boxes can be designed in various shapes, sizes, and styles.

The selection of the right colour and text can make your products sell more. Over time different companies are becoming aware of the importance of retail packaging boxes for their brand.

They have started to spend more money to create exceptional designs to stand out. In reality, the packaging is much more than something to deliver a product. Below are some of the aspects which explain how packaging is a smart tool to promote your brand

1. Make your products appealing to customers

The appearance of your presentation packaging boxes is an important factor to drive the number of sales. A strong visual display can attract the customers while a bad one repels them. Customers never give another chance to boxes and wraps which look unattractive. Beautifully designed custom retail packaging plays a crucial role in promoting your brand.

This makes them realize that they have a desire for your product. According to research, about one-third of purchase decisions are made in-store. The visual look of a package performs the part marketing communication with the brand. If designed attractively, it makes a valuable first impression.

The following perfume boxes are designed luxuriously to make the product more appealing for the customers.

2. Explain the key benefits of your brand

Your paper boxes packaging plays a big role in winning the in-store business. It highlights the key benefits and useful features of your products. It’s an effective way to promote your brand in the marketplace. The information which can’t be explained verbally or through advertisement, your retail boxes can do it in the best way.

In the case of custom food packaging, they highlight various important details. The boxes of cereals contain information like ingredients, direction to use, manufacturing and expiry dates, calorie count and nutritional value.

Also Read: The power of storytelling: how to engage your audience

Sometimes, packaging can also add additional benefits to the main product. For example, some sports drinks have an extra flip-top lid. This enables consumers to drink the beverage during sport. Similarly, there are some of the makeup products, which come in exceptionally designed cosmetic boxes. Such extra benefits of packaging attract a customer towards your brand.

3. Innovations in packaging help to improve sales

Designing your customized boxes with innovative designs is the best way to drive your sales. It acts as a smart tool to promote your brand. Customers are always attracted to something unique and innovative. Besides, to create traditional custom cardboard boxes, work on various elements of packaging design to produce interesting variations.

Experiment with different shapes, styles, colours, and fonts. For example, if you want to promote your brand, design custom display boxes or a pop counter to boost its visibility. Place them near the shelves or counter to stimulate purchase behaviour.

4. Communicates overall brand quality

The quality of your custom boxes wholesale communicates the overall quality of your brand. You might have read about how Apple strived on the packaging on its smartphones.

The designers worked on minute details to create a presentation box that communicates the pride of ownership. This makes your packaging a smart tool to promote your brand. The same concept is applied to a variety of product categories. The custom boxes which look expensive tend to communicate a superior brand quality.

5. Creates brand recognition

Packaging plays a prominent role in creating more recognition about your brand. With the help of attractive packaging, small brands can give a tough fight to some of the most successful brands in the market. All you have to do is to design your package in a way that people start recognizing it at a sight.

Also Read: Why reciprocity is key to building deep customer relationships

This can promote your brand effectively and take it a long way. Working on different elements of packaging design like colours, logo, other artwork increases the awareness about your brand and attracts a bigger customer base. Moreover, the way you design your packaging helps in differentiating various products in the same category.

For example, ice cream boxes can be designed in different colours according to the flavour of its ingredients. This not only looks appealing but facilitates the customers in choosing their desired product.

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Culture is the soul of the company and it takes more than sleeping pods to make it work.

In today’s age of high-tech companies, high growth is a necessary requirement for success. As Circles.Life has grown from 100 to 500 people in 5 countries, what keeps us up at night is: how do we retain the culture that got us to succeed in the first place?

We built our company’s culture from day one to be one of empowerment, trust, and high-performance. One magic moment that demonstrated that we had the right culture was a few months after launching Circles.Life. I remember the time when one of our customers had trouble with his Circles.Life app because of his phone model.

One of our engineers (all on his own) decided to travel down to the customer’s house to resolve the issue. The customer was completely taken by surprise with how far we would go to help him and for us, this moment showed us that our culture is something special – and we need to spread this magic across!

Launching in 2 countries 3 months apart this year meant that our team doubled almost overnight. I  wondered if our culture was at risk if we grew too fast. 

In reality, I was asking the wrong question. Growth itself is at risk if you can’t get the culture right.

While we are still learning, here are some things that have worked really well for us:

Cloning founders – aka the Space Explorers

When we first launched, the founders and early leaders led by example and shaped the culture that ultimately allowed us to succeed. As we continued to grow and expand, ensuring that the leadership team across all markets was getting the culture right was difficult. Our realization that we had employees who truly lived by our company values and demonstrated consistently high performance led us to launch our Space Explorers program. 

These employees became our extension- our next round of founders who could uphold the same culture that our early leaders cultivated. 

The company rewards Space Explorers generously, with up to six months’ worth of salary in stock options annually, an additional cash bonus, sponsored training courses of their choice, and exclusive access to the founders and stakeholders. 

Transparent pulse check

Many companies think about using a net promoter score (NPS) to measure customer experience and predict business growth; likewise, you can think about creating an internal NPS to better understand how your employees feel and to work towards using valuable feedback to improve the workplace environment. At Circles.Life, we launched an initiative called monthly pulse check (quick rating of 1 to 5) that helps us evaluate how our employees feel.

Also Read: Company culture is more than just a foosball table

Understanding how each individual feels is very important, but so is taking action where it makes sense. Each quarter, we present the actual feedback and data transparently to all, highlighting what we have done, what’s in progress and why we can’t do some things. But that’s not all, the pulse check KPI is every manager, leader and founder’s KPI that gets measured and graded on. Everyone owns this outcome, to contribute towards building a great workplace for all. 

Town Hall “founders for all”

All companies have town halls, but what makes ours different? We host a weekly “Circle of Trust” town hall that we use to update employees on the business and provide confidential numbers – not something that other companies typically do. 

Ahead of these, we also send out a link for employees to anonymously submit a question, feedback or concerns that are then addressed at a company-wide quarterly meeting. Each survey question that comes in is carefully addressed and acknowledged in future weekly updates. 

Employees are also invited to raise any questions or feedback they may have on the spot, so that leaders and founders have a chance to address it right away.

Psychological safety to fail and learn

If you want to create a high-performance culture, you need to allow space for growth, innovation and …. failure. This needs to be built into your culture. Setting up a root cause analysis (RCA) initiative allows people to understand that every failure is a learning process. 

We use every opportunity to hold an RCA sharing session to allow employees to learn about what worked and what didn’t, to avoid repeating the same mistake. That learning becomes the focus rather than who is to blame for the failure. Owning up to failure is looked upon with pride, and is something we encourage for each of us to grow.

Ultimately, as a leader in the organization, you need more than words to fuel this culture beyond the words in your speeches. 

Also Read: A guide to navigating, and hopefully saving, a struggling startup

I believe strongly in action-oriented work. In fact, some commandments that I live by are:

1. Thou shall lead by example, not 99 per cent  but 100 per cent of the time

2. Thou shall recognise publicly and reprimand privately but ALWAYS specifically behaviour that leads to good or bad culture

3. Thou shall enforce a strong culture screen for new hires and set up a culture keeper test for existing folks (culture fit is least likely to be fixed)

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Decentralized Traded Funds (DEXTF) today announced a US$460,000 seed funding round led by LuneX Ventures and SGInnovate, with the participation of the partners at London-based hedge fund CDAM and undisclosed private investors.

DEXTF is a Singapore-based startup that aims to democratise asset management by bridging investors peer-to-peer with asset managers, eliminating the need for intermediaries.

Claiming to be an oversubscribed round, the startup plans to use the funding to work on the completion of its proof of concept and will use the new capital to launch the product and further develop its technology.

In addition to bridging the connection between investors and asset managers, DEXTF also enables fully decentralised custody, allowing the delegation of investment decisions without transferring ownership of the assets.

In a statement, Mario Aquino, Co-founder and President of DEXTF, dubbed traditional asset management as an industry that is experiencing “a period of significant change.”

Also Read: Golden Gate Ventures, Hanwha Asset Management team up to invest in Series B rounds

This transition is driven by the rise of ETFs and rise of ETFs and passive investments, the search for yield and diversification in a low-interest-rate environment as well as the increasing cost of legacy infrastructure with multiple intermediary layers.

“With DEXTF we are building a new asset management paradigm. One that not only helps traditional asset managers dramatically lower costs and taps into new investment asset classes, but also significantly lowers barriers to entry and democratises the allocation of resources to enable a new generation of digital asset managers,” Aquino said.

“Currently the bearer nature and immutability of digital assets means they cannot be safely invested in with traditional methods, especially when the investment decisions are delegated to third parties. In these cases, the custody of the assets is exposed to risks which can be best addressed by a blockchain solution. By combining blockchain technology with the arbitrage mechanism, a further layer of security is being added providing accountability and transparency,” he added.

DEXTF named Mindful Wealth as a strategic partner.

For LuneX Ventures, the blockchain-focused arm of Golden Gate Ventures, this lead investment is the third deal it concluded together with SGInnovate since its appointment to SGInnovate’s panel of co-investors under the Startup SG Equity scheme for deep tech startups.

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Image Credit: DEXTF

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Recently, I’ve been talking to a lot of entrepreneurs about The Dip — The really hard part of starting something new, where it feels like nothing is going for you. Seth Godin has written about The Dip and why it is an important part of the journey.

The Dip is something that anyone who ventures out beyond the walled garden of a corporate job will encounter at some point. The concept is paralleled in the Initiation phase of Joseph Campbell’s concept of the Hero’s Journey (pictured below). As an entrepreneur, it’s important to understand that a lot of the criticisms that you will receive from investors and potential clients will likely dissipate if you’re able to traverse The Dip. As Seth Godin points out,

“Extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority of people who are able to push just a tiny bit longer than most.” Rather than fight it, embrace The Dip.

The initiation

For background, the Initiation phase of the Hero’s Journey has several smaller parts (there are other iterations of the stages but for the most part this sums it up well):

Tests, Allies, Enemies: A series of tests that a hero must undergo at the beginning of the long and perilous path of conquests.

Approach to the Innermost Cave: The Hero makes final preparations before taking the final leap into the unknown. The Hero will face doubts and fears that had originally surfaced at the start of the journey.

Ordeal: The Hero must draw upon all of the skills and experiences that were gathered on the journey to overcome the final test.

After this, the Hero receives the Reward and begins the Return. As you can see from the above diagram, a majority of the journey happens in the Unknown. This is an area that isn’t visible to people externally. Typically, everyone will see the subsequent success and envy it. Those people won’t understand the trials and tribulations that were faced.

Enduring

Frequently, I find myself consoling entrepreneurs that are negotiating The Dip in one form or another. Media provides a highlight reel of the good times, giving a distorted perception of the struggles that are necessary the fruits of success can be tasted. The Dip is an opportunity to prove yourself.

A common set of questions that early-stage entrepreneurs may face are, “Why you? Why now?” Realistically, few people are just going to fund hope or some idealistic ambitions. There are far more people that are interested in finding people that have solved difficult problems and come through the other side.

For this reason, it’s important to be resilient but at the same time, listen to what the market is telling you (even your advisors might not have the right answers). In the early stages, keep the burn low. This will give you more time to make mistakes and journey through the valley of darkness.

“If you can keep going when the system is expecting you to stop, you will achieve extraor­dinary results.”

Build from a small base

This might feel frustrating in an age that worships consumption and growth at any cost. Why take the time to get the basics right when the opportunity is so simple for you to see? What if someone copies the idea and gets out ahead of you, taking the market from under you?

Momentum starts slowly. Jim Collins’ concept of starting the flywheel is apt. It takes a massive amount of effort at the beginning and the indications of success will likely be missing. However, when compounded over time, all of the small actions add up. Momentum can build up from a freakishly small base

“It is so easy to overlook how powerful it can be to take something small and hammer away at it, year after year, without stopping. Because it’s easy to overlook, we miss the key ingredients of what caused big things to get big.”

Conclusion

Don’t get angry or annoyed when faced with any of the problems that you face at the early stages of a business. Treat them as challenges, problems to be solved, just like any other. The times that frustrate you in the early days will probably be some of the most fruitful and enjoyable times in hindsight.

In the words of the SEALS:

“Fast is smooth, smooth is fast”

Get the basics right and prove that you can execute. The competitors that you’re benchmarking yourself against may not even be there when you come out the other side of The Dip.

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So you’ve got a space at LaunchPad, a few hungry graduates you call ‘employees’, a Slack chat up and running, and you’re all set to be known as ‘The Genius Behind The Next Big StartUp’.

But I have some bad news. It might be the idea of a lifetime, but starting a tech start-up in Singapore may be something to regret in the long run. Despite its reputation as the region’s start-up hub, the conditions here are far from ideal, especially if for those who are just starting out.

Here’s why:

Expensive tech talent

Key to every tech start-up is strong tech talent, and chances are, you’re not going to find that in the Little Red Dot. Look around — tech startups are springing up every day, but graduates with software expertise are rare gems.

Plus, the ones you can find here are often expensive. The head of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce recently recounted to The Straits Times difficulties faced by Silicon Valley technopreneurs in Singapore. They found a “shortage of good IT developers” with “unrealistic remuneration expectations”.

Don’t expect stellar quality either — he went on to say that these technopreneurs were “disappointed with the quality and quantity of output”. Ouch.

Expensive, well, everything else

IT geeks aren’t the only expensive realities in Singapore — everything else one could possibly need, from office rental to transport can quickly wipe out a young company’s funds.

Also Read: Baidu’s iQiyi said to have filed for US$1B IPO in the US

I’m not the only one saying it; property consultancy firm Knight Frank named Singapore the most expensive city in Southeast Asia for tech start-ups. Need I say more?

No promiscuity

Maybe it’s our conservative Asian values, but we somehow don’t seem to realise that promiscuity pays. Racking up experience at one firm and bringing it to another start-up isn’t stealing ideas, it’s spreading valuable insights and contacts throughout the start-up ecosystem! That brings the whole sector forward.

But remember, promiscuity is NOT job-hopping. That’s just not cool, man.

Also Read: A good chatbot is a USED chatbot

Last word: If you want the benefits of Singapore, but not its high costs, offshoring may be your best bet.

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Keith Tan is the Singaporean entrepreneur behind Start Now, a social enterprise that was acquired in 2015. His current venture, Wonderlabs, was co-founded with Ivan Chang. It operates 3 offshore software development centres in Indonesia, employing 125 software engineers in Yogyakarta and Bandung. Read more of his musings on entrepreneurship here.

Copyright: prestonia / 123RF Stock Photo

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