Category: Digital Innovation

Initial Coin Offerings – the hot new trend

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Digital Innovation, Initial Coin Offerings, InnovationLeave a comment

Everybody is talking about Initial Coin Offerings or ICOs. Whether it is the expert analysts or the mainstream newspapers, there is a buzz around issuing new digital coins. And no wonder – startups around the world are raising hundreds of millions of dollars through ICOs.

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Richard Kastelstein, a partner at Cryptoassets Design group, which helps companies launch ICOs, told Business Insider in July 2017 that half a billion dollars had been raised since the start of the year. It’s a sensational sum of money, given that ICOs didn’t even exist five years ago.

Raising millions in minutes

And, get this, Gnosis, a prediction market for digital currency Ethereum raised $12 million in 10 minutes in April this year. Brave, a new web browser started by the founder of Mozilla, raised $35 million in 30 seconds by selling ‘Basic Attention Tokens’.

April 2017 is being cited as the month that ICOs really caught fire and financial experts believe they will get bigger and bigger. So, how do you set up an ICO?

Setting up an ICO

It’s quite simple really. To raise money through an ICO, a company issues a new digital currency that can either be spent within its ecosystem, a bit like Disneyland dollars, or used to power part of the business, like the fuel you put in your car. And as one ICO expert pointed out: “With tokens/digital coins you can get thousands of engaged supporters who are extremely motivated to see your company succeed.”

Foe example, Jan Isakovic, CEO of ICO platform Cofound.it has a token that is used on its platform by all the startups applying to join the platform. He raised $14.8 million in June this year through an ICO and this is funding the construction of a platform to connect ICO-funded companies with experts who can help grow their business.

Better than venture capital

Isakovic prefers ICOs because of poor experiences with the more traditional ways of raising funds, such as venture capital. As he says, this method is slow and startups don’t always get the support they need, but with an ICO, the funding comes in fast and all the people who put their money into it are engaged and energised to make it work.

Setting up an ICO is relatively simple, and most companies use the Ethereum blockchain network that allows people to write ‘smart contracts.’ Isakovic explains: “A smart contract is effectively a piece of software, a piece of code. In our smart contract, it says we are selling 125 million tokens, our cap is at 56,000 Ether or something. The ICO lasts until the cap is reached or until four weeks is done. Calculate the contribution and then send tokens. It’s two or three pages of programme and Ethereum does everything else.”

ICO exchanges

And there is another advantage: unlike buying shares in an early stage company, investors in ICOs can trade the coins almost immediately on a number of exchanges, rather than waiting for a company to list on a stock market. This attracts investors looking to make money, and this is pushing up valuations.

When you look at kript.io, a decentralised mobile app and social network for investing and trading in ICOs, you realise the phenomenal array of investment opportunities that are available, the simplicity of the concept and its security, because the Ethereum platform used for ICOs has proved itself to be bomb proof.

A booming market

The market capitalisation for cryptocurrencies has been steadily growing since the beginning of 2017; in fact it has multiplied by 1.5 times. Without doubt blockchain technology is going to be the future of the financial market and ICOs are going to play a massive role in fund raising. ICOs really are the trend to watch.

 

The New Technology and Human Values

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Digital Innovation, Innovation, TechLeave a comment

Values, personal, national and international are at the core of human societies. They are complex and as individuals we get them from multiple sources: parents, culture, experience and beliefs about what is a good life and what gives life meaning.

When we make a choice, we use our values to come to a decision. And we like to think that we have the freedom to make choices based on our values in every area of our lives. However, this is not quite how it is, and new technology plays a role in determining our values, that then affects our decisions, whether we admit it or not.

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Choices, power and status

In reality our choices are limited and our values change over time in significant ways that are often unpredictable. I was reading an interesting article by Brad Allenby at Slate, who said in relation to new technology and change: “Values that may lead one society to reject a technology are seldom universal, meaning that the technology is simply developed and deployed elsewhere.” The upshot of this is that in a world that overall values technology very highly, those countries which adopt a new technology are seen as having power and status, whereas those that reject it are perceived to be significantly inferior.

We never have the full picture

We would also like to make our choices based on having complete information, but we never get this.  This is true for you and me as individuals as well as for corporate entities and governments. For example, if I made investments based on having the full picture, I’d be very wealthy in a short time. But, like other investors, the whole picture is kept from us. All we have is “the best available information” and we have learnt to make decisions based on ‘best available” because otherwise we wouldn’t take any action.

Change and stability

And, we are used to a rate of change in society that allows us to shift our values and choices in a way that maintains stability. In other words, change is rarely so radical that our values and choices struggle to keep up. Yes, there have been times in history and in specific parts of the world where there have been dramatic shifts that have left people feeling as if the world was collapsing from under them, and we are in a period of rapid change right now, due to new technology, that gives us a feeling of losing balance.

The key areas of technology responsible are: nanotechnology, biotechnology, information and communication technology, robotics and applied cognitive science. As Brad says: “The cycle time of technology innovations and the rapidity with which they ripple through society have become far faster than the institutions and mechanisms that we’ve traditionally relied on to inform and enforce our choices and values.”

Moving into future values

Right now we are scrambling and trying to keep up with the advance of technology. We haven’t yet grasped how to make meaningful choices, not have we scoped out responsible values regarding the application of all these technologies. Currently, we are trying to use ‘old world’ ideas that are “naïve and superficial” and making choices that don’t quite fit the technology, or at least don’t maximise its potential uses.

I believe we will get there, because history shows us that we have always been able to move our values and choices forward, even if it takes us a little time to catch up with the technology.

 

6 Steps to hiring a great web developer

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Business, Careers, Digital Innovation, Success Advice, Tech, TipsLeave a comment

Building your brand online requires stylish web design and a website that works seamlessly. To achieve this you need a highly skilled web developer. At first, you may think that finding a great web developer will be an easy task, because there are so many developers available, but it isn’t as simple as that, as many have found out at great expense. So, here are six things you need to consider when you’re hiring a web developer.

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  1. What do you need the developer to do?

You need to decide what their task is first. Do you want them to work on the front end of your website or the back end? Or do you want them to do everything from A-Z? Front-end developers are more skilled in design; they code for ‘good looks’ with HTML and Javascript.  Whereas those who are better at back-end stuff, know all about databases and programming languages like PHP. The developers who can handle both are usually more expensive, but the upside of this is that there are no communication issues; you only have one person to talk to.

  1. Freelance or full-time employee?

There are plenty of freelancers available and this is a more flexible option. You can hire them on a per project basis, which is more economical than taking one on full-time.

  1. What’s your budget?

Website budgets vary greatly and the more complex the site, the more it will cost. Figure out your budget first and talk to the developer about what you can achieve with that. Also, be prepared to wait 12-16 weeks for a site to be completed, some may even take six months.

  1. Will you work well together?

When you are hiring a developer to work with you and your team you must consider how the person will get on in your company culture, even if they are freelance. Happy employees are more productive, so take time to assess the developer’s attitudes, enthusiasm and adaptability; it will save you time in the long run.

  1. What is their skillset?

You need to establish where they are strong and weak. Give them technical tests to complete, such as their proficiency in HTML, and ask questions like:

  • What are the benefits of using Javascript?
  • How do you devise a timeline for your projects?

Also ask to see their portfolio.

  1. Do they understand what you want?

The last step is essential because you need to be sure that you and the developer are on the same page. You should go over the following:

  • Reporting structure
  • Deadlines
  • Expectations
  • Tools
  • Payment

Hiring is always hard work, but it is worth the effort to get the right person, because that will pay off in the end in every way; in saving time and money and in building the brand that you really want. So, take the time to decide what you need first and then follow these steps to get the best web developer possible.

 

 

 

The Internet of Value: What It Means and How It Benefits Everyone

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Digital Innovation, Innovation, TechLeave a comment

Blockchain has been called the “second significant overlay on the Internet” with the web being the first layer when it appeared back in 1990. That’s how important blockchain is. I know that when I mention blockchain to a lot of people, the first thing that comes into their minds is “Bitcoin.” That’s fair enough, because Bitcoin cryptocurrency has made blockchain famous. You’re probably aware that there is now a whole bunch of cryptocurrencies in addition to Bitcoin and although it remains the coin with the highest value, others like Ethereum are taking hold in the markets. But, there are many more exciting things that can be done with this technology beyond financial transactions using digital currencies and it is called “The Internet of Value’.

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Instant transactions

What is it? It is when Internet technology makes it possible to exchange ‘value’ as quickly as information. The banking system is one place where the Internet of Value can really make a big difference. For example, although information moves around the world instantly, a single payment from one country to another is slow, expensive and unreliable. According to Ripple, a blockchain transaction solution, in the US, a typical international payment takes 3-5 days to settle, has an error rate of at least 5% and an average cost of $42. Worldwide, there are $180 trillion worth of cross-border payments made every year, with a combined cost of more than $1.7 trillion a year.

But, with the technology from the Internet of Value, a value transaction, like a foreign currency payment, can happen instantly.  And it doesn’t have to be limited to money, although currently that is the primary use of this aspect of blockchain – the Internet of Value will enable the exchange of any asset, including stocks, votes, frequent flyer points, securities, intellectual property and more.

Blockchain and Value exchanges

The most common way of exchanging assets is using a bank, credit card or a booking service, but blockchain technology is changing all that. It allows these assets to be transferred directly from me to you without any other entity in the middle. The transfer is validated, permanent, and completed instantly – just like sharing information on the web. It has huge potential to change the world as we know it. It will decentralise every transaction, empower the individual and it will disrupt the financial markets as well as consumer ones.

This is not something that is a futuristic dream. It is already happening. Exchanges like NASDAQ are using blockchain technolog, Estonia, which is becoming the Silicon Valley of Europe, stores its citizens’ health records on blockchain and some airlines are accepting cryptocurrency payments for flights.

Very soon we will see the adoption of industry standards using an Interledger Protocol (ILP) that will set the standards for the settlement of transactions across different networks. ILP can be thought of much like the protocol HTTP used in web address that became the global standard for online information exchange.

With the use of this protocol there will be one, frictionless experience to send money globally using the power of blockchain. It will connect billions of people globally and give rise to new businesses and it will also liberate the millions of people who don’t have access to banking. The Internet of Value is bringing us into a bold, new world where the individual has more power. The Internet revolution is taking another step forward – we must embrace it.

I hope you enjoyed this and found it useful. Please subscribe to my blog if you’d like to receive an alert when I post new content.