Sydney-based fashion-sharing startup GlamCorner has raised $4.2 million in a Series A funding round led by AirTree Ventures, as it continues its quest to secure a piece of Australia’s $9 billion market for women’s apparel.
This is the third time AirTree has invested in the dress-sharing platform, having invested $500,000 in 2015 and $800,000 in 2016, according to Fairfax. Other first-time investors have also come on board this time around, including Marshall Investments, which owns the Sportscraft, SABA and JAG brands; Sass & Bide co-founder Sarah-Jane Clarke; Silicon Valley-based Partners for Growth; and Impact Investment Group’s Giant Leap. Founded by husband and wife duo Dean Jones and Audrey Khaing-Jones in 2012, GlamCorner allows users to rent designer dresses for between 10-15% of the cost of purchasing those dresses off the rack.
“We’re providing a platform that allows women to consume fashion in a different way, and what we believe is a better way,” Jones tells StartupSmart.
“We realised that Australian women have been getting a bad deal for quite a long time when it comes to certain elements of the fashion and apparel space, particularly when it comes to event wear; they’re buying once and throwing items out.” Jones says the rise of the sharing economy has meant an “increasing proportion” of women are looking to rent instead of buy their one-off event wear, indicating a “long-term and permanent shift” in consumer habits. “We’re putting a real dint in the $9 billion women’s apparel market in this country,” he says. The clothes sharing economy has taken off both in Australia and internationally, with Rent the Runway offering a similar service in the United States and raising a $US60 million ($75 million) in Series E funding late last year. Closer to home, offerings like Your Closet, HerWardrobe, SomethingBorrowed and DesignerX sit alongside GlamCorner, however the Sydney-based startup says its “significantly larger” volume of inventory offers a key point of differentiation from its competitors.
“We’ve got 3,000 dresses available for hire now — ten times more than our next best competitor,” Jones says. “It’s a very fast growing space,” Jones concedes. GlamCorner is attempting to set itself apart from its competition by acting as a “customer-centric organisation” and logistics platform that offers for next-day shipping across Australia, and delivery within three hours in Sydney, says Jones.
GlamCorner has grown 500% in last 12 months in terms of revenue and new customers, according to Jones, and now boasts a customer base “in the tens of thousands”. The company now plans to use its latest funding to “give a greater level of scale to the already successful formula”, which includes expanding its inventory and investing in logistics and technology to ensure faster delivery. “Numbers don’t lie” This is the third time AirTree Ventures has invested in GlamCorner, and Jones nominates good communication and a metrics-driven approach as key factors in maintaining investor relationships. “Understanding investors want you to succeed, keeping communications lines open, and keeping a focus on profitability” are crucial to keeping investors coming back through seed, Series A, B and C funding rounds, says Jones.
He also emphasises the importance of finding investors that mix “profit with purpose” to build meaningful long-term relationships, suggesting startups should “meet investors way ahead of time” leading up to funding rounds to allow time to find investors who “see the value in supporting your vision”.
Jones also suggests startups should focus on “unit economics” to show investors their business is profitable and viable in the long-term. “Until a business is at least at the base per-unit level profitable, it’s sort of a glorified hobby,” Jones says, advocating for a strongly numbers-driven approach when pitching to investors. “Numbers don’t lie — it doesn’t matter what the industry and sector, a profitable business is a profitable business. Stick to those fundamentals … and you’ll have success not just for your funding round but for a very long time after it,” he says. “Funding rounds don’t drive value, free cashflow drives value.”
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Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou company's 'bringing' 13,000 jobs & $10 billion plan for Wisconsin7/31/2017
In a world where technology keeps getting sharper, faster and more entrenched in all facets of life, some of the sharpest, fastest technology is going to be made at a $10 billion LCD-screen plant to be built in southeast Wisconsin, Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou said Thursday in an exclusive interview with the Journal Sentinel.
Gou visited the city to sign a memorandum of understanding with the state and commit his Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing company to investing billions of dollars and hiring up to 13,000 people in the new facility at “living wage” jobs.
The commitment may even include a naming rights deal for all or part of the Milwaukee Bucks’ new arena, Gou said. “I would say this: We (are) working with them, but it’s not final yet,” Gou said. “Do we want the whole building or just one section? I don’t know.”
Gou confirmed that Foxconn plans to invest $10 billion in Wisconsin by 2020, constructing a campus of multiple buildings totaling 20 million square feet to produce super-high-definition liquid crystal display panels to be used in a variety of industries. The company, perhaps best known as the producer of Apple’s iPhones, plans to make “8K+5G” displays, which have the very latest ultra-sharp 8K definition and can accommodate ultra-fast 5G wireless speeds.
Why set up shop in the United States, when all LCD panels currently are made in Asia, where lower labor costs and other factors can help keep prices down?
“Number one, the United States is still the largest (consumer) market in the world,” Gou said. In addition, the company last year acquired Japan’s Sharp Corp., and having a “Made In The U.S.A.” tagline will be advantageous when the company markets Sharp brand next-generation televisions in the nation, Gou said. The new plant will be located in southeast Wisconsin, most likely in Racine or Kenosha counties, but no precise site has been chosen yet. Gov. Scott Walker, who joined Gou at a signing ceremony for the memorandum of understanding at the Milwaukee Art Museum on Thursday, said the site, when chosen, will come to be known as “Wisconn Valley.”
If the Taiwanese company lives up to its commitments of jobs, it will receive up to $3 billion in subsidies from state taxpayers over 15 years.
The jobs, including engineering and other high-tech positions, will pay an average annual salary of more than $53,000 plus overtime and benefits, Gou said. The Foxconn campus will represent the largest greenfield investment by a foreign-based company in U.S. history, according to Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, which was integral in helping attract Foxconn to the state.
Beyond choosing to open a plant in the U.S. because of the importance of the consumer market and the “Made In The U.S.A.” label to his company’s future, Gou was asked why, in particular, he chose to put it in Wisconsin.
In the interview, he outlined these reasons:
“These key people pushed very hard,” Gou said. The search for Bitcoin creator "Satoshi Nakamoto" appears to be over. Almost two years since Newsweek erroneously doxxed a 64-year-old Japanese-American man living in California, the man himself has come forward. So, who is he? According to a joint-investigation between the BBC, The Economist and GQ, the man behind the cryptocurrency is Australian computer scientist Craig Steven Wright. In a meeting with the three media organizations, Wright signed messages using keys that were created shortly after Bitcoin was developed. Experts were able to link them back to blocks of bitcoins that were mined by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. There have always been trails to these transactions, or more specifically Nakamoto, but it's the first time anyone has come forward with proof they own the keys. If the name sounds familiar, it's because Wright has been the leading candidate since August last year. With help from dark-web analyst Gwern Branwen, Wired trawled through email archives, transcripts and now-deleted blog posts and put Wright firmly in the crosshairs. The Australian reportedly said: "I did my best to try and hide the fact that I've been running Bitcoin since 2009," and "People love my secret identity and hate me," in some of his messages. Just a day after he was publicly outed, Australian Federal Police raided the businessman's rented home and registered offices and found "substantial computer system" that required a three-phase electrical setup for additional power. The raid wasn't thought to be linked to his Bitcoin exploits, but the existence of a number-crunching computer stacked more evidence in his favor. By coming forward, Wright hopes to put an end to press speculation about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. Since the December raid, he claims he has been hounded by reporters looking to confirm his secret identity and it's begun to weigh heavy on relationships with friends and family. "There are lots of stories out there that have been made up and I don't like it hurting those people I care about. I don't want any of them to be impacted by this," he told the BBC. "I would rather not do it. I want to work, I want to keep doing what I want to do. I don't want money. I don't want fame. I don't want adoration. I just want to be left alone."
From collaborations to long-term investments, old school luxury brands are teaming with Chinese designers to retain a presence in the East
Chinese designer Xuzhi Chen was in the limelight late February as the Central Saint Martins graduate was supported by Giorgio Armani at Milan Fashion Week to show at the Armani Theater, Armani’s own catwalk space that has sent new designers to international stardom.
Xu is not the first Chinese designer to have this privilege. Rico Manchit Au, known for her minimalist style, was chosen to show at the prestigious venue last September.
As China grows to be one of the world’s largest luxury markets, luxury brands are launching collaborations in one way or another with China’s independent designers (and even fashion bloggers) to explore the local market. One of the most influential ‘collaborations’ in this sphere is the one that brought Shang Xia to life. Co-founded by Hermès Group and Chinese designer Jiang Qionger in 2009, Shang Xia is known for its Chinese-inspired contemporary design, challenging the idea that high-end traditional craftsmanship is generally undervalued in the country.
While Hermès wants to replant its pursuit for quality and craftsmanship into another culture, Jiang, who is now Shang Xia’s CEO and artistic director, is keen to use Chinese inspiration and traditional craftsmanship in modern design. The brand sells clothing, jewellery, tea sets, homeware, and furniture, covering almost all aspects of the Chinese lifestyle.
With 10 locations in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, the brand is also looking to open in second- and third-tier cities in the Chinese mainland, eyeing the increasing number of local customers who start to look for their own cultural roots. It opened a boutique in Paris in 2013, exploring the international market. The brand says that it has seen more non-Chinese customers, especially in the Paris boutique. “When foreigners are amazed and enchanted with the mysterious culture and arts of China, it means Chinese elements have already joined the rhythm of global fashion,” Jiang said. “We believe this appreciation for high-quality China design and China-made (products) will spread among sophisticated Chinese and overseas markets. They shrugged off the old stereotypes they had and saw a previously unknown China.” It was reported in 2013 that Hermès invested more than 10 million euros (US$10.6 million) on average a year on Shang Xia, while sales figures remain unknown. However, instead of seeking immediate commercial success, the brand is taking a slow luxury approach.
“It is not a commercial project, but a cultural one,” Jiang said. “Financial return is not our immediate goal. If we compare Shang Xia to a child who was born in 2010, now he learns how to walk. Ten years later, he will have deep thoughts and a strong personality. When he is 18, the brand will develop a more mature and obvious image, so we have vision for the long term.”
While Shang Xia is committed to a long-term investment, more brands have taken on a more flexible approach. Early in 2012, Swatch worked with Chinese designer Uma Wang on watches that highlight contrasting materials. Jewelry maker Swarovski has worked with designers like Masha Ma, Wang Peiyi and Christine Lau for a Christmas collection highlighting its crystals in 2014. Reda, an Italian upscale wool fabric maker, has been working with emerging designers like Xander Zhou and Zhang Chi, enriching its tradition with new creative forces. Last year, the company tapped designer Hu Xinyu for a capsule collection, which was showcased at Shanghai Fashion Fashion week last season for Reda’s 15th anniversary in China. Hu, who stood out for her bold and clean style, incorporated elegant details and splicing techniques with the classic men’s suits. “The goal of the collaboration is to put each designers’ art of expertise in the spotlight and act as a platform to showcase tradition and innovation: classic fabrics and fresh ideas,” Fabrizio Alessandro Goggi, Reda’s global communication manager, said. “For this collaboration, we were expecting a refined and experimental aesthetic from her design to capture the changing attitudes toward fashion in China and the needs of contemporary gentlemen in this market today.”
However, it is not necessary for a brand to have a China-focused market to enlist a Chinese designer, as their talent is now being increasingly acclaimed globally.
With Europe as its top market, French skiwear label Perfect Moment has chosen to work with Shanghai designer Helen Lee. With her own namesake brand being sold in Lane Crawford, Lee is known for her feminine, elegant design, but took the opportunity to expand her talent to activewear that combines fashion with function. After five seasons, the brand has been rewarded both critically and commercially. Lee’s design is now available in Harrods, Harvey Nichols, and Selfridges, as well as e-commerce platforms like Net-a-Porter and Matches Fashion. It has been worn by style icons like Kate Middleton and Cara Delevingne. And it is going to expand in China by the end of this year, Lee said. Aside from more international exposure, Lee also started to incorporate sporty elements in her own line, creating a more dynamic style. “I got to try a completely different style from my own brand and learned a lot from the process,” Lee said. “As I combine sporty elements with fashion design, I’ve also found interaction and balance between the two labels.”
If you’re like most people, calling an insurance company isn’t among your favorite activities. That’s because the insurance industry is one of the least innovative areas for customer experience, meaning that customers typically come away from their interactions disappointed and dissatisfied. However, things are definitely changing, and artificial intelligence is playing a large role. The fast-growing technology has the potential to disrupt the entire industry and greatly improve the insurance customer experience.
Artificial Intelligence In The Claims Process
The insurance agency is notorious for its outdated processes. Filing a claim often looks the same today as it did decades ago because the industry isn’t consistently leveraging new technologies that are available to them. If an employee is busy or on vacation, a claims request could sit still until the right person is back. The outdated processes make it harder for agents by increasing the workload and forcing them to work with antiquated systems and frustrated customers. However, AI can be applied to improve the claims process. Claims currently are touched by multiple employees. However, a new process of “touchless” claims doesn’t require any human intervention. This process uses artificial intelligence and other technology to report the claim, capture damage, audit the system, and communicate with the customer. The potential here is huge, as the process could allow clients the chance to file claims without having to wade through red tape. Companies that have already automated some aspects of their claims process have seen a significant reduction in processing times and quality. AI-powered claims could also fight against one of the most costly elements of the insurance industry: fraudulent claims, which cost the industry more than $40 billion a year. Instead of relying on humans to manually comb through reports to catch inaccurate claims, AI algorithms can identify patterns in the data and recognize when something is fraudulent.
Future Of AI And Insurance
The industry is definitely ripe for AI disruption. Customers expect to be able to interact with companies through modern technology; a recent survey found that 74% of consumers say they would be happy to get computer-generated insurance advice. Many insurance companies are already using artificial intelligence to some degree, and the number of companies following in their footsteps is sure to increase dramatically over the coming years. Artificial Intelligence has never been less expensive or more accessible, which means most companies don’t have a reason not to adopt it in at least some form. Chatbots Chatbots work through messaging apps many customers already have on their phones, which makes them a natural next step in customer interaction. In order to truly be effective, chatbots must have natural language processing and sentiment analysis so they can understand what customers are really asking. Effective chatbots can process concerns that are either typed or spoken from customers and provide personalized service. In the insurance space, chatbots can be used to answer basic questions and resolve claims, as well as sell products, address leads, or make sure customers are properly covered by their insurance. Marketing And Underwriting Insurance is a competitive market, so a strong marketing strategy is vital. Traditionally, insurance companies used blanket methods like cold calling customers, but today’s customers expect personalized sales tactics. AI can pull in customer data to create a full profile that can be used to offer only relevant insurance products and remember a customer’s preferences.
Instead of spending valuable time and money on the underwriting process, which typically includes invasive questions and surveys about to dictate premiums, Artificial Intelligence could automate the entire process. Bots could potentially scan a customer’s social profile to gather information and find trends and patterns. For example, someone who has a healthy lifestyle and a steady job may be able to be connected to being a safer driver, which could lower insurance premiums. AI can analyze data better than humans to more accurately predict each customer’s risk, thereby providing customers with the right amount of insurance and companies with protection from risky customers.
Data Insurance is driven by data, and it has a huge effect on the company’s bottom line and the satisfaction of the customer. A recent study found that nearly 80% of insurance executives believe artificial intelligence will revolutionize the way insurers gain information from their customers, with more than half saying the biggest benefit is being able to leverage better data for improved insights into the customers. Telematics, or wireless communication of data back to an organization, is expected to be a huge area of growth for insurance. Many insurance companies already offer discounts to customers who transmit their driving data back to the company. Telematics and artificial intelligence can take this one step further by recognizing GPS patterns with the data, inferring road and traffic conditions, and even predicting and helping avoid accidents, which could potentially lead to fewer claims to process and safer and more satisfied customers. The insurance industry has long been bogged down by outdated practices. However, the combination of a new wave of thinking and newly developed artificial intelligence technology has the potential to completely change the customer experience to provide great service in a way that resonates with modern customers. Source: Forbes
Reward Expert suggests checking the exchange rate and finding a country that gets you furthest with your dollar. Since exchange rates fluctuate often, where you should go in 2017 could drastically differ from the year before.
In a report launched on July 12, the travel reward-planning service tracks the countries that have the greatest increase of value for money. Find out where they are.
#1: ARGENTINA (+13.5%) In light of political currency devaluation, the dollar sees greatest increase in value in Argentina. Even so, the South American country’s affordability as a travel destination is mixed at best. Although most activities and entertainment are generally cheap, expect to pay more for flights and hotels.
Argentina
Flight (Round trip, Economy, 1 Passenger, New York to Buenos Aires): $1,817.63 Average Expenses Drinks & Dining: $63.26 Groceries: $14.41 Local Transit: $1.86 Recreation: $28.37 Shopping: $415.55 Accommodation: $162.46 #2: UNITED KINGDOM (+12.1%) While the U.K. is by no means a cheap getaway—with nearly all categories except for groceries and flights at the U.K. remaining at the top half of the price rankings, it’s certainly becoming a lot cheaper as a result of Brexit, uncertainty around recent political election and other factors.
United Kingdom
Flight (Round trip, Economy, 1 Passenger, New York to London): $736.48 Average Expenses Drinks & Dining: $99.58 Groceries: $13.70 Local Transit: $7.22 Recreation: $25.25 Shopping: $273.48 Accommodation: $158.60 #3: CHINA (+5.2%) As one of the most affordable countries to visit on the list, China’s low prices are going even lower this year after The People’s Bank of China allowed a moderate depreciation of the yuan in an effort to stimulate the economy. With the exception of groceries, the Asian country offers great value for most categories. What’s more, it’s cheap to fly there—At under $950 from New York City, that’s only $13.84 per 100 miles!
China
Flight (Roundtrip, Economy, 1 Passenger, New York to Beijing): $944.47 Average Expenses Drinks & Dining: $34.50 Groceries: $18.62 Local Transit: $0.83 Recreation: $17.30 Shopping: $261.78 Accommodation: $93.72 #4: SWEDEN (+4.6%) Like many Western European countries, Sweden ranks lower on the overall affordability scale. But for those looking to visit Scandinavia, Sweden’s increase in value for the dollar—as result of low interest rates and weakening of the Swedish krona in recent years—may make it the best (certainly the cheapest) Scandinavian country to consider in 2017.
Sweden
Flight (Roundtrip, Economy, 1 Passenger, New York to Stockholm): $509.12 Average Expenses Drinks & Dining: $105.29 Groceries: $17.15 Local Transit: $5.65 Recreation: $39.87 Shopping: $374.86 Accommodation: $174.27 #5: CANADA (+3%) As the quintessential average-priced travel destination, ranking in the middle in most cost categories, Canada sees 3% increase in value for the U.S. dollar after a number of household debt and housing concerns.
Canada
Flight (Roundtrip, Economy, 1 Passenger, New York to Ottawa): $274.11 Average Expenses Drinks & Dining: $77.80 Groceries: $17.05 Local Transit: $4.52 Recreation: $24.97 Shopping: $237.68 Accommodation: $149.10 #6: JAPAN (+1.5%) With flights running for a whopping $66.79 per 100 miles, a 1.5% increase of the dollar on the yen could help those interested in visiting Japan.
Japan
Flight (Roundtrip, Economy, 1 Passenger, New York to Tokyo): $4,497.33 Average Expenses Drinks & Dining: $60.21 Groceries: $24.08 Local Transit: $6.52 Recreation: $31.76 Shopping: $273.10 Accommodation: $139.70 #7: MEXICO (+0.6%) Topping the list of most affordable countries, Mexico offers great value for money on many fronts. Among the least expensive for flights, dinners and drinks, the slight 0.6% increase in value for the U.S. dollar is partially due to uncertainty over NAFTA.
Mexico
Flight (Roundtrip, Economy, 1 Passenger, New York to Mexico): $455.40 Average Expenses Drinks & Dining: $42.19 Groceries: $10.61 Local Transit: $1.69 Recreation: $7.57 Shopping: $302.96 Accommodation: $143.12 While the countries on this list have become more affordable over the past year, they’re by no means the cheapest destinations overall. For instance, some Western European countries (with a greater increase in value for the dollar) still cost more to visit than others such as China, Czechia (formerly known as the Czech Republic), Poland and Venezuela. However, for those with specific destinations on their bucket lists, this may be the moment to seize the increase in value!
Source: Forbes
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a field that has a long history but is still constantly and actively growing and changing
When it comes to the possibilities and possible perils of artificial intelligence (AI), learning and reasoning by machines without the intervention of humans, there are lots of opinions out there. Only time will tell which one of these quotes will be the closest to our future reality. Until we get there, it’s interesting to contemplate who might be the one who predicts our reality the best. “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race….It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded.”— Stephen Hawking told the BBC
“I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I’m rooting for the machines.” —Claude Shannon
“Artificial intelligence would be the ultimate version of Google. The ultimate search engine that would understand everything on the web. It would understand exactly what you wanted, and it would give you the right thing. We're nowhere near doing that now. However, we can get incrementally closer to that, and that is basically what we work on.” —Larry Page
“The pace of progress in artificial intelligence (I’m not referring to narrow AI) is incredibly fast. Unless you have direct exposure to groups like Deepmind, you have no idea how fast—it is growing at a pace close to exponential. The risk of something seriously dangerous happening is in the five-year timeframe. 10 years at most.” —Elon Musk wrote in a comment on Edge.org
“The upheavals [of artificial intelligence] can escalate quickly and become scarier and even cataclysmic. Imagine how a medical robot, originally programmed to rid cancer, could conclude that the best way to obliterate cancer is to exterminate humans who are genetically prone to the disease.” — Nick Bilton, tech columnist wrote in the New York Times “I don’t want to really scare you, but it was alarming how many people I talked to who are highly placed people in AI who have retreats that are sort of 'bug out' houses, to which they could flee if it all hits the fan.”—James Barrat, author of Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era, told the Washington Post “I’m increasingly inclined to think that there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level, just to make sure that we don’t do something very foolish. I mean with artificial intelligence we’re summoning the demon.” —Elon Musk warned at MIT’s AeroAstro Centennial Symposium “The real question is, when will we draft an artificial intelligence bill of rights? What will that consist of? And who will get to decide that?” —Gray Scott “We must address, individually and collectively, moral and ethical issues raised by cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence and biotechnology, which will enable significant life extension, designer babies, and memory extraction.” —Klaus Schwab “Some people call this artificial intelligence, but the reality is this technology will enhance us. So instead of artificial intelligence, I think we'll augment our intelligence.” —Ginni Rometty “I'm more frightened than interested by artificial intelligence - in fact, perhaps fright and interest are not far away from one another. Things can become real in your mind, you can be tricked, and you believe things you wouldn't ordinarily. A world run by automatons doesn't seem completely unrealistic anymore. It's a bit chilling.” —Gemma Whelan “You have to talk about 'The Terminator' if you're talking about artificial intelligence. I actually think that that's way off. I don't think that an artificially intelligent system that has superhuman intelligence will be violent. I do think that it will disrupt our culture.” —Gray Scott “If the government regulates against use of drones or stem cells or artificial intelligence, all that means is that the work and the research leave the borders of that country and go someplace else.” —Peter Diamandis “The key to artificial intelligence has always been the representation.” —Jeff Hawkins “It's going to be interesting to see how society deals with artificial intelligence, but it will definitely be cool.” —Colin Angle “Anything that could give rise to smarter-than-human intelligence—in the form of Artificial Intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, or neuroscience-based human intelligence enhancement - wins hands down beyond contest as doing the most to change the world. Nothing else is even in the same league.” —Eliezer Yudkowsky “Artificial intelligence is growing up fast, as are robots whose facial expressions can elicit empathy and make your mirror neurons quiver.” —Diane Ackerman “Someone on TV has only to say, ‘Alexa,’ and she lights up. She’s always ready for action, the perfect woman, never says, ‘Not tonight, dear.’” —Sybil Sage, as quoted in a New York Times article “Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us feel inferior, but then, anybody in his right mind should have an inferiority complex every time he looks at a flower.” —Alan Kay “Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by around 2029. Follow that out further to, say, 2045, we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold.” —Ray Kurzweil
“Nobody phrases it this way, but I think that artificial intelligence is almost a humanities discipline. It's really an attempt to understand human intelligence and human cognition.” —Sebastian Thrun
“A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God.” —Alan Perlis “There is no reason and no way that a human mind can keep up with an artificial intelligence machine by 2035.” —Gray Scott “Is artificial intelligence less than our intelligence?” —Spike Jonze “By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” —Eliezer Yudkowsky “The sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it lacks artifice and therefore intelligence.” —Jean Baudrillard “Forget artificial intelligence - in the brave new world of big data, it's artificial idiocy we should be looking out for.” —Tom Chatfield “Before we work on artificial intelligence why don’t we do something about natural stupidity?” —Steve Polyak
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” isn’t just a cultural phenomenon – it’s also a driving force for the company’s over-the-top service aimed at cord cutters, HBO NOW.
According to new data from app store analytics firm App Annie, the HBO NOW streaming app was downloaded over 500,000 times in the first week following the Season 7 premiere. This translated into a massive increase in subscription revenue for the app, allowing it to snag the number three spot on the ‘Top Grossing’ chart across both iOS and Google Play. On the day of the “Game of Thrones” premiere, Sunday July 16, 2017, the increase in revenue was so substantive that HBO NOW jumped up the top grossing chart by combined revenue by 11 ranks in the U.S., compared with the day prior
While Netflix in the second quarter became the top grossing non-game app across both app stores, HBO NOW’s move this month was even more impressive. It didn’t just become the top grossing non-game app – it beat out all the other games on the revenue charts except for Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans
. That means it also became the #1 non-game app by combined iOS and Google Play revenue across the U.S. app stores on the day of premiere, App Annie notes. The revenue increases were tied to a large jump in downloads from users who weren’t just opting for HBO NOW’s free trial, but signing up and subscribing immediately. On the day of the premiere, HBO NOW saw 4 times the downloads compared with the average daily downloads of the 30 days prior. More remarkably, it was able to sustain this daily download bump for four days after the premiere. This led to over 500,000 downloads of the app across both the Apple App Store and Google Play in the U.S., and a 3x increase in revenue on the day of the premiere.
The interest in “Game of Thrones” isn’t just limited to the U.S. While HBO NOW’s streaming app is U.S.-only, the HBO GO app is available in several regions outside the U.S. And it, too, saw downloads increase by significant numbers.
Daily downloads for HBO GO peaked on July 16, 2017 and July 18, 2017, at well over 3x the number of downloads compared with the average daily downloads of HBO GO in the 30 days prior, in both the U.S. and globally. While a jump in downloads and revenue are to be expected for a show as popular as “Game of Thrones” – especially considering the premiere broke HBO’s streaming records – they also indicate a different sort of billing cycle when it comes to cord cutters. Clearly, there’s a large audience who subscribe to HBO mainly “Game of Thrones,” then cancel that subscription when the season ends. That means HBO will need to figure out its longer term content strategy in order to reduce subscriber churn and keep the series’ fans from leaving HBO when their favorite show one day finally concludes. HBO has to some extent addressed its plans on this front, saying it understands how it’s important to have a wide range of offerings for streaming service users – not just top performers like “Game of Thrones,” but also other content, like big-ticket dramas, documentaries, and sports programs, for example.
“Usage is going across a wide range of categories — it’s not just ‘Westworld’ and ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Night Of’,” HBO CEO Richard Plepler said in February, in a report by Variety. “We’re in the business of curating great content. We’re very encouraged by what we’ve seen in churn,” he added.
The company, at that time, also said the HBO NOW streaming service had surpassed 2 million subscribers in the U.S., an increase from 800,000 by the end of 2016. However, HBO NOW is no longer the only way for cord cutters to (legally) watch HBO. The network is also available as an add-on subscription across a number of internet TV services, like HBO, Sling TV, DirecTV Now, and as a standalone subscription via Amazon Channels. According to a report this month from Financial Times (via Decider), this expanded access translates into nearly 3.5 million digital subscribers who don’t pay for HBO through a traditional pay TV provider, like cable or satellite. That’s only an okay number for this still relatively new streaming service – though it’s worth pointing out that Netflix added more subscribers in the past quarter alone than all of HBO’s digital subscriber base. And that 3.5 million figure is just about 3 percent of HBO’s 131 million worldwide subscribers, 34 million of which are in the U.S, noted Decider. As more consumers cut the cord, there’s a big chance that a number of them will be lost to HBO entirely – especially when its $15/month over-the-top pricing is so much higher than its streaming competitors. And if HBO doesn’t find its next “Game of Thrones,” it may struggle to bring its former subscribers back after they ditch pay TV.
Coworking giant WeWork has its eyes set on a big Chinese expansion with the help of a $500 million investment from Hony Capital and SoftBank.
With the additional funds, WeWork plans to launch a separate Chinese business, allowing the company to accelerate its expansion in China. WeWork currently has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong and plans to move into at least five new big cities across China in the next twelve months. They expect 10,000 members in China by the end of this year. WeWork CEO Adam Neumann told the Financial Times that China is adopting the coworking model faster “than a lot of other places,” explaining the company’s decision to build a Chinese unit.
WeWork has used this latest tranche of funding to create a dedicated Chinese business, operating as WeWork China. WeWork will be responsible for its Chinese arm’s management and operations, while SoftBank and Hony Capital will own a minority stake.
WeWork launched in China last year, and already has eight offices in the country. By the end of 2017, the company plans to have 15,000 desks across all its Chinese co-working spaces.
Adam Neumann, chief executive officer of WeWork, said in a statement: “Since coming to China only a year ago, we’ve been able to establish a vibrant community of creators and companies – and we’ve only just begun. With Hony Capital and SoftBank’s financial support and deep expertise in the region, we’ll substantially grow our membership base in China and make WeWork the preeminent workspace solution and community in greater China.”
WeWork’s chief financial officer, Christian Lee, will become managing director of WeWork China and will run the business from Shanghai at its regional headquarters.
In an interview with Reuters, Neumann explained that WeWork China would allow for local management, as well as giving local equity and local incentives, to create a company that operates under local law and respects “all the different cultures and the different rules that exist.”
WeWork has plans to expand in other parts of Asia, starting with a Tokyo office due to open in 2018 and India to follow. It currently has 155 office spaces in 50 cities across 15 countries and is reportedly on track to bring in $1 billion in revenue this year. SoftBank is reported in talks around a multi-billion dollar investment in ride-hailing app firm Uber7/27/2017
SoftBank is reportedly eyeing investment opportunities in controversial ride-hailing service Uber, as it continues to splash the cash on new investments.
The Japanese telco giant, which owns a mobile operation in Japan as well as Sprint in the US, has made numerous significant investments in recent years, including satellite company OneWeb. According to the New York Times, Uber could be its next investment.
SoftBank already commands a pretty significant share of the ride-hailing market in Asia. In addition to its most recent investment in Grab, it also owns stakes in ride-sharing companies Ola and Didi Chuxing.
SoftBank's conversations with Uber were described as preliminary and any deal would have to wait until Uber hired a new CEO to replace Travis Kalanick, according to the Journal. Neither Uber nor SoftBank responded to the Journal's request for comment.
An offer to Uber could signal that SoftBank is trying to acquire a wider share of the Southeast Asian ride-hailing market, which has become highly stratified in recent years. In addition to a minority stake in Didi Chuxing of China, Uber operates in other Southeast Asian countries like India, Singapore and Malaysia. SoftBank already has an existing investment in Didi Chuxing; it is also a large investor in India's ride-hailing company Ola. Plus there's its recent investment in the Singapore-based startup Grab. If SoftBank is indeed trying to take a larger slice of the market, it will need Uber to combine with competitors Ola and Grab, suggests the Journal. The San Francisco-based ride-hailing startup has done this in the past--most recently with its rival in Russia. Earlier this month, Uber said it would fuse its operations with Russia's Yandex.Taxi and exit the country. Tapping the Southeast Asian market would be extremely lucrative for SoftBank. The region's ride-hailing market could grow to $13.1 billion by 2025, a $10.6 billion increase from 2015, according to a report from Google and Temasek Holdings, a Singapore-state investment firm. |
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