Another report surfaced this week. It suggests employees these days are more into working to find some kind of happiness rather than wealth.
Well, at least happiness is first on the list. These surveys don’t suggest employees want to work for peanuts.
But new data from Wrike this week suggests that more than half — 58% — of employees choose a happy workplace over one that makes them more money.
Again, this doesn’t say more money wouldn’t make them happy. But it does indicate and provide more evidence to the theory that younger employees seek something more from their work.
Are you doing enough to create a happier workplace? Is the work you’re providing employees giving them some source of meaning? Or is it a heads-down, moving forward approach that works for you and helps you lead your team?
And then check out the rest of the week in small business headlines in our news and information roundup below:
Economy
American Companies Plan to Leave China, How Will the Trade War Impact Your Business?
Roughly one third of surveyed American companies in China will cancel or delay investments in the country due to the ongoing trade standoff with the U.S., according to a May report from the American Chambers of Commerce in China and Shanghai.
Marketing Tips
70% Would Spend More at a Local Business If They Sold ONLY Made in the USA Products
There are many reasons why consumers spend their money the way they do. It can be anything from brand recognition to environmental or patriotic support. The 2019 Cox Business Consumer Pulse survey on small businesses reveals 70% of Americans want made in the U.S.A. products.
23% of Small Businesses Say Visuals are Effective Content on Their Websites
Content is the way users engage with the website of your small business. This can be everything from blogs to podcasts and visuals such as photographs, graphics, and videos. According to a new survey from Visual Objects, 23% of small businesses said visuals were the most effective content in 2018.
Startup
The Hidden Mystery Behind Attracting and Retaining Employees with Tech
The booming job market is pushing companies to work harder to attract and retain talent to avoid the time and productivity losses that come with employee turnover. These losses are costly, with reports finding employers spend approximately 33 percent of a worker’s annual salary to hire a replacement.
Still Living Paycheck to Paycheck Despite Having a Successful Business? Here’s How to Stop
Many small business owners show skill earning money. But still fall short when it comes to managing it. Sure, they may have built a successful company. But too many still live paycheck to paycheck. On this week’s Small Business Radio Show, I talked with Avery Breyer.
Secrets of Building a Small Business Website Revealed
About one third of small business owners still do not have a website. Some might not want to invest in the cost. Others might think they can get by with just a Facebook page or Google My Business Profile. And a few may even feel like a website isn’t relevant for their business if they don’t sell anything online. But a website can benefit nearly any small business.
Technology Trends
54% of Remote Workers Feel Disconnected from Company, How About Yours?
A new survey from Workplace by Facebook reveals the disconnect which exists between employees who work inside company headquarters and outside of HQ. Remote Workers Feel Disconnected According to the report from the survey, the disconnect is preventing good ideas from rising through the business.
Which cities are most popular with young entrepreneurs — say, between the ages of 25 and 34? Funny you should ask. We’ve got the data right here. If you’re a young entrepreneur or a millennial looking for a place to start a new venture, consider these accommodating destinations.
The best cities for young entrepreneurs tend to have a younger population and “feel” to them. They welcome first-time entrepreneurs and there’s a sense of community.
Our rankings are based on our proprietary analysis of U.S. Census data. The rankings reflect the percentage of young entrepreneurs to the overall population in metropolitan areas of the United States with over 50,000 people. We also identify factors such as industry clusters, lifestyle, infrastructure, costs, workforce availability and a thriving entrepreneurial community nearby.
Known for its booming tech industry leading to the area’s designation as part of the Silicon Slopes, Salt Lake City is a magnet in the western U.S. for young entrepreneurs. Today, 1,973 young entrepreneurs call the city home, accounting for .17% of the population.
Plenty of networking and a welcoming business community are hallmarks of Salt Lake City. Entrepreneurs like Robert Brady, the Founder of Righteous Marketing says he travels from his home base in Idaho down to Salt Lake regularly to network and connect with other entrepreneurs. “They are an amazing group of people.”
2. Oklahoma City
Often called simply OKC, the city is also OK with young entrepreneurs. You’ll find 1,842 of them living and working in the metro area, making up .13% of the population.
A key reason Oklahoma City made the list of best cities comes down to sheer demographics. It’s true, the city — and state for that matter — are trying to attract more millennials to boost the workforce. But Oklahoma City is already a young city with a median age of 34. And a full 67% of the population is under the age of 44. So younger entrepreneurs will feel at home here.
3. Denver
Millennial migration to Denver is now well documented. So the presence of so many young entrepreneurs in the metro area is a no-brainer. You will find 3,812 of them call the city home, accounting for .13% of the population.
Millennial entrepreneurs in Denver like the active local lifestyle and have plenty to do when not running their businesses. Well known for their love of experiences over possessions, Millennials can follow their bliss with abundant skiing and hiking opportunities nearby. The city is also home to the largest number of microbreweries outside of Portland, Oregon.
4. Seattle
The city that launched Kurt Cobain and the Grunge revolution is still young at heart. Seattle has 4,421 young entrepreneurs — .12% of the population.
Besides the appeal of working in a community bursting with young entrepreneurs, there are plenty of other things to draw and retain millennials — and others. The city’s lesser known attractions include the appropriately named Waterfall Park and such other unique features as giant popsicle art!
5. Los Angeles
LA is home to 15,409 young entrepreneurs. That may make it sound like the city deserves a higher ranking here. But in the behemoth that Los Angeles is, that number represents only .12% of the metro population.
For over a century since the beginnings of Hollywood, Los Angeles has attracted young people on a quest for success.
As Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of SmallBizDaily and GrowBiz Media observes, “Los Angeles’s official name is literally translated as the City of Angels. It has long attracted people in pursuit of a dream. And while “making it in Hollywood” is not your typical goal, it still symbolizes the concept that dreams can come true.”
6. Portland
Oregon’s largest city keeps young entrepreneurs busy with 2,736 of them doing business in the metro area, or .11% of the city’s population.
And when not working on their businesses, these young entrepreneurs have plenty to do in Portland’s unique culture that celebrates “weird.” For more serious pursuits, they can also visit the Portland Japanese Garden, the Oregon Zoo (that protects many endangered animals) and the Oregon Museum of Science and History.
7. Tampa
This thriving business center along Florida’s gulf coast has some great opportunities for young entrepreneurs too. There are 3,402 working in the Tampa metro area making up .11% of the population.
The city’s major industries include finance, retail and insurance, But the local economy is also buoyed up by shipping, national defense, professional sports, tourism and real estate.
8. Minneapolis
One of Minnesota’s famous twin cities, Minneapolis also supports a large number of young entrepreneurs. There are 3,984 working in the metro area making up .11% of the population.
The city trails only Chicago and Detroit as the largest economic centers in the Midwest. And it is home to such Fortune 500 companies as Target, U.S. Bancorp and Ameriprise Financial.
9. San Diego
San Diego is named for a Spanish saint but the metro area is clearly revered by young entrepreneurs as well. There are 3,668 young entrepreneurs living and operating businesses here making up .11% of the population.
Local entrepreneurs love the San Diego area! Eric Strate, Founder of Web Design San Diego says, “If you are a young entrepreneur, you have lifestyle check marked.” He adds, “As a young entrepreneur, we have more affordable housing compared to other large cities, as well as affordable shared office spaces for your new startup. So, if you are looking to live with great weather, access to lots of fun, affordable living and office space, then look no further than San Diego.”
10. San Jose
Located in California’s Silicon Valley, the area is already known for tech entrepreneurs. And there are many young entrepreneurs too — a total of 2,156 of them work in the metro area making up .11% of the population.
Besides its importance as a technology center, San Jose is also a global city, an important hub in the global economic network. The city is designated as a United States Foreign Trade Zone.
Methodology for Top 10 Cities for Young Entrepreneurs
As a young entrepreneur, there’s no reason you must build your business in one of the cities listed above. But consider the benefits.. If you haven’t yet started your business, take a look at some of these destinations. You might be surprised at some of the benefits.
This Best Cities for Young Entrepreneurs ranking is based primarily on our proprietary analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE) and Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 50,000 or More.
Cities were ranked on the percentage of entrepreneurs in each category rather than the number of entrepreneurs. However, other data we reviewed based on information available to us included:
Population
Industry clusters
Lifestyle
Workforce
Costs
Infrastructure
Other startups nearby
Check out our infographic below for a shareable summary of the best cities for young entrepreneurs.
Last year I caught up with my buddy Joe Galvin. Galvin serves as Chief Research Officer of Vistage. The business advisory and executive coaching organization’s membership includes more than 22,000 business owners and executive leaders. Recently I caught up with him again. And we talked about a phrase that continues to get a lot of attention. That phrase is digital transformation. And it has generated a lot of focus and discussion. But Joe sees digital transition taking place at small businesses instead. Now, digital transition definitely creates a positive impact on business operations. But Joe says it doesn’t come close to the potential impact modern tech can have. It comes down to whether you give it the chance.
Check out the edited transcript of our conversation. Or watch the full interview on video. You’ll find it at the top of this page. Or click on the embedded SoundCloud player below.
Definitions of Digital Transition and Transformation
Small Business Trends: Tell me what your definition of digital transition is. And your definition of what digital transformation is.
Joe Galvin: This goes back to my time when I was at Gartner. As I was running worldwide sales operations. As we transitioned from a paper-based system into spreadsheets. And to Word documents and basic contact managers. Then we launched a website. And then we deployed one of those first generation client server-based sales force automation applications. We beat our brains out trying to adapt this technology to how we worked in paper. And the concept is that what we have experienced as a community is a digital transition. I mean, we’ve transitioned to paper. 1980s, paper-based human analog processes and workflows. And we force-fit those into technologies like Excel, like databases. Like CRM, like ERP. And tried to bend those technologies to how we worked as humans.
Changing the Way Your Business Works
Digital transformation is to change how you work. To let the technology dictate to you what are the best practices. What are the optimal workflows. Based on what technology can do? So, especially as a small business, to go through the trial and error of figuring out what works best is a long and painful process, versus embracing the technologies which are built around workflows that have been designed based upon our vendors working with hundreds and thousands of customers to optimize what’s the best workflow for a marketing automation, for CRM, for ERP, for human capital management? And adapting our workflows and our processes to let the technology drive what we do versus trying to bend and adapt and customize it and waste money, time, and effort to get the technology to work the way we worked in 1980.
Becoming More Efficient with Technology
Small Business Trends: I’m going to just say what I see out there, and I’m going to focus it on the SMB level. When it comes to all this talk about digital transformation, about 90% of it is more digital transition like you’re talking about. Folks who are looking to technology to help them be more efficient with the things that they already know that they have to do, versus this new technology and allowing the new technology to do what it does, which is go beyond just transitioning to actually transforming and creating business models and more innovative thought and design opportunities.
Joe Galvin: Exactly. It’s so hard to develop best practices, and especially in small businesses, your workflows are dominantly built around the people that work for you. So, if you’ve got 20 employees and you lose employee number five, your workflow breaks down because it was based upon what Steve or Becky could do, right? Then you hire someone new and eventually you refarkle it, versus we’ve got a workflow that’s been pioneered, it’s been stress-tested, and been proven to work based on this technology that we bought. Why don’t we take what these people have done, leverage their best practice, and let’s focus on our customers, let’s focus on our operations, let’s focus on growing our business, not trying to be process experts.
Looking at the New Digital Natives
Small Business Trends: It seems like these newer companies, these digital native kind of companies, they already have that transformational thought process in mind. How difficult do you think it is for more meat and potatoes, Main Street small businesses that have been around for a while, to actually think in transformation versus transition terms?
Joe Galvin: You know, Brent, it’s really hard for somebody who’s been running a business for 25 years and this is how they’ve done it and this is how their father did it, to completely reinvent themselves. Often what we see is a generational change, so the grandson steps up, or an outside leader comes in, and forces that change. Because we work the way we work, and the business is good, and the business is fine, but you and I both know the rate of change is only accelerating.
AI and Machine Learning will Transform Everything
The capabilities of what AI and machine learning are going to bring, let alone how 5G is going to transform everything, it’s only going to happen quicker, faster. And if you’re not on the edge, you’re just taking up space, and it’s the fast path to obsolescence. It’s also a way to gain a competitive advantage, excuse me, if you can process and execute more efficiently, more accurately, more productively, and leverage what this data can tell you, now you can focus on your customers. Now you can focus on your products, you can focus on your markets.
Most importantly, you can focus on your people, because the talent crunch is so extreme in small and mid-sized business today that you just can’t spend the time, I don’t believe, trying to do things the way you have done them when the world is just accelerating so quickly.
When Will More Mature Businesses Make the Move?
Small Business Trends: The impetus for these more mature business folks that have been around for a while … What’s going to make them make that move, that move to transformation versus transition? Is it losing customers, or is it not being able to bring in the kind of talent they need to help drive the business forward?
Joe Galvin: I think they’re going to feel two things: the slow deceleration of their growth, and the disintermediation of a competitor. So, excuse me, sorry. What we see is it’s hard to make the decision to go in and choose a new technology, right? It’s harder still to go through the integration of that application into your infrastructure and the other systems you may or may not have. But the real challenge these leaders face is the behavioral change management that’s required to get people to change how they work.
Bring in New Technologies to Improve Engagement
I was talking with one of our members a couple weeks ago, and they’ve gone through this transformation and brought in a variety of new technologies trying to revamp how they engage and connect with customers, how they manage workflow. And this guy had to fire two 20-year employees because they just couldn’t change, couldn’t or wouldn’t. I don’t know what the right answer is there, but we’re in this world of change.
Ignoring technology and failing to leverage it is a fast track to obsolescence. You can kind of have that circle of decay, and slowly try to hold the spiral or you can step up and make the change. But it’s truly a leadership challenge. We know the technologies work, because we see too many people taking advantage of some of the great stuff done by the vendors that you and I both know. It’s the leaders who can step up and embrace that change and drive that behavioral change that allow their companies a step forward. That’s where transformation happens.
Why Digital Transition Won’t Get You There
Transition, that’s the shortcut easy way out of saying, “Why, yes, we bought new systems. Yes, we invest in technology.” But all you’re doing is just you’re asking a horse to go faster, as opposed to investing in a car, right?
There’s a great photo. It was in some report where they showed a New York City street in 1901, and there was one car, and then they showed it in 1918, and there was one horse. That’s how quick that transformation happened, right? So, Henry Ford, if he asked his customer what they wanted, it would have been, “A faster horse.” It’s not a faster horse, you need a new means of transportation driven by this thing called internal combustion engine.
So How Do You Truly Transform Your Business?
Small Business Trends: As long as it comes in black. I think that’s the way he put it… CRM is one of those areas that companies seem to be investing in. But are companies looking at CRM as just another tool of transition when they don’t understand how a package like CRM can help transform the way that they engage customers and keep customers around longer?
Joe Galvin: Well, I think, and this is a point you and I made before, or that you made before, is that they look at it as a way that we can do what we do a little faster, a little bit easier, a little bit quicker. Or realize that, okay, so this can make us go from one mile an hour to five miles an hour, not recognizing that if they fully embrace what this technology has built into it, and how it revolutionizes how you connect with customers, how you share data, how you collaborate, how you leverage data and engage with customers, to engage with prospects, it’s like our cell phones, right? We use about 5% of what our cell phones can do, as opposed to exploring all the apps and all the capabilities.
Be Careful to Avoid Taking the Easy Way Out
I think it’s the easy way out. It also gives leaders the excuse to say, “Well, yeah, we invested in CRM,” as opposed to recognizing the power of what technology can do. We asked, again, we asked our community, this was in December, “Which business applications will you be investing in?” Not hardware, not people, not infrastructure, but, “What biz apps are you going to invest in?” And 45%, the leading choice was CRM, followed by accounting, followed by collaboration, HCM, ERP kind of stuff, independent upon the vertical, it’s different.
But overall, 78% of our members were planning to invest in business applications in 2019. So, if people are spending money, they’re reaching for the wallet. And as hard as that is to sign that big check, the work’s just started.
Small Business Trends: Right.
Getting Started with True Transformation
Joe Galvin: The work’s just started, because it is a people challenge. It’s getting those people that have maybe worked in, are happy in spreadsheets, or happy using a basic contact manager, to now embrace the full power that’s built into the best practices that our vendors create for our users.
Small Business Trends: So, are these folks who are going through transitions instead of transformation, are they happy about what they’re getting from the lens of transition, or are they thinking they’re going to get transformation, and they’re only focused on transition, and they become maybe frustrated?
Joe Galvin: Well, I think that they are happy because they are seeing that productivity uplift. Remember when you went from writing letters to email, when you went from having manual ledgers to spreadsheets? It’s like once you kind of got the hang of it, once you learn the first 20%, you’re like, “Wow, this is great.” Then somebody shows you a Pivot Table, and you’re like, “Oh, my goodness. You just broke my brain,” right?
Failing to Reach Your Business’s Full Potential
So, they see that uplift and they feel good about it, but because they don’t intellectualize and internalize the full potential, nor do they necessarily have the courage to reach for that, I think they’re missing out on it. And again, the comparison is those that do really see an advantage.
So, a story, an innovation story of one of our members was in the countertop business, right? Custom countertops, right? You redid the kitchen in the last, what, five, six years, right? You want those new countertops and you want the … Well, there was not an online app for this, because nobody thought you could buy custom countertops online. So, this guy went out and he created an online app where you can design and develop your own countertops. His business exploded.
Start Now to Get the First Mover Advantage
Now everybody’s copying him, of course. But he had that first-to-market mover advantage. And you would think that, again, because you and I are in technology a fair amount, “Well, why didn’t that happen before?” But that’s an example of true transformation. How can I innovate to create a new capability to access new markets? So now I’m not just selling to people within 50 miles of my showroom, I’m selling to people across the country, around the world, because I can take in their orders. We can bend and shape, configure and ship. It totally broke … It blew this guy’s business up. That’s an example of someone who saw an opportunity and skipped transition and went straight to transformation.
Because you could’ve taken that application and talked to someone on the phone and do it yourself, versus put it out there in an eCommerce play, and let people go to it. We feature that story in our upcoming innovation report. I’ll send that to you when we’re done here.
Transition Offers Short-term Happiness
Small Business Trends: Absolutely. Cool. So, folks who are focused on transition, maybe they’re happy with transition, is that a short-term happiness, or is this something that gets them on the path to thinking about transformation, once that initial transition takes place?
Joe Galvin: You know, Brent, I like to say that they think that this is step one of two, but we both know that phase two rarely happens in a project. It’s so hard to get phase one up and running. It always costs more. It always takes longer, requires more pain. You use more human political capital to get it done, and then you get it up, and you’re kind of running again, and you’re feeling better about it, and you just don’t have the courage to go forward, as opposed to taking that leapfrog and saying, “We’re going to go all in.”
Adopting Technology Should NOT be Done Halfway
If you’re going to spend the money, then spend the money. Then go for it. Again, I believe with some of the emerging technologies coming, we’re starting to see it. It’s just a fragment right now, but AI is starting to raise its head in a lot of places, in small and mid-sized businesses.
I mentioned earlier, 5G’s going to change everything, right? It’s going to turn … You have zero latency. We’re already seeing some of the manufacturing people think about how that’s going to impact their ability to manage the throughput in their machines. Again, things are only going to accelerate, so the degree to which you struggle to keep up, you’ll never catch up and then you’re just in that death spiral.
Digital Transformation Offers New Opportunities
Small Business Trends: Is that the sales pitch, the up-sell to folks who are saying, “We need transition. We need to transition.” Do you upsell those folks to transformation by the scare tactics of, “If you don’t do it now, you’re going to miss out,” or do you present a picture of opportunity? Which one do you think works best?
Joe Galvin: Well, you know, it depends on who you’re talking to, because for some people, they want to see the opportunity. You talk about, “This is how you’ll achieve your goals. You’ll get a market advantage. You’ll be perceived as a leader,” versus, “If you don’t do it, you’re going to lose customers. You’re going to lose market share. You’re going to lose value.”
You Must Decide What’s Right for Your Business
Only you can decide, Brent. Only you can decide what’s right for your business. You’re a big boy. You’re running a business. You make that decision, but let me show you examples of people who have embraced this and what it’s led to them. It takes courage. It takes real courage. Again, choosing a vendor, that’s hard. Writing the check, that’s a little bit harder, right? You want to make it work?
Small Business Trends: That’s hard.
Joe Galvin: Well, now, put on your big boy pants and big girl pants, because that’s the challenge. And if you can break through, the opportunities for growth, and more importantly, I think, the ability to set your business up for the future is critical.
What Are You Doing to Prepare Your Business for Change?
I was just at one of our events in Houston and I sat in on our manufacturing breakout. They were talking about, in this session, talking about, “What are you doing to prepare your business for the changes you see coming?” And universally, the answer was, “Technology.” Whether it was a manufacturing ERP kind of thing, a CRM customer kind of thing, even the human resources thing, this is all stuff that people have to get focused on.
When serial entrepreneur Eric Lefkofsky grows a company, he puts the pedal to the metal. When in 2011 his last company, the Chicago-based coupons site Groupon, raised $950 million from investors, it was the largest amount raised by a start-up, ever. It was just over three years old at the time, and it went public later that same year.
Lefkofsky seems to be stealing a page from the same playbook for his newest company Tempus. The Chicago-based genomic testing and data analysis company was founded a little more than three years ago, yet it has already hired nearly 700 employees and raised more than $500 million — including through a new $ 200 million round that values the company at $3.1 billion.
According to the Chicago Tribune, that new valuation makes it — as Groupon once was — one of Chicago’s most highly valued privately held companies.
So why all the fuss? As the Tribune explains it, Tempus has built a platform to collect, structure and analyze the clinical data that’s often unorganized in electronic medical record systems. The company also generates genomic data by sequencing patient DNA and other information in its lab.
The goal is to help doctors create customized treatments for each individual patient, Lefkofsky tells the paper.
So far, it has partnered with numerous cancer treatment centers that are apparently giving Tempus human data from which to learn. Tempus is also generating data “in vitro,” as is another company we featured recently called Insitro, a drug development startup founded by famed AI researcher Daphne Koller. With Insitro, it is working on a liver disease treatment owing to a tie-up with Gilead, which has amassed related human data over the years that Insitro can use to learn from. As a complementary data source, Insitro, like Tempus, is trying to learn what the disease does in a “dish,” then determine if it can use what it observes using machine learning to predict what it sees in people.
Tempus hasn’t come up with any cancer-related cures yet, but Lefkofsky already says that Tempus wants to expand into diabetes and depression, too.
In the meantime, he tells Crain’s Chicago Business that Tempus is already generating “significant” revenue. “Our oldest partners, have, in most cases, now expanded to different subgroups (of cancer). What we’re doing is working.”
Investors in the latest round include Baillie Gifford; Revolution Growth; New Enterprise Associates; funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price; Novo Holdings; and the investment management company Franklin Templeton.
Jumia may be the first startup you’ve heard of from Africa. But the e-commerce venture that recently listed on the NYSE is definitely not the first or last word in African tech.
The continent has an expansive digital innovation scene, the components of which are intersecting rapidly across Africa’s 54 countries and 1.2 billion people.
When measured by monetary values, Africa’s tech ecosystem is tiny by Shenzen or Silicon Valley standards.
But when you look at volumes and year over year expansion in VC, startup formation, and tech hubs, it’s one of the fastest growing tech markets in the world. In 2017, the continent also saw the largest global increase in internet users—20 percent.
If you’re a VC or founder in London, Bangalore, or San Francisco, you’ll likely interact with some part of Africa’s tech landscape for the first time—or more—in the near future.
That’s why TechCrunch put together this Extra-Crunch deep-dive on Africa’s technology sector.
Tech Hubs
A foundation for African tech is the continent’s 442 active hubs, accelerators, and incubators (as tallied by GSMA). These spaces have become focal points for startup formation, digital skills building, events, and IT activity on the continent.
Prominent tech hubs in Africa include CcHub in Nigeria, Pan-African incubator MEST, and Kenya’s iHub, with over 200 resident members. More of these organizations are receiving funds from DFIs, such as the World Bank, and aid agencies, including France’s $76 million African tech fund.
Blue-chip companies such as Google and Microsoft are also providing money and support. In 2018 Facebook opened its own Hub_NG in Lagos with partner CcHub, to foster startups using AI and machine learning.
After a decade in the peculiar world of venture capital, Andreessen Horowitz managing director Scott Kupor has seen it all when it comes to the do’s and dont’s for dealing with Valley VCs and company building. In his new book Secrets of Sand Hill Road (available on June 3rd), Scott offers up an updated guide on what VCs actually do, how they think and how founders should engage with them.
TechCrunch’s Silicon Valley editorConnie Loizoswill be sitting down with Scott for an exclusive conversation onTuesday, June 4th at 11:00 am PT. Scott, Connie andExtra Crunchmembers will be digging into the key takeaways from Scott’s book,his experience in the Valley, and the opportunities that excite him most today.
Tune in to join the conversation and for the opportunity to ask Scott and Connie any and all things venture.
According to the startups at Factory Berlin, it’s not just another coworking space. After all, the company took its name from Andy Warhol’s famous factory in New York City, and it describes itself as “Europe’s largest club for startups.”
Late last year, we toured Factory Berlin’s five-story, 14,000 square meter location in Görlitzer Park. Yes, it’s a building where startups can rent workspace, but as part of the tour, we had a chance to talk to several entrepreneurs, and everyone described it as a real community.
“Being part of the community, to us, means not isolating ourselves from the outer world,” said Code University founder Tom Bachem. “Or especially in Berlin, from the great startup ecosystem that we have — but instead, really deeply integrating into it.”
Similarly, Neel Popat of Donut pointed to the Factory’s blockchain events and showcases as a major benefit, while Kip Carter of New School said his team has used Factory messaging app to find experts who can work with New School’s kids.
And |Pipe| founder and CEO Simon Hossell said it’s been a great base for entrepreneurs who aren’t from Berlin: “It’s the fact that you know although you may be a stranger or a foreigner in a new city, there’s always a group of people — likeminded, smart, intelligent individuals around you that are always there to help and encourage.”
For a cybersecurity company, Bugcrowd relies much more on people than it does on technology.
For as long as humans are writing software, developers and programmers are going to make mistakes, said Casey Ellis, the company’s founder and chief technology officer in an interview TechCrunch from his San Francisco headquarters.
“Cybersecurity is fundamentally a people problem,” he said. “Humans are actually the root of the problem,” he said. And when humans made coding mistakes that turn into bugs or vulnerabilities that be exploited, that’s where Bugcrowd comes in — by trying to mitigate the fallout before they can be maliciously exploited.
Founded in 2011, Bugcrowd is one of the largest bug bounty and vulnerability disclosure companies on the internet today. The company relies on bug finders, hackers, and security researchers to find and privately report security flaws that could damage systems or putting user data at risk.
Bugcrowd acts as an intermediary by passing the bug to the companies to get fixed — potentially helping them to dodge a future security headache like a leak or a breach — in return for payout to the finder.
The greater the vulnerability, the higher the payout.
“The space we’re in is brokering conversations between different groups of people that don’t necessarily have a good history of getting along but desperately need to talk to each other,” said Ellis.
Roughly one third of surveyed American companies in China will cancel or delay investments in the country due to the ongoing trade standoff with the U.S., according to a May report from the American Chambers of Commerce in China and Shanghai.
Even more of those companies, roughly 40 percent, said they are considering moving their manufacturing facilities out of China to locations like southeast Asia or Mexico, reported Financial Times.
AmCham China and AmCham Shanghai surveyed 239 American companies from Thursday to Monday, according to CNBC. The survey found that American companies are seeing more obstacles during this tit-for-tat trade war.
For example, 74.9 percent of the two groups’ members said they had experienced negative side effects of the trade dispute, according to CNBC. That includes about one-fifth who say they have been subjected to increased inspections and slower customs clearance.
The U.S. and China have been raising tariffs on each others’ goods since summer 2018. Most recently, China imposed duties ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent on $60 billion in U.S. goods on June 1. That move came in response to the U.S. increasing tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion in Chinese goods May 10, reported CNBC.
“Particularly in the wake of the decision to put Huawei on the… entity list, there are concerns that the government of China may decide to retaliate against American companies,” AmCham China chair Tim Stratford said according to a Wednesday BBC story.
Foursquare just made its first acquisition. The location tech company has acquired Placed from Snap Inc on the heels of a fresh $150 million investment led by the Raine Group. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Placed founder and CEO David Shim will become President of Foursquare.
Placed is the biggest competitor to Foursquare’sAttribution product, which allows brands to track the physical impact (foot traffic to store) of a digital campaign or ad. Up until now, Placed and Attribution by Foursquare combined have measured over $3 billion in ad-to-store visits.
Placed launched in 2011 and raised $13.4 million (according to Crunchbase) before being acquired by Snap Inc. in 2017.
As part of the deal with Foursquare, the company’s Attribution product will henceforth be known as Placed powered by Foursquare. The acquisition also means that Placed powered by Foursquare will have more than 450 measureable media partners, including Twitter, Snap, Pandora, and Waze. Moreover, more than 50 percent of the Fortune 100 are partnered with Placed or Foursquare.
It’s also worth noting that this latest investment of $150 million is the biggest financing round for Foursquare ever, and comes following a $33 million Series F last year.
Here’s what Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck had to say about the financing in a prepared statement:
This is one of the largest investments ever in the location tech space. The investment will fund our acquisition and also capitalize us for our increased R&D and expansion plans, allowing us to focus on our mission to build the world’s most trusted, independent location technology platform.
That last bit, about an independent location technology platform, is important here. Foursquare is ten years old and has transformed from a consumer-facing location check-in app — a game, really — into a location analytics and development platform.
Indeed, when Glueck paints his vision for the company, he lists five key areas of focus:
Developer Tools to build smarter apps and customer engagement, using geo-context;
Analytics, including consumer insights for planning;
Audiences, so businesses can reach the right consumer segments for their message;
Attribution, to test and learn which messages, segments and channels work best;
Consumer, where through our own apps and Foursquare Labs’ R&D efforts we showcase what’s possible and inspire developers via our innovations around contextual location.
You’ll notice that its consumer apps, Foursquare and Swarm, are at the bottom of the list. But that’s because Foursquare’s real technological and strategic advantage isn’t in building the best social platform. In fact, Glueck said that more than 90 percent of the company’s revenue came from the enterprise side of the business. Foursquare’s advantage is in the accuracy of its technology, as afforded by the decade of data that has come from Foursquare, Swarm, and the users who have expressly verified their location.
The Pilgrim SDK fits into that top item on the list: developer tools. The Pilgrim SDK allows developers to embed location-smart experiences and notifications into their apps and services. But it also expands Foursquare’s access to data from beyond its own apps to the greater ecosystem, yielding the data it needs to power analytics tools for brands and publishers.
With this acquisition, Placed will be able to leverage Foursquare’s existing map of 105 million places of interest across 190 countries, as well as tap into the measured U.S. audience of over 100 million monthly devices.
Foursquare and Placed share a similar philosophy of building against a truth set of real consumer responses. Getting real people to confirm the name of their location is the only way to know if your technology is accurate or not. Placed has leveraged over 135 million survey responses in its first-party Placed survey apps, all from consumers opted-in to its rewards app. Foursquare expands the truth set for machine learning exponentially by adding in our over 13 billion consumer confirmations.
The hope is that Foursquare is accurate enough to become the de facto location analytics and services company for measuring ad spend. With enough scale, that may allow the company to break into the walled gardens where most of that ad spend is going, Facebook and Google.
Of course, to win as the “world’s most trusted, independent location technology platform,” consumers have to trust the platform. After all, one’s location may be the most sensitive piece of data about them. Foursquare has taken steps to be clear about what its technology is capable of. In fact, at SXSW this year, Foursquare offered a limited run of a product called Hypertrending, which was essentially an anonymized view of real-time location data showing activity in the Austin area.
Here’s what Chairman of the Board and cofounder Dennis Crowley had to say at the time:
We feel the general trend with internet and technology companies these days has been to keep giving users a more and more personalized (albeit opaquely personalized) view of the world, while the companies that create these feeds keep the broad “God View” to themselves. Hypertrending is one example of how we can take Foursquare’s aggregate view of the world and make it available to the users who make it what it is. This is what we mean when we talk about “transparency” – we want to be honest, in public, about what our technology can do, how it works, and the specific design decisions we made in creating it.
With regards to today’s acquisition of Placed, Jeff Glueck had this to say:
Both companies also share a commitment to privacy and consumers being in control. Our Foursquare credo of “data as a privilege” only deepens as our company expands. We believe location should only be shared when consumers can see real value and visible benefits driven by location. We remain dedicated to elevating the industry through respect for transparency, user control, and instituting layers of privacy safeguards.
This new financing brings Foursquare’s total funding to $390.4 million.
Password manager maker Dashlane has raised $110 million in its latest round of funding, the company said Thursday.
The company said Sequoia Capital led the Series D round, with partner Jim Goetz joining the board. Dashlane also said Lyft executive Joy Howard was appointed as its new chief marketing officer and will start in August.
Dashlane said it will invest its latest funds back into its core product and will focus on addressing the needs of its consumer and business customers.
Chief executive Emmanuel Schalit said the company is “only scratching the surface” of its security opportunities.
“Billions of people and millions of businesses around the world feel the pain of digital identity — from breaches to stolen identities and the nuisance of remembering passwords,” said Schalit.
“With this new capital and the addition of Joy to our leadership team, we have the resources to increase our product leadership, grow the team and build the brand that will define the future of digital identity protection,” he added.
Password managers have become all the rage in recent years following a spate of credential stuffing attacks, where hackers take breached usernames and passwords from sites and reuse them on other site accounts. By storing passwords in a single place protected by a master password or a biometric — such as a fingerprint — users can take their strong and uniquely generated passwords with them wherever they go.
Dashlane has raised more than $185 million to date.
For more than 25 years the founders of Thrive Earlier Detection have been researching ways to improve the accuracy of liquid biopsy tests.
The fruits of that labor from Dr. Bert Vogelstein, Dr. Kenneth Kinzler and Dr. Nickolas Papadopoulos — all professors and researchers at Johns Hopkins University — is CancerSEEK, a liquid biopsy test that has demonstrated specificity of over 99% in a retrospective study published by Science.
By minimizing false positives in cancer screening tools and providing a test with proven accuracy, doctors can take treatment actions earlier, which can lead to better survival rates for cancer patients.
Now, with FDA approval for its tests for pancreatic and ovarian cancer and a new study underway with a large healthcare provider, CancerSEEK is being rolled out to market through Thrive Earlier Detection with the help of a new $110 million round of funding.
Thrive works by analyzing highly targeted sets of DNA and proteins in the blood to detect cancer.
“Over the past 30 years we have made great strides in understanding cancer. Combining this knowledge with the latest in molecular testing technologies, our founders have developed a simple and affordable blood test for the detection of many cancers at relatively early stages,” said Christoph Lengauer, PhD, partner at Third Rock Ventures, and co-founder and chief innovation officer of Thrive, in a statement. “We envision a future where routine preventative care includes a blood test for cancer, just as patients are now routinely tested for early stages of heart disease. We know that if cancer is caught early enough, it can often be cured.”
As part of its rollout, the company’s screening tool is being evaluated in DETECT, a study of 10,000 currently healthy individuals that’s being conducted in conjunction with the healthcare organization Geisinger. So far, 10,000 women between the ages of 65 and 75 without a history of cancer have been enrolled in the trial.
“To be truly useful to patients, new medical technology must be developed with rigorous evidence and designed to be affordable and readily integrated into routine medical care,” Steven J. Kafka, PhD, partner at Third Rock Ventures and chief executive officer of Thrive, said in a statement. “With the help of experts and strategic partners, Thrive is launching today to advance a novel test for the earlier detection of multiple cancers, which we aim to augment with an integrated service that helps patients maneuver the often confusing path that follows a cancer diagnosis.”
Third Rock Ventures actually led the Series A financing for Thrive, and comprise the bulk of the company’s executive team, while Kinzler and Papadopoulos — the researchers from Johns Hopkins who developed the technology — will have seats on the company’s board.
Other investors in the round include Bill Maris’ Section 32 investment firm, Casdin Capital, Biomatics Capital, BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, Invus, Exact Sciences, Cowin Venture, Camden Partners, Gamma 3 LLC and others.
According to Thrive, ovarian, pancreatic and liver cancers are difficult to detect because they can develop in pathways that aren’t always well understood.
Using CancerSEEK, Thrive hopes to develop a blood-based test that can be used in routine medical care, with the goal of identifying multiple cancer types at earlier stages.
The technology works by following genomic mutations in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and cancer-associated protein markers in plasma to identify abnormalities that are common across multiple cancers. In a retrospective study published by Science in 2018, CancerSEEK was shown to perform with greater than 99% specificity and with sensitivities ranging from 69% to 98% for the detection of five cancer types — ovarian, liver, stomach, pancreas and esophageal, which the company says are cancers for which there are no screening tests available for average-risk individuals.
Thrive’s research has attracted an all-star executive team in addition to Lengauer and Kafka from Third Rock. Former Goldman Sachs lead medical technology analyst Isaac Ro is joining the company as chief financial officer, and the company’s head of research is Isaac Kinde, a co-inventor of the CancerSEEK technology.
It’s hard to overstate how transformative the Thrive test could prove to be. Having a blood-based diagnostic test for cancer prevalence and the ability to initiate treatment earlier radically improves the chances for surviving a cancer diagnosis.
Our 2019 rankings of the Best Cities for Small Businesses identify the top 10 cities where small businesses thrive. There are cities across the country where small businesses have an important foothold in the local economies.
For the purposes of these rankings, small businesses are defined as those with fewer than 50 employees.
Our rankings are based on our latest research of U.S. Census data. The rankings reflect the percentage of small businesses to the overall population in metropolitan areas of the United States with over 50,000 people. We also identify factors such as industry clusters, lifestyle, infrastructure, costs, workforce availability and a thriving entrepreneurial community nearby.
Miami is a city of contrasts — a huge metropolis that is also a haven for small business. You will find 134,332 small business owners in the metro area. They make up 2.20% of the population, earning Miami the top spot this year.
The city offers not only a welcoming environment for small businesses but a feast for the eyes as well. The city is home to the largest collection of art deco architecture in the world. Most of the city’s buildings were constructed between 1923 and 1943 so visiting the city is like stepping back in time.
One of the advantages of Miami small businesses is the growing population. Florida itself is the third most populated state, and growth has exploded.
“Alligator Alley or simply ‘the Alley’ is the local name for the portion of I-75 that runs between Miami on the east coast, and Naples and Fort Myers on Florida’s west coast. The easy 2-hour drive across the Alley enables small businesses such as landscapers, electricians, IT consultants, interior designers and others to serve both coasts, widening their markets. When I first moved here I was surprised at the amount of daily crossover among niche service providers,” says Anita Campbell, founder of Small Business Trends Media, which is headquartered in Naples, Florida.
2. New York
With the iconic Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building, it’s easy to think of New York City as huge and focused on big businesses. But this city is also big for small businesses. A total of 411,323 small business owners live and work in the metro area, making up 2.03% of the total population. Leading industries are professional, scientific and technical services.
While it may seem large and intimidating to some in other parts of the country, local entrepreneurs tout the support system for small businesses. “You’ve got the NYC Department of Small Business Services all the way to an SBA office, a SCORE office, and a huge menu of entrepreneur and small business organizations such as NAWBO, BNI, Unfair Advantage, Adrian’s Network and many more,” says Ramon Ray, entrepreneur and author of Celebrity CEO.
3. Portland
Though best known today for its hipster culture, Portland also deserves credit for the small businesses it nurtures. There are 44,407 small business owners who live and operate companies in the metro area. They make up 1.83% of the city’s population and work in the professional, scientific and technical services.
The Portland Business Alliance offers free small business advice and a small business management scholarship program among other features.
4. Los Angeles
It may be a sprawling metropolis, but within this massive city, small businesses have definitely found a home. Los Angeles has 243,461 small business entrepreneurs making up 1.83% of the metro area’s population. They are mainly in the professional, scientific and technical services.
Despite its size, this metropolis also offers a wealth of resources aimed directly at the small business community. For example, Los Angeles County’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs maintains an Office of Small Business offering small business events, reference programs and procurement of technical assistance.
5. San Francisco
The city by the bay may be known for its Victorian architecture. But San Francisco should also be known for the small business entrepreneurs who are building companies every bit as important to the city’s character. In fact, 84,324 small business owners make the metro area their home. That’s 1.79% of the region’s population, working in the professional, scientific and technical services.
San Francisco also offers a variety of resources for its small business community, perhaps most notably an annual Small Business Expo that has been going on since 2008.
6. Denver
Boulder, Colorado may be better known as the home for startup incubators like Techstars. But Denver may be the place to start your small business. 50,619 small business entrepreneurs call the city home. That’s 1.77% of the population, working in the professional, scientific and technical services.
The city provides not just a great small business atmosphere but great attractions to interest just about everyone and make it easier for you to recruit talent. Attractions include rock climbing, the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, the Denver Botanical Gardens and more.
7. Seattle
Home to the iconic Pike Place Market, one of the oldest farmer’s markets in the U.S., Seattle’s support of small business probably shouldn’t be a surprise. There are 66,393 small business entrepreneurs here, making up 1.75% of the population. They are largely in the professional, scientific and technical services.
The city is a springboard to growth. It’s home to many small businesses that grew to become behemoths. For example, three friends started a small coffee roaster across the street from Pike Place Market in 1971 and named it after a character in Moby Dick. The business would eventually become the global cafe chain Starbucks!
8. Salt Lake City
Did you know Salt Lake City consumes more JELL-O per capita than anywhere else on earth? Still its record supporting small business may be more important here. And 20,320 small business owners call the city home, accounting for 1.71% of the population. They are concentrated in the professional, scientific and technical services.
Robert Brady, Founder of Righteous Marketing says the city’s success in nurturing smaller companies alongside tech giants shouldn’t come as a shock. “While many people hear about the big national success stories like Pluralsight, there are numerous small businesses succeeding here.”
9. Boston
The home of the Boston Red Sox also hosts some serious small business entrepreneurship. There are 81,517 small business owners in the metro area, about 1.70% of the population. You will find many working in the professional, scientific and technical services.
The city is not just a great place for small businesses, however. As one of America’s oldest cities, it is also packed with history. For example, the first lighthouse in America stands in Boston Bay and the city is also home to the oldest public park in the U.S., Boston Commons.
10. Oklahoma City
Oklahoma’s state capital is full of entrepreneurial activity with 22,969 small business entrepreneurs in the metro area making up 1.67% of the population and largely in the professional, scientific and technical services.
A great place for small business, the city also has some fascinating business history. For example, Sylvan Goldman, founder of the city’s iconic Piggly Wiggly supermarket chain actually developed the first shopping cart (which he called a folding basket carrier) in 1937 to make it easier for his customers to carry groceries.
Methodology for Best 10 Cities for Small Businesses
With 30 million small businesses in the U.S., you can find small businesses virtually everywhere in this great country. But if you’re looking for an area welcoming to small businesses, these top 10 cities should be on your list to consider.
Our Best Cities for Small Businesses, 2019 rankings are based primarily on our proprietary analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE) and Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 50,000 or More.
Cities were ranked on the percentage of entrepreneurs in each category rather than the number of entrepreneurs. However, other data we reviewed based on information available to us included:
Population
Industry clusters
Lifestyle
Workforce
Costs
Infrastructure
Other startups nearby
Check out our infographic below for a shareable summary of the best cities for small businesses.
Small Business Trends: Tell me what your definition of digital transition is. And your definition of what digital transformation is.
Prominent tech hubs in Africa include 
