Issue 3 | theinnovationenterprise.com
INNOVATION WILL WE LIVE FOREVER? How Artificial Intelligence is helping the film ‘Her’ become a reality
4U
21
UNICORN SECRETS: BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
HOW CAN WE INNOVATE SLEEP?
Matthew Griffin takes us through what it takes to create a startup worth $1 billion
We take a look at how innovation could make this a thing of the past
letter from the editor Welcome to the third edition of Chief Innovation Officer.
or something that we should all be getting excited about.
On the back of our first two successful instalments, this edition will cover a wide range of topics across innovation.
We also hear from Malcolm Rowlings who attempts to dispel the myth that smaller companies are disorganized and sloppy by nature.
Simon Barton
We hope you enjoy the magazine, it has been created to help spread new ideas within innovation and Chief Innovation Officers, so if you have any feedback please get in touch with me at sbarton@theiegroup.com.
Nathan Wood
Also, if you like the magazine, please share it.
Yulia Ivanova
Simon Barton
Malcolm Rowlings
Hong Kong was once heralded as Asia’s innovation capital but in recent years more and more organizations have moved their operations to Singapore to take advantage of the city’s resources. Lin Duan examines why the city-state has become an innovation-hub and the impact that this is likely to have on the region. We also take a look at the development of Artificial Intelligence and how this is allowing innovators to create communities such as Eterni.me which create online versions of people after they’ve died. Additionally, we take a look at how innovation is affecting sleep patterns. We are now seeing the emergence of ‘sleep coaches’ and we will determine whether this is a fad
Managing Editor
Are you are looking to put your products in front of key decision makers? For Advertising contact Andrew at ataylor@theiegroup.com
Managing Editor Editor George Hill
Art Director
Contributors Matthew Griffin Lin Duan Simon Barton
Richard Angus
General Enquiries sbarton@theiegroup. com
2015
contents
17 WILL WE LIVE FOREVER? How Artificial Intelligence is helping the film ‘Her’ become a reality
4
13
UNICORN SECRETS: BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
SINGAPORE - ASIA’S INNOVATION HUB
Matthew Griffin takes us through what it takes to create a startup worth $1 billion
One of the world’s most vibrant cities, but has Singapore displaced Hong Kong as Asia’s innovation capital?
24 HOW CAN WE INNOVATE SLEEP A lot of people struggle to get a good-nights sleep, we look at how innovation could change this
21 HOW MILLENNIALS HAVE CHANGED THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT With Millennials set to represent 75% of the working population by 2025, we take a look at their impact
28 26 HOW TO MAKE YOUR ONE MAN BRAND LOOK LIKE A LAVISH OPERATION Malcolm Rowlings dispels the myth that small companies are sloppy by nature
DO YOU WANT TO SEE YOURSELF HERE? If you want to contribute to our next issue, please contact: ghill@theiegroup.com
4
GOOGLE’S ROBOT BRIGADE
UNICORN SECRETS BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS by matthew griffin innovation writer
What does it take to create a Unicorn - a company that achieves a valuation of $1 Billion or more within five years of its existence? Is it luck? Or do they all have something in common, something that under the right conditions can be replicated? In this article I look at the world’s fastest growing companies to reveal the things they have in common. For those fledgling Entrepreneurs among you there are only three truths. You’ll fail you’ll learn. You’ll stumble - you’ll regain your stride. You’ll fall -
chief innovation officer
you’ll pick yourself up. regain your stride. You’ll fall you’ll pick yourself up. Life is hard, it’s tough and unfair and there is never any guarantee of success and it’s your choice whether you persevere or not. This article is my attempt to help those Entrepreneurs and business leaders among you who want to boost your chances of success and it’s based on my firsthand knowledge and work with twenty three of the world’s largest hyper growth companies.
UNICORN SECRETS: BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
5
A BLESSING OF UNICORNS
they are now the new market leaders.
Today it’s unlikely you’ll go more than half an hour without bumping into a Unicorn or their close cousin the Super Unicorn – a Venture Capitalist term for startups that have soared to $1 Billion to $100 Billion valuations within five years of opening their doors.
Airbnb, Beats, Box, Cloudera, Evernote, Facebook, FIS, Hailo, Instagram, Jawbone, LinkedIn, Nest, Netflix, Palantir, Pintrest, Pure Storage, Spotify, SpaceX, Snapchat, Square, Tesla, Twitter, Uber, Whatsapp and Xiaomi, these are just a few of the new breed of startups that have hit Unicorn status. They’ve torn down the established order, created new industries and rewritten the rules of business.
The billion dollar startup was once the stuff of myth, but now they’re everywhere, backed by a bull-market and founded on new, disruptive digital technologies and business models which make their speed of operation, rate of innovation and reach that much greater.
Between 1980 and 1990 there were just three Unicorns, between 1990 and 2000 there were seven but in the last decade and just out of America there have been thirty four. Globally, there are now one hundred and seventy four Unicorns.
You’ve heard their names and you’re already using their products, and in many cases,
billion dollar startup was “the once the stuff of myth, but now
they’re everywhere, backed by a bull-market and founded on new, disruptive digital technologies and business models
”
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UNICORN SECRETS: BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
stage 1: creation
the six stages of company evolution Irrespective of how successful companies are, they all typically evolve along similar lines. The six stages can be categorised as follows:
creation development commercialization funding promotion expansion
chief innovation officer
The art of creation is a wonderful moment, well, I say moment but the fact is that it can take even the most seasoned serial Entrepreneurs years or even decades to find that spark of genius. Many laymen will tell you that the Eureka moment - the time when you feel in your head and your heart that you have a great idea for a new business, is the hardest part of building a company, but they’re wrong. Creation is simply the first hard thing in a long line of hard things and sometimes it’s one of the least stressful stages because you aren’t working all hours of the day and night trying to make your business a success.
The fact is that there are a multitude of businesses in the world, from successful soft play centres and restaurants all the way through to companies selling next generation trading platforms and next generation autonomous vehicles. You’ll find that often it’s more about the journey than the beginning or the end. Hyper growth companies all have the following things in common: • Their idea is often simple, albeit sometimes complicated to design or implement •
mass market problem •
Over the years I’ve found that there is a common misconception that creative types, innovators and inventors are born and that only a small subset of society are deemed capable of being able to conceive great new products, but unfortunately however, that’s a myth. Even if it wasn’t then not every business needs to be building next generation space vehicles.
Their idea solves an existing,
Their product has an obvious, communicable, quantifiable value
•
Their product is often differentiated in the market place but not always a one of a kind
•
Their businesses are all based on digital foundations
•
Their user experience is simple
•
They have vision
UNICORN SECRETS: BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
products “most on the market
today already have upper and lower price bands that the markets support so if you want to, for example charge a premium or command higher margin
”
7
If you want to stand a chance of creating a successful business in today’s increasingly competitive world then I’d suggest that you follow each of these seven themes zealously. Disregard one and it can have dire consequences later on. Fail to develop a vision and Venture Capitalists will pass you by, create a wonderful product but overlook the user experience and it won’t be adopted, create a differentiated product that doesn’t solve a need and it’ll languish on the shelf, fail to embrace digital and your competition will outpace you. Creation is a multi-sided activity and for those of you thinking that all this could become expensive or complicated then need I remind you that pen and paper is cheap and that you should never under estimate the power of a good story board. For those who have more resources, then lucky you.
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UNICORN SECRETS: BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
stage 2: development
beta testers involved in development
The moment has come to productize your idea but beware because this is where anxiety can creep in because this is where the gaps and the cracks in your idea begin to appear - where boundless creativity meets harsh reality.
stage 3: commercialization Leaving this phase until later on can have ruinous consequences because your manufacturing costs and your sales price influence your route to market, the speed of customer adoption, your bottom line and your ability to reinvest in your company.
Only one thing is certain at this stage - you’re going to end up iterating your product time and time again, tweaking, perfecting, tearing it down and starting again.
Hyper growth companies all have the following things in common: •
They iterate fast and fail fast
•
They use agile development techniques
•
about their direct and indirect competitors •
They simplify the user experience then simplify it again and again
•
They know what levers and behaviours drive their
structures and devolved
target market •
They build good Minimum Viable Products
•
They put design first
•
The put themselves in the
They understood and empathize with the end to end customer journey
chief innovation officer
They have an innovation culture
•
They control every aspect of the creation process
•
They get a broad section of people to test their products,
shoes of their consumers •
They know all there is to know
They have flat organizational decision making
•
•
Most products on the market today already have upper and lower price bands that the markets support so if you want to, for example charge a premium or command higher margins, then you need to offer additional value that your target market will recognise and accept.
not just their family •
They got potential clients, who eventually became
Pricing can be emotional. You’ve potentially spent years conceiving and developing your product, you may have a mountain of debt and your passion for it means you run the risk of seeing, or trying to create value that the market will simply take for granted, tear down and toss aside as irrelevant. As hard as it is, it’s vitally important that your pricing strategy is grounded in reality. Customers will not pay double the market rate
UNICORN SECRETS: BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
Hyper growth companies all have the following things in common: •
They are all realistic with their pricing and know their market
•
They can clearly articulate the value of their products
•
They have a consistent global pricing structure to avoid grey imports
•
Whether you’re starting a Taxi firm, creating an app or developing a new Cloud platform you’ll need funding – whether that’s from the credit card company, your friends and relatives, Private Equity or Venture Capitalists - many Founders have a love hate relationship with the investment community.
Hyper growth companies all have the following things in common: •
channel integrity They are open to OEM, ODM, licensing and subsidy deals under the right conditions
Applying Pricing Corridors This is a simple methodology that can quickly help you establish the right market price for your new products without necessarily having to resort to committing to a lower price.
Investors are hard to live with but they’re sometimes harder to live without and often it’s not initially clear what additional value they bring to the table other than their finance. Everyone has a different opinion of what the right investor looks like but the best investors in the market, the ones with the greatest returns, bring a wealth of experience, contacts and business acumen to the table that’s hard to match. Remember however that their sole purpose in life is to Exit at a premium.
Their investors drove a Revenue First agenda, profitability came later
•
The founders presented a clean, professional image from the off
•
Most businesses began life self funded, investment came
They avoid volume discounters to protect their
•
stage 4: funding
9
later •
Their investors looked for proof that the target markets existed
•
Their investors talked to the businesses customers to understand the sales potential
•
The majority of the founders pitches fell on deaf ears
•
Their investors invested in people - technology can be fixed
•
They all had at least one well respected, well connected super star sponsor on board
Funding, more specifically operating capital, is the life blood of every business and you need to get used to the conveyor belt of rejections. Unfortunately, it’s also a sad statistic that the younger you are the more rejections you’re likely to get. chief innovation officer
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UNICORN SECRETS: BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
“promotion in its truest
stage 5: promotion Here’s an adage. You can have the best product in the world but if no one knows it exists it’s never going to move. There is a distinct difference between promotion and marketing and all too often the two are conveniently put together. Marketing is often a controlled, structured activity, such as a TV advert that can consume a huge amount of capital. Promotion in its truest sense is often a spontaneous, loosely structured activity such as a Flash Mob that can cost comparatively little. This is why promotion, rather than marketing, is frequently the Entrepreneurs favourite weapon of choice. This said though, it’s often the investors inter portfolio trading that often drives the initial stellar top line growth – never under estimate the power of a strong network.
sense is often a spontaneous, loosely structured activity such as a flash mob that can cost comparatively little
”
Hyper growth companies all have the following things in common: •
They created tight knit User industry and, or job role
•
Champions and Sponsors •
•
They were tireless promoters
•
They leveraged their investors
•
remainder of their portfolios •
•
They created Ecosystems and Developer communities
Their first sales force was direct and in house
•
They developed rapid response closed loop promotion and marketing systems
•
They eventually developed new routes to market
Their investors cross sold goods and services into the
They weren’t afraid to use Freemium models
Their User Communities eventually became Exposition
Their founders took every opportunity to create new
Communities broken down by
insider networks
chief innovation officer
•
•
They had a heavy reliance on digital promotion technique
•
Each Founder developed a hard nose
UNICORN SECRETS: BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
stage 6: expansion New borderless, digital business models have let organizations expand into new territories at the click of a button. Want to go global in seconds? Upload the app to your service on iTunes or Google Play. Despite this though, organizations still combine the best of digital and physical techniques to sell and promote their products into new regions because they realize that they
Every Unicorn I’ve worked with has exhibited all of these things, not just a few of them, and it appears that the Unicorns DNA is all of these put together. Techniques change though, and this article will evolve over time as new ones come to the surface, and while success is never guaranteed, hopefully this article has gone some way to showing you that there are different ways to stack the odds in your favour.
still need people to talk to people.
Hyper growth companies all have the following things in common: •
They moved into new markets before nailing their home market
•
They identified favourable markets based on language, law and demographics
•
They used offshore sales agents to establish beach heads in new countries
•
They established strong, specialized partner networks
•
They tweaked the product according to the needs of the new market
•
They relentlessly controlled every aspect of their operation
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SINGAPORE:
ASIA’S INNOVATION HUB
by LIN DUAN divisional lead asia
“whilst hong kong
will always be the financial gateway to china, singapore has seen considerable investment over the past couple of years
”
Singapore has become one
For some time now Singapore has
Known for the transparency
of the world’s wealthiest
been jostling with Hong Kong to
and openness of its companies,
cities, with the city-state
take the crown as Asia’s financial
Singapore is perfectly poised
now managing 5% of the
capital. Whilst Hong Kong will
to not only become a hub
globe’s total private wealth.
always be the financial gateway
for financial leadership, but
A society which encourages
to China, Singapore has seen
innovation too. In 2013 it came
foreign immigration, it’s
considerable investment over the
top of Solidance’s ‘Most Innovative
predicted that immigrants
past couple of years, particularly
Asian City’ list, ahead of Sydney
will make up 50% of the city’s
from global commodity trading
and Melbourne.
population by 2030.
firms looking to take advantage of Singapore’s bunkering port, the largest in the world.
chief innovation officer
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SINGAPORE: ASIA’S INNOVATION HUB
“the presence
of prestigious schools such as the nus means that companies operating in Singapore will have a consistent supply of talented graduates to choose from.
”
chief innovation officer
Not only a city that’s become synonymous with ‘clean’ business, it’s also renowned for its quality of life. Ranked at a respectable 26th on this year’s ‘Mercer Quality of Living Survey’, it’s a good environment for young creatives and academics who want to make use of the city’s attractions, whilst also operating in a business space which encourages innovation.
There’s also a rich pool of universities who operate in the area, all of which contribute directly to the success of Singapore’s businesses. The National University of Singapore (NUS) is ranked as the 25th best in the world by The Times and is praised for its global approach to education. The presence of prestigious schools such as the NUS means that companies operating in Singapore will have a consistent supply of talented graduates to choose from.
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SINGAPORE: ASIA’S INNOVATION HUB
Some will point to Singapore’s notoriety as a suppressor of free-speech as an indicator that they aren’t ready to welcome a diverse workforce to their city. Studies have shown that Singaporeans still aren’t accepting of homosexuals, and in truth, there’s no doubt that this close-mindedness could put some off setting up a base there. Despite this, the city-state remains a hot-spot for creativity and will continue to be one of Asia’s main innovation hubs. A city that puts considerable emphasis on work-life balance, the foundations are there for it to be the ideal place for those who want to help bring innovation to the companies they work for.
Run by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, SPRING Singapore is an example of a programme that helps startup companies get off the ground. Offering financial assistance and advice, they’ve now helped 9,000 SMEs, supporting 12,000 projects by enhancing competitiveness and profitability. With Singapore’s educational advantages, coupled with a business environment that’s attracting companies from around the world, the Asian citystate has become of the most sought after places for new, innovative companies looking to make their mark.
city that puts “aconsiderable emphasis on work-life balance, the foundations are there for it to be the ideal place for those who want to help bring innovation to the companies they work for
”
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it would be unfair to use this narrative “although as a way of justifying that a service like eterni.me would never be able to 100% replicate a human’s behaviour, it’s tough to look past it
”
WILL WE LIVE
FOREVER?
by ryan marshall
by simon barton
patent attorney, shareholder editor brinks gilson & lione
chief innovation officer
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WILL WE LIVE FOREVER?
“Martine Rothblatt,
the original founder of SiriusXM, the satellite radio broadcaster that has hosted some of America’s most popular shows, is a central figure in this development.
”
It’s been claimed that the advancement of AI and computer technology could see the film ‘Her’ play out in real life. Based in Los Angeles, Joaquin Phoenix’s character, Theodore, an introverted writer, finds himself falling in love with a talking operating system with artificial intelligence. Martine Rothblatt, the original founder of SiriusXM, the satellite radio broadcaster that has hosted some of America’s most popular shows, is a central figure in this development. A great innovation at the time, SiriusXM has allowed Americans to listen to their favourite shows undisrupted throughout the country, something which wasn’t possible before. Rothblatt, now the highest paid female executive in the USA, has since moved away from the radio-business, heading up the United Therapeutics Corp. (UTC), a biotechnology company which focusses on the development of ‘unique products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and lifethreatening conditions’. As an extension of this, UTC created a robot which draws on real human opinion and memory to form a digital version of oneself. Based on Rothblatt’s wife, UTC have developed Bina48, a proof of concept robot which has since picked up considerable steam online. A video interview on Bloomberg shows the robot interacting with the interviewer eerily well, answering questions and giving opinions. Although clearly not the finished article, Rothblatt believes that we’re only a couple of decades away from ‘mind-cloning’, where
chief innovation officer
19
WILL WE LIVE FOREVER?
humans will be able to carry around their loved ones as avatars, most probably on their smartphones. Another company that’s sparked an outcry of opinion has been Eterni.me, a service that you sign up to before you die and which accesses every aspect of your online footprint. Using this information, it then analyzes your data and transfers it to an AI avatar, which replicates your actions after you’ve died. The British TV show, Black Mirror, hit this subject head on in its fourth episode ‘Be Right Back’, where a young woman loses her boyfriend in an accident. She uses a service similar to Eterni. me to ‘bring him back to life’, first as an avatar and secondly as a human replica (something Eterni.me clearly don’t offer as part of their service). Unsatisfied with it, the female never strikes up the same bond with the AI character as he continues to do things differently to her deceased boyfriend. Although it would be unfair to use this narrative as a way of justifying that a service like Eterni. me would never be able to 100% replicate a human’s behaviour, it’s tough to look past it. The mourning of a loved one and the desperation that it leads to might well make these services successful, but will it ever be good enough to make us immortal? I doubt it.
“a great innovation
at the time, siriusxm has allowed americans to listen to their favourite shows undisrupted throughout the country, something which wasn’t possible before.
”
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HOW MILLENNIALS HAVE CHANGED THE WORKING ENIVIRONMENT
Millennials are here to stay. They are likely to make up over 50% of the working population by 2020, and 75% by 2025. They are a source of serious concern for companies everywhere as the opportunities for them to work are increasingly varied and their reasoning behind choosing which company to work for has changed extensively compared to the previous generation. Whereas the brightest math minds would have been more likely to work at big accountancy firms, today they could work across data platforms, in programming or even start their own company from university. The accessibility that the internet has afforded to this generation has given them more opportunities than any before them.
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People are not simply interested in how much money they can make, although this is certainly a factor. Now they are also looking at a fun work environment, where they can be expressive and not simply chained to a desk for 10 hours every day. It means that leaders need to be more creative in how they are running their company and creating their working environments.
is the single “this point that most companies are predominantly worried about, as many of the existing needs of their working environments need to be totally flipped
�
This is the single point that most companies are predominantly worried about, as many of the existing needs of their working environments need to be totally flipped. But is this something that they need to be looking at to attract millennials? No. This is something they need to be looking at to attract and keep any of their employees. The change that millennials have brought about is not that they are more fussy about where they work, but instead have made many companies change how they work to attract them. This does not mean that a particular company is better for a millennial, but is instead simply a better place to work in general.
HOW MILLENNIALS HAVE CHANGED THE WORKING ENIVIRONMENT
Some of the things that they demand, such as flexible working hours and locations, good renumeration and a fun working environment are wanted by the vast majority of people. It is simply that with more companies offering this kind of package, those who aren’t are being ignored for companies that are better to work for. This change has not necessarily come from the needs of millennials needing to be met, but instead with millennials creating these environments for themselves when founding companies. With many of the companies growing so quickly and expanding to create more jobs, millennials are the ones who have been attracted to it as these working spaces have essentially been designed for them by their peers.
23
Think about Google as a prime example. They were founded in 1998 and have become successful through both the people they attract (some of their most profitable products have come from simple ideas lead by employees) and their work ethic (each employee has 20% of their time dedicated to personal projects). This has combined to create a strong and effective place to work that most people would appreciate. This kind of thing may not be possible at existing large companies from the foundation up, but if somebody had the option to work in an older company with a regular office or a company focussed around the needs of their employees, which would most choose?
Millennials have changed the workplace, but it has been as much about the workplaces they have created as the workplaces that they demand. The more companies who accept this foundational change rather than simply adding a ping pong table to their office, the more attractive they will become to the millennials who they want working for them.
of the things “some that they demand,
such as flexible working hours and locations, good renumeration and a fun working environment are wanted by the vast majority of people
” chief innovation officer
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HOW CAN WE HOW CAN WE INNOVATE INNOVATE SLEEP? SLEEP? by richard angus
head of innovation by richard angus innovation enterprise innovation divisional head innovation enterprise
“One of the earliest
pioneers in sleep tracking software was zeo, a company whose product allowed its users to examine their sleep cycles.
.
”
For some people, getting to sleep can be a battle. Restless nights can be an indicator of insomnia, an illness which can take over a sufferer’s life. Whether it’s waking up frequently during the night or having problems falling asleep despite being tired, it can be one of the most frustrating afflictions somebody can experience.
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There are a number of remedies that can help people get to sleep, but none are foolproof. Sleeping pills are addictive and can bring a whole host of unpleasant side effects, whilst herbal remedies are often inadequate.
It’s due to this that many fail to get regular sleep, causing unproductive days and at its worst, major health concerns including heart attacks, diabetes and strokes. With this in mind, anything that has the capacity to help rid of sleep deprivation should be taken seriously and acted upon if possible.
HOW CAN WE INNOVATE SLEEP?
One of the earliest pioneers in sleep tracking software was Zeo, a company whose product allowed its users to examine their sleep cycles. Founded by three students at Brown University, Zeo launched their Personal Sleep Coach in June 2009. Although they went out of business in 2013, they led the way for applications such as FitBit, Jawbone and Philips Actiwatch Spectrum who have incorporated similar software into their more rounded health products.
HOW DO YOU TACKLE FEAR? 25
Despite being met with their critics, Dr. Christopher Winter, Medical Director, Charlottesville Neurology & Sleep Medicine, has given sleep trackers his blessing. In an article on the Huffington Post he states; ‘The bottom line is that any device on your wrist that makes you think twice about staying up too late is a good thing’. However, for the average user these products do not actually help them get to sleep. It’s possible that they could pass the data onto a doctor who might be able to diagnose them,
but that’s all they can do. In line with this, there’s been considerable research into ‘sleep coaching’, a process whereby trainers ‘help subjects achieve habits and hygiene that can lead to quality sleep’. In most situations sleep deprivation is created through consistent napping, high coffee consumption, smoking and alcohol. Sleep coaches promote a routine which removes their patients from this, whilst also integrating tissue manipulation, facial massages and meditation.
“Despite being met
with their critics, dr. christopher winter, medical director, charlottesville neurology & sleep medicine, has given sleep trackers his blessing.
”
chief innovation officer
HOW CAN WE INNOVATE SLEEP? 26
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Equinox Fitness, one of the world’s most luxurious healthclub chains, have kept a close eye on this development, investing in a study by the University of California into the effect that sleep coaching can having on heart-rate variability (HRV). A higher HRV is healthier, whilst a lower reading can be indicative of overtraining if you’re an athlete or mental stress, something that’s experienced by everyone at some point. The study by the University of California involves 25-40 people, none of which suffer from sleeping disorders, but all of whom are on a bad sleeping regime.
“Equinox fitness, one of the world’s most luxurious healthclub chains, have kept a close eye on this development, investing in a study by the university of california
”
chief innovation officer
With the help of three 30 minute sessions per week from their sleep coach, it’s hoped that all the participants will be able to embark on a successful sleeping pattern after completing the 12 week experiment. The experiment is expected to come to a close by the summer, so it will be fascinating to see the case study’s findings. Although on the face of it sleep coaching looks and sounds like a fad, it’s a space that now has a scientific foundation. Due to this, it’s not unimaginable to see those of us who suffer from sleepless nights turning to ‘sleep coaches’ rather than our bathroom cabinets to guarantee a good night’s sleep.
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HOW TO MAKE YOUR ONE MAN BAND LOOK LIKE A LAVISH OPERATION
by malcom rowlings innovation writer
Small businesses can often have a reputation for appearing to be sloppy or too simple. However, this is simply not the case. While small business owners may not always choose to pay for office space that large business owners would pay for, that does not make them any less professional. However, sometimes small business owners can appear to run sloppy, unorganized businesses. Here are a few tips to help you make your small or one man business look like a large, lavish operation.
1. Invest Money on a Great Website In the Age of Information, technology is everything. Without a neat, professional looking website, a client may easily assume that you are fake, unprofessional, and sketchy. It is so crucial that the website is secure and makes people feel that they can safely make purchases on your website without fear of being taken advantage of. Also, the website
should be an official ‘.com’ site rather than a free website through Blogger or Wordpress. It establishes credibility and makes you appear to be an expert in site rather than a free website through Blogger or Wordpress. It establishes credibility and makes you appear to be an expert in your chosen industry or niche. People have spent thousands of dollars on designing their websites, but luckily, there are cheaper options available that will still provide you with simple, yet professional website designs.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR ONE MAN BAND LOOK LIKE A LAVISH OPERATION
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2. Use Your Domain Name for Email
3. Establish Credibility Through Others Platforms
4. Write an E-Book
Instead of using traditional email services for your business email such as gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc., an email with a website domain name is a much more professional choice. This will give the appearance that your small business is much larger than it actually is. This should also be implemented for any future partners or employees that you may work with with emails like: “customerservice@ yourdomain,” “sales@ yourdomain,” etc.
There is nothing like an article, video, or interview to establish your credibility. Though sometimes overlooked, local newspapers are still a great form of press. Try contacting them and smaller news websites as well. They are always looking for stories to report, and you can be their solution. You can even subscribe to HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to receive daily emails listing what types of stories reporters are currently searching for. As you are featured in more news outlets, you can add a ‘featured in’ part of your website and resumé that will surely impress your visitors. You can even contact bloggers who fit within your business and ask to be featured on their websites. Every bit of publicity helps.
Books are an extremely easy way to be taken seriously in your business. When someone writes a book, they usually have instant credibility overnight. Fortunately, technology has made writing a book easier than ever before. You can easily write a book on the subject of your business and advertise it on your website’s home page. Not to mention you can use it as a way to collect valuable email lists, sort of like a consumer mailing list. If you do not want to write the book yourself, you can easily pay freelancers to write and design it for you for a small price. Simply write the outline of your book, and leave the hard work to the freelancers.
contacting “try them and smaller news websites as well. they are always looking for stories to report, and you can be their solution
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HOW TO MAKE YOUR ONE MAN BAND LOOK LIKE A LAVISH OPERATION
WWW. 5. Sell From Your Website
6. Hire a Virtual Receptionist or Assistant
7. Use Conference Call Services
It is typical of many small business owners to sell to their customers on different channels like Amazon, Etsy, or Ebay. While these channels can bring additional traffic to your business, you should not only sell from them. It is so important to build your own online store on your website. Not only does it establish credibility, but it gives you full control of your customers, if anything should ever happen to an outside channel like Amazon. Outside channels can be an important asset to your business, but they should never be the only place your products are sold.
These are vital to small business owner. A virtual assistant works remotely while attending to tedious tasks that would normally distract you from growing your business. These tasks can include anything from responding to emails to managing social media pages. Also, a virtual receptionist can take important calls for you while you are away. This gives the appearance that you have a large team working for you, when in reality, you do not. Also, a virtual receptionist takes important calls that can be converted into sales. All of this work can be done while you are attending to more important aspects of your business.
Nothing says business professional like a conference call. Luckily, you do not have to work in a dreary office to be business professional anymore, all thanks to conference call services. You can easily communicate with multiple clients, potential partners and more through the simple use of conference calls. Today, there are many websites that offer free conference call services. Some companies charge a small fee for their services, but they are always well worth it with added benefits.
can easily “you communicate with
multiple clients, potential partners and more through the simple use of conference calls
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