Throughout 2019 we’ve witnessed the blockchain landscape shifting from a strong focus on enterprise use cases to the introduction of new technical layers within the ever-evolving “stack” to now the rise of decentralized applications (dApps). As this part of landscape expansion, further focus comes around the challenges of data, privacy, and the future economics models that will power the applications of tomorrow.

With many of the world’s most influential companies developing the platforms of which small businesses have building upon, these topics are of timely importance. The current platform economy has created a growing list of unintended consequences for the users and the companies that have depended on them. We’ve seen platforms unilaterally decide and change whether they own payments, user data, and compliance putting businesses in a position to be dependent on the very platforms for security and user privacy. In other cases, companies can be thrown off a platform, shut down, or buried by the platform at any time, either intentionally or unintentionally, forcing unanswered shutdowns and lost customers.

Until recently, platforms haven’t been incentivized to build products and tools that make it easier for companies to be independent. That’s now changing as we see users wanting the ability to freely take their data (views, credits, reputation, etc.) from one application to another easily. Additionally, companies are making an effort to transact and work directly with their customers without platform intermediary and even going as far as to create a simple voting mechanism for any stakeholders to make any decisions.

The Aion Network, now The Open Application Network (The OAN), has announced its plans this week to focus on these emerging and significant challenges faced by the platform-economics of today while laying a foundation for tomorrow. “The current platform ecosystem just doesn’t benefit businesses the way that it could,” said Matt Spoke, co-founder and CEO of The Open Application Network. “Tomorrow’s success stories won’t be built on yesterday’s platforms, but rather, they will become open and will design with their user’s interests in mind. Today’s platforms can enable this new design space with new tools to access Open Apps that extend the capabilities of these important ecosystems. I am excited for the opportunity for The Open Application Network to own this space and start building solutions for these businesses.”

When speaking about the decentralized applications (dApps) part of the blockchain landscape, Spoke added, “Although technically interesting, dApps have failed to find product-market fit, with maybe a few exceptions. The launch of the Open Application Network is the first step towards finding a relevant narrative and go-to-market strategy that we can bring to Silicon Valley, and use to influence the way companies to operate and are built in the future. Platform economies are growing, and are causing unintended negative outcomes. We have an opportunity to change the trajectory of how online businesses interact with their users and stakeholders through the use of Open Apps that augment these important ecosystems.”

The OAN will shift a meaningful portion of its engineering towards building the tools and libraries necessary, known as Open Kits, which will provide developers a natural path towards building Open Apps. The OAN is an open-source, public infrastructure that creates a new design space for Open Applications. Open Apps are programs that will put users back in control and are universally accessible across platforms. Developers who use Open Apps can hook into existing platforms like Uber, Shopify, Twitch, etc. and create new experiences.

The OAN team has already begun work on its first Open Kit – Open Economy. Open Economy allows developers to integrate features into their applications that enable the creation of their own micro-economy – creating rewards, badges, or other incentive programs for their users to use inside or outside of various platforms.

Velocia, a partner of The OAN, has already integrated some of the Open Economy features. Velocia is working to change the way people move around cities by incentivizing them for a better, healthier, and cleaner commute. It does this through a network of partners, including SwiftSeat, GetAround, Bolt, Citi Bike Miami, and Miami Dade County. Rapidly expanding in Miami and South Flordia, Velocia users earn and redeem VELOS across the partner network. The OAN provides Velocia with a public infrastructure to integrate and broaden VELOS’s usage into different platforms and other Open Apps.

“We believe this is the future of the platform economy – providing businesses and individuals with the ability to benefit from a platform, and yet for their work, data, and relationships to be universally accessible,” said Spoke. “We want Open Applications and The Open Application Network to be the quickest, easiest, and most efficient way for businesses to extend their capabilities and design their products with users at the center. Software is becoming more open, and the companies that succeed over the long term will get ahead of this trend.”

Open Economy is available today through a partnership with The OAN, and the API will publicly launch later in 2019. Additional Open Kits such as Open Governance, Open Identity, and Open Funding will be available for integration and APIs releasing in 2020.

“Solving the specific platform challenges we are seeing today is possible with tech, but not with the same tech that generated the problems in the first place. Aion and the Open Application Network are thrilled to be part of a new paradigm to build truly open systems and economies for the common good; a place where applications can be developed that are truly open and outside the bounds and economic interests of these overly dominant platform companies,” said Spoke.

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As the CEO of Oddup, James Giancotti looks at everything with a rating in mind. So, how does the man who rates startups for a living view the current state of cryptocurrency? It should come as no surprise that he looks at cryptocurrency like startups.

“Ninety percent will fail and maybe 10% will get your money back, and then 2 or 3% will just be superstars,” Giancotti said. “Most of those cryptocurrencies that launched in the last 12 to 18 months, most of them are crap. I say this because, if I put my startup rating hat on, I go, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen any major startups come out of Slovakia or Slovenia, but they’ve raised $40 million—why?’ That said, the technology is a game-changer.”

Despite the negative press, cryptocurrency is still an attractive asset class. Giancotti says many investors are putting 0.5 to 1% of their net worth in cryptocurrency, typically the top three: Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP. He doesn’t see that trend changing.

“If you can put $50,000 in a startup or buy 10 BTC, you’ve probably got a better chance of getting some liquidity from BTC than you have with the startup,” Giancotti said.

Giancotti also sees the market becoming more serious. Some of the brightest people he worked with at JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have gone into blockchain funds.  Giancotti lays out a simple reason why: the future will be shaped by blockchain. These trends—and their customers’ demands—motivated the Oddup team to launch Alluva, a blockchain product that quantitatively and qualitatively rates cryptocurrencies, ICOs, and STOs by using a contributor-model that rewards users for correct calls.

“Crypto is much different than the startup environment,” Giancotti explained. “Startups usually have 50 or fewer shareholders. There’s limited information. With Oddup, we have multiple analysts and data scientists solve that problem for startup investors, whereas with crypto, there are tens of thousands of investors in that space.”

Rewarding contributors for correct calls

With Alluva, contributors will have the ability to look at every available cryptocurrency and offer their best calls on where prices will be in a day, week, six months, and 12 months. To compensate contributors for that work, they’ll receive a small reward fee. The rewards don’t stop there, though. Contributors who consistently get calls right will have more people pay to access their predictions.

“What we’re doing is looking at something that works in the public markets, and since we see cryptocurrency as a public market, we want to push that mechanism out to everyone,” Giancotti said. “Anybody can join for free and start contributing. If you want to see ratings from people, you need to pay via your cryptocurrency of choice.”

Not only has Alluva gamified cryptocurrency—it’s given contributors choice in how they spend their rewards. They can exchange the cryptocurrency used on the platform (also called Alluva) for their cryptocurrency of choice, such as Bitcoin (BTC). They can use Alluva to advertise on Oddup’s media platform, UnicornHunt, buy an Oddup subscription, or upgrade to the premium package on Alluva and see everyone’s scores. In the coming months, contributors will have even more ways to use Alluva.

“We’re working with multiple big partners to make it possible to use the token for other things, such as airline tickets, hotel rooms, or gadgets like iPads,” Giancotti said. “A lot of the projects that have built tokens built them with a singular method of reward and a singular method of how to use it. We want to make sure that the token has value for the people who want to use it outside our product ecosystem.”

Looking to the future of the crypto market

When it comes to the future of cryptocurrency, Giancotti is looking to the experts for insight: the OTC providers that have been there, done that, and gone through the long, hard slog to get where they are. What he’s seeing is that institutions are buying Bitcoin, but they’re buying it from OTC providers, so you’re not seeing that volume being captured on exchanges such as Coinbase.

“People are buying, and they’re buying big,” Giancotti shared. “In Hong Kong, I’ve seen some incredible transactions happening on OTC. People are buying, holding and not worrying about it. Most people see it as a property. Despite panic in the streets, they’ll just sit and hold, then they’ll sell it and have a zero-cost portfolio soon enough.”

Giancotti believes 2019 will be a year of slow growth for cryptocurrency. He doesn’t think we’ll hit a high this year, but rather in 2020. He also sees changes coming for Bitcoin.

“I think Bitcoin is like Yahoo in the 1990s,” Giancotti explained. “It may get to 100,000, it may get to 250,000, but if another thing comes along that’s better, people will jump on that. For now, we’re in 1995 and Bitcoin is king, just like Yahoo was before it.”

For any entrepreneurs looking to start crypto or blockchain projects, Giancotti gives his advice which is to focus on solving a problem and building something people want, not making money. Blockchain project should be built with the startup mentality: build a great product, form a company around it and then build a great team who buys into the vision. Over the long term, it won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth the effort.

The post Transparency In The Cryptocurrency Ecosystem with James Giancotti appeared first on ReadWrite.

When a new technology emerges, we instinctually meet it with reserved apprehension. Twenty years ago, the idea of using your credit card to buy a book on the internet was laughable. Willfully uploading your picture next to your birthday and current employment status seemed ludicrous. Now we do both without a second thought.

With time, familiarity and the right safeguards in place, these new technologies are accepted as inevitably more efficient, more secure, and the more convenient way of getting things done. Facial recognition technology is the next inevitability that we’ll look back on in twenty years and say “how did we do things any other way?”

Precisely because this technology is inevitable, it is imperative we responsibly deliver on the opportunity for facial recognition to benefit both people and businesses, whether that be for security, efficiency or convenience. Unfortunately, today’s cameras are one-way devices. They record data but are surprisingly ineffective at generating any beneficial immediate action.

With the advancement of machine learning and more specifically, pattern recognition, facial recognition technology can be overlayed onto camera feeds to prompt action where appropriate. New use cases for this technology are willfully adopted on a daily basis. You can already unlock your phone and make mobile payments using your face. Fourteen international airports in the United States are using facial recognition to expedite boarding which recently helped officials board a 350 person aircraft in less than twenty minutes (half the time it usually takes). Using facial recognition at Dulles International Airport, US Customs and Border Patrol stopped a man traveling with a fake identity three days after the technology had been implemented. Facial recognition is already affecting the world around us, and it’s clear the technology will play a more prominent role in our lives soon.

This brings the industry to an inflection point: the choices we make today will fundamentally impact the direction we take in creating a safer and smarter world. Facial recognition companies and their clients must be held accountable for the implementation of the technology and more importantly, the treatment of the data being collected. Only through the responsible use of this technology can we ensure facial recognition is beneficial for all.

At Trueface, we are partnering with like-minded businesses to enable them to make immediate, informed decisions by applying pattern recognition technology to their existing camera infrastructure. Like many facial recognition companies, we acknowledge the implicit bias in publicly available training data that can result in misidentification of certain ethnicities. We think that is unacceptable, and have pioneered methods to collect a multiplicity of anonymized face data from around the world to balance our training models. For example, we partnered with non-profits in Africa and Southeast Asia to ensure our training data is diverse and inclusive, resulting in reduced bias and more accurate face recognition – for all.

We’re showing the world not only that there is a right way to use face recognition technology, but that doing so responsibly is the only path to the advancement of our society.

We’re working towards this future now. To get there, we operate with three fundamental principles:

1. Humanity First

a. We build our technology for the advancement of ALL of humanity and are committed to reducing biases.

b. While our technology allows machines to augment human intelligence, we stipulate in our partner contracts that in juridical use cases, humans will make any ultimate decision based on the enhanced data our software provides.

2. Data Security Focused

a. Today, digital security is paramount. At Trueface we are committed to data protection. Unlike most in our industry, our technology is deployed only on our clients’ servers. This ensures maximum security and certifies that they alone have control of their data.

3. Total Transparency

a. We provide our partners with the tools to be data compliant and be completely transparent with their customers about the data that is being collected. We want to provide immediate value to our partners and expect the same transparency in return.

Soon, computer vision will be a fundamental layer on every camera. When implemented responsibly, people will demand this technology for its daily benefits and utility, not fear it.

Getting face recognition “right” doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. While many will claim to care about the morality of technology, few take the necessary steps to ensure that it is an inherent, beneficial feature of everyday life for all.

We’re on a mission to advance businesses and society through the responsible use of face recognition technology. Hold us to it.

—

Article was written by Shaun Moore, Founder & CEO, TrueFace 

Disclaimer: Trueface and parent company, Chui are an alumnus the ReadWrite Labs accelerator program. Kyle Ellicott is also an advisor to the company.

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Last week held the annual, IoT World Conference in Santa Clara, California. An event that packs in over 12,000 people from around the world to discuss, share, and plan for the next wave of the Internet of Things (IoT). The week was nothing short of insights from industry experts, hackathons, workshops, and global startups showcasing the latest innovations in IoT.

During the conference, I had the pleasure of participating in Project Kairos, IoT World’s exclusive startup program. The program is aimed at providing early-stage startups with the education, exposure, and opportunities to have a successful conference. Throughout the week, 50+ participating startup founders & their team members took part in various activities such as Founder’s Day with educational and interactive workshops, showcasing in Startup City, and pitching to industry-focused investors all for the chance at winning the Innovation of Things Award and company spotlight at that 2019 IoT World Conference.

Founder’s Day led the week off with workshops from founders & investors sharing their knowledge about what it takes to build successful IoT businesses. Topics discussed ranged from Becoming a Global Business to Going Public vs. Being Acquired, to foundational business practices like When to Pivot and Raising Capital. Last year’s Innovation of Things Award winner, Reality AI, shared their insights on the changing landscape of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and how their business has grown over since last year’s conference. All valuable lessons for those who attended.

Over the remaining two days of the conference, more than 25 global startups choose to pitch in front of investors who represented five different IoT categories. The competition brought light to which verticals of IoT are being challenged by startups looking to disrupt. 

Each group was allowed one winner selected by the investor judges, who would go on to compete for a spot on the final stage. The winners for the hard-fought semifinals included:

1. MbientLab (Consumer IoT – Smart Home, Healthcare, and Wearables)

2. Nikola Labs (Enterprise Innovation & Digital Transformation Winner)

3. Parakeet (IoT Solution Providers Winner)

4. Lunewave (Connected Automotive Winner)

5. VINChain (Industrial IoT Winner)

Following much discussion from the judges, only three were named as finalists who then headed to the main stage for their last pitch-off. With only one round of pitches to go, the finalists gave their last presentation of the week with the winner named shortly after.

Congratulations to the 2018 IoT World’s Innovation Things Award winner, Lunewave, who’s cutting edge antenna and sensor technology for autonomous vehicles, wireless communications, and drones

Finalists Included:

mbientLabs, who builds a wireless sensing platform for R&D primarily used in sports rehab, therapy, clinical trials, and medical research. The platform includes motion, environment, and biosensors that are seamlessly integrated into garments.

VINChain, who has created a worldwide decentralized database of vehicle information that is 100% transparent, reliable and accessible by everyone. This database is blockchain based, which guarantees that information on it has not been faked, changed or deleted. The blockchain guarantees full transparency and builds trust in the system.

The 2018 IoT World Conference & Project Kairos were exciting shows yet again, and I’m looking forward to what innovations come because of it. See everyone next year!

Disclaimer: ReadWrite Labs was a sponsor of Project Kairos.

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As a specialist in predictive maintenance applied to the automotive sector CARFIT announces a partnership with VINCI Highways. Our latest product, CARFIT PULS, is a new connected vibration sensor marketed with a toll transceiver from VINCI Highways, to allow drivers to be better informed about the general state of their vehicles. This will increase a driver’s safety, and that of those driving on the VINCI managed highways.

Our CARFIT vibration sensor will also be used to monitor the condition of the undercarriage wear to parts such as the tires, wheels, shocks absorbers and brakes. The CARFIT PULS simply sticks on the back of the steering wheel. It communicates with an application and a chatbot on the user smartphones (Android/iOS) which provides the driver with maintenance alerts and maintenance recommendations.

CARFIT analysis technology compares the vibrations of a car to the standard of the car model to deduce diagnostic and replacement needs for the undercarriage wear parts which enhances safety.

Autotech startup based in France and in the United States which won the French Tech Ticket and has been accelerated by Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale-CA and by the Hub Bpifrance, CARFIT combines the science of NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) automotive vibrations with artificial intelligence technologies to create solutions for individualized predictive maintenance.

“We do not always realize the wear of certain parts that ensure the proper functioning and safety of our cars. This is especially true with second-hand cars, especially since vibrations often occur gradually,” notes Eric ESPINASSE, VP Sales of CARFIT. “VINCI Highways innovation and marketing services approached CARFIT very early on, to provide their customers with a new technology that will change the way we understand our cars and contribute to greater safety for all.”

For VINCI Highways, the safety of drivers traveling on their highways is indeed a priority. Each year, more than 180,000 repairs are performed on the VINCI Highways network, 25% of which are directly linked to the condition of the tires. “The partnership between CARFIT and VINCI Highways is clearly in line with our desire for an ever more personalized service and safety prevention for our customers,” says Sophie BERNARD, Managing Director at VINCI Highways.

“We are constantly striving to make our customers’ journeys more fluid and secure with the help of new technologies, and the VINCI Highways-CARFIT Pack is part of this commitment, with innovation recognized by RocketSpace, PlugandPlay and the FrenchTech,” adds Paul MAAREK, President at VINCI Highways.

The electronic toll system service can be used on all motorways in France and throughout nearly 400 car parks.

Disclaimer: CARFIT is an alumnus of our ReadWrite Labs accelerator program. 

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CARFIT and CEA have signed an agreement to create a joint laboratory focused on Artificial Intelligence related to car vibrations and their interpretation. The lab will bring together teams from the List, a CEA Tech Institute, and from CARFIT to share knowledge and expertise. The joint lab will be dedicated to the development of artificial intelligence methods for identifying signs of mechanical failures exposed by car vibrations.

CARFIT develops technological solutions to simplify mobility, by proposing real-time car monitoring to offer a smart maintenance system, adapted to the driver’s car use. The CARFIT team is comprised of automobile specialists, scientists, and artificial intelligence experts. CARFIT wants to further develop its predictive maintenance expertise by exploiting automobile vibration data analysis.

As a major research player at the national and international level, the CEA fulfills its industry competitiveness mission through CEA Tech, the CEA Technological Research Division. More specifically, the List institute carries out research on smart digital systems. The List’s teams already lead research projects on in-vehicle systems, interactive systems, and sensors and signal processing. As a Carnot institute (TN@UPSaclay), the List’s collaboration with CARFIT joins Carnauto spinneret action to strengthen competitiveness and attractiveness of the companies of the automotive domain by facilitating their access to the innovation.

The activities of CARFIT and CEA are thus complementary, enabling a fruitful collaboration on automobile predictive maintenance by vibration analysis. The two partners have therefore agreed to conduct a common R&D, leading to the design and development of optimized, innovative solutions of predictive maintenance for light-duty vehicles (authorized loaded weight not to exceed 3.5 tons).

“As an autotech startup, the creation of a joint lab with the CEA is a key milestone for CARFIT. This lab will extend our capabilities in Artificial Intelligence beyond what we could have done alone and opens up opportunities within the automotive ecosystem already in collaboration with the CEA.” says Nicolas OLIVIER – CEO of CARFIT.

“The List institute contributes to the automotive revolution through the autonomous and connected car and the development of digital services.” declares Philippe Watteau, Directeur de l’Institut List. “The Artificial Intelligence is at the heart of this revolution and our collaboration with CARFIT is going to open the way to the maintenance of tomorrow which will be predictive and as a service.”

This cooperation opens the way to the development of innovative architecture taking advantage of the deep learning to improve the diagnostic accuracy, to anticipate the failures and to maximize the mechanical defect coverage of vehicle components by vibration analysis.

Disclaimer: CARFIT is an alumnus of our ReadWrite Labs accelerator program. Kyle Ellicott is also an advisor to the company.

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When looking to enter China, there are several cities both large and small to choose from, each with a specific industry focuses and localized benefits for foreign companies. However, some cities within China are better known than others and have direct ties back to Silicon Valley, one of the more notable being, Shenzhen.

Over the past 35 years, Shenzhen has transformed from a farming city with a growing city center to the hardware & manufacturing capital of the world. Not to mention, one of China’s most desirable cities. Quickly Shenzhen has become more by receiving the reputation as a thriving innovation and startup ecosystem.

Recently in Shenzhen’s Hi-Tech district of Nanshan, I sat down with Jan Smejkal, one of the Shenzhen community leaders and China & Asia Pacific Director of Startup Grind. I wanted to get his thoughts on the growing value of Shenzhen and why it’s a necessity for those considering expansion into China. Jan first landed in Shenzhen, China just over three years now and has experienced a lot of what China has to offer – university, running a local business as a foreigner, and supporting the local startup community throughout the country.

Shenzhen as a Soft-Landing Center

When looking at a city to begin learning about doing business in China or setting up, Shenzhen is a natural choice. As Jan mentions, it’s the #1 hardware & manufacturing hub in the world. So, if you’re in hardware, the internet of things (IoT), wearables, etc. Shenzhen is a place you’ll have to live or have a team here.

Aside from its industrial history, Shenzhen is located at the border of Hong Kong – a city which provides effortless arrival and departure without a visa. It’ also the financial hub of China’s Greater Bay Area, and has a thriving startup ecosystem. But, unlike Hong Kong, to arrive in Shenzhen you will need a China Visa. As Jan points out, “If you don’t have a Visa prior, however, you’re able to acquire one upon arrival either in Hong Kong or at the borders giving you up to 5 days.”

With China’s Greater Bay Area growing in importance around innovation, startups, and entrepreneurship, Shenzhen represents its change towards a “new China” showcasing special free trade zones, support for foreign businesses, and access to significant venture capital and government based funding schemes.

Essential Tips For Getting Started in China:

After experiencing so many aspects of what China has to other, I asked Jan to provide his essential quick tips for any founder, executive, or individual looking to get started in China.

1. “Do your homework.” Jan goes on to say, “make sure you understand what you’re looking to get out of your trip [to Shenzhen], who you want to meet, and what information you’re looking to get while here.”
2. Reach out and research the local community leaders & spaces (SimplyWork, Bee+ Co-Working Space, RocketSpace China, etc.) and events/meetups – like Startup Grind, Startup Salad, Mars Summit, Hardware Massive, and others.
3. Find someone within your network who has experiences in your field and who can help you with local connections and be a guide of where to go and who to meet on the ground.
4. Be extremely patient. Begin your trip with low expectations. Don’t be frustrated and be prepared for anything.

To hear more about the Shenzhen community, startups, and how China’s Greater Bay Area can be right for you and your company check out the full interview here with Jan Smejkal, China & Asia Pacific Director of Startup Grind.

The post Why Startups & Corps Should Consider Expansion to Shenzhen China appeared first on ReadWrite.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of spending significant time on the ground in China for ReadWrite and ReadWrite Labs. While here in China, I’m continuously discovering new opportunities that exist and even more reasons for foreign startups and corporations to consider getting started in China.

However entering a new market can be overwhelming without the right information or guiding trip. So here’s a quick start guide for anyone currently thinking about expanding into China.

1. Largest consumer market globally

It’s no secret that China has the largest consumer market in the world with almost 1.4 billion people and rising. What some may not be aware of is that China will present what will be the greatest middle-class growth bump of any country since the United States beginning in the early 1950s. In fact, by 2022 over 76 percent of China’s urban population will be considered middle class according to a McKinsey & Company study. That’s roughly (in today’s numbers) over 550 million people who are ready to be your customers.

As that population continues to grow so will the country’s internet users, specifically mobile. Today China alone has over 700 million (with 30% growth in 2016) active mobile internet users. Which equates to the largest sandbox for applications, gaming, the Internet of Things (IoT) and more.

2. The Greater Bay Area

For those unfamiliar with the term, it is not an extension of the San Francisco Bay Area, in fact, it’s more than three times larger. The Greater Bay Area is part of China’s initiatives to drive innovation throughout the country. To put it in perspective here’s just a few stats about this newly defined region,

• 11 cities make up the region (Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou (third largest city in China), Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing)
• 67+ million people now within less than a one hour drive
• 16 and growing Fortune 500 companies have a headquarters within the region – more following
• $1.36 trillion dollars in combined GDP for the area in 2016 (compared to the San Francisco’s Bay Area of $431.7 billion GDP in 2015)
• Each city will have a dedicated focus on an industry (Manufacturing, Finance, Travel, Artificial Intelligence, etc.) with local benefits provided for those doing business locally

3. Innovation at scale

The days of copycats are fading away throughout China in favor of innovative ideas that push industries forward rather than oversaturate. These changes are gaining momentum at astounding rates thanks to ambitious entrepreneurs and corporations, along with enormous governmental support. All three are hungry to lead with entrepreneurs craving advice and education on Silicon Valley success.

Local businesses are opening their doors welcoming global partners and providing support or insights on the local markets. Governments throughout all cities within China are offering to make it easier for foreign companies to soft-land and establish while providing necessary benefits for those that decide to expand to China.

Don’t believe that innovation is growing at scale in China? Here are some stats that might help,

• China is now the No. 1 interactive game market globally beating the US
• China accounts for 67% of ALL global on demand transportation
• Bike sharing users now make up more than 20 million people with 100%+ monthly growth rate
• China mobile payment volume in 2016 reached over $5 trillion dollars (2x compared to last year)
• E-commerce in China is now taking place 71% on mobile devices
• China online advertising revenue is now a $40 billion dollar market
• Tencent, the largest gaming company in the world now has over 1.5 billion active users worldwide
• Huawei is the No.1 telecommunication equipment company in the world
• Huawei is also leading the development of our future 5G wireless infrastructure
• DJI currently represents almost 90% of global Drone market

The takeaway for this article is that there’s no better time to get started in China than now. While also understanding that China isn’t shying away from its goal to be the leader in innovation, nor to become the global business hub. In their efforts, they are welcoming all those interested in joining the ride.

But if you’re still not convinced why you need to be in China or if it’s right for you, join me on a trip around the country. We’ll spend 5-days in China meeting with the local government and community leaders, as well as corporations that can serve as strategic partners, and to talk with the founders and executives of the largest and most successful companies in China.

To learn more and get started, click here.

The post Why China’s own ‘Bay Area’ matters now for your company appeared first on ReadWrite.

To develop an idea into a business, incubation seems to be the new industry “normal.” There are thousands of incubators worldwide and each year that number is continuing to grow. There are private, public and corporate incubators, many with a distinct focus on local economies, global, communities, or a specific vertical.

At this point, it sounds like variations of ice cream. Over 9,000 flavors, all around the world. If there’s incubation happening, it’s because there is a demand from companies, and because the companies that incubate probably accelerate beyond their competition.

Incubators originated in New York during the late 1950s as co-working spaces offering affordable office space and shared resources to local entrepreneurs. As they evolved, incubators began providing mentor advice in the mid-1980s. By the mid-2000s we saw explosive growth when a new wave of incubators including 500 Startups, Techstars, Y Combinator all provided access to exclusive networks and investors.

Combined with crowdfunding, incubation is now seen as the royal path towards venture capital investment. Going down this path will provide you with a cheaper and faster route to a successful round of financing.

All is sound and clear. Or is it?

Let’s take a step back and start with what it mean to “incubate.” To incubate means “to cause or aid the development of an idea.” Notice, that a company’s stage is not mentioned in the definition. More recently there has been a pushback on joining incubators due to a feeling to late-stage for them. But as entrepreneurs, we always need support and to be incubating what we do. Incubation plays a significant role in the developmental success of our companies.

Now back to the why. Over 90% of startups will fail to make it past their first round of financing or being able to generate revenue. Only 10% have a chance to survive beyond and push forward on developing a company; a chance, not a guarantee. Today ninety percent is high, but we can see that number decline as more entrepreneurs take advantage of programs like incubators.

But to do so as entrepreneurs, you need to be aware of the drawbacks with current structures of incubation programs.

#1: Pace

Traditional incubation programs today can be long and drawn out, lasting anywhere from 4-12+ months. During that time you’re left on your own with little action in between. This duration provides a disservice to the entrepreneurs involved by not helping them quickly validate their idea early enough so that decisions can be to more forward or pivot to another direction. Instead, this crawling pace encourages slow company growth and development leading towards a higher likelihood of failure.

#2: Attention

Most incubation programs today work with a cohort size of 50-100+ startups. This is in part due to the nature of how they generate revenue (yes, they’re a business too) have to bet on a large number of startups to ensure they see a profitable return. Which means you become a number. Sadly, this is a structure built for fast winners, and everyone else falls between leaving you on your own, little personal support, or being given a helping hand.

#3. Network

This is what most entrepreneurs fail to truly capitalize on while a part of an incubator program today. Good programs survive and thrive on their strong networks of mentors and investors who each have given their time and resources for support. But most programs fail to help entrepreneurs understand the network’s value and entrepreneurs fail to capitalize and to build meaningful relationships with those inside the network. This leads to a higher chance of failure because when trouble arises entrepreneurs look back for attention from their program or hesitate on a pivot and take instead are on the path of a slow death.

Introducing the Alpha incubator program

Now almost forty years after the first incubator launch, we enter the fourth wave of incubators with a new program that is truly supportive and begins to stack the deck back in favor of entrepreneurs. Welcome the ReadWrite Labs Alpha program.

The Alpha program is built with the sole purpose of providing the initial support to entrepreneurs who are getting started, a little stuck on their next step or looking to enter the San Francisco / Silicon Valley ecosystem. Alpha’s focus is on Internet of Things (IoT) startups and provides office space in downtown San Francisco along with access to an exclusive global network of mentors, investors and corporate partners. The program is three months in duration for $2,000 USD and has been designed with data from working with over 100 top global IoT startups. No matter your stage, if you’re looking for support or growing your network strategically–and you want to be at the center of the action–join Alpha today.

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Building a company today is not what it once was and the needs for founders have become a more dynamic and collaborative game. It’s no longer about the lone wolf in a garage building the next [insert your dream company here], instead, entrepreneurs that become successful are the one’s working with the community to define upfront what their big ideas are and work collaboratively to create plans to fulfill their big ideas.

Today we’re introducing the ReadWrite Labs Incubation Program for startups globally. The new program will be initially based and vertically focused for internationally-minded startups in our San Francisco HQ. It is a precursor and will lead naturally to our acceleration program if your project is successful.

The ReadWrite Labs Incubation Program is 12-weeks in duration. As part of the program, your company will be fast tracked into an engaged community of VC’s, Mentors, Entrepreneurs, Recourses and much more.

Example Resources Include:

• Shared co-working space
• Private workshops
• Industry-specific roundtables
• Mentor-matching program
• Founder events with other entrepreneurs
• Exclusive Office Hours with guest experts
• Access to a competitive intelligence platform to better understand your ecosystem
• Education on International and cross-border expansion

Why join?

ReadWrite Labs Incubation Program is not just a co-working space, it’s a community where those focused on ground-breaking technology collide to leverage a host of recourses and fast track their business. We work hard to encourage collaboration and establish community, and the sharing of experiences amongst our members and mentor network.

Is your company up to it? Are you one of the top international startups needing to be in the valley from “time to time?” Then this program is for and about you!

Desk space is limited, simply sign-up at ReadWrite Labs to receive more information. We look forward to having you a part of the ReadWrite Labs (formerly Wearable IoT World Labs) family.

The post ReadWrite Labs launching their new incubation program appeared first on ReadWrite.

Kyle Ellicott is the cofounder of Wearable World, ReadWrite’s parent company, and directs Wearable World Labs, a startup incubator.

Many of those who have attended South By Southwest Interactive in recent years complain that it’s lost focus. Perhaps that’s fair: It’s no longer the insidery event that crowns new hot social apps like Twitter or Foursquare. And if it’s just a big tech spring break dominated by recruiters trying to snap up engineers, why bother going?

For me, this year seemed different. For one, I felt a focus on making business happen. Meerkat, a video-streaming app, got a bit of buzz and managed not to crash. But the technological stars of the show were wearables, the Internet of Things, and virtual reality. I predict we’ll mark 2015 as the year that hardware began to take over SXSW.

I have a clear bias here: Wearable World Labs, the startup incubator I run, has a number of hardware companies. Three of our companies—CreoPop, Little Riot and Strap—demonstrated at SXSW’s Hardware House. The weekend continues with panels and happy hours focused on hardware, virtual reality, and other connected experiences. Rothenberg Ventures, an investing partnership that has specialized in virtual reality, took over a local barbership and turned it into a VR showcase.

Walking into that barbershop forever changed my view’s on virtual reality’s future. I sat down and was shown a typical VR demo taking me through landscapes and nature. Then I was pulled into a sporting event. I was center court, courtside, watching LeBron James and his team drive the ball to the basket. I felt like I was sitting in Jack Nicholson’s seat at a Lakers game. It was unreal—and it gave me a taste of what to expect from mass-market VR products as they hit the market in years to come.

Beyond the panels and parties, the trade-show floor was covered with tech companies showing wearables, 3D printers, and other connected hardware. These weren’t me-too, ho-hum fitness trackers—the kind that saturated CES this year—but instead, companies building organs, printing food, and otherwise exploring the boundaries of what we can do with hardware.

Even our housing reflected this year’s shift to supporting and promoting hardware innovation. The team at Pitch My House and MobileFOMO provided the Wearable World team and four wearables companies with a roof over our heads in exchange—full disclosure—for doing the best job we could of promoting them. If you’re looking for a spot to stay at SXSW next year, you should apply to Pitch My House. You’ll be joining us and Funny or Die as alumni.

Disclosure: Wearable World entered and won the 2015 Pitch My House competition. Per the terms of the competition, Wearable World accepted Pitch My House’s offer of lodging in Austin during SXSW in exchange for promoting Pitch My House.

Photos by Kyle Ellicott for ReadWrite

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