Navigating the Variety of Communication Channels

The multitude of communication options available to businesses can often be overwhelming. Enterprise communication includes all channels such as phone calls, emails, videoconferencing, internal digital guides, web chat, messaging, and more.

The Role of Networking in Enterprise Communication

Networking is crucial for most businesses, so it must be reliable, fault-tolerant, user-friendly, and adaptable enough to meet changing customer needs. Additionally, businesses need to recognize that each employee may have a preferred method of communication. Providing a variety of options ensures that everyone within the organization can communicate effectively.

Personal Preferences in Communication Methods

Different individuals may prefer different methods; some might excel with face-to-face video calls and traditional phone conversations, while others, particularly those from the Millennial generation, might favor email, mobile apps, web chat, or toll-free numbers.

Enhancing Communication Efficiency with Unified Platforms

Ensuring effective idea exchange among employees, using any available channels, is crucial for businesses. A unified platform can integrate all communication tools, providing a powerful and comprehensive solution that can adapt to shifting corporate and technological needs. Enterprise communication can seem complex, involving various technologies and methods.

Why an Enterprise Communications System is Necessary?

Technology is speeding up changes in the modern workplace, making effective communication within enterprise architecture crucial for keeping the workforce informed.

Integration of Multiple Communication Channels

An enterprise communication system integrates multiple communication channels and solutions within a company, typically through software that offers a standardized interface and user experience. This can include anything from sending messages to the entire staff to facilitating one-on-one or team interactions.

Simplifying Business Operations

These systems can combine business operations like sales, financial management, human resources, and supply chain management into a single platform, simplifying tasks and ensuring access to essential data. Incorporating automation tools, such as task management software, workflow automation tools, or ADP alternatives, can further enhance productivity and reduce errors.

Scalability and Flexibility

A scalable system that allows customers to integrate a wide range of common applications quickly is a key component of a successful enterprise communications solution.

Importance of Open Architecture for BYOD Practices

For businesses implementing bring-your-own-device (BYOD) practices, an open architecture is vital, allowing any device, including a user’s preferred mobile device, to be integrated into the system. Additionally, effective solutions will have security measures to prevent unauthorized actions and ensure the system’s overall integrity.

Key Features of Enterprise Communication

When choosing a provider for communications, especially cloud enterprise communication, there are specific features to look for. Some are essential prerequisites for any provider, while others indicate high-quality services. Key features include:

• Reliability and Uptime. A dependable communication system must have high uptime guarantees to ensure that your business operations are not interrupted. Look for providers that offer at least 99.9% uptime;
• Security Measures. Security is paramount in any communication system. Ensure the provider offers robust encryption, secure access controls, and compliance with relevant regulations (such as GDPR, HIPAA);
• Scalability. Your communication needs will grow as your business expands. Choose a provider that offers scalable solutions, allowing you to add new users and features without significant disruptions;
• Integration Capabilities. The ability to integrate with other business applications is crucial. Look for providers that offer seamless integration with CRM systems, email platforms, and other enterprise tools;
• User-Friendly Interface. An intuitive interface is essential for ease of use and adoption. Ensure the provider’s platform is easy to navigate and requires minimal training for your employees;
• Customer Support. Excellent customer support is critical for resolving any issues that may arise. Choose a provider known for responsive and knowledgeable customer service, available 24/7;
• Flexibility. The provider should offer flexible plans and pricing models that can be tailored to your specific needs, whether you are a small business or a large enterprise;
• Mobile Compatibility. With the rise of remote work, mobile compatibility is more important than ever. Ensure the provider’s solution is fully functional on mobile devices and supports bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies;
• Collaboration Tools. Effective communication is often about more than just talking; it’s about collaborating. Look for integrated collaboration tools such as video conferencing, file sharing, and project management features;
• Analytics and Reporting. To optimize your communication strategy, you need access to detailed analytics and reporting. Choose a provider that offers comprehensive insights into usage patterns, performance metrics, and more;
• Cost-Effectiveness. While cost shouldn’t be the only factor, it’s important to find a provider that offers a good balance of features and affordability. Compare pricing plans to ensure you are getting value for money;
• Customization Options. Every business has unique needs. A provider that offers customization options can tailor the communication system to better fit your specific requirements;
• Reliability During Crises. Ensure that the provider has a solid disaster recovery plan and can maintain service continuity during emergencies or unexpected outages.

Benefits of Modern Cloud Telephony

Modern cloud telephony advancements, including cloud call center solutions, have greatly improved business communication capabilities. The pandemic has pushed many businesses to adopt remote working. Enterprise communication involves the methods and technologies organizations use for internal and external collaboration and data sharing. 

Choosing the Right Communication System

Understanding the required capabilities and intended use is crucial when selecting an enterprise communication system.

Ensuring Seamless Interoperability

Effective communication is vital for all business operations, whether for efficient operations, departmental collaboration, or delivering an excellent customer experience. Integrating communication systems with enterprise architecture ensures seamless interoperability and alignment with organizational goals.

Choose a service that prepares your business for future growth and resolves any existing communication issues. Keep striving and stay connected!

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Cryptocurrencies are often traded on centralized exchanges. These are exchanges that match buyers with sellers and take a fee for facilitating the trade. However, centralized exchanges pose a number of risks to users. For example, if a centralized exchange is hacked, user funds can be stolen. In addition, centralized exchanges can be subject to government regulation, which can result in the freezing or seizure of assets.

Decentralized exchanges aim to solve these problems by allowing direct peer-to-peer trading of cryptocurrencies.

How do decentralized exchanges work?

Decentralized exchanges are built on blockchain technology, which allows for secure and transparent trading. When a trade is made on a decentralized exchange, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain. This provides a permanent record of the trade that can be viewed by anyone on the network.

Decentralized exchanges also have no central point of control. This means that they are not subject to government regulation or interference.

What are the benefits of using a decentralized exchange?

There are several benefits to using a decentralized exchange, including:

-Security: Since trades are recorded on the blockchain, they cannot be tampered with or reversed. This makes decentralized exchanges much less susceptible to hacking than centralized exchanges.

-Transparency: All trades are visible to everyone on the network. This allows for greater transparency and accountability.

-Anonymity: Users can remain anonymous on decentralized exchanges. This is unlike centralized exchanges, where users must typically provide personal information such as their name and address.

-Lower fees: Decentralized exchanges usually charge lower fees than centralized exchanges. This is because there are no middlemen involved in the trade.

-Greater security: Decentralized exchanges are often seen as more secure than centralized exchanges. This is because there is no central point of failure that can be exploited by hackers.

-More control: Users have more control over their funds on decentralized exchanges. This is because they are not held by a third party.

The disadvantages of decentralized exchanges include:

-Complexity: Decentralized exchanges can be complex to use. This is because they typically require users to have a basic understanding of how blockchain works.

-Limited selection: Decentralized exchanges usually have a limited selection of coins available for trading. This is because each coin must be listed on its own blockchain.

-Limited liquidity: Decentralized exchanges usually have less liquidity than centralized exchanges. This is because there is no one central point where buyers and sellers can trade.

At the end of the day, it is up to each individual to decide whether they want to use a centralized or decentralized exchange. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages.

What is a Bitcoin Wallet?

A Bitcoin wallet is a computer software program that stores Bitcoins. There is no storage for Bitcoins; every Bitcoin address has its own private key (secret number), which is kept in the Bitcoin wallet of the person who owns the balance. Bitcoin wallets allow users to transfer and receive Bitcoins as well as giving them ownership of their balance. Desktop, mobile, web, and hardware are some of the many types of wallets available.

Desktop: Desktop wallets are installed on a laptop or computer. They offer more security than web wallets because they don’t rely on third-party services. However, if your computer is hacked or gets a virus, you could lose all your Bitcoins. Mycelium is a popular desktop wallet.

Mobile: Mobile wallets are installed on your smartphone. They’re convenient because you can use them to buy things in brick-and-mortar stores by scanning a QR code or paying with NFC tap-to-pay. However, they’re also the least secure type of wallet because they often rely on third-party services that can be hacked or go down. GreenBits and Breadwallet are popular mobile wallets.

Web: Web wallets are hosted by a website. They’re convenient because you can access them from anywhere in the world, but they’re also the least secure type of wallet because the private keys are stored online and can be hacked. Blockchain.info and CoinBase are popular web wallets.

Hardware: Hardware wallets are physical devices that look like USB drives. They’re the most secure type of wallet because they store your private keys offline on the device itself. Ledger and Trezor are popular hardware wallets.

Paper: Paper wallets are simply Bitcoin private keys printed on a piece of paper. They’re extremely secure because they’re not stored electronically anywhere. However, if the piece of paper is lost or destroyed, the Bitcoin are gone forever.

The post What Is A DEX: How Decentralized Crypto Exchanges Work appeared first on DAE Soft.

Team extension service includes:

– A dedicated account manager who will get to know your business and requirements in order to source the best talent for your project

– A hand-picked team of developers that have been carefully selected based on their skill set, experience, and cultural fit

– A flexible engagement model that allows you to scale up or down according to your needs

– Regular reports and status updates from your dedicated account manager so that you can track progress and ensure that your project stays on track

What is Team Extension?

Team Extension is a tool that allows you to work with a team of developers on a project, regardless of location. By using Team Extension, you can easily connect to a remote team and work together on the same codebase. Additionally, Team Extension provides an efficient way to collaborate on code changes and review code changes with your team.

Whether you’re working on an open source project or collaborating with a remote team, Team Extension makes it easy to stay connected and work together efficiently.

How Does Team Extension Work?

Team Extension is designed to work seamlessly with existing development tools and processes. Simply install the extension and connect to your team’s repository. Once connected, you can start collaborating on code changes and reviewing code changes with your team.

What Are the Benefits of Using Team Extension?

Team Extension provides a number of benefits for developers working in teams:

– Seamless integration with existing development tools and processes

– Easy to connect to remote teams and work together on the same codebase

– Efficient way to collaborate on code changes and review code changes with your team

How to Get Started with Team Extension?

Getting started with Team Extension is easy. Simply install the extension and connect to your team’s repository. Once connected, you can start collaborating on code changes and reviewing code changes with your team.

To get started, simply install the extension and connect to your team’s repository. Once connected, you can start collaborating on code changes and reviewing code changes with your team.

Installing the Team Extension is easy. Simply download the extension from the Visual Studio Marketplace and install it. Once installed, you can connect to your team’s repository by entering your team’s URL in the Connect to Team button in the status bar.

Once connected, you can start collaborating on code changes and reviewing code changes with your team. You can also use the Team Explorer window to view your team’s work items and Kanban board.

What is the Team Explorer window?

The Team Explorer window is a tool window that provides access to all the features of Visual Studio Team Services. You can use it to connect to your team’s repository, view your team’s work items and Kanban board, and more.

To open the Team Explorer window, go to View > Team Explorer in the menu bar. Alternatively, you can press the Ctrl+\, Ctrl+M keyboard shortcut.

How do I connect to my team’s repository?

In the Team Explorer window, click on the Connect button.

In the Team Project dialog box, select the team project that you want to connect to and click OK.

If you are prompted for your credentials, enter them and click OK.

You should now be connected to your team’s repository.

How do I view my team’s work items?

In the Team Explorer window, expand the Work Items node and select the work item query that you want to view. The results of the query will be displayed in the Work Items pane.

Conclusion

In conclusion, installing the Team Extension is easy, and using it is even easier. With this extension, you can easily connect to your team’s repository and start collaborating on code changes. You can also use the Team Explorer window to view your team’s work items and Kanban board. This extension is a great way to improve your team’s productivity and efficiency.

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When you need to check the weather forecast, read a film review or order a pizza, do you wait for your laptop to turn on, or you just reach for your phone and do everything in a few taps?

Mobile experience is faster and more convenient, allowing us to do most of the actions on the go, in a queue, or during our ride home. A smartphone saves us time. And this is one of the reasons why mobile applications have become that popular.

If you have already decided to build an application to attract and astound more mobile device users, there is one more hard choice left: web app vs. native app vs. hybrid app. Let us make this choice a bit easier for you!

What are Native, Web, and Hybrid apps?

There are three essential approaches to creating a mobile application: web app, native app, and hybrid app development. Each has their advantages and disadvantages and none can say that one is better than another.

To choose the right approach, you must evaluate available resources and understand goals you want to achieve with the app release.

Native mobile apps – exclusive performance and solid budget behind it

Which platforms should your application support? Most likely you target Android and iOS users.

So, if you decide to develop for the two platforms, be ready to build two separate applications since each platform has completely different standards and requirements. As a result, you have to hire two development teams: Objective-C or Swift team for iOS app, and Java or Kotlin professionals to work on an Android app.

Advantages of native app development

• High-end performance
  Native applications perform better, especially in case of heavy graphics or complicated calculations (HD or 3D games, etc.).
• Native user interface
  An app is developed according to standards of a specific platform which results in smooth user experience.
• Access to platform-specific features
  A native app can access camera, calendar, contacts and other built-in features of the mobile device.

Disadvantages of native applications

• App stores availability only
  Such an application can be found and downloaded only in an app store. Also, any update must be manually approved by a user, which spoils user experience.
• Higher development cost
  A native app should be developed for each platform from scratch. Therefore, it requires more time and resources to complete. As a result, the development cost is quite high.

Obviously, the budget for native development is higher since the development cost is based on the time spent to build the needed functionality for each platform.

But the higher development cost is rewarded with better performance. Besides, a native app’s interface is perfectly adjusted to the platform, which feels right to the user and reduces the learning curve.

If you want to build an application but don’t have the necessary technical expertise, you can address an offshore software development company to hire to hire a development team for your project .

Still in doubt whether native app development can be the right choice for your business? Get in touch and have your questions answered by our consultant!

Web app development – one application for all screens and platforms

Web app is an application that works in the browser. However, it can be easily run on any type of device, be it a laptop, a tablet, a smart watch, a TV or even a screen of a smart fridge. The only prerequisite is – the device should have a browser.

Technology stack for web application development

Angular is a Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework. Three separate components enable you to write well-structured and easy-to-support code. Two-way data binding is beneficial for simple applications — any changes to the model will immediately be implemented to the view and vice versa.

React.js enables faster and easier implementation of changes. However, as React is a library and not a framework, which limits core functionality, developers are forced to work with third-party services.

Vue.js is a younger JS framework, but it has shown incredible popularity growth over the last few years. This is partially due to the fact that it is a lightweight solution. When compared to a monolith like Angular, it offers basic functionality out-of-the-box.

Flutter is a free and open-source mobile UI framework created by Google and released in May 2017. In a few words, it allows you to create a native mobile application with only one codebase. This means that you can use one programming language and one codebase to create two different apps (for iOS and Android).

Node.js is an application runtime environment, which is used to build server-side apps. Work with Node.js requires knowledge of JavaScript. For this reason, it is often used in stacks together with JS frontend framework

Django is a Python web framework. It can be used with basically any frontend framework (including the ones described above). It is also a good solution for any type of website due to a number of third-party packages available.

Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks. Laravel works excellently with Vue.js. However, Angular and React are also a good match for web app development with Laravel.

Regardless the number of supported platforms, you build only one application. Sounds good, right?

Advantages of web app development for mobile devices

• Usage of widespread technologies
  Web app development is on peak popularity nowadays. This means that finding a development team won’t be an issue at all.
• Compatibility with any platform
  Once you create a web application, it is ready to be used on any device immediately. The development time is minimal, just like the price.
• Instant updates
  Users always access the latest version of your application. There’s no need to download updates
• Constant innovations on the web
  Google has introduced progressive web apps (PWA) and accelerated mobile pages (AMP) to make mobile experience smooth. With the latest developments, it is sometimes hard to say whether you are using a web or a native app.

Disadvantages of mobile web applications

• Basic performance
  This approach works perfectly for simple applications such as news publishers, online stores, etc. But some apps require better performance that web technology still lacks.
• Inability to support all web browsers
  There are dozens of browsers, and then tens of versions of each browser. A web application usually supports only the latest and most popular ones. Therefore, users with some exotic browsers are likely unable to use your application
• Limited access to platform-specific features
  A web app can’t access your camera, storage or contacts.
• Not available in app stores
  Web apps are accessed via link. This is easier for the user, but you have to think of some alternative ways to market an application.

Web app development is gaining traction. The introduction of WebAssembly may be another reason to boost interest to this type of apps. Being one of the main web trends of the year, WebAssembly enables code in any programming language to compile in the browser. This means that performance-critical features will soon be implemented in web apps as well. Can’t wait for this to happen!

Hybrid mobile apps – reduced budget and shorter development time

A hybrid mobile app is just what it sounds – an application that can be run on any platform with just slight improvements. Generally speaking, it is a web application in a native wrapper, which makes the app feel more native.

A hybrid application base on web technologies: HTML, CSS, Javascript, and a hybrid development frameworks (Ionic, Apache Cordova, etc.).

Advantages of hybrid apps

• Usage of web technology
  Hiring a web app development team is a no brainer. Moreover, a JavaScript application is easier to maintain even in a changing environment.
• Lower price, when compared to native
  A hybrid application is built once and is ready to run on any platform. This reduces the development time and therefore the costs.
• Better performance when compared to web
  Hybrid frameworks enable an app to access platform-specific features, contributing to better performance and usability

Disadvantages of hybrid app development

• Slower than native apps
  Hybrid approach won’t work for performance critical applications and heavy games.
• Need for third-party services
  Pure JavaScript won’t work until you use a hybrid app development framework, such as Cordova or Ionic. Both have a learning curve

The obvious benefit of this approach is the need to hire just one web development team. Also, the built application can be run everywhere, which cuts the development time. Hybrid approach is preferable when it is critical to reduce time-to-market of an application without exceeding the budget.

Hybrid development is often described as a compromise solution due to lower performance. However, in 2019 technologies are already so far, that you are able to deliver exclusive cross-platform experience without the user even noticing the difference.

If you still are not sure whether hybrid development is an option for your case – we are here to answer your querries. Just drop us a line!

Native app development vs Hybrid app development – comparison

We have compared the critical characteristics of hybrid and native mobile apps in the table below. Choosing the one that fits your use case better will be easier after reading this comparison!

There is one more option between these two approaches. It is called cross-platform app development. This technology combines the advantages of hybrid and native app development eliminating the disadvantages.

With cross-platform development, you are able to use only one technology stack for multiple platforms. At the same time, the user experience is native, and the performance is significantly higher. You can dig deeper into the topic by reading our comparison of cross-platform development frameworks.

Web app vs. Native app

Web and native app development are two completely different approaches. And here’s what you should pay attention to when choosing the one for your project:

Web apps are the top choice for startups and businesses that are not ready to invest a lot of money and wait for many months to launch.

Conclusion

When comparing hybrid, web and native app development, you can never say that one is better than the other. They all have advantages and disadvantages, and each of them can better suit in a specific business case.

Web app development is a must for startups and beginner businesses when time-to-market is critical. This approach is usually chosen for minimum viable product (MVP) development  when the time and budget is limited.

However, a web app is not just a temporary solution. Many companies adhere to it due to easy support and performance that can satisfy their customers.

When aiming for better performance and wider functionality with a limited budget, consider a developing a hybrid or cross-platform application.

But, if your company aims to deliver an exclusive experience to your clients choose native app development. Yes, it requires more expenses and more efforts, but faultless performance and consistent user interface are worth every cent.

The team of Clockwise Software is proud to work with various types of businesses helping to find the most profitable solution at each stage.

Still not sure which approach to choose? Is your case unique and hard to categorize? Drop us a line describing your business case and we will find the best suitable solution together!

Want to find out more about software development from the perspective of a business? Subscribe to our blog to receive only the high-quality content delivered to your inbox monthly!

The post Native vs hybrid mobile app development appeared first on DAE Soft.

In search of comprehensive expertise, founders sooner or later consider collaboration with an incubator and/or accelerator. But the trouble is that those who are far from the venture capital market or start-ups often mistakenly believe that these organizations are almost identical (if they know about their existence in principle). This is a serious misconception that we will try to “eliminate” with this material.

First the Incubator

The first and most fundamental difference has to do with the stage of development of the accepted projects: incubators usually admit startups at the idea stage, when the project founders just begin to discuss the future business model, look for a team of like-minded people, study the market, and think through the architecture of the realized solution. In their turn accelerator take more mature startups-usually at the prototype or MVP stage or if they have their first users, preferably paying ones as well.

Most incubators are spaces where entrepreneurs get a workspace, mentorship support, access to private events and other valuable resources through which they learn how to build and grow a business from the ground up for a monthly fee.

Incubators typically do not charge for their services, but they do not provide funding either. Their main goal is different: not so much to give startups cheap office space, but to help aspiring entrepreneurs avoid rookie mistakes and thereby increase the survival rate of businesses at the earliest stage.

Once the funder(s) bring the startup to the incubator, they typically build a prototype or MVP, build a team backbone, and prepare to bring the MVP to market. Then the company grows and the value of the incubator starts to drop.

There is no universal algorithm for knowing if a project has outgrown the incubator level-usually it’s a story about how the founders feel. If you feel that the offered space is already too small for your growing company and mentors’ advice seems to be more and more banal, it is time to decide for the next step – to move to the first own office and to start free floating.

Then the Accelerator.

If, having made this very important step, the founder feels the need for further mentor support and assistance in further development and promotion, he should think about going through an acceleration program-study the local and international market and choose the most attractive options (as a rule these are either acceleration companies with a reputation, or narrowly focused acceleration companies offering very deep expertise in their industries).

Accelerator are programs that give the company individual mentorship and access to a network of partners during the course of the program. These programs typically last from 3 to 6 months and end with a demo day in which the projects pitch to investors, marking the beginning of a fundraising campaign.

Classic equity accelerator typically invest in selected companies at the beginning or during the program (usually amounts in the order of $50-100K) in exchange for a share (usually 3-10%). The exception is accelerator that work on the non-equity model – they do not give financing and do not take a share in the project, but startups have to pay for most of the programs (except for non-equity accelerator financed by the government and/or universities).

In fact, the main task of a accelerator is to help the project find the points of explosive growth and prepare it for institutional money: to find the right and scalable business model, to test the channels of attraction, to crystallize a plan for exponential growth.

The biggest and best-known accelerator are Y Combinator (among its outgrowths are Reddit, Airbnb (attracted more than $4.4 billion in investment), Dropbox (IPO at $9.2 billion) and 500 Startups (Twilio (IPO at $1.2 billion, valued above $18 billion as of July 2019), Behance (bought by Adobe for $150 million)). On their heels is Techstars (Rover.com (valued at $970 million), SendGrid (bought for $3 billion)).

The post Accelerator or incubator – who will give you more value? appeared first on DAE Soft.

Models for monetizing startups where the user pays is mandatory

The easiest to execute monetization model: you produce a product and sell it. A variation of this model is markup, or resale, where you buy something from a manufacturer and resell it at a markup.

Wholesaling is another variation of the sales model. This model was originally used by b2b businesses, acting as suppliers to other business customers. Now this model is available for the b2c market as well: wholesale purchases of food, pet food, and household goods. The wholesale model often comes with membership fees: companies impose an annual fee in exchange for access to wholesale goods.

Monetization occurs in this way: the user takes a conditional product for time and pays for its use (per minutes, hours, days). This monetization model is used by carshare services, truck rental services, household appliances, and parking lots. Unlike subscriptions, this monetization model does not imply a fixed monthly/annual fee; the user pays strictly for the time of using the product.

This monetization model is suitable for startups whose product has unique technological/creative advantages. If you have created a product that can be used by others for profit, sell a license to use it. Typically, license deals are either at a flat rate or on a sliding scale, depending on how many times the product/service has been sold using your component. The uniqueness of the product and the ability to replicate it is important to use this monetization model. This model is used by software developers (Adobe, Microsoft), producers of different types of content (photo, video, text, music).

This way of monetizing a startup is also known as Lock-in. With this model, the main product is very cheap – for example, a printer, a razor (hence the name!), but the subsequent goods for it are significantly expensive (cartridges, nozzles for the machines). The threat to this revenue model – competition, so it is important that the product meets the needs of customers, do not cheat their expectations.

Startup monetization models where the user pays, but not always

This monetization model is often used by online music and video services (Netflix) and software developers. The advantage of subscription is the relatively easy predictability of income. In addition, some customers may not cancel a subscription due to forgetfulness – even if they no longer use the product.

A variation of a subscription is the Freemium monetization model: the basic version of the product is free, but you have to pay for the extended versions.

Another variation of subscription is the tiered pricing model. This method of monetization allows you to diversify the levels of service for different customer segments: develop several pricing plans with different features and different prices. As a rule, the higher the price, the more features. The tiered pricing model is used by various online business services and software vendors.

Monetization occurs through charging a fee for using the platform and making transactions. This can be a payment system (PayPal), marketplace (AliExpress, Amazon), aggregator sites for discounts, services, some, etc. The platform creates the conditions for a transaction between the seller and the buyer, and receives a commission for each transaction.

The brokerage model is one type of transactional model. If your startup is working to create a platform that brings together two sides of the market that have difficulty reaching out to each other in normal circumstances, and allows them to interact effectively with each other, then this monetization model can bring you good profits. This model is used by Airbnb, helping both hosts of empty apartments and travelers; WeWork, providing office space for negotiations. You can make money by charging a commission for using the platform.

Lead generation is a variation of the transactional monetization model in which leads (contacts of potential customers) are collected and sold to interested companies. This is done through the collection of applications, pre-contracts, and mailings. Monetization is that there is a payment for each lead. As a rule, leads are collected by aggregator resources, where information of interest is presented in a user-friendly form (exchange rates in different bank branches; information about discounts, etc.).

The post Monetization of a startup: the best models appeared first on DAE Soft.

You don’t need to hire a lawyer for anything.
For the division of shares and responsibilities between the founders is better to draw up a simple agreement. This can be done without any legal training or experience. And if you can’t make such an agreement, you’ll never get the startup off your knees on the stool.

You don’t have to rent an office.
The modern world is such that you can easily find someone to build your product who can work from home with enough efficiency at first. Until you have your first customers, or at least a product release, it’s not cost-effective to bring your team together on an office basis.

You don’t have to write nonstop to foundations and investors.
A website or app is not a product. Until there are customers/users, you yourself as a startup worthy of attention does not yet exist in the universe. And probably never will. On top of that, you probably don’t know yet how to properly pitch your product to an investor, because the product doesn’t exist in nature yet. Do not irritate the funds and investors with your spam, it’s only a minus in karma.

Don’t ignore advice from experienced startups/businessmen.
You may not think so, but you, if you don’t have any startup experience, are probably still a grossly incompetent startup. You will constantly be given advice and told that you are doing something wrong, and it will seem to you that everyone is a fool and you alone have a billion-dollar epiphany. Well, you’re wrong. Listen carefully, give thanks, and self-reflect on the subject.

Don’t give sales to third parties.
Selling yourself is important to understand the feedback. If you know why you are rejected, how can you make the product better? The first money should be brought into the company by the founder with his own hands and not otherwise.

You don’t have to go to paid conferences and mitups.
You can go to free conferences all you want, but not to the detriment of the startup, everything else is just pulling valuable resources from you: time and money. You will find a team of employees and partners on the Internet, you won’t find 99,99% of investments at conferences at an early stage. No matter how you were enticed by the conference website and call a sexy manager, do not be fooled by “super price with access to the vip room with investors for only 99,990 rubles”! Just go to work. It will come out a lot more rewarding.

Don’t overwork and forget about rest and sports.
If you’re a workaholic, that’s good; if you’re a hard worker, your chances of building a successful startup go up by orders of magnitude. So do your chances of dying before the first normal investment. It is important to be able to rest (not drink!) and exercise 2-3 times a week. Efficiency is not measured by fatigue, as many people think. When a microstroke or “flicker” happens, believe me, you will regret it, and there is nothing to fix.

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You won’t get it right the first time. Only a persistent series of attempts and tests of hypotheses approaching infinity. Do not believe the nice stories about “you sat down, wrote the code in 24 hours, and tomorrow you will be rich”. If it happens, it’s by chance and luck. And if you plan to build your startup on luck, you will quickly fall apart. This topic is worthy of a separate article.

Don’t be afraid to not pay a salary / offer to work for free.

There are plenty of young (and not so young) people around who spend their free time away from their main job on bullshit. They better spend it on your bullshit you call a startup. All you have to do is convince them of that. Paying your friends and relatives is really fucked up. At some point you can start paying a little bit, but do it right, taking into account the value per hour spent. This, too, is a topic for a separate text.

Don’t be afraid to offer to buy a product to customers and get rejected.

The most effective way to figure out if a product is useful to someone you make is to try to sell it. People buy crap every day, transfer money to scammers, and trust MLM schemes. There will always be someone who will buy the very thing your startup produces. 100 rejections and one sale will give you more value than “constantly sawing the product” to some kind.

Don’t be afraid of reversals (“pivots”).

A startup should become a business, and business is about money. The product has to be flexible and adapt so that it brings in more revenue, even if it changes it beyond recognition. If the market forces you to start making smart masturbators instead of a smart home system, that’s the way to do it. And you have to treat this product like a child, present it as if you’ve been sick of it all your life and it’s your destiny. If you’re not ready for that – go to work for hire, don’t waste your life fulfilling false dreams. Money should make money, only infobusinessmen, who just make money on you, put other faith in your heads.

Don’t be afraid to admit your mistakes.

Budding startups think it’s important to always be successful and not show your mistakes. The smart ones know that admitting mistakes and conclusions sell you better to investors, just do it right. But the most important thing is to admit mistakes to yourself and to your team. The sooner the better. This teaches you to avoid them in the future and to avoid misunderstandings and the collapse of the project. Many startups fall apart because the founders couldn’t agree, and the culprit is an unwillingness to give in and admit that you’re the bottom.

Don’t be afraid to optimize.

Most likely there will come a situation where money will not be enough. Your habitual way of life may be in jeopardy, and that may be a reason to drop everything. It’s worse when founders are entrusted with this as a fatal setback and an indicator of their incompetence. It’s not. Shit happens. And you have no idea how budget friendly a person can be for a while. Be smart about optimizing your spending – it’s also an investment in your future. It might even teach you more financial literacy.

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I decided to make it easy for aspiring business angels and wrote a great guide on venture capital investing, which will leave no questions as to how this market works. In addition to it, I’m sharing startups from the investclub.vc pipeline that an angel investor can start his or her journey with.

What is venture capital investment anyway?

Projects come to us that, for example, make an online store of something. The trouble is, it’s not a startup. A startup is some new product or business model, and the essence of a startup is rapid growth.

Who are the participants in the venture capital market?

You would be very much mistaken if you only name business angels, venture capital funds, and startups. There are many more participants!

What principles does venture capital live by?

Yes, there is a so-called “code” of rules that you need to know and follow from the first investment. Otherwise you can lose all your money and get disappointed in the venture capital market.

What are the stages of startups? What do they make money on?

It may not be obvious what a startup’s value is made of and why they need thousands of dollars of investment and what the team will spend it on.

What steps does the investment process consist of?

Yes, investing in a startup doesn’t just mean giving money and waiting.

First you have to prepare for investment, form an investment focus, find a future unicorn (a startup with a capitalization of more than $1b), do due diligence, sign a preliminary Term sheet, select and sign the investment agreement itself (and you have to choose from a convertible loan, SAFE, KISS or enter the company directly), spell out the terms in the agreement, and finally invest. But that’s not all! After investing, you have to work with the startup and help it not die, and after that, you also have to sell your share to another investor so that you can finally make money.

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Purpose: Monitoring of new product competitive ability.

Essence: Reproduce the layout of the original pages, which look identical to the original. Spin up traffic and look at performance depending on what you want to test. If you conceived the product in the “red” ocean, it makes sense to reproduce the main competitor’s page in any of the services, look at the Facebook Ads Library latest UA creatives and purchase your CA on them, getting the approximate data of this part of the competitor’s funnel. This will help you get a foundation for analysis and comparison.

To correctly interpret the results on small amounts of traffic, it’s best to test one thing at a time. For example, if you’re testing creatives, the page that gets clicked on is the same for all creatives. Conversely, if the effective creatives are defined, you can test different pages.

If you’re entering the so-called “red ocean” but don’t know the market environment and aren’t sure if you can compete in it, you can make a copy of a competitor’s page and also spin off traffic. This will help clarify CPI, CTR and other important metrics and thus help you plan your budget and economic model for the product.

2. Pre-order in App Store and Pre-register in Play Market

Purpose: Checking ASO. Lead generation for soft launch.

Essence: You start quickly “sawing” a software product based on ready-made solutions + crutches/sticks. You do the minimum set of features to be allowed in the application store.

This is a fairly non-trivial way to test product hypotheses for mobile. The only drawback is that the fee for such a test = development + paid developer account + traffic. The main goal of development here is to get a visual review from the store, overcoming Apple/Google guidelines: you can achieve this through a dummy wrap – no one but the reviewer will see it. If the hypothesis is not confirmed – take it off the market.

The bonus is that you have a few months of real page existence in the relevant app store. And that’s a little organics, and the ability to drive traffic to the existing page (albeit without campaign optimization), and collect pre-orders that will turn into installs at release. The drawback is that analytics from Apple / Google deliver info with a delay, i.e. quickly experimenting with UA will not work.

3. Zero-code (no-code/low-code) tools.

Purpose: Very fast and cheap testing of the hypothesis. Getting the first clients, adjusting the strategy.

Essence: Creating a template software product in visual interface. Roll it out widely → take metrics → decide on further development or develop the product, if we are not restricted by the zero-code toolkit.

Zero-code “movement” is growing dynamically, new tools and services are constantly emerging. By 2020 there is already a wide set of tools available, not only for testing product hypotheses, but also for creating MVPs to help understand if it’s worth spending resources on full-fledged development. In some cases, it allows you to create and develop full-fledged products. The advantage of the approach is that a digital product can be created almost without programming knowledge.

It is important to have information about most popular tools on the market, to know their features and possibilities. By combining zero-code solutions, it is possible to test product hypotheses very quickly and cheaply. Here are examples of services to explore:
Product Hypothesis Testing Tools

Fake product launch (Product Hunt/ Kickstarter/Landing)

Purpose: To test the viability of a product hypothesis without development.

Essence: Testing is done by presenting a nonexistent product to your target audience (or investors): you can do this with public speeches, presentations, prototype demonstrations. With digital products is easier, the main emphasis should be made on the visual part and marketing: quality promo, logo, identity, branding, etc. The finale of this story should be a milestone, for example, getting “Product of the day” on Product Hunt or completing a fundraiser on Kickstarter.

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