Awork

awork

On War by Carl Von Clausewitz, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION It will naturally excite surprise that a preface by a female hand should accompany a work on such a subject as the present. For my friends no explanation of the circumstance is required; but I hope by a simple relation of the cause to clear myself of the appearance of presumption in the eyes also of those to whom I am not known. The work to which these lines serve as a preface occupied almost entirely the last twelve years of the life of my inexpressibly beloved husband, who has unfortunately been torn too soon from myself and his country. To complete it was his most earnest desire; but it was not his intention that it should be published during his life; and if I tried to persuade him to alter that intention, he often answered, half in jest, but also, perhaps, half in a foreboding of early death: “Thou shalt publish it.” These words (which in those happy days often drew tears from me, little as I was inclined to attach a serious meaning to them) make it now, in the opinion of my friends, a duty incumbent on me to introduce the posthumous works of my beloved husband, with a few prefatory lines from myself; and although here may be a difference of opinion on this point, still I am sure there will be no mistake as to the feeling which has prompted me to overcome the timidity which makes any such appearance, even in a subordinate part, so difficult for a woman. It will be understood, as a matter of course, that I cannot have the most remote intention of considering myself as the real editress of a work which is far above the scope of my capacity: I only stand at its side as an affectionate companion on its entrance into the world. This position I may well claim, as a similar one was allowed me during its formation and progress. Those who are acquainted with our happy married life, and know how we shared everything with each other—not only joy and sorrow, but also every occupation, every interest of daily life—will understand that my beloved husband could not be occupied on a work of this kind without its being known to me. Therefore, no one can like me bear testimony to the zeal, to the love with which he laboured on it, to the hopes which he bound up with it, as well as the manner and time of its elaboration. His richly gifted mind had from his early youth longed for light and truth, and, varied as were his talents, still he had chiefly directed his reflections to the science of war, to which the duties of his profession called him, and which are of such importance for the benefit of States. Scharnhorst was the first to lead him into the right road, and his subsequent appointment in 1810 as Instructor at the General War School, as well as the honour conferred on him at the same time of giving military instruction to H.R.H. the Crown Prince, tended further to give his investigations and studies that direction, and to lead him to put down in writing whatever conclusions he arrived at. A paper with which he finished the instruction of H.R.H. the Crown Prince contains the germ of his subsequent works. But it was in the year 1816, at Coblentz, that he first devoted himself again to scientific labours, and to collecting the fruits which his rich experience in those four eventful years had brought to maturity. He wrote down his views, in the first place, in short essays, only loosely connected with each other. The following, without date, which has been found amongst his papers, seems to belong to those early days. “In the principles here committed to paper, in my opinion, the chief things which compose Strategy, as it is called, are touched upon. I looked upon them only as materials, and had just got to such a length towards the moulding them into a whole. “These materials have been amassed without any regularly preconceived plan. My view was at first, without regard to system and strict connection, to put down the results of my reflections upon the most important points in quite brief, precise, compact propositions. The manner in which Montesquieu has treated his subject floated before me in idea. I thought that concise, sententious chapters, which I proposed at first to call grains, would attract the attention of the intelligent just as much by that which was to be developed from them, as by that which they contained in themselves. I had, therefore, before me in idea, intelligent readers already acquainted with the subject. But my nature, which always impels me to development and systematising, at last worked its way out also in this instance. For some time I was able to confine myself to extracting only the most important results from the essays, which, to attain clearness and conviction in my own mind, I wrote upon different subjects, to concentrating in that manner their spirit in a small compass; but afterwards my peculiarity gained ascendency completely—I have developed what I could, and thus naturally have supposed a reader not yet acquainted with the subject. “The more I advanced with the work, and the more I yielded to the spirit of investigation, so much the more I was also led to system; and thus, then, chapter after chapter has been inserted. “My ultimate view has now been to go through the whole once more, to establish by further explanation much of the earlier treatises, and perhaps to condense into results many analyses on the later ones, and thus to make a moderate whole out of it, forming a small octavo volume. But it was my wish also in this to avoid everything common, everything that is plain of itself, that has been said a hundred times, and is generally accepted; for my ambition was to write a book that would not be forgotten in two or three years, and which any one interested in the subject would at all events take up more than once.” In Coblentz, where he was much occupied with duty, he could only give occasional hours to his private studies. It was not until 1818, after his appointment as Director of the General Academy of War at Berlin, that he had the leisure to expand his work, and enrich it from the history of modern wars. This leisure also reconciled him to his new avocation, which, in other respects, was not satisfactory to him, as, according to the existing organisation of the Academy, the scientific part of the course is not under the Director, but conducted by a Board of Studies. Free as he was from all petty vanity, from every feeling of restless, egotistical ambition, still he felt a desire to be really useful, and not to leave inactive the abilities with which God had endowed him. In active life he was not in a position in which this longing could be satisfied, and he had little hope of attaining to any such position: his whole energies were therefore directed upon the domain of science, and the benefit which he hoped to lay the foundation of by his work was the object of his life. That, notwithstanding this, the resolution not to let the work appear until after his death became more confirmed is the best proof that no vain, paltry longing for praise and distinction, no particle of egotistical views, was mixed up with this noble aspiration for great and lasting usefulness. Thus he worked diligently on, until, in the spring of 1830, he was appointed to the artillery, and his energies were called into activity in such a different sphere, and to such a high degree, that he was obliged, for the moment at least, to give up all literary work. He then put his papers in order, sealed up the separate packets, labelled them, and took sorrowful leave of this employment which he loved so much. He was sent to Breslau in August of the same year, as Chief of the Second Artillery District, but in December recalled to Berlin, and appointed Chief of the Staff to Field-Marshal Count Gneisenau (for the term of his command). In March 1831, he accompanied his revered Commander to Posen. When he returned from there to Breslau in November after the melancholy event which had taken place, he hoped to resume his work and perhaps complete it in the course of the winter. The Almighty has willed it should be otherwise. On the 7th November he returned to Breslau; on the 16th he was no more; and the packets sealed by himself were not opened until after his death. The papers thus left are those now made public in the following volumes, exactly in the condition in which they were found, without a word being added or erased. Still, however, there was much to do before publication, in the way of putting them in order and consulting about them; and I am deeply indebted to several sincere friends for the assistance they have afforded me, particularly Major O’Etzel, who kindly undertook the correction of the Press, as well as the preparation of the maps to accompany the historical parts of the work. I must also mention my much-loved brother, who was my support in the hour of my misfortune, and who has also done much for me in respect of these papers; amongst other things, by carefully examining and putting them in order, he found the commencement of the revision which my dear husband wrote in the year 1827, and mentions in the Notice hereafter annexed as a work he had in view. This revision has been inserted in the place intended for it in the first book (for it does not go any further). There are still many other friends to whom I might offer my thanks for their advice, for the sympathy and friendship which they have shown me; but if I do not name them all, they will, I am sure, not have any doubts of my sincere gratitude. It is all the greater, from my firm conviction that all they have done was not only on my own account, but for the friend whom God has thus called away from them so soon. If I have been highly blessed as the wife of such a man during one and twenty years, so am I still, notwithstanding my irreparable loss, by the treasure of my recollections and of my hopes, by the rich legacy of sympathy and friendship which I owe the beloved departed, by the elevating feeling which I experience at seeing his rare worth so generally and honourably acknowledged. The trust confided to me by a Royal Couple is a fresh benefit for which I have to thank the Almighty, as it opens to me an honourable occupation, to which I devote myself. May this occupation be blessed, and may the dear little Prince who is now entrusted to my care, some day read this book, and be animated by it to deeds like those of his glorious ancestors. Written at the Marble Palace, Potsdam, 30th June, 1832. MARIE VON CLAUSEWITZ, Born Countess Brühl, Oberhofmeisterinn to H.R.H. the Princess William. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Carl von Clausewitz (2006). On War. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1946/pg1946-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

A preface by a female hand should accompany a work

A recent Threatpost poll percent of the companies transitioning to WFH experienced a spike in cyberattacks. The survey concluded that patching and updating are among the top challenges for employees when securing their remote footprint. found that 40 Even the world’s top technology companies are not immune. Microsoft warned Windows 10 users of “limited targeted attacks” that could infiltrate their operating systems using malware –– and worse, there's no patch to fix it. “Attackers are taking advantage of the current shift to remote work by promoting malware masquerading as VPN installers,” explains Vicarius co-founder Michael Assraf. The Types of Attacks Cyberattacks have surged in countries hardest hit by the virus, such as Italy. In late February 2020, Trickbot , primarily targeting Italian entities, according to Jim Walter of SentinelLabs. “This is dangerous as businesses make the transition to remote work and suggest best practices to employees, including the use of VPNs.” campaigns were tracked Some are referring to it as a ‘phishing epidemic,’ with more fake COVID-19-themed applications, advertisements and emails appearing each day. “We are now seeing that hackers view this pandemic as a great opportunity to ,” said a spokesperson for Check Point, an Israeli cybersecurity firm tracking the increase in attacks over recent weeks. “Just like Cyber Monday or Black Friday, our researchers have found several ‘coronavirus specials”. accelerate their business A lot of damage has already been done. According to experts since the beginning of January, the period where initial outbreaks were reported, there have been over 16,000 new coronavirus-related domain registrations. “A widespread -themed phishing campaign was recently identified targeting Italian organizations. These attacks were aimed at over 10% of all organizations in Italy, with the aim of exploiting concerns over the growing spike in confirmed cases.” targeted corona Another epicenter is Spain, where cybercriminals are using a banking Trojan coronavirus, called Ginp, to play on people’s fears. The Kaspersky Security Network notes that “as people all around the world started working from home and practicing social distancing, the latter in some cases may evolve into paranoia.” related to the Ginp opens a web-page called Coronavirus Finder and cons people into giving their credit card information in exchange for information about COVID-19 victims in their area. “Oh, what a relief for some people would it be to know whom to avoid!” “The technical challenges of working at home are enormous, and now I’m worried about hackers, too,” lamented one remote employee. “If it wasn’t for that, working from home would be way less stressful.” Reducing Exposure to Cyber Attacks The Internet can be a hostile environment. The threat of attack is ever-present as new vulnerabilities are released and commodity tools are produced to exploit them. Doing nothing is no longer an option. Protect your organization and your reputation by establishing some basic cyber defenses to ensure that your name is not added to the growing list of victims. “Attackers are taking advantage of the current shift to remote work by promoting malware masquerading as VPN installers,” say experts in Cybereason in a statement to the media. There are effective and affordable ways that organizations can reduce their exposure to cyber-attacks like using firewalls and internet gateways. Companies can establish network perimeter defenses, particularly web proxy, web filtering, content checking, and firewall policies to detect and block executable downloads, block access to known malicious domains and prevent users’ computers from communicating directly with the Internet.  Because of the scattered nature of the WFH workforce, and the fact that the organization no longer has a perimeter - some of those techniques are not effective anymore. : Most of the COVID attacks exploited existing software vulnerabilities. Having the ability to find and mitigate software threats on your WFH workforce is mandatory. Software threat tracking and patching : It is important to establish and maintain malware defenses to respond appropriately to an attack code that is known. Malware Protection : Make sure that an appropriate password policy is in place and it is followed. You will also need to include limits on normal users’ execution permissions and enforce the principle of least privilege. Password Policy If you feel that your organization could be attacked by technically advanced hackers, additional controls like security monitoring - to identify any unexpected or suspicious activity user training education and awareness. Also, it is a good idea to reach out to cybersecurity experts to help your organization deal with the threats. To deal with the escalation, some cybersecurity firms like Vicarius are offering their free assistance.  “The solutions to solve such problems are there in the market. You just have to find a company that can help you solve the problem for you,” says  Michael Assraf, the co-founder of . Vicarius

The Growing Cyber Risks of a Work From Home  Workforce

I spent 2019 - 2022 thinking a lot about consumer health insurance while building a consumer health insurance business, getting acqui-hired, and serving as Senior Vice President of Consumer Business at Reliance Health. This essay illustrates how the biggest industries in healthcare make money and how new upstarts can make entrepreneurial profits. But first, let’s talk about the law of conservation of attractive profits by Prof. Clay Christenson. The law of conservation of attractive profits states that in the value chain there is a requisite juxtaposition of modular and interdependent architectures, and of reciprocal processes of commoditization and decommoditization, that exist in order to optimize the performance of what is not good enough. The law states that when modularity and commoditization cause attractive profits to disappear at one stage in the value chain, the opportunity to earn attractive profits with proprietary products will usually emerge at an adjacent stage. The law of conservation of attractive profits states that in the value chain there is a requisite juxtaposition of modular and interdependent architectures, and of reciprocal processes of commoditization and decommoditization, that exist in order to optimize the performance of what is not good enough. The law states that when modularity and commoditization cause attractive profits to disappear at one stage in the value chain, the opportunity to earn attractive profits with proprietary products will usually emerge at an adjacent stage. 💡 The terms modularity and commoditization will be used a lot in this essay, so it’s important that I define them. modularity commoditization 💡 Modularity means that a component in a business’ product value chain isn’t proprietary to the business/product. Instead, the component is created by a 3rd party who’s able to innovate and make the component to very high standards that it makes no sense for businesses that need that component in their product to make it themselves. Example: Most smartphone manufacturers do not make their own phone screens instead they buy them from a supplier, hence phone screens are modular components. Modularity 💡 Commoditization means that the profits in one of the components that make up the product’s value are driven to zero. This often happens because of competition and innovation. When a company commoditizes a component, the expectation is that they’ll unlock value in a different part of the value chain. Example: MTN, the African telecoms giant, started by selling SIM cards for ~$200. When the competition came in, they crashed the price to ~$5 thereby making SIM cards a commodity. The profits they were making on SIM card sales disappeared overnight however this meant they could mass-acquire customers and make the profits on the actual utility of a SIM card (making calls). Commoditization Back to Prof. Clay Christenson’s quote. A simple translation of his quote is that a new business can find a way to make the profits disappear from one part of the business value chain by commoditizing a layer of service or component and make the profits re-appear at another part of the value chain by integrating new service layers or components. A very good example is online travel agencies (OTAs) vs hoteliers and commercial airlines. If you tried picking a place to stay in a new city without an OTA (Ex: Booking.com), you would be constrained by how many properties you can check out since one of the most important things when making a decision on where to stay is trust – trust that the property is good – you would select a property based on their brand because brand is a proxy for trust. Booking.com OTAs make it possible for you to view every property (pictures, reviews, descriptions) in any location hence commoditizing the properties’ brand because the thing you’re looking for (trusted accommodation experiences) is no longer dependent on the property’s brand as the OTA gives you enough information to make the purchase decision. The OTA commoditized all properties and eroded the profits a property would have extracted through the brand they have built while the OTA extracts value from the customer by enabling reservations. Since the OTA collects the money by enabling reservations, they can ask the hotels to give them a commission if they want the guest to stay. You can apply the same value chain disruption to the airline industry vs OTAs too. This is why Booking.com or any hotel booking marketplace can quickly try to replicate Airbnb’s business, but big chain hoteliers like Marriot and Holiday Inn cannot do that because their business value chain is very different. This means that the OTAs are counter-positioned to the hoteliers. Booking.com quickly try to replicate Airbnb’s business A layer being modular means that any player can integrate that layer into their value chain easily, however, profits are stripped away when the layer becomes commoditized while value capture happens on the integrated level. If a layer in the value chain becomes commoditized, then the economic opportunity of capturing value on that layer goes to zero, especially if the innovation that made this new business model possible is disruptive. Read my essay on how businesses make entrepreneurial profits to see how profits go to zero. essay on how businesses make entrepreneurial profits The value chain for people looking to access care looks like this: Hospitals and clinics integrate the facility and trusted care into one service and market it to consumers of healthcare, so you end up picking a facility based on the brand around trusted care that they have built. The payment/billing layer is modularized which means they do not have a direct financial relationship with healthcare consumers, hence the profit opportunities they can pursue are constrained by their integration & value capture layer. The hospitals make their margin from bundling trusted care and the facility together. This is why the rates at each hospital are different and consumers of healthcare make their decision based on how much they trust a health provider not necessarily on price because trust is more important. A hospital can decide to integrate the billing layer into their trusted care + facility layer by charging a membership fee that gives access to all care you need, but because care is not commoditized this value chain restructure will break (no profits to extract) because you need scale economies to extract value from commoditized layers. trusted care + facility care Health insurance providers restructure the value chain to look like this Health insurance providers integrate the payment method with trusted care. The facility becomes a commodity hence the health insurance provider isn’t trying to extract any value from the facility. Their intent is to pay the least amount of money to the healthcare facility so that they can extract more value from the Trusted care + Billing layer. What consumers of healthcare need is trusted care, and the health insurance provider has taken on the job of providing facilities you can access trusted care for free. It’s also in the best interest of the health insurance organization to only offer facilities that give trusted care because it’s cheaper for them (helps retention and reduces costs from patients having multiple encounters from bad care). This is why health insurance providers have teams whose objective is to eliminate fraud and unnecessary risk from healthcare facilities and other providers of healthcare. Trusted care + Billing By bundling the payment method with trusted care, health insurance providers are not constrained by the business model of only being able to offer in-person care like hospitals, they can offer more in their bundle of trusted care or sell you extra services like health financing for care that is not covered within your health insurance plan. In this business model, the profits are not made from the facility and the facility becomes a commodity in the value chain where the prices are the same across all facilities to the health insurance organization. The trusted care + payment integration creates a bundle of several benefits to the consumer and the consumer’s affinity to pay for each of these services varies. A consumer wants dental care, but they feel there’s a low chance of them ever needing surgery, however, the consumer can do mental math and conclude that it’s cheaper to pay for the health insurance plan they select than it’s to pay out of pocket for every procedure they might need to undergo even though there’s a chance that they might only utilize care once. The insurance company makes its margin from the healthcare bundle it sells the consumer. It prices all the risk of providing care then sells you the bundle at a discount to the average amount an average consumer pays for healthcare in a period. So if the average person hospital-goer spends $100 per year on hospital visits, the health insurance company can sell everyone a plan for $80 and assume that not everyone that bought the plan would ever use it. The regular Joe already knows they spend $100 or more on their bad years so an $80 deal you might never use is better than paying >$100 in case you need to use healthcare. trusted care + payment What makes health insurance providers powerful is that they aggregate supply (healthcare providers) on one side and consumers of healthcare on the other side which means that if hospitals want access to healthcare consumers they need to go through health insurance providers, however health insurance companies fail to live up to the economics of a true aggregator like Booking.com or Airbnb because the cost of fulfilling the service has real-world components, which makes it hard for them to flex their strategic muscles (this muscle comes from re-organizing the healthcare value chain) because they are burdened with managing costs. Booking.com In the case of Booking.com, you go there because they have the supply you want (a hotel in the city center) and the hotel agrees to work with them because they have demand (lots of guests). The same thing happens for health insurance providers too. However, this is where the economics take a turn, Booking.com sells you a reservation at a hotel and keeps their commission (they pay zero transaction fees from that commission). It’s the hotel that has real-world costs. Health insurance providers have to pay an expensive transaction fee every time a customer utilizes the product, this fee is a variable cost, and minimizing this variable cost of the transaction requires a lot of managerial complexity in managing costs. This managerial complexity becomes a sunk cost in the organization which gets ingrained in the company’s operations, hence positioning health insurance providers in a tough place that makes it hard to react to new business models. Booking.com Booking.com This is how managing cost can transform the business The cost of care on the right rises very fast because of Capex costs, but once you break even on Capex the costs begin to flatline even as utilization increases. The graph on the right shows that there will always be a proportional increase in cost with every extra bit of utilization so if utilization should skyrocket, the pricing model will break. The complexity of making that curve bend and flat line as utilization increases is hard. For instance, one way to manage costs is to invest more in CAPEX (capital expenditures). You can take a cost from the bundle, turn it into CAPEX and reduce the reliance on real-world fulfillment as possible. Example: replacing primary care consultations with telemedicine consultations. Another example, howbeit expensive and hard to scale: if the providers in the health insurance organization’s network bill them $10 for a primary care medical consult, the health insurance company can invest in building their own health facilities in locations with a lot of their healthcare consumers, hence they can drive the price down to a fraction of $10 (maybe $6 per medical consult assuming the hospital makes a 40% margin). This is the same business case Amazon most likely used to bootstrap their logistic business. Shipping is a variable cost – Amazon pays a relatively fixed fee per item shipped – that adds up to billions of USD every year. Let’s assume Amazon pays $8 per item shipped and they ship 2 billion items per year, that’s $16 Billion they are paying to other logistic providers. Also assuming that logistic providers are keeping $2 out of the $8 as profit, at that very high spend Amazon can turn that cost into Capex. We can assume the logistic providers make $2 as profit on every $8 spent to ship an item which means the cost to service each item shipped is $6. Amazon might be able to drive better efficiency since they are vertically integrating shipping into their business and the cost of shipping each item becomes $5 this means Amazon’s $16 billion in shipping costs can go further. Now that they’ve commoditized shipping within their business through vertical integration they can extract value from the demand side (buyer) through Amazon Prime and the supply side (sellers) through Amazon Seller Central and Fulfilled by Amazon. It took a lot of managerial complexity to bend the cost curve and all of that complexity are sunk costs. If a new model of delivering physical goods came out today that was different from existing technologies of today, it might make it difficult for Amazon to compete because of their overinvestment in managing operational costs. It takes a lot of business attention to bend a cost curve like this through Capex. Scaling these kinds of CAPEX puts any business in a place where they suffer from the managerial complexity of managing those costs. They eventually become sunk costs that the business has to live with because of the nature of their business. Where are the opportunities for a new player One of my best business quotes is by Jim Barksdale, former CEO of Netscape. There are only two ways to make money in business: one is to bundle; the other is unbundle. There are only two ways to make money in business: one is to bundle; the other is unbundle. A good example to illustrate the quote above are banks and Fintechs. Banks bundle a lot of financial products (loans, savings, business banking, investments, et al). Many Fintechs unbundle the different offerings from banks and provide them as a standalone service so you have an app for loans, another app for savings, another app for fixed income investments, another app for stocks, et al. All your different apps provide a superior service to what your bank provides, but you would also notice that your Fintech apps are beginning to bundle services again as they get bigger. Any player bundling a bunch of services together means they are half-assing some of these services no matter how seemingly great they look on the outside. There’s always an opportunity for a player to gain market share when they whole-ass a service and focus on a differentiated product rather than a service/product that is heavily commoditized. A hospital that provides multiple types of care will perform worse than a hospital treating a specific type of disease alone because it’s harder to innovate when you don’t have “focus” as your innovation strategy. The same thing happens in consumer technology where Notion is a better document editor than Google docs, or where Super Human is a better email provider than Gmail. The innovation strategy for Notion and Super Human is to focus on the job to be done whereas Google is attempting to bundle the entire work suite. innovation strategy Now that you realize there’s always opportunity, you can decide to take one part of the value chain and break it down into its own value chain, then reorganize the steps. For instance, you can break down diabetes care (a sub-part of trusted care) as: diabetes care + diabetes drugs + appointment/payment + healthcare consumer diabetes care + diabetes drugs + appointment/payment + healthcare consumer Many pharmacies integrate some section of diabetes care + diabetes drugs as a way to add more margin to their business because people with diabetes are willing to pay for diabetes drugs even if they cost a lot. diabetes care + diabetes drugs You can re-organize this value chain so that you focus on the healthcare consumer (demand) If you own demand (healthcare consumer), it means the cost of acquiring each new customer gets cheaper as you grow. It does not cost Google more money to acquire their n+1 user than it cost to acquire n+∞ user. You can acquire members by making your CAPEX free or self-sustaining especially if the transaction costs are marginal and tend to zero (zero operating costs). For instance: a community where the members share their healthcare experience and help other people to be more successful in taking care of their health has zero operating costs and as the community gets bigger you acquire more customers because the intent for joining the community is to manage bad health. If you own the payment method via appointments, you can extract value through new business models. People with diabetes also need to see a specialist, they need to do advanced investigations, they need insurance cover for every other type of care, and they often will have other pre-existing conditions. The business you build on top of this is up to you, but you might want to read my essay on how businesses make entrepreneurial profits and listen to this podcast on 7 business powers by Jeff Lawson, Twillio’s CEO. essay on how businesses make entrepreneurial profits podcast on 7 business powers

The Startup Playbook for Disrupting Healthcare’s Value Chain

How to Tell if AI Really is a Revolution

Hoe om te sê of AI werklik 'n revolusie is

Как да разберем дали ИИ наистина е революция

Jak zjistit, zda je AI skutečně revoluce

Πώς να μάθετε αν το AI είναι πραγματικά μια επανάσταση

Cómo saber si la IA es realmente una revolución

כיצד לדעת אם AI הוא באמת מהפכה

कैसे बताएं कि एआई वास्तव में एक क्रांति है

AIが本当に革命であるかをどのように知るか

როგორ გაიგოთ, თუ AI ნამდვილად რეკლამა

AI가 정말로 혁명인지 어떻게 알 수 있습니까?

Ako zistiť, či je AI skutočne revolúciou

Làm thế nào để biết nếu AI thực sự là một cuộc cách mạng

Revisiting LangChain4J 6 Months Later

Revisiting LangChain4J 6 meses después

LangChain4J 6 Months Later

Преглед на LangChain4J 6 месеци подоцна

Revisiting LangChain4J 6 meses depois

Woxa Corp., an international technology company specializing in fintech platforms and AI algorithmic trading, continues to expand its influence in the digital economy, achieving significant milestones in both its growth and innovation. Headquartered in Lithuania with a robust operational presence in Thailand, Woxa Corp has rapidly established itself as a leader in the fintech sector. The company’s global team of nearly 400 professionals is focused on developing high-performance fintech platforms and AI-powered solutions designed to meet the evolving demands of modern financial markets. Under the leadership of Mr. Takin Jitjanuruk, the founder and CEO of Woxa Corp, the company has made substantial progress in building scalable and adaptable platforms that offer innovative solutions across various sectors, including investment management, payment systems, and real-time data processing. These platforms leverage cutting-edge AI technologies to help clients optimize operations and make data-driven decisions in a fast-paced, digital financial environment. Woxa Corp has also built a corporate culture that prioritizes cross-border collaboration, diversity, and continuous innovation. Mr. Takin's leadership has been instrumental in fostering a work environment that emphasizes the development of talent and the building of cohesive teams across various regions, ensuring the company remains agile and aligned with its global vision. In addition to its technological advancements, Woxa Corp is focused on strategic investments in sectors such as financial technology, cybersecurity, and Web3 infrastructure. These investments are in line with the company’s vision of driving long-term growth and maintaining its position as a leader in the digital economy. Beyond technology, Woxa Corp is committed to applying its innovations in a responsible, ethical manner, with a focus on creating a positive social impact. The company’s vision is to build a “platform that transforms lives,” using technology to benefit both global markets and society. As Woxa Corp continues to expand its global reach and innovation capabilities, the company remains committed to leading change in the fintech and AI sectors and reinforcing its position at the forefront of the digital economy. For more information, visit: Woxa Corporation Official Website Woxa Corporation Official Website Woxa Corporation Official Website

Woxa Corporation Continues to Lead Innovation in Fintech and AI Algorithmic Trading

Woxa Corporation bly innovasie in Fintech en AI algoritmiese handel lei

Woxa Corporation продължава да води иновациите в областта на финтех и AI алгоритмичната търговия

Woxa Corporation fortsætter med at lede innovation inden for fintech og AI algoritmisk handel

Η Woxa Corporation συνεχίζει να ηγείται της καινοτομίας στην Fintech και την αλγοριθμική διαπραγμάτευση AI

Woxa Corporation continúa liderando la innovación en fintech y trading algorítmico de IA

Woxa Corporation ממשיכה להוביל חדשנות ב- Fintech ו- AI Algorithmic Trading

Woxa Corporation Fintech और AI एल्गोरिथ्मिक ट्रेडिंग में नवाचार का नेतृत्व जारी रखता है

Woxa Corporation kontinye lidè inovasyon nan fintech ak AI algorithmic komès

Woxa CorporationはFintechとAIアルゴリズム取引におけるイノベーションを引き続き率いる

Woxa Corporation은 핀테크 및 AI 알고리즘 거래 분야의 혁신을 계속 이끌고 있습니다.

पोकमोन सन् ९० को दशकमा चर्चामा रहेको यही भिडियो गेमको नयाँ संस्करण हो।

Woxa Corporation Fintech மற்றும் AI Algorithmic Trading இல் முதன்முதலாக செயல்படுகிறது

In the ever-evolving world of product management, we often find ourselves trying to balance. It's a dance between thinking big and working small. And in this intricate dance, there's a space that is often overlooked. It's the 'messy middle'. A place where big strategic thoughts meet the minutiae of execution. But what is this 'messy middle'? And, more importantly, how do we navigate it? The Messy Middle Let's define the 'messy middle'. It sits between our grand, long-term business strategies that span years and our short-term, agile experiments that take weeks. It's an ambiguous space of a few quarters. The place where we wrestle with questions of alignment and real-world execution. It's a place where teams often lose sight of the larger strategic vision. But it doesn't have to be this way. Remember the old product management models? They were like factories. They were full of features, operating on time-based goals, and disconnected from each other. In those models, teams shipped products, but significant results were often elusive. The 'messy middle' was mired in confusion, conflicting goals, and siloed efforts. We needed change. We needed to become agile. Agility brought us the promise of a better way. But as we started to work small, thinking in two-week sprints, we bumped into a new problem. Our quarters began to feel like big sprints. The 'messy middle' got even messier. How To Clean Up the Mess So, how do we clean up the mess? How do we bridge the gap between strategy and execution? John Cutler, a renowned product coach, offers a novel perspective. John Cutler, a renowned product coach, offers a novel perspective. He draws an interesting analogy: Imagine growing a plant. What do you need?
Light, temperature, water. These elements don't change.
They are your constants. Your North Star. Your big strategic picture. Imagine growing a plant. What do you need? Light, temperature, water. These elements don't change. They are your constants. Your North Star. Your big strategic picture. Just as you water the plant daily, the small, agile tasks are your day-to-day execution. You're still focused on your North Star: the growth of the plant. The hacks, the tools, and the techniques may change, but they are all in service to your North Star. And within this analogy lies our approach to navigating the 'messy middle'. To bridge the gap, Cutler recommends four key things: To bridge the gap, Cutler recommends four key things: A compelling strategy - the sunlight guiding your growth.
A persistent model - your North Star.
Opportunity-focused bets - the daily watering and care.
And the freedom to work small - the ability to adapt and optimize for growth. A compelling strategy - the sunlight guiding your growth. A persistent model - your North Star. Opportunity-focused bets - the daily watering and care. And the freedom to work small - the ability to adapt and optimize for growth. Persistent vs. Work Models If we delve into the heart of a persistent model, we uncover a dynamic ecosystem of ideas, concepts, and beliefs. John writes that a persistent model isn't tied to a specific time frame, unlike a work or goal-related model. It stays the same every quarter. It doesn't pivot with every experiment. It persists for as long as the strategy holds, often spanning years. It captures our assumptions, hypotheses, and beliefs about how value is created and sustained in our product. It's a blueprint for growth. John writes Take, for example, Amplitude's North Star metric. Amplitude's North Star metric Weekly Learning Users that consume & share more than three charts This metric doesn't change with the seasons. It remains steady over time. There's no implied "work" in it. It stands as a testament to the enduring nature of a persistent model. In contrast, work-related models like OKRs focus on specific goals for a designated period, usually a quarter. The team strives to achieve these goals by the end of that time frame. This brings a dynamic, active element into our strategy. It's the engine that drives us forward, pushing us to test, learn, adapt, and grow. OKRs These two types of models might seem at odds, but they are complementary. They operate on different scales, but they both guide our efforts towards creating value and driving growth. Without persistent models, teams can easily fall into a tail-chasing cycle. With every new quarter, they must start from scratch, coming up with new OKRs, goals, and directions. This can turn the OKR-setting process into a "big deal", a high-stakes, high-pressure situation. It leads to burnout, confusion, and a loss of strategic coherence. But with a robust, well-articulated persistent model, setting goals is more straightforward & intuitive. Teams have a clear direction and a clear context. They know where they're going and why. They understand the bigger picture. Shifting to a mindset that embraces persistent models is a fundamental transformation. It's about moving away from siloed, disjointed efforts towards a unified, synergistic approach. It's about evolving from isolated feature factories to a cohesive, sustainable growth model. This transformation isn't easy, but it's necessary. It's about thinking big but working small. It's about aligning every task, every experiment, and every effort with the strategy. It's about ensuring each puzzle piece fits perfectly into the big picture. Balancing the use of both persistent and work-related models is a crucial skill in product management. It's the key to navigating the 'messy middle', bridging the gap between strategy and execution. It's where we find the proper harmony of thinking big and working small. Tools That Help This is a process that takes time. It requires patience, perseverance, and much learning. But the results are worth it. As we shed light on the 'messy middle', we begin to see alignment. We start to see how our daily tasks contribute to our strategic vision. We see how our product evolves and grows, much like the plant in our analogy. Several tools have popped up to ease you into this process: Amplitude provides the tooling to collect and reflect on the data.
At Amplitude, John has developed a North Star Metric framework anyone can develop.
DoubleLoop is a tool that helps connect all the different data sets into a coherent model.
And Vistaly helps frame your models and bets together in a connected decision tree. Amplitude provides the tooling to collect and reflect on the data. At Amplitude, John has developed a North Star Metric framework anyone can develop. DoubleLoop is a tool that helps connect all the different data sets into a coherent model. And Vistaly helps frame your models and bets together in a connected decision tree. Product management is an art. And like any art, it requires us to embrace the big picture and the minute details. Product management is an art. And like any art, it requires us to embrace the big picture and the minute details. The 'messy middle' is where these two converge. So let's not fear it but navigate it with a clear strategy, a persistent model, and a focus on growth. Let's embrace the 'messy middle'. In this space, we find the true essence of product management: the harmony of thinking big and working small.

The Secret to Great Products? Mastering the Messy Middle

মহান পণ্য জন্য গোপনীয়তা? মেসি মাঝামাঝি শাসন

Das Geheimnis großer Produkte? - Mastering the Messy Middle

El secreto de los grandes productos? dominar el medio mesías

Le secret des grands produits ? maîtriser le milieu messie

महान उत्पादों के लिए रहस्य? मेसी मध्य को मास्टर करना

The Secret to Great Products? メシアの中間をマスターする

위대한 제품의 비밀? 메시아 중간을 마스터

O segredo para grandes produtos? dominar o meio Messias

Секрет к великим продуктам? овладение мессией середины

Büyük Ürünler'in Sırrı? Mesih Ortağı'nı Öğrenmek

Bí mật của sản phẩm tuyệt vời? làm chủ trung tâm Messy

伟大的产品的秘密?掌握弥赛亚的中间

Why L2s on Public Chains Offer the Best of Both Worlds

Every so often, a tech stack decision that once felt right starts to show its limits—like realizing just how inefficient a screwdriver is after using a power drill. That’s been the case with HackerNoon’s use of Styled Components. For years, it served us well—offering scoped styles, dynamic theming, and full control within our React components. But as our codebase evolved and tools like Tailwind CSS matured, it became clear that a change was overdue. This post is a breakdown of our shift from Styled Components to Tailwind CSS, why we made the move, how I approached the transition, and what the process has looked like so far. If you're working with legacy styles or considering Tailwind for your own projects, hopefully this gives you something useful (or at least relatable) to walk away with. Why HackerNoon Originally Used Styled Components I wasn’t part of the team when Styled Components was first chosen to handle our CSS, but at the time, Tailwind CSS hadn’t even been released, and Styled Components made a lot of sense for HackerNoon’s front-end architecture. It allowed developers to write CSS directly within JavaScript, making components fully self-contained. This approach felt very “React-native” in nature—encapsulated, reusable, and, at the time, thought to be easier to maintain across a growing codebase and team. The dynamic styling capabilities, built-in theming support, and ability to pass props directly into styles worked especially well for the wide variety of pages and layouts we were building. For a long time, Styled Components served HackerNoon well. What Made Us Consider Switching to Tailwind? Over time, our codebase grew—and so did the complexity of managing styles. Styled Components gave us flexibility, but that came at a cost: larger bundle sizes, runtime performance hits, and a cluttered component structure filled with increasingly long styled blocks. It was getting harder to trace styles or reuse them effectively without duplicating code. We also noticed many of our styles were repeating across components. That’s when Tailwind CSS started to make a lot of sense. The utility-first approach felt like a way to streamline everything—from layout to responsiveness and even theming. But let’s be real: for a small dev team like HackerNoon’s, the idea of refactoring a massive codebase line by line felt like a huge undertaking. Still, we couldn’t ignore how widely Tailwind was being adopted in the dev community. We wanted in. How I Made the Switch The hardest part of this switch? Setup. Installing Tailwind was straightforward, but once it was active, Tailwind’s global styles—thanks to Preflight—started clashing with our existing components. Styles were broken left and right. A lifesaver here was setting preflight: false in the tailwind.config.js file. That move disabled most of Tailwind’s base resets, which brought back some order. Sure, there were still minor styling issues to fix, but things looked less like a war zone. From there, I had to establish new conventions—how we’d handle global styles, reuse classes, and build theme-aware components with Tailwind. Once that foundation was laid, I was ready to build. And here's the part I’m still amazed by: AI made this process actually enjoyable. Refactoring thousands of lines of code solo would’ve been madness. But I used ChatGPT to convert our styled components into Tailwind one at a time. For simple components—layouts, spacing, structure—it was a breeze. Just paste, tweak, and go. Now, let me be honest: AI didn’t get everything right. More complex, themed components still required manual coding and plenty of hours. But having a solid base to start from made things so much easier. Tailwind’s documentation also helped fill the gaps, and once I fully embraced the utility class mindset, things started to click. What the Migration Looks Like So Far I’m happy to say Tailwind is now live on HackerNoon! 🎉 As of now, the HackerNoon Homepage is fully converted to Tailwind CSS, with Styled Components completely removed. Most of the other pages still rely on Styled Components, and they’ll be converted gradually—one component, one page at a time. This slower approach has actually been a blessing. Refactoring each component gave me the opportunity to revisit and improve the design and structure of our pages. Alongside the Tailwind conversion, we introduced a more modern UI, better layout usage, new components, and even a custom-built theme picker that puts our old theming system to shame. After working at HackerNoon for over 4 years, I feel reignited diving into our codebase again. Tailwind has made building fun again. It’s clean, consistent, and powerful—and I’m excited to keep pushing the conversion forward. Who knows? Maybe soon, we’ll be deleting styled-components from our package.json for good. 😉 Final Tailwinding Thoughts The move to Tailwind CSS wasn’t just about swapping out a styling library—it was about modernizing our frontend workflow, embracing consistency, and simplifying development. While Styled Components helped shape HackerNoon’s interface during a critical growth phase, Tailwind is giving us the flexibility, speed, and maintainability we need as we continue to scale. It’s still a work in progress—our app still has plenty of Styled Components—but seeing Tailwind live on our homepage and in newly refactored components has been incredibly rewarding. The fact that I can pair AI with my own expertise to refactor faster has made this transition feel not only doable but exciting. HackerNoon is evolving, and our styles are evolving with it. One component at a time. Every so often, a tech stack decision that once felt right starts to show its limits—like realizing just how inefficient a screwdriver is after using a power drill. That’s been the case with HackerNoon’s use of Styled Components . For years, it served us well—offering scoped styles, dynamic theming, and full control within our React components. But as our codebase evolved and tools like Tailwind CSS matured, it became clear that a change was overdue. Styled Components Tailwind CSS change was overdue. This post is a breakdown of our shift from Styled Components to Tailwind CSS, why we made the move, how I approached the transition, and what the process has looked like so far. If you're working with legacy styles or considering Tailwind for your own projects, hopefully this gives you something useful (or at least relatable) to walk away with. Why HackerNoon Originally Used Styled Components I wasn’t part of the team when Styled Components was first chosen to handle our CSS, but at the time, Tailwind CSS hadn’t even been released , and Styled Components made a lot of sense for HackerNoon’s front-end architecture. Tailwind CSS hadn’t even been released It allowed developers to write CSS directly within JavaScript, making components fully self-contained. This approach felt very “React-native” in nature— encapsulated, reusable, and, at the time, thought to be easier to maintain across a growing codebase and team. The dynamic styling capabilities, built-in theming support, and ability to pass props directly into styles worked especially well for the wide variety of pages and layouts we were building. For a long time, Styled Components served HackerNoon well . encapsulated, reusable, and, at the time, thought to be easier to maintain Styled Components served HackerNoon well What Made Us Consider Switching to Tailwind? Over time, our codebase grew—and so did the complexity of managing styles. Styled Components gave us flexibility, but that came at a cost: larger bundle sizes , runtime performance hits , and a cluttered component structure filled with increasingly long styled blocks. It was getting harder to trace styles or reuse them effectively without duplicating code. larger bundle sizes runtime performance hits cluttered component structure We also noticed many of our styles were repeating across components. That’s when Tailwind CSS started to make a lot of sense. The utility-first approach felt like a way to streamline everything—from layout to responsiveness and even theming. Tailwind CSS But let’s be real: for a small dev team like HackerNoon’s , the idea of refactoring a massive codebase line by line felt like a huge undertaking. Still, we couldn’t ignore how widely Tailwind was being adopted in the dev community. We wanted in. small dev team like HackerNoon’s line by line How I Made the Switch The hardest part of this switch? Setup. Setup. Installing Tailwind was straightforward, but once it was active, Tailwind’s global styles—thanks to Preflight—started clashing with our existing components. Styles were broken left and right. A lifesaver here was setting preflight: false in the tailwind.config.js file. That move disabled most of Tailwind’s base resets , which brought back some order. Sure, there were still minor styling issues to fix, but things looked less like a war zone. preflight: false tailwind.config.js disabled most of Tailwind’s base resets From there, I had to establish new conventions —how we’d handle global styles, reuse classes, and build theme-aware components with Tailwind. Once that foundation was laid, I was ready to build. establish new conventions And here's the part I’m still amazed by: AI made this process actually enjoyable. AI made this process actually enjoyable. Refactoring thousands of lines of code solo would’ve been madness. But I used ChatGPT to convert our styled components into Tailwind one at a time. For simple components—layouts, spacing, structure—it was a breeze. Just paste, tweak, and go. Now, let me be honest: AI didn’t get everything right. More complex, themed components still required manual coding and plenty of hours . But having a solid base to start from made things so much easier. Tailwind’s documentation also helped fill the gaps, and once I fully embraced the utility class mindset , things started to click. Now, let me be honest: manual coding and plenty of hours utility class mindset What the Migration Looks Like So Far I’m happy to say Tailwind is now live on HackerNoon! 🎉 Tailwind is now live on HackerNoon! As of now, the HackerNoon Homepage is fully converted to Tailwind CSS, with Styled Components completely removed. Most of the other pages still rely on Styled Components, and they’ll be converted gradually— one component, one page at a time . HackerNoon Homepage is fully converted HackerNoon Homepage is fully converted one component, one page at a time This slower approach has actually been a blessing. Refactoring each component gave me the opportunity to revisit and improve the design and structure of our pages. Alongside the Tailwind conversion, we introduced a more modern UI , better layout usage, new components, and even a custom-built theme picker that puts our old theming system to shame. revisit and improve more modern UI custom-built theme picker After working at HackerNoon for over 4 years, I feel reignited diving into our codebase again. Tailwind has made building fun again. It’s clean, consistent, and powerful—and I’m excited to keep pushing the conversion forward. Who knows? Maybe soon, we’ll be deleting styled-components from our package.json for good. 😉 reignited styled-components package.json Final Tailwinding Thoughts The move to Tailwind CSS wasn’t just about swapping out a styling library—it was about modernizing our frontend workflow, embracing consistency, and simplifying development. While Styled Components helped shape HackerNoon’s interface during a critical growth phase, Tailwind is giving us the flexibility, speed, and maintainability we need as we continue to scale. flexibility, speed, and maintainability It’s still a work in progress—our app still has plenty of Styled Components—but seeing Tailwind live on our homepage and in newly refactored components has been incredibly rewarding. The fact that I can pair AI with my own expertise to refactor faster has made this transition feel not only doable but exciting. HackerNoon is evolving, and our styles are evolving with it. One component at a time.

From Styled Components to Tailwind CSS: A HackerNoon Migration Story

От стилни компоненти до Tailwind CSS: A HackerNoon миграционна история

Fra stilfulde komponenter til Tailwind CSS: A HackerNoon Migration Story

Von Styled Components zu Tailwind CSS: A HackerNoon Migration Story

De los componentes estilizados a Tailwind CSS: Una historia de migración de HackerNoon

स्टाइलिड घटक से Tailwind सीएसएस: एक हैकरनोन प्रवास कहानी

Od stilskih komponenti do Tailwind CSS: A HackerNoon Migration Story

スタイリッシュなコンポーネントから Tailwind CSS: A HackerNoon Migration Story

ពីឧបករណ៍ Styled ទៅ Tailwind CSS: A HackerNoon Migration Story

No stilīgām sastāvdaļām līdz Tailwind CSS: HackerNoon migrācijas stāsts

د Styled برخو څخه د Tailwind CSS ته: د HackerNoon مهاجرت تاریخ

Ukusuka ku-Styled Components ku-Tailwind CSS: A HackerNoon Migration Story

This Simple App Lets You See How Hollywood Uses Color to Mess With Your Emotions

هذا التطبيق البسيط يمنعك من رؤية كيف تستخدم هوليوود اللون لتناقش عواطفك

Ova jednostavna aplikacija omogućuje vam da vidite kako Holivud koristi boju da meša s vašim emocijama

Diese einfache App lässt Sie sehen, wie Hollywood Farbe verwendet, um mit Ihren Emotionen zu verwechseln

Esta sencilla aplicación te permite ver cómo Hollywood usa el color para mezclar con tus emociones

Esta aplicación sinxela permítelle ver como Hollywood usa a cor para confundir coas súas emocións

このシンプルなアプリは、ハリウッドがあなたの感情と混同するために色を使用する方法を見せてくれます

ეს მარტივი აპლიკაცია საშუალებას გაძლევთ იხილოთ, თუ როგორ Hollywood გამოიყენებს ფერი თქვენი რეპუტაციაზე

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na

Deze eenvoudige app laat je zien hoe Hollywood kleuren gebruikt om je emoties te verwarren

This Simple App lets you see how Hollywood uses color to mess with your emotions இந்த எளிய பயன்பாட்டை நீங்கள் உங்கள் உணர்வுகளை எப்படி பயன்படுத்துகிறீர்கள் என்று பார்க்கலாம்

Bu Basit Uygulama Hollywood'un Duygularınızla Nasıl Karıştığını Görmenizi Sağlar

Stories, News & Mentions about AWORK

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Stories, News & Mentions about AWORK

Awork’s Stories on HackerNoon

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