When California-based Sovereign Flavors Inc. was looking to expand into a second market, the city of Kyle passed the vibe check.

California-based beverage flavor manufacturer says Kyle has right vibe for expansion

and End-Applications ( , Food, Beverages, Personal Care, Pharmaceuticals, Animal, , ). The forecast and analysis for the period 2023-2028 have been included in our market offerings. Boasting ISO certification, 360 Market Updates has proudly collaborated ...

2031,Functional Food Ingredients Market Size 2023 Booming Growth In Demand Comprehensive Analysis

Asia Pacific consumers are increasingly demanding a combination of affordability, health and tastiness when making their food and beverage purchasing decisions, driving the rise of what is known as the ‘and’ consumer.

The ‘and’ consumer: Affordable nutrition trend gains further traction in APAC amidst dairy and RTE category growth

Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Xanthan gum Market By Form (Powder and Liquid), By Grade (Food Grade, Industrial

Xanthan Gum Market to Garner $1.6 Billion, Globally, By 2030 at 5.9% CAGR, Says Allied Market Research

To successfully launch a plant-based product onto the market today, businesses have to go above and beyond in flavour to stand out. How can a new, more holistic flavour approach put an end to organoleptic compromise?

Industry Insights from NIZO: Great flavour without compromise for plant-based food

starch was formulated for dairy and dairy alternative products. The ingredient may provide a gelled-like texture for those applications. The ingredient also may provide a clean label for consumers and manufacturers.

Ingredion formulates gelling starch for dairy applications

Burcon NutraScience Corporation (TSX: BU) ("Burcon" or the "Company"), a global technology leader in the development of plant-based proteins for foods and beverages, is pleased to announce that its CEO,

Burcon CEO to Deliver Keynote at Plant Protein Innovation Center Workshop

Ingredion will showcase a range of plant-based, low-sugar, 'natural' products at the Gulfood Manufacturing conference this November.

Gulfood Manufacturing: Ingredion Targets Middle East with Plant-Based, ‘Natural’ Products

Ingredion and Univar eye Middle East with plant-based and sugar reduction solutions

A new class of weight-loss drugs has rattled global equity markets, sending shares of everything from food and beverage companies to medical-device makers tumbling. As earnings season kicks into ...

Ozempic threatens profits at food and beverage makers worldwide

Ingredion

ingredion

Software developers spend their whole time with complicated problems, and they try to learn almost everything about algorithms, structures, frameworks, and blah-blah-blah. While playing games and coffee have become stress-busters in our lives, why can't building games be the best one? You don’t have to subscribe to read this but it’s recommended - Subscribe to Programming and Doodles. Even though some people find game development insane, it’s easy for software developers because they have almost every skill needed: math, Programming, UX/UI, and the usual stuff. If a normal person takes 6 months to learn a Game Engine, the Developer will take a maximum of 3 months or less. Many people don’t know this, but I started my tech career as a game developer, although I later turned my back on game development and became a Python developer. And no lies, they were a few of the best years in my life. This article is dedicated to any developer who wants to try something new or exciting (which is game development, yes). Scroll down! Making Your First Game Software developers who are interested in game development have a remarkable head start. Programming skills are the core of game development. Even if you’re more comfortable with Swift or Ruby, which is not commonly used in game development, you can quickly pick up other Object-oriented programming languages that are much more commonly used for game development, like C# or C++, easier than anyone! If you're a Python lover, you will love to hear this: There are really good, AAA games made with Python such as Battlefield 2, EVE Online, Civilization IV, and more! Not only Python, but almost every commonly used Programming language has libraries that support making games. For example: Flutter has Flame, a game engine that supports Flutter language.
Ruby has Gosu, a library that makes it easy to develop 2D games.
Python has PyGame, a library that empowers you to create both 2D and 3D games.
Phaser allows you to create games with JavaScript and HTML5. Start Small, Grow Big For every beginner, either a software engineer or a novice, I give one common piece of advice— Start as small as possible. It doesn't matter how small pieces of code it has or how messy it is, you've won the challenge! If you love simple 2D games, I would recommend that you make a Pong game. Pong features simple graphics (2 rectangles and a circle) you can create on your own, minimal sounds, and a game loop. If you want to learn about making multiplayer games, allow matches to occur between two human players over a network. If you want to learn about AI, allow the player to challenge the computer. And if you love 3D games like me, start with Cube Run. I haven't made it without a Game engine because, 3D becomes a bit harder with Python or others but with Unity, it's the best game I recommend to take a start. Major Ingredients of A Game If you make a cake without Sugar, no one will eat it. Except for diabetic people, of course, like my mom. The same goes for video games. It’s full of ingredients, some of which are required for every game and some of which are optional. I’ll introduce them briefly. 1. Level Design In many games, the level itself is a challenge, trickier than the smartest AI enemies. Series like Tomb Raider also emphasize complex and challenging level design. While the advent of open-world games like GTA may make the level design seem less important than in bygone times, it’s worth noting that even open-world games have ‘levels’, such as a particular building, structure, or map area you must enter to achieve a goal. To reduce player feelings of being railroaded, levels will ideally have multiple possible paths through them. 2. Lighting In games, you can’t really rely on natural light sources to illuminate your video game. (You don’t think there’s a sun inside a game engine, do you?) Every light source in a video game must be added by hand and light manipulation is incredibly important. Light can be used for all of the following: Controlling the player’s ability to see. In horror and survival games, light is a resource that must be carefully managed. Controlling a player’s ability to be seen. In games with an element of stealth, dark areas can provide cover while well-lit areas represent a difficult challenge. Setting the mood. The quality of light can be used to set the mood, with sunny and bright lighting associated with happy times and brooding light associated with dark times. Lighting the way. Light can be used to direct the player’s attention. The best-designed levels in video games often make clever use of light to guide the player in the right direction when they might otherwise be lost. 3. Game Art and Textures Game art is the medium through which the game world is presented to the player. In a sense, all the programming effort that goes into making video games is an attempt to turn game art into something that feels responsive and alive. Game art is an umbrella term that includes textures, 3D models, sprites, particle effects, and lighting. And yes, it’s a broad area, best to not cover it in this article. 4. Music and Sounds Unlike in the real world, video game sounds cannot be made by accident. Every sound in the game universe must be added by hand, and it is through layering these sounds that the game world starts to feel lifelike. You also need to be mindful of sounds triggered by the player, by other characters, and ambient sounds that create the game world environment. As an example, the player accidentally hits a metal object; if it doesn't emit a sound, it doesn't feel natural, or the scientist who claimed that metals have sonorous properties got it wrong. Another ever-present fact of video games is music, used to create an emotional response in the player or removed entirely to leave behind an eerie silence. Unlike most compositions, video game music must loop seamlessly. It must also transition smoothly to new compositions based on in-game events, such as being spotted by an enemy. Here are some of my favorite places to find sound: Soundcloud
Fesliyan Studios
Bensound
Freesound.org 5. Programming You have made graphics, levels, and everything but the whole game feels like a dead body. If you want your game to be alive, you need some lines of code. Most of my readers are probably a developer already, so you probably know the importance of programming anywhere. I'm not going to give a lecture on "what is programming", but here’s a bit about programming in game design. First of all, you need to decide one thing: Are you making a game by using a Game Engine + Language or building a game from scratch with Python or something? It's your choice but let me help you: If you're going to build games for fun, choose the first option because it's easier. As I said in the beginning, programmers always juggle complex problems so you probably shouldn't take more stress with that too. (Game Engines are the software used to create video games.) There are many of them, but the most popular ones are: Unity (Great for beginners, recommended)


Unreal Engine


Godot Next, choose a language to get started. Mostly, C# and C are used. Don't worry, you already got a headstart in knowing at least one programming language; most people start even before they know what the word “programming“stands for. And that’s about it. Well, of course, there are many other optional ingredients that video games consist of but in general, the above are basically the starter pack. Conclusion Starting game development is easier for software developers than anyone. As someone with programming skills, you have a massive head-start on the average video game hobbyist who wants to learn how to make a game. If I scroll to the top of the article, I can list the below points as key takeaways. It's a lot easier to find a game dev library in your comfortable programming language to get started.


Start with a small game, maybe a clone of an existing game.


Game Engines make your life a lot easier.


If you want to make a big, impressive game but don’t have a lot of time to spare, consider teaming up with others or joining a modding community. And that's all for now, Happy Designing! 🏎 If you loved this article, make sure to subscribe using your email, so you can read all my content inside your inbox without missing any! It’s totally free of charge and I don’t even have time to send spam emails. Subscribe to Programming and Doodles Software developers spend their whole time with complicated problems, and they try to learn almost everything about algorithms, structures, frameworks, and blah-blah-blah. While playing games and coffee have become stress-busters in our lives, why can't building games be the best one? You don’t have to subscribe to read this but it’s recommended - Subscribe to Programming and Doodles . Subscribe to Programming and Doodles Even though some people find game development insane, it’s easy for software developers because they have almost every skill needed: math, Programming, UX/UI, and the usual stuff. If a normal person takes 6 months to learn a Game Engine, the Developer will take a maximum of 3 months or less. Many people don’t know this, but I started my tech career as a game developer, although I later turned my back on game development and became a Python developer. And no lies, they were a few of the best years in my life. This article is dedicated to any developer who wants to try something new or exciting (which is game development, yes). Scroll down! Making Your First Game Making Your First Game Software developers who are interested in game development have a remarkable head start. Programming skills are the core of game development. Even if you’re more comfortable with Swift or Ruby, which is not commonly used in game development, you can quickly pick up other Object-oriented programming languages that are much more commonly used for game development, like C# or C++, easier than anyone! If you're a Python lover, you will love to hear this: There are really good, AAA games made with Python such as Battlefield 2, EVE Online, Civilization IV, and more! Not only Python, but almost every commonly used Programming language has libraries that support making games. For example: Flutter has Flame, a game engine that supports Flutter language. Ruby has Gosu, a library that makes it easy to develop 2D games. Python has PyGame, a library that empowers you to create both 2D and 3D games. Phaser allows you to create games with JavaScript and HTML5. Flutter has Flame, a game engine that supports Flutter language. Ruby has Gosu, a library that makes it easy to develop 2D games. Python has PyGame, a library that empowers you to create both 2D and 3D games. Phaser allows you to create games with JavaScript and HTML5. Start Small, Grow Big Start Small, Grow Big For every beginner, either a software engineer or a novice, I give one common piece of advice— Start as small as possible. It doesn't matter how small pieces of code it has or how messy it is, you've won the challenge! If you love simple 2D games, I would recommend that you make a Pong game. Pong features simple graphics (2 rectangles and a circle) you can create on your own, minimal sounds, and a game loop. If you want to learn about making multiplayer games, allow matches to occur between two human players over a network. If you want to learn about AI, allow the player to challenge the computer. And if you love 3D games like me, start with Cube Run. I haven't made it without a Game engine because, 3D becomes a bit harder with Python or others but with Unity, it's the best game I recommend to take a start. Major Ingredients of A Game Major Ingredients of A Game If you make a cake without Sugar, no one will eat it. Except for diabetic people, of course, like my mom. The same goes for video games. It’s full of ingredients, some of which are required for every game and some of which are optional. I’ll introduce them briefly. 1. Level Design 1. Level Design In many games, the level itself is a challenge, trickier than the smartest AI enemies. Series like Tomb Raider also emphasize complex and challenging level design. While the advent of open-world games like GTA may make the level design seem less important than in bygone times, it’s worth noting that even open-world games have ‘levels’, such as a particular building, structure, or map area you must enter to achieve a goal. To reduce player feelings of being railroaded, levels will ideally have multiple possible paths through them. 2. Lighting 2. Lighting In games, you can’t really rely on natural light sources to illuminate your video game. (You don’t think there’s a sun inside a game engine, do you?) Every light source in a video game must be added by hand and light manipulation is incredibly important. Light can be used for all of the following: Controlling the player’s ability to see. In horror and survival games, light is a resource that must be carefully managed. Controlling the player’s ability to see . In horror and survival games, light is a resource that must be carefully managed. to see Controlling a player’s ability to be seen. In games with an element of stealth, dark areas can provide cover while well-lit areas represent a difficult challenge. Controlling a player’s ability to be seen . In games with an element of stealth, dark areas can provide cover while well-lit areas represent a difficult challenge. to be seen Setting the mood. The quality of light can be used to set the mood, with sunny and bright lighting associated with happy times and brooding light associated with dark times. Setting the mood. The quality of light can be used to set the mood, with sunny and bright lighting associated with happy times and brooding light associated with dark times. Lighting the way. Light can be used to direct the player’s attention. The best-designed levels in video games often make clever use of light to guide the player in the right direction when they might otherwise be lost. Lighting the way. Light can be used to direct the player’s attention. The best-designed levels in video games often make clever use of light to guide the player in the right direction when they might otherwise be lost. 3. Game Art and Textures 3. Game Art and Textures Game art is the medium through which the game world is presented to the player. In a sense, all the programming effort that goes into making video games is an attempt to turn game art into something that feels responsive and alive. Game art is an umbrella term that includes textures, 3D models, sprites, particle effects, and lighting. And yes, it’s a broad area, best to not cover it in this article. 4. Music and Sounds 4. Music and Sounds Unlike in the real world, video game sounds cannot be made by accident. Every sound in the game universe must be added by hand, and it is through layering these sounds that the game world starts to feel lifelike. You also need to be mindful of sounds triggered by the player, by other characters, and ambient sounds that create the game world environment. As an example, the player accidentally hits a metal object; if it doesn't emit a sound, it doesn't feel natural, or the scientist who claimed that metals have sonorous properties got it wrong. Another ever-present fact of video games is music, used to create an emotional response in the player or removed entirely to leave behind an eerie silence. Unlike most compositions, video game music must loop seamlessly. It must also transition smoothly to new compositions based on in-game events, such as being spotted by an enemy. Here are some of my favorite places to find sound: Soundcloud Fesliyan Studios Bensound Freesound.org Soundcloud Fesliyan Studios Bensound Freesound.org Freesound.org 5. Programming 5. Programming You have made graphics, levels, and everything but the whole game feels like a dead body. If you want your game to be alive, you need some lines of code. Most of my readers are probably a developer already, so you probably know the importance of programming anywhere. I'm not going to give a lecture on "what is programming", but here’s a bit about programming in game design. First of all, you need to decide one thing: Are you making a game by using a Game Engine + Language or building a game from scratch with Python or something? It's your choice but let me help you: If you're going to build games for fun, choose the first option because it's easier. As I said in the beginning, programmers always juggle complex problems so you probably shouldn't take more stress with that too. (Game Engines are the software used to create video games.) There are many of them, but the most popular ones are: Unity (Great for beginners, recommended) Unreal Engine Godot Unity (Great for beginners, recommended) Unity (Great for beginners, recommended) Unreal Engine Unreal Engine Godot Godot Next, choose a language to get started. Mostly, C# and C are used. Don't worry, you already got a headstart in knowing at least one programming language; most people start even before they know what the word “programming“stands for. And that’s about it. Well, of course, there are many other optional ingredients that video games consist of but in general, the above are basically the starter pack. Conclusion Conclusion Starting game development is easier for software developers than anyone. As someone with programming skills, you have a massive head-start on the average video game hobbyist who wants to learn how to make a game. If I scroll to the top of the article, I can list the below points as key takeaways. It's a lot easier to find a game dev library in your comfortable programming language to get started. Start with a small game, maybe a clone of an existing game. Game Engines make your life a lot easier. If you want to make a big, impressive game but don’t have a lot of time to spare, consider teaming up with others or joining a modding community. It's a lot easier to find a game dev library in your comfortable programming language to get started. It's a lot easier to find a game dev library in your comfortable programming language to get started. Start with a small game, maybe a clone of an existing game. Start with a small game, maybe a clone of an existing game. Game Engines make your life a lot easier. Game Engines make your life a lot easier. If you want to make a big, impressive game but don’t have a lot of time to spare, consider teaming up with others or joining a modding community. If you want to make a big, impressive game but don’t have a lot of time to spare, consider teaming up with others or joining a modding community. And that's all for now, Happy Designing! 🏎 If you loved this article, make sure to subscribe using your email, so you can read all my content inside your inbox without missing any! It’s totally free of charge and I don’t even have time to send spam emails. Subscribe to Programming and Doodles Subscribe to Programming and Doodles

A Programmer's Guide to Game Design: The Major Ingredients You Should Know

SEC v. Ripple Court Filing, retrieved on July 13, 2023 is part of . You can jump to any part in this filing . This part is 9 of 18. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here DISCUSSION I. Legal Standard C. Defendants’ “Essential Ingredients” Test In their summary judgment briefing, Defendants advance a novel “essential ingredients” test, arguing that, in addition to the Howey test, all investment contracts must contain three “essential ingredients”: (1) “a contract between a promoter and an investor that establishe[s] the investor’s rights as to an investment,” which contract (2) “impose[s] post-sale obligations on the promoter to take specific actions for the investor’s benefit” and (3) “grant[s] the investor a right to share in profits from the promoter’s efforts to generate a return on the use of investor funds.” Defs. Mem. at 2; . at 13–28. see id The Court declines to adopt Defendants’ “essential ingredients” test, which would call for the Court to read beyond the plain words of and impose additional requirements not mandated by the Supreme Court. The Court sees no reason to do so. Neither , nor its progeny, hold that an investment contract requires the existence of Defendants’ “essential ingredients.” To the contrary, these cases make clear that the relevant test reflects a focus on an investor’s expectation of “profits . . . from the efforts of others,” rather than the formal imposition of post-sale obligations on the promoter or the grant to an investor of a right to share in profits. Howey, 328 U.S. at 301. The Supreme Court’s use of the word “profits” in was intended to refer to “income or return,” , 540 U.S. at 394, and financial returns on investments are not equivalent to post-sale obligations or profit sharing. Thus, the Court is not persuaded that precedent supports the consideration of these “ingredients” in determining whether a contract, transaction, or scheme constitutes an investment contract under . Howey Howey Howey Edwards Howey Defendants do not cite a single case that has applied their test. See generally Defs. Mem. at 13–28. Rather, Defendants contend that the Court should look to the pre-1933 state “blue sky” law cases on which the Howey Court relied. Id. at 16–17. According to Defendants, every pre-1933 blue sky investment contract case involved a contract, post-sale obligations on the promoter, and the investor’s right to receive a profit. Id. at 18–21. That may be so, but the Howey Court relied on the state courts’ definition of an investment contract as “a contract or scheme for the placing of capital or laying out of money in a way intended to secure income or profit from its employment” when fashioning the relevant test. 328 U.S. at 298 (quotation marks and citation omitted). Had the Supreme Court intended to incorporate these ingredients as essential requirements, it would have done so. In any event, even accepting Defendants’ survey and analysis of the caselaw as accurate, the fact that pre-1933 investment contract cases shared some common features does not convert those common features into requirements necessary for finding an investment contract under Howey. Rather, the Supreme Court was guided by the “fundamental purpose undergirding the Securities Acts,” in which Congress “painted with a broad brush” in recognition of the “virtually limitless scope of human ingenuity.” Reves v. Ernst & Young, 494 U.S. 56, 60–61 (1990). So, too, must this Court be guided. Indeed, in the more than seventy-five years of securities law jurisprudence after Howey, courts have found the existence of an investment contract even in the absence of Defendants’ “essential ingredients,” including in recent digital asset cases in this District. See, e.g., 492 F. Supp. 3d 169, 175–80 (S.D.N.Y. 2020); 380 F. Supp. 3d 340, 354 (S.D.N.Y. 2019) (“ATB Coins did not entitle purchasers to a pro rata share of the profits derived from any ATB-managed transaction . . . . However, such a formalized profit-sharing mechanism is not required.”). And this makes sense, given that the Howey test was intended to “embod[y] a flexible rather than a static principle, one that is capable of adaptation to meet the countless and variable schemes devised by those who seek the use of the money of others on the promise of profits.” 328 U.S. at 299. Put differently, the Howey test was intended to effectuate “[t]he statutory policy of affording broad protection to investors,” protection that is “not to be thwarted by unrealistic and irrelevant formulae.” Id. at 301. Accordingly, the Court rejects Defendants’ argument that all investment contracts must include post-sale obligations on the promoter and grant the investor a right to share in profits from the promoter’s efforts. SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc., Balestra v. ATBCOIN LLC, The Court does not reach Defendants’ first “essential ingredient”: that a contract must exist for an investment contract to exist.[11] As discussed in greater detail below, in each instance where Defendants offered or sold XRP as an investment contract, a contract existed. [11] The SEC’s opposition papers misconstrue Defendants’ “essential ingredients” test. The SEC dedicates several pages to refuting the argument that a written contract must exist, see SEC Opp. at 19–24, but Defendants’ proposed test does not turn on the need for a written contract as opposed to an oral or implied contract, see Defs. Mem. at 2, 18–19; Defs. Reply at 9, ECF No. 832. Therefore, the Court does not address the SEC’s arguments that Howey does not require the existence of a written contract. See SEC Opp. at 19–24. Continue Reading . here About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case 1:20-cv-10832-AT-SN retrieved on September 7, 2023, from is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. dropbox

SEC v. Ripple: Court Declines to Adopt Ripple’s “Essential Ingredients” Test

Life at a startup can move fast. For founders, this creates both an opportunity and challenge to establish a workplace culture that captivates core company values but takes into consideration employees’ thoughts, values, beliefs, and the way they work. In a remote-working environment, workplace culture can look different than in traditional colocated offices, where employees might share similar values, creativity, and personal experiences. Traditionally, workplace culture is often defined by the reflection of personalities and passions team members share with one another. For in-office companies, this manifests itself into an ecosystem whereby employees can freely communicate, share in creative processes, and benefit from company-related perks. However, when it comes to remote-first startups, the opportunity to establish a company culture is often hindered by the lack of physical interactions such as office space, premium amenities, and open communication. With these shortcomings in the remote-only workplace, startup founders have a brief window of opportunity to establish a workplace culture that captures company values but ties it with remote employees’ values and beliefs at the same time. Remote Startup Culture vs. Corporate Culture Companies are increasingly growing across their borders, onboarding employees with the necessary skills and knowledge that reside in various locales. A found that nearly half - 44 percent - of businesses have reported seeing an increase in the number of full-time employees working remotely from foreign countries. research survey For established companies, hiring employees outside of their direct talent pool creates new opportunities to tap into a knowledgeable labor market that enhances their culture but also creates a more inclusive and diverse workplace. Looking at the foundations of workplace culture, in this case, remote-first and corporate workplace culture, there are several differences and often similarities these two working environments share. For starters, remote startup culture consists of characteristics such as innovation, flexibility, and autonomy. It creates an open environment through which employees can share ideas, become more connected with remote colleagues, and often lead them to feel more passionate about their contribution to the overall future outlook of the startup. In a corporate or collocated environment, company culture is something that is already established and has been formed through knowledge that can be transparently shared with employees across multiple tiers of the business. Often when we think of startup culture, images of free-flowing coffee, table tennis, lounge areas, and open-floor office spaces come to mind. Adjustments in the way we work and approach the workplace have seen traditional office spaces transform into an environment whereby employees can openly share their thoughts and ideas while communicating innovation. However, for remote-only startups and companies, establishing a workplace culture takes intentionality and requires an adequate understanding of the business, the customers, and the type of people founders are looking to make up their teams. Elements of Remote Startup Culture With startups being less confined to a geographical location, the iteration of workplace culture needs to take priority for entrepreneurs and startup founders. In the startup ecosystem and for remote-only companies, understanding the importance of company culture can help them overcome marketplace challenges and outshine their more established competitors. The trend of euphoric is a growing problem, even in the high-paced environment of the Electric Vehicle (EV) industry, where EV startups are losing out against legacy automakers due to their lack of understanding of company culture and the it holds over younger employees. startups fading into the abyss important driving factor In a remote-only setting, where employees are likely to interact through virtual communication, establishing the right culture that helps to motivate employees and minimize voluntary employee turnover requires startup founders to take a closer look at the ingredients that make up the startup culture. Startup core values At the base, founders, and startup founders need to establish the core values of their businesses. Core values often encapsulate the environment in which employees will work but also how they will function during different projects. Establishing core values ensures that founders have a clear understanding of their startup’s mission and vision. Knowing where the company is heading, how certain milestones will be achieved, and how everything employees do will influence the long-term performance of the startup. Instead of only applying core values at the foundational levels of the business, founders should replicate this throughout all levels of business to ensure that every employee, from junior to managers and founders, has a clear understanding of the startup’s values. In a remote setting, this would require founders to replicate their values in team building activities, different exercises, and during the onboarding process. It ensures that new hires are equipped with a thorough understanding of what the startup is aiming to achieve and how their contribution will influence the direction of the business. Commitment & Leadership During the early stages of any business, and especially in the context of a startup, founders are required to hold a sense of commitment both to the overarching purpose of the company and their employees. In a remote-only environment, commitment will ensure that founders have a sense of drive and passion but also carry the ability to share these values with their fellow employees. Seeing as employees will have less chance to interact with their colleagues. It’s important to consider how commitment efforts can flow through each level of the business. Second to this is leadership, and while this might seem like a no-brainer, there are multiple examples of how startup founders lost track of their purpose and how in due course, this impacts their ability to actively lead their remote teams. Leadership can wear many different hats. Often, it can be support, motivation, or the importance of employee happiness. Being a strong leader in a remote startup ensures that founders remain approachable at all phases of growth but continuously encourage their team members to improve. Transparency Having a sense of transparency establishes an “open door policy” even in the virtual office. Transparency is not only important for effective communication; it further ensures that all employees are informed and have the necessary understanding to actively contribute to the overarching purpose of the startup. In a remote-first startup, transparency can be sharing important information equally among all staff members. Other times it can be the ability to share both positive and negative feedback, allowing team members to understand where improvement is needed. Being proactive with transparent communication makes it easier for teams to voice their concerns to their managers when troublesome situations occur. It further allows management to keep founders informed about changes needed in the company or innovations that can help improve existing systems within the business. There are multiple reasons why transparency is often overlooked when establishing company culture, but ultimately, with the right mindset, and understanding of how open and effective communication can help grow a team's creativity and ability to collaborate, startup founders intentionally establish a sense of culture for their remote employees. Purpose Without purpose, remote employees will often feel disconnected from their peers and from the company. This environment can create gaps in the chain of communication or lead to employees feeling disassociated from their work, their colleagues, the founders, and the business. With a sense of purpose, all team members may be on track to a shared goal or milestone. Through effective communication and transparent goal setting, startup employees in the remote or virtual office will have a unified sense of what their achievements should look like and how this will enable them to be effective contributors to these goals. Having a sense of purpose in any setting, and, more importantly, in a remote startup, requires founders to clearly state what the business goals are and how current actions will help achieve long-term goals. Furthermore, sharing a purpose-driven mindset among remote team members can help to motivate their actions. Keeping employees up-to-date with project developments ensures that they are well-informed, resulting in purpose-driven contributions and active participation, and can help lead to more innovative collaboration efforts. Autonomy Perhaps one of the key ingredients in any remote work setting is the ability to have more autonomy in terms of work and personal time. Allowing employees a better balance in their day-to-day life can improve their physical and mental well-being, leading to lower levels of stress, which translates into them feeling more motivated and productive. In the remote startup environment, autonomy can be practiced in different ways; however, in this case, where employees are completely out of the watchful eye of their managers, startup founders need to set boundaries with employees and communicate accountability. When employees are allowed to have improved work-life balance, they are often happier, minimizing voluntary turnover. In a remote-first environment, predetermined schedules often lack purpose and leadership. This is when it becomes important for startup founders and management to have defined roles, objectives, and goals for their team members. Practicing autonomy encourages employees and leaves them feeling more motivated to actively contribute to the overarching purpose of the business. However, in the remote workplace, having clear boundaries but also encouraging employees to embrace flexibility can help to create balance and understanding. Recognition At any given time, recognition can be considered a driver of motivation for employees. indicate that when employees know they will be recognized for their contribution, they are 2.7 times more likely to be engaged. Studies Making recognition part of company culture, in this case in the remote-first workplace setting, encourages employees to actively contribute, engage and share ideas. With improved recognition, employers are not only helping to motivate their teams, but they are also creating an environment where employees feel satisfied and have an enjoyment of work. Ultimately, we see that recognition is often a driver of personal and team culture. This established higher company loyalty, which ensures that employees have a greater sense of workplace satisfaction. With the ability to recognize employees’ efforts, startup founders can establish an inclusive company culture, making it possible for them to create teams that are driven by their purpose but also able to collectively achieve and manage company expectations properly. Culture Drives Innovation The importance of remote-first workplace culture is often overlooked by startup founders, leading to gaps in their chain of communication and further hindering them from their business goals. Understanding the intricacies of remote work culture can help startup founders establish a workplace environment that incorporates humanity and inclusivity among remote team members. With the right ingredients and fostering an understanding of workplace culture, startup founders can further improve their innovative efforts, allowing team members better opportunities to actively contribute to the overarching goals and further manifest a sense of purpose-driven achievements.

The Key Ingredients To Cultivating A Great Startup Workplace

This blog on the Elpha Community , where the Healthily Match founder, Jacqueline Chan shares her personal journey and her MBA experience to activate her "superpowers" with the community of women working in technology. An edited version is re-posted on the blog of Healthily Match, with questions designed to help employers create positive change and ensure a healthy work environment for their workers. was originally posted here What is your superpower? Are you even aware that you have a superpower? Do you know the ingredients to activate your superpowers? In one of the case competitions I participated in during my MBA at the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, the entrepreneurs were asked about their superpowers. In an increasingly competitive environment driven by innovation, I’ve found that differentiation and building on the value you offer are indispensable. The question also caused me to self-reflect: how do you develop your superpowers? Are superpowers the result of self-awareness or circumstance, or both? Knowing yourself, the environmental factors and activities that bring out the best in you are important to maintaining mental health and activating your strengths. Having a long-game perspective, exposing yourself to high-growth environments, and having the patience to develop new skills are important if your goals are difficult to achieve (yet worthwhile) and require you to establish pre-conditions for success. Having contrasting experiences helps identify the right environmental variables to see you thrive, develop and activate your superpowers. Throughout my career, I’ve taken on challenges that seem insurmountable at the time due to a lack of resources or a steep learning curve that meant I had to learn new technologies at a rapid pace. Before the MBA, I started my career as a technical marketer, rapidly became a subject matter expert across multiple ad platforms, and I tried to build a minimal viable product on excel to make my work easier. I’ve learnt that agility is crucial in the face of growth and possibility. After moving to Adparlor, one of the first Facebook marketing partners, I contributed significantly from a product perspective during their transition from legacy to a self-serve platform. I experienced incredible success after growing client daily budgets from $1K - $15K for a campaign launch, as a result of successfully hitting the client KPI. Through both of these early experiences, I discovered that I’ve enjoyed collaborating with tech teams to create solutions that can improve my workflow. At OMD, I helped Fortune 500 clients with media planning. I started managing and training junior team members and spent more time presenting to senior client leadership. I leveraged my expertise in search engine marketing to represent OMD at a panel hosted by the (IAB) Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada to talk about the rise of voice search. When one of my clients was losing market share to the dominant competitor in the field, I was aware that their problem is not marketing-related in nature and required other innovative solutions. This became a trigger for me to get my MBA. Learn to understand and deconstruct both positive and negative or constructive feedback. Don’t let other people who don’t know you define or prescribe adjectives to you based on faulty heuristics. The upside and downside of living in a diverse world are that people grow up differently and have different values. While the dominant cultural work norms and industry values will dictate collective preferences, I’ve discovered that it is really important to figure out what is important to you because ultimately you need an environment that activates your strengths, or “superpowers”. I’ve heard a lot of feedback, both negative and positive. I ultimately believe that feedback is a good thing because it tells you what the other person values (usually in contrast to what you value). I believe that a lot of what self-development boils down to is developing new skill sets to fulfill your objectives, in my case, that was pursuing a startup idea. That means going out of my comfort zone of being a technical expert to test and develop a wide-ranging set of skills: public speaking skills to convey my ideas and vision, persuasion skills to help target clients, understand the value of the product, learning no-code platforms to deliver quick MVPs, and even business development. And the toughest of it all: selling directly to powerful contacts. Eventually, it is also about coming to terms with your strengths and weaknesses so that you can delegate or seek advisors, or gravitate to the right markets and industries. Develop self-reflection skills and learn what motivates you. Because of the nature of my MBA program, I spent more time than usual reflecting on my own and my manager’s leadership styles and skills. A core part of self-development is the ability to find the repertoire and frameworks that are useful for you to develop self-awareness. Self-awareness, just like leadership, is a skill set and requires practice. It is perhaps ironic that we require a variety of environmental conditions and different experiences to help us self-reflect on motivation. How much of your motivation is triggered by external circumstances or intrinsic ones? Perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve learned through my career is that you could excel at a certain role but it could still drain you. All the awards that you acquire from your job cannot make up for the health sacrifices you make. The principles behind the way you approach life could change. For example, I’ve learnt that even though I excel at presentations, the logistics of traveling to a client's location is enough to exhaust me if I have to do it often. Just because I thrived within a chaotic environment does not mean it is conducive or sustainable to my mental and physical health. For instance, I find that I feel energized when I need to provide evidence and backup for certain claims. The most valuable lessons I’ve learned from my MBA are classes where I work with real-life clients because they helped me gain the most practical insights. When I chose the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, I was particularly interested in the Creative Destruction Lab and its access to founders. It was the sort of place where you want to be to see what startups are doing to change the world. After meeting many startup founders in the Creative Destruction Lab, I’ve learned that developing personal unfair advantages and branding is very important for entrepreneurs to acquire unique insight and set themselves apart if they want to get funding or attract the right talent. In startup language, an unfair advantage refers to a unique selling proposition that your competition cannot copy easily. For an entrepreneur, this means the founder or founding team has unique insight, experience, or solutions that capture the market quicker or faster. I’ve participated in a variety of case competitions related to startups, product management and venture capital to try to understand how to evaluate the likelihood of success. I was inspired by start-ups that take it upon themselves to solve social impact challenges. Case competitions were an effective means of testing knowledge in a practical, solution-driven manner. We won second place in a healthcare management case competition hosted by Eli Lilly in 2017 and our team became the first-ever Rotman finalist out of fifty teams to join the Global Impact Investing case competition in 2020 hosted by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Working with other students in entirely different industries will help you understand their thought processes. I’ve appreciated the academic experience because it brings my mindset into learning and reflection mode. The courses I’ve taken have provided me with new ways of thinking about problems; topics specifically on business design thinking, leadership styles, technology and its ethical implications, social innovation, and impact investing have broadened my perspective about the various ways you can have an impact on the world. It fundamentally changed the way I approach problems. From an intellectual development perspective, I’ve become deliberate in investigating true root causes, questioning existing measures for success, reframing problems, and readily seeking out research from a variety of fields. For example, are the KPIs (usually from a financial perspective) we’re measuring sufficient and adequate to indicate success? What if the frameworks we’re using are outdated and there are other measures we’re missing? The pre-condition to self-reflection is making the time, also known as taking breaks. I had to undergo surgery when a benign ovarian cyst was discovered and during my recovery, I was forced to take a break from the MBA program when I had a severe allergic reaction. My frustrating experience with the Canadian healthcare system led me to research problems affecting healthcare. After realizing that burnout is prevalent across many careers, I began investigating a mental health startup concept. Since then, I’ve created several minimal viable products and prototypes. I believe in terminating the true root causes for mental health crises: abusive relationships, co-morbid yet undiagnosed physical health conditions, side effects of medications, and subtle discrimination issues at work. What could be the drivers of this problem? If we examine this problem from the perspective of workplace policies, according to , without establishing critical mass, affirmative action can incur negative reactions toward minorities instead of bringing positive change. the research at Rotman While I’ve developed the confidence to launch a software startup, investigating root causes of problems such as persistent workplace burnout and retention problems and applying such insights to create new solutions is the most difficult barrier to overcome. Toxic environments can arise from clashing personalities, incompatible workstyles, limited resources to complete projects, hostility toward minorities, and many other possible factors. Making time to self-reflect is crucial, whether you do this yourself or with a therapist or coach. The objective for each individual is to understand the root causes of burnout. The first-order concern is that people cannot unleash their ‘superpowers’ if they’re burnt out. We're working on today, and we'd appreciate if you can tell us your current experience of navigating toward care solutions, or perhaps you don’t expect or prefer to seek such solutions in the workplace. this trillion-dollar global problem your help In conclusion, superpowers are the result of self-awareness and adaptation to circumstantial challenges. Knowing yourself and the types of activities that bring out the best of you is important to maintaining mental health and activating your strengths. A long-game perspective, persistence and patience to develop new skills are important if your goals are difficult to achieve (yet worthwhile). Contrasting experiences are crucial to developing awareness of environmental variables that activate your “superpowers”. Understanding and deconstructing positive and negative (or constructive) feedback is great for gaining self-awareness of your values in contrast to others’ values. Self-reflection is a habit and a skill that takes practice. Depending on your self-reflection skills and life experience, you may or may not find the MBA to be one of the best options for you to improve or discover new ways to look at problems, see new possibilities, and find or create the environmental variables that unleash your “superpowers”. Are you looking for co-founders or would like to have a brainstorming session on a new idea to solve a known problem? What do you consider to be your “superpowers”? Alternatively, what type of “superpowers” do you want to develop? Have you found your therapy or coaching sessions to be helpful towards understanding yourself better and actualizing your goals? What are the issues (whether they are from the workplace or family) you’ve addressed successfully with your therapist that you believe could’ve been proactively prevented if you or others have developed skills that guarantee productive and positive outcomes? Tell us your experience of how you’re navigating towards wellness solutions today. here.

Discovering the Right Ingredients to Activate Your “superpowers”

Navigating food options after a diagnosis of diabetes can be mind-boggling. Naturally, we trust the words 'diabetic-friendly' labeling on food packaging -but should we be taking a closer look at the ingredients? This article explores the hidden ingredient, Maltitol, in diabetic chocolate and other sweet treats directed toward people with diabetes. Diabetes Overview The most commonly-known diabetes is Type 1, Type 2, and gestational:  however, there are actually 11! Ranging in causation from autoimmunity to pregnancy, they all have one thing in common: difficulty utilizing insulin (a natural hormone that enables cells to use glucose for energy). The body's inability or difficulty to process glucose causes blood sugar levels to rise, which can lead to debilitating and serious health complications if unmanaged. Thus, it is essential for those with diabetes to keep their blood sugar levels stable long-term. Lifestyle Changes It is essential for diabetics to monitor and manage their blood sugar levels continually: this usually requires some lifestyle changes. Alongside exercise, the types of food ingested have a huge impact on the body's ability to maintain a balanced blood sugar level. Navigating the world of diabetic-related nutritional advice and food can seem like a minefield, a process made even harder if faced with inaccurate labeling. Diabetes UK provides essential diabetic advice in an easy-to-understand way. From encouraging a varied diet to limiting certain foods such as sugar, salt, and fat, one particular piece of advice seems baffling: foods specifically marketed as 'diabetic-friendly'. avoiding Why on earth could this be? Often, these foods contain hidden high carbohydrates that cause blood sugar levels to rise rapidly. The Hidden Ingredient in Diabetic Chocolate and other Sweet Foods Some companies that direct their foods towards the diabetic-friendly market focus on 'sugar-free', specifically and intentionally advertising sugar substitute content such as 'Stevia' to grab the attention of buyers; however, lurking in the background can be the ingredient Maltitol. Maltitol is a natural sugar found in fruit and veg; confusingly, this ingredient can also be listed as 'sorbitol', 'xylitol' and 'sugar alcohol'. Originating from a natural source, Matitol is also considered a carbohydrate that can cause blood sugar instability due to its glycaemic index (a numerical value indicating foods' impact on increasing blood sugar levels). While the glycaemic index is lower than usual sugar, it is higher than other sugar substitutes. Image Credit: ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Comparison-of-sucrose-with-polyols-in-terms-of-sweetness-glycemic-index-and-calories_fig1_326857473 In addition to Maltitol's impact on blood sugar levels, the carbohydrate is highly fermented in the colon, commonly causing digestive discomfort such as bloating, gas and diarrhea. The effect of this ingredient is definitely one to consider if diabetic, especially if you also have a digestive condition. Final Thoughts The role of diet analysis is paramount in managing blood sugar levels long-term. It is essential to look at the ingredients of foods directed as diabetic-friendly or emphasize sugar substitute content to ensure there are no hidden carbohydrates such as Maltitol. It should be noted that while Matilitol is a carbohydrate, the glycaemic index is lower than usual sugar but higher than other sugar substitutes. Additionally, the hidden ingredient can have undesirable digestive effects. Time to take a closer look at the ingredients behind the label -and spread the word!

Diabetic Chocolate has a Hidden Potentially Dangerous Ingredient

El chocolate para diabéticos tiene un ingrediente oculto potencialmente peligroso

Non Fungible Tokens have changed the game, literally. After exploding onto the scene relatively recently, they’ve disrupted entire blockchain protocols and, seemingly not content to stop there, they’re now the basis for many of the gaming projects that are launching to empower users to Play2Earn. Just like with the dot.com boom and eventual bust, making better decisions is the key to realizing the gains on offer in this space by rising to the challenge and seizing the opportunities on offer, even if they’re not clear at first, by exploring the possibilities created by web3. The emergence of NFT games has opened up an entirely new world of beauty and reward for creators, and SparkWorld* wants projects to take matters into their own hands in order to succeed in the ventures they run - both when creating and launching new projects, and choosing the ones to get involved in. ** ** We will dig deep into the necessities and the small details that one needs to launch an NFT gaming project in today's ecosystem where the creator's uniqueness is one of the things that matter the most. Artists and developers that haven't looked deeper into how the innovations in cryptography can benefit all, this is the time to gather information and start sharing work. However excited we all are about the massive acceleration of non-fungible tokens, we still have to address the setbacks that numerous projects and artists encounter - they have the ability to spin gold, yet either a variety of technical difficulties or operational and marketing issues are rife within the ecosystem. ** 1. Get Unique** Uniqueness is key - this should not come as a surprise. However, the most important problem here is that because people see others succeed in certain conditions, they assume the same approach would work for them. This leads us all to countless similar NFT-based value propositions, whether it is pixel-based art or edgy-looking monkeys over and over again. The main thing we suffer from, no matter what we are trying to achieve, is the imposter syndrome. Ideas have to be borrowed, but not to the point where it seems like the supply consists entirely of one or more popular concepts. Why not differentiate and think of ways to iterate? After all, we can use social media virality as an example⁠—a place where being different will win you the throne of the day. People don't want to see the same thing every time they step back into crypto, uniqueness and innovation brings us closer to both the future and the participants' engagement. ** 2. Pick The Infrastructure Carefully** Marketplace & protocol decisions are not as exciting as the creative process you do while producing art as unique as it gets. Despite this, your means of curating and distributing the NFTs your game project relies on is your main tool that will define member experience. OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace out there but has its limits in features and utility. However, most people in the cryptosphere will already be familiar with it and in some sense, it is the right way to go, but this is only assuming that your NFT drop is not that unique. Newer and more advanced platforms can give you a chance to stand out of the crowd and help the audience learn about more mechanisms. In addition to OpenSea, the most popular marketplaces include Rarible, SuperRare, and more. You will very likely need to set up your smart contracts on a specific blockchain like AVAX, ETH, BSC, which will lead you to seamless transactions. You will have to make business and mission-driven decisions on the cases like royalties, rarity, voting possibilities, and much more. The developers or yourself will have to set the infrastructure according to the rules that you wish to make. ** ** Many NFT game projects might choose to mint their NFTs on Ethereum - the most popular chain - but then run their in-game economy on a different blockchain like Polygon to enjoy lower gas fees. These are the elements requiring the most research, but when done right, they can lead you to the top. 3. Make A Fair System Fairness is absolutely crucial. " " has been forgotten in so many aspects of society. Let's not keep rolling the same dice and approach the audience with a sense of humility and fairness. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you The NFT gaming world⁠—a decentralized environment⁠—cannot have a few wolves at the top with more resources thus more access. This can be achieved through the ecosystem structure itself and making it more accessible to the right projects, at the right time, and in the right place. ** ** Marketing tools like Gleam campaigns essentially put the member in a queue to later receive a fairly distributed piece of the pie, limiting the traffic to a website on a periodical basis. ** **On the other side of the equation sit marketplaces like SparkWorld*, which is built with fairness as a priority, and utilizing its inner ecosystem mechanisms can bring proper curation of exclusive NFT gaming initiatives⁠—both the projects and users themselves are key elements in the process, therefore close attention and useful fairness-focused features have been implemented to fix the majority of the problems these projects typically encounter and gamified the process of launching with innovations like Fair Prediction Launches (Link). 4. Build A Community & Engage it Now to the fun part: Go wild on Twitter, Discord, Telegram, and TikTok. Try getting referrals from people after building large amounts of trust through clear communication of vision and mission. Make the newly formed community feel important, make them matter, and set the right incentives to build a more positive ecosystem. Try to engage in a lot of ways⁠—write funny things and create games, with or without prizes, on social media, make sure that everyone has access. Plus, emojis matter, but keep it legit. Bring motivations to the community that will introduce a sense of protection and long-term thinking. Make the fair distribution conducted matter after the drop - build an honest community, then do not lose it! 5. Start to Scale Once a project site has been built, scale becomes a priority. Servers must be able to handle the load. If no help can be found, projects should try migrating as soon as possible so as not to lose time when the big NFT game launch is in the middle of its "thing". It depends on the architecture of the drop, but project owners need to be prepared if the operation does not go the way expected. With the 5 essentials in mind, we hope to give a clearer idea of NFT game launches and how to launch them properly, without any surprises. Do not forget that marketplaces like ours (SpartWorld)* exist that focus entirely on the above-mentioned aspects, building both project and participant experiences in a subtle yet fair and seamless manner.

5 Key Ingredients for Successful NFT Game Launches

Let us talk something about Reading & Writing, and in the end, we will add to it, a touch of Technology ✨. You just woke up, and went to the drawing hall; the doorbell rings, it’s the newspaper; an elder opens the door, picks up the newspaper, and starts reading it with a cup of tea or coffee, or sometimes, just reads it. You get ready to leave for work or school, and on the way you see a fellow traveler perusing a book. Maybe you’re at your workplace & have taken a small break, or a friend has shared a link with you, either way, you’re here, reading this blog! Be it in any form, reading is an important part of people’s lives for various reasons. Why do people read? Crawling through the web, I came across a few reasons to what reading boils down to. The most basic of all and the one that comes first to the mind is ‘learning’ & ‘gaining knowledge', and of course, whether you were a topper at your school or you didn’t like studying, you had to read the books to learn everything for the forthcoming exams and progress through your school (here I’m excluding some of you who had higher cognitive abilities and just read and remembered everything until the exams were over 🙃). So yes, one reads to learn, make oneself smarter, gain knowledge, and discover information. Secondly, if someone wants to stay up to date with what’s going around, they read, in this case, news. Some of our fellow humans out there want to experience drama, entertainment, and suspense, so they read. Some might want to escape reality and are looking to experience multiple realities, so they read. A segment reads to see life from another perspective or another person’s eyes. One reads to be confident with a language or a subject and one may read as it serves their interests. Others feel relaxed after reading, so they read. In the end, reading is the most independent and free manner of content consumption out there. Also also, people read because people write! 🤯 So what makes one write? Writing at its base is the medium or form of communication. Of course, ‘human’ communication as we’re not sure about aliens yet 🤡. One writes to communicate with others; another writes to express themselves. Some write to bring about a change in society; others write to share stories with fellow humans. One may write to entertain the public and the other writes to create the basis of a drama that is to be put on a stage. The author of your textbook writes to educate you and you write in exams to progress through your school. In the end, writing down is liberating as it’s just you and your thoughts. For as long as reading & writing have been known to humankind, it has provided aid to our empty minds and daily lives. And why did I mention tech in this then? Can you imagine how fast technology is advancing? 3G, 4G, 5G - cut to - color TVs to smart TVs now - cut to - computers to quantum computers - cut to - cars, self-driving cars to flying cars almost there, phew, and the list goes on and on! And one thing for sure amongst all this is that people love and find use in tech or else it would’ve been out long back. And why not, as it makes our lives so much better? So what is it about tech that is so lovable!? In simple words, technology boosts the rate, or is like a catalyst to human evolution and progression. Technology is helping us solve complex problems and is making our lives simpler with each new tech. Technology is connecting people from afar and making exploration easier at the same time. Information is the driving force to the human decision as we know, and with the help of technology, information gathering becomes much easier. Technology also lets one showcase their art form globally. Technology has come to many of them not by their choice, but by the flow of life and the changing world and since then it has become inseparable with gadgets like smartphones and PCs. And slowly it made us all realize that technology is a great tool to adopt and work our ways through decades. And there’s a lot that can be added to this, but why am I telling you all this? Because those are the main 3 elements of HackerNoon , and what Hacker Noon is all about. Reading + Writing + Technology gives you HackerNoon. So what are you waiting for? Start reading or writing or both with HackerNoon. You just might affect . (●'◡'●) our readership stats

What are HackerNoon's 3 Main Ingredients ?

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. Hello HN folks! I am , a long-time . After 10+ years in enertech, I am now building up , my own company. Carlo Occhiena Hackernoon writer Aziona Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? I just wrote about the Metaverse and its connection to tech and blockchain. Read the story here: https://hackernoon.com/metaverse-and-blockchain-will-have-a-parallel-future?source=rss Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? I really like writing for Hackernoon because it allows me to write on many different topics - as long as they’re tech-related! I am enjoying this freedom at the moment. I wrote about programming, Agile methodologies, blockchain, Python, and more! I feel like the main advantage of Hackernoon over its competitors it’s the fact you may find a lot of very good and also very different stories here! Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) I have a notepad where I track all the inspo and sources I stumble upon. And then, connecting the dot, I try to craft a story out of them. It’s like putting a lot of different ingredients in a blender and then, once in a while, let them mix up and see what is coming out. I like this approach cause it allows you to have a lot of ideas and inspiration and in the meantime to write something interesting and quite fresh. The risk otherwise is to write and same old and trite story over again. Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? I feel like the main issue is being consistent. Trying to be focused enough to develop an expertise, but at the same time have a decent variety of topics - otherwise, you’ll be just writing over yourself. But in the end, I don’t want to overcomplicate the task. It’s basically a matter of practice and exercise. Doing it over and over again until it starts happening - if not easy, then natural, at least to you. As you said, also time is quite a challenge. A lot of us Hackernoon writers have to deal with stressful tech jobs in big companies or startups. Writing then is on top of it all and it’s not too easy to always be able to carve out some time to do it decently. Keep also in mind that for non-native English writers such me (and many other Hackolytes), the task of writing is even harder, you have to double-check grammar and verbs. It’s not an easy task, definitely :) What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? Since I just founded my startup, , I am very focused on making it grow and prosper. Aziona But other than that, my last ten years of work have been incredible and I never thought I would be able to achieve all these milestones. So now running my own company is "just" yet another challenge. Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? I am quite basic. Sitting in front of my computer is my day-to-day job but also my pleasure. I am really enjoying what I am doing. To unwind a little I usually watch some or some videogame stream on Twitch. The Big Bang Theory But, really, if there’s something you like doing, you should never feel “guilty” about doing it. Isn’t it? :) Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? Not really. I am addicted to sports (running, crossfit) but those are not really hobby to me. I am not the kind of guy that says, “hey, I really need to stop sitting in front of the computer”. It’s something I like a lot. I also love to study and learn new things, but this is not a hobby either and it’s again tech-related, so, I am sorry: not the right question for me :D What can the Hackernoon community expect to read from you next? I don’ really know (my last article has been published just yesterday!). I’ll see where the inspiration will lead me! I also like a lot to interact in the HN community, read other stories and such, so, I’ll just be enjoying the moment. Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? Work hard, but have fun along the way! Cheers.

Writing is Like Putting Different Ingredients in a Blender and Seeing What Comes Out, says Carlo

You’ve got about 10-12 seconds to convince your reader to scroll down the page. [ ] Now that attention spans are reducing, it’s becoming even more important to hook at first read. NN Group If you own a site or you’re a copywriter, you know how important your messaging should be to hook the reader. But if you can’t communicate the right message to the reader, then you’ve lost them. That’s where strategic messaging comes in your copy. Messaging is the words you say that make your target customer want to work with/buy from you. The point of your message is to sell your prospect the best version of themselves. It works especially well when you target the people that have bought or are interested in your solution. Your reader should know these things first, especially if they’re new to your brand There are four things you must communicate first, especially to new visitors: Your company/name What solution (product/service) you offer What benefit they get/problem they solve with that solution Your UVP (Unique Value Proposition) and why it’s different from the competition Don’t forget to show off your brand personality! What’s it like to work with you? are you silly, smart, classy, or chill? When they see that, you should direct them to: What they should do next, and tell them why e.g “Head over to our About Page to learn more about our origin story“ But you’ve done that, and barely anyone’s scrolling down! High converting copy builds authority in the eyes of your reader. If you can prove that you understand their problems more than your competitors do, honestly you’ve got a leg up. Especially in a highly saturated market where people say almost the same thing. We’ll take a look at common reasons why that happens: You don’t specify exactly who’s supposed to be on the page, so you get uninterested visitors that don’t take any action You have testimonials, case studies, customer results data (social proof⚡), but they don’t resonate with where your client is NOW You can’t go beyond your customer’s pain points, and you fail to understand the limiting beliefs + doubts causing/resulting from those pain points You have a great solution, but you can’t highlight its benefits or the transformation it provides for your prospect People scroll all over your site but fail to take action because they’re either confused or they don’t find the information they’re looking for I’ll give you an example with a home page. Say a solution-aware prospect lands on your home page, and the first thing they see is not a well-crafted value proposition. Or engaging headline. Or a headline that tells them exactly what you do and how you do it. It's a paragraph dedicated to showing off your clients, work experience, and emphasizing that you're trustworthy. With a vague, fluffy headline with no benefit. Like this: 20+ years in the B2B space. We're a 20-year project management company that's served 5 of the top 10 B2B companies in South Africa. We are very trustworthy and provide a great experience for all our clients. All our clients have great results and love working with us." Or this: -------- After reading this, what are they supposed to do now? Leave the page and find someone else that can solve their problem. It's a fluffy waste of space that provides no reason - or motivation - for the prospect to go further down the page. And unfortunately, the rest of the page is similar to what's in the hero section. Sadly, this is the reality of many business websites. Failing to get your value across fast and clearly leaves you with crickets, high bounce rates, and no conversions. Because you have bad messaging. Good messaging get prospects, leads, and even your customers to: Stop questioning what you do really Resonate with your copy and change their perception of your band Get excited about your offer Convert and/or make the sale Messaging helps you properly communicate your value to your audience, and help them realize the transformation your solution provides. And if it doesn’t stick, you’re saying the wrong things to the right target audience. First impressions matter the most. How your audience perceives you the first time will set the standard for how they’ll interact with your brand. And if they don’t perceive your solution as valuable, then you’re going to have a hard time converting sales. I made a LinkedIn post expanding on this. Some positive perceptions from your audience are that: ✅They're converting, i.e. they've signed up for your email list, opted in, e.t.c
✅They can resonate with your offer because you've validated what they need
✅They're ready to purchase because your copy bashed all objections and riled them up While negative perceptions could be that: ✅They are confused by your offer and don't convert
✅They don't finish reading all your copy and bounce back into the internet space
✅Your copy can't convince them to take the next step into your funnel Then how do you improve your messaging? Let me show you two things you can do: Identify your prospect’s stage of awareness and how your offer can address it. Knowing how aware your prospect is about your industry and solution will help you approach what to say to them. That’s where the five stages of awareness come in. The Stages of Awareness is a spectrum that guides you on how clear your prospect is about their problem, needs, and readiness to buy. Growth Marketer has an excellent : diagram explaining each stage a customer is in It goes from Unaware to Most Aware. So if you have an Unaware or Problem Aware customer, you’ll spend more copy fleshing out their problems and introduce them to possible solutions. If you have a Solution aware customer, then your copy’s job is to explain why they need to choose your solution to solve their problem. For Product Aware & Most Aware customers, your copy should help them choose you quickly. You don’t need to do much motivating; remind them about why they need your solution. Know your prospect’s tipping point - and what’s motivating their problem. It’s not just talking about why your solution is different or premium. Someone can know your brand and know they have a problem, but not be aware that they need your solution. Alternatively, they are aware of their problem and other solutions, but not your solution. Their tipping point is the situation/event that happens in their life for them to choose your solution. Their motivation is the driving force behind their decisions. It’s not your value prop, solution, or offer. When a visitor lands on your page, they were motivated to by other elements, e.g your social media profile, a blog post, or an email. You cannot create it, but can be [and should be] reflected in your pages. Some examples of motivation are: Earning lots of money with minimal efforts Creating programs without hard & complicated coding work Providing for their families & loved ones without stress When you know those motivations, you can tap into the pains surrounding them, and agitate them in your copy. There are two ways you can use agitation: Agitating the problem: You mention a problem your ideal customer has, then build it up (with the emotions attached to it, e.g. fear, confusion, worry) by talking about how it manifests in their life, how it impacts them, and what happens when it impacts them. Agitating the solution: You’re agitating the inferiority of other solutions. As long as they’re switching from something, your solution is going to be superior. Lastly, take time to agitate the problem and really rile them up! Final Words Your target audience should not feel like they’re going to waste money on your product because of your copy. To recap, the key to having strong messaging lies in: Identifying your prospect’s stage of awareness and how your offer can address it. Know your prospect’s tipping point - and what’s motivating their problem. If you miss these, you’ll be looking at copy that does half the job or none at all. Which means little to no sales & conversions. Copy in its basic form is just words. The conversions come when you can properly communicate your value to your reader, and enlighten them so they’re interested in & choose your offer. Also, connect with me on ? LinkedIn

Messaging: The #1 Copy Ingredient You're Probably Missing Now

Having read the title, I hope that you already have Kung Fu Panda pictured in your head. If not, first, . meet Panda In today’s episode, we will be assembling our team of important signals, our warriors, who will help us defeat the main villain, the Apple AppStore (or GooglePlay). Cooler kids gave it a special acronym - ASO. So, what is ASO? Standing for App Store Optimisation, it’s a concept, which counter interacts developers' belief that their app deserves the number 1 spot on the AppStore. Essentially, you need ASO to rank your app, gain users, earn dough and inject it into the vicious cycle of great user experience & profit. In today’s study, we will assume you know basic ASO that and make an assumption that you will want to rank a generic search term e.g. . In our study, we prepared 2 apps, ranking for the same keywords, where we aim to look at the difference in rank and disassemble the ranking factors into individual smaller bits, for easy understanding. even your grandma knows IQ test Welcome our Candidates Candidate 1 (4.6 stars, 300+ ratings). Candidate 2 (3.7 stars, 180+ ratings). Both of these apps have the same exact content (Just presented differently), the same target audience and use the same keywords. They are definitely the same app in my eyes, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so let’s try to reverse engineer what the AppStore sees. Which app first? Most importantly do you think so? Remember your thought process, and reflect back on it at the end. Let’s proceed. Question time! do you think ranks why AppStore Metrics Most of the metrics are clearly dominated by the first candidate. It enjoys more impressions, more downloads, even more revenue per active customer. There are more repeated sessions, more time active on the app. The app itself has a higher rating, and if I was to pick an app to use, I would definitely choose option 1. However, AppStore prefers candidate 2. Yes, the above is not a typo. I spent hours in the Analytics section of AppStoreConnect, trying to figure out why. I even printed out the to replace the Bible by my bedside. In the end, I found a simple single factor, which explained the ranking. All roads lead to the golden metric: AppStore Guidelines Product Page Views / Impressions (Candidate 2: 0.1628, Candidate 1: 0.1130) How likely are users to click through and view the product page? This is the first stage of the funnel. After viewing the page, almost certainly conversion ratio also plays an important role in AppStore ranking. So which metrics are less relevant? I believe it's pretty much most of the analytical stats e.g. session duration, number of sessions per day etc. They cannot simply be used objectively in ranking applications. I can spend more time in-app because the user experience is so poor I can’t find an exit button. Or similarly, I have more sessions because your backend is crap and is down most of the time. Summarising the metrics Objectively speaking, there are just that you should concentrate on: 3 key areas 1. Area under retention curve. Pretty self explanatory, this shows Apple how engaging your app is. If people like the app, they will use it more often on separate days. If not, they will uninstall and go to your competitor. 2. Download per Impression ratio. This metric is a product of and If people click through, it implies the app is relevant to the search term. If the person downloads the app from the product page, it again implies relevance. It is likely to have a and the most . Product View Ratio Conversion Ratio. positive correlation with the rankings 'non-obvious' signal 3. Keyword Optimisation. ASO 101. Don't stuff the keywords, include them in titles, subtitles and even in-app purchases. Interestingly, I didn't find any positive correlation with ratings and reviews. Good reviews and high ratings seem to be the outcome of good ranking apps, and not the causation of the rank. Action Points I could write an article about each of the points above, so to save time, I'm assuming you have a plan for retention and keyword optimisation. Let's cover the remaining point. It seems that in the end, Apple places a great importance on the appearance of apps. If you want to create the best app, there are really no corners that you can cut. You will need to create great user experience, as well as create beautiful visuals to attract users to download your app from the AppStore. So the advice is: Icon is important. mega App Screenshots are important. giga Title & Subtitle matter. The importance of App Creative Sets People will look at your icon first. In our study, candidate 2 had a more textual app icon. As a result, it had a higher product view ratio. People are naturally , and if they find it on the app icon, they subconsciously pick that app. attracted to text App screenshots are the second part. You should really invest in an app designer, who will to your target audience. If you are low on design budget, you can use a and . In the end, you can have something like this: communicate a story tool to create app screenshots prettify your AppStore listing page Note: I am partly involved in the development of this product. When creating your previews, pay attention to colour palette - try to keep it consistent and monotone. If the budget is larger, invest in both screenshots and app previews. They long term. will pay dividends Title and subtitle do matter, but there is not much optimisation you can do there. Furthermore, this is common sense and I assume you can select the best suited copy for your app. To Conclude I hope you actually made it here, instead of just glancing over images. If not, I don't blame you, they do look pretty. If yes, chances are, you learned some cool tricks. Out of everything said, in the end, these are just personal observations that I’ve encountered during my battles with Apple. For what I know, none of it is facts, and could be explanations as to why I think something happens. Similarly to the stock market. Although, I like to think that app rankings are deterministic. And there is a closed formula. I could be wrong. But I hope not. Piece.

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