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Some very interesting statistics were released this week relating to trade over the past twelve months. What was so interesting about these two particular sets of statistics is that both of them were unique to looking backwards from spring 2021, and this period will be studied in schools and universities for many years to come.

Since AWS Lambda first launched in 2014, serverless computing has exploded. Adoption is high, and Amazon, Microsoft and Google all now offer serverless capabilities. As is so often the case, entrepreneurs have reacted fast, and created an ecosystem of startups that support the continuing growth of the serverless industry.

When I left university, I entered arguably one of the most slow-moving, heavily regulated corners of engineering, nuclear power. I was a member of a team that made sure the world wasn’t given a spin-off series of HBO’s Chernobyl, building layer upon layer of safety programs.

It’s not what you know but who you know. Or so the old saying goes. Whenever that is said though it always seems to be said in a disparaging way, as in the ‘old school tie’ is more useful in life than being clever, working hard, or looking for opportunities to make your own way in life.

Nearly a year on since the onset of COVID-19, many companies have realised their staff are able to (almost) work as effectively remotely, as they did in an office. For tech companies and their investors, the transition to remote working was relatively seamless, as the culture and infrastructure needed to succeed was already in place. It has, however, prompted many startups to reconsider whether they need an office at all, and whether high rents in cities like New York, London, and San Francisco can be justified.

Hutch Games, the mobile racing game company launched in 2011 with no funding and sold for $375m less than decade later. Shaun Rutland, one its Co-founders, explains how a former PlayStation team struck out on their own and how picking the right investors can help a business flourish.

Do you want to create a new business venture? Do you have a business idea but don’t know where to start? Have you started your business without a plan? It is time to create a business plan! A business plan is like a travel itinerary, you need to plan your trip before travelling: Where you will go? How to reach there? How much will you spend? Where will you stay? What will you do (activities)? Which places will you visit?

2020 flipped everyone’s plans for the year upside down, with no corner of the world left untouched. In this state of complete disarray, the primary business challenge for many was to keep customers happy while rapidly shifting staff to remote working. With this now mastered for most businesses and homeworking being the new norm, the next hurdle for leaders will be getting the balance right between the many conflicting desires of those in their workforce.

Through all the advancements seen over the past century, international trade has been slow to change. For example, Letters of Credit (LCs) continue to be an important trade finance product for global traders, but they rely on paper-based processes, which are fundamentally slow and prone to error. Now, with the need to change how organisations work in a post-COVID world, there is a greater need to improve how trade and trade finance operate

Today, the sales funnel is more buyer-focused. It’s no longer about sales professionals and their understanding of products and services, but rather a concentration on buyers and how a business can fulfill their needs. And if you are a business wanting to get more prospects and clients, you need to put enough information about your brand where your targets spend the most time.

What are the blueprints needed to start your own blockchain tech startup? How can you navigate through the tech tools, software, hardware, platforms, resources, projects, processes, methods and strategies necessary for success?

The success of your endeavors depends on your approach and perspectives towards things. Ultimately, it is all about how you train your mind to be at the helm of your pursuit. Yes, passion is a lot synonymous with following the heart, but you also need to develop a positive mindset. It is all about the mindsets after all! Positivity, confidence, persistence, and possibilities are all attributes of your mindset. Besides, it is a well-established fact that the prowess of our minds shapes our lives. Being in the right frame of mind is paramount.

New ideas are overrated, you can find them on every street corner. We’ve been in a holding pattern for a year, where everyone you meet is an expert on COVID and has their own ideas about what should happen. I’m sick of hearing them.

At the recent SaaStock exhibition, Philip Edmondson-Jones, Oxx, a venture capital (VC) company investing in ambitious B2B SaaS companies, explained the best practice when scaling your business rapidly.

Adapting and pivoting. For businesses, these two words sum up 2020 and the COVID pandemic perhaps more than any other words. Each and every business has had to reinvent itself in some form or another during the last year or so.