Throughout history there have been several significant events which have led to mass deaths defining the course of civilisation. Among these are World Wars, plagues, pandemics, and epidemics including the black death, flu pandemic of 1889-1890 and more recently Swine flu, Ebola, and our present challenges with COVID-19. They are all examples of major historical outbreaks that have taken lives and steered the course for public health development, social and medical innovations some which still being used today. 

Being a business owner is now more stressful than ever, with the outbreak of COVID-19 seeing companies both big and small shaken and left to find new ways of working. For small businesses and new business owners especially, this is a particularly daunting time with cash flow and employment being some of the biggest worries to face over the coming months.

The model and motivations are in alignment and all bodes well for the energy company’s collaboration with a startup. Excitement is high, as are expectations. There is one thing left to attend to though: the environment you create. Will it be a space where collaboration can thrive? Or where it will wither on the vine?

Are there specific entrepreneurial attitudes and motivations that influence business success? For investors, founders, business leaders and boards alike this is the million or even billion-dollar question.

Global efforts to combat climate change have been stifled recently, with an unprecedented crisis shifting the focus of governments, businesses and consumers away from the plight of the planet. We’re engaged in a war against an invisible enemy; and COVID-19’s dire importance has placed many environmental initiatives on hold.

SharkNinja although known for producing vacuums, have been doing some very different work during the COVID-19 crisis, as they had some more time on their hands, and wanted to help. We spoke to Mohammad Hatia, SharkNinja Prototype Lead Workshop Manager and asked him a few questions as to what SharkNinja have been up to.

There’s no denying that living in lockdown amid a global pandemic is something new to us all. And for millions of workers across the country, they’ve spent the last few weeks working from home as a result of social distancing. Here, Parin Ashra, UX/UI Designer at Perlego for mental health awareness week, delves into mental health within businesses, and why we should be doing more.

Many businesses ask me many questions but one of the questions that has become more common over the last few months is whether their business should pivot. Regular readers will know that many of the answers to questions I overhear are often prefaced with ‘well it depends’ but this question can in many ways be easier to answer than that.

One of the biggest trends right now is IoT, especially Industrial IoT (IIoT) and the security around data. Having taken off massively in the past few years, in the tech startup industry if you were going to create a business, these areas would be two of hottest in the current climate. Innovative startups or scaleups with cutting edge IoT hardware technologies capable of securely retrofitting industrial facilities for predictive maintenance, are extremely sought after and very desirable to investors and businesses. Also we have seen a rise in the number of startups working within data security at sensor level to avoid data breaches.

The concept of co-working has become synonymous with tech ecosystems across the globe. It came to prominence around the same time as the birth of some of the biggest tech companies you’ve heard of, as well as those you haven’t. 

Having worked as a solution architect and designed multiple SaaS applications over the years, I could see most startups struggling to choose the right SaaS architecture for their product offering. In this article, I’ve compiled all my learnings into a cheat sheet to help startup founders, who’re looking to build SaaS applications, make a pragmatic decision backed by proven facts and data.  

Agile startups have proven that they are able to help in a crisis. Access to bright thinkers and technical experts means they can come up with creative solutions quickly in response to changes in circumstances - and many have been helping in the fight against COVID-19.

For many businesses, cash in the bank is often a concern especially during periods of uncertainty. Making sure you know exactly what’s going in and out and when has never been so important.

Like many good things in life, The Hustle House started out over a couple of G&T’s. Free ones at that. Maybe it was because Fiona had her laptop out in a restaurant on a Friday night, or maybe it was because the waiter felt bad for seating them late. Whatever the reason, the free G&T’s set the tone for a discussion on possibilities, on the notion of leaving behind the comfort blanket of corporate life and taking the plunge into the start-up world.

OK, we admit it. We’re nuts about leadership. We could talk about it till the cows come home and then we’d settle them in for the night and tell them a bedtime story about it.

Many startups know what building a culture means in their startup, and most founders will - smartly - work to prioritise that closely to ensure their company culture is warm, positive, and creative. But few know what building a digital culture means. Without a digital culture, your business will struggle to scale, and will struggle to expand internationally. It’s often ignored and that means you can make it a real positive difference between you and your competitors.

The world feels upside down, right? Mankind is not meant to stay locked inside. We need wide spaces, open-air, opportunities and horizons. As the world stopped and placed us in a timeless lethargy we find it hard to remain optimistic. The same question goes round and round in our heads as we stare at the azure of the sky through the window: How is Coronavirus affecting the future of work?

The world is embarking on a period of great technological innovation. This means that innovators themselves need a place where they can grow their ideas. Technology startups are fast becoming a growth area for semiconductor manufacturers, as they are often at the coal face of design innovation, pioneering the journey towards the fourth industrial revolution.

As spring turns into summer and the fears of lockdown turn into the uncertainties of release, many early stage companies are effectively having to start all over again, either because they have been temporarily closed and have been in something of a coma like state, or because they have pivoted and the business plan has changed from the original. The question being asked by so many, is ‘what do we do and how do we go about it?’ and is focused around the fundamental question that takes all founders back to the origins of their business.

Thanks to coronavirus, our working culture has swiftly moved into sharp focus.