Tag Archives: startup

The Itera Research team makes a concerted effort to be present at the most exciting events, and the recent Web Summit 2022 was no exception. Besides gaining valuable experiences, we also had the opportunity to glean insights into where the world is headed in the upcoming years, and what groundbreaking innovations we can expect in the near future. We were reminded that the future is not just looming ahead – it has already arrived.

Today, we are eager to share some of the trends and fascinating observations we encountered that could potentially represent unexpected breakthroughs for numerous businesses in 2023.

 

Voice assistants

Only a few years ago, referring to Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s smart assistant as “smart” would have been a stretch. However, with the advancement of AI technology, these same assistants are now capable of ordering food, accessing videos, playing music, calling contacts, setting reminders, and much more.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of voice assistant users has surged by 30%, and this number continues to grow.

We believe that the prime era of AI assistants is on the horizon.

 

News and Generation Z

It’s common knowledge that young individuals have grown up with smartphones, computers, and any other device that can connect to the internet. Social media, forums, and content-sharing platforms have become their primary source for gathering information and news about the world.

Statistics indicate that news presented in the form of Instagram memes is much more relevant to the younger generation than lengthy, unengaging articles on the same topic found on web versions of Forbes or other publications.

Given that the younger generation thinks and views the world differently, it’s imperative to employ alternative methods of conveying information and promoting publications on platforms that are of interest to them.

As a result, some publishers have already begun exploring TikTok, expanding their reach on Instagram and YouTube, and adapting the format and style of news presentation to make it more appealing and captivating to younger audiences.

 

The Internet, safe for children

Meta universes, despite being in their early stages, continue to evolve and provide a new way of interacting with the internet and other users. However, they still face the same issues as the rest of the Web 2.0 world – especially personal security. Despite the efforts of developers, some players will always find ways to bully others, cross personal boundaries, and discourage others from going online.

But there is good news: this problem is being addressed right now! The vast majority of projects on Web 3.0 not only focus on decentralization and data security but also create a safe and comfortable environment for user interaction, including children.

Many creators of meta universes are already creating separate rules for underage users, which ensures a safe and secure environment while protecting their rights and freedoms. One of the pioneers in this space is Lego.

 

How can Startups Survive in the Current Environment?

We were deeply impressed by the presentation given by Fred Destin, the founder of StrideVC. According to Fred, “If you are a startup founder, you can say, ‘I will meditate on the failure of my company until it no longer stresses me out, then my mind will be clear to execute.'”

This statement received a flurry of applause, as it offered a fresh perspective on the current challenges that small tech companies face. Fred believes that startups are the best-suited entities to challenge corporations because of their inherent culture. “The reason small startups keep kicking the butt of incumbent companies is because of teams of eight or ten or fifteen people. These are very fast-growing organisms that thrive in chaos.”

Fred also recommended drawing inspiration and strength from the Samurai way of life. “First of all, they meditate on their death 1,000 times before they go into battle. So if you’re a startup founder, you might say, ‘I’m going to meditate on the failure of my company until it stops stressing me out, and then my mind will be clear to execute.’ The second thing the Samurai do is kill you with one sword movement. That is, everything has to have an impact at all times when you have limited energy, limited time, limited money.”

 

The future is in the sun

The cost of electric cars has been a significant barrier to their widespread adoption. Sono Motors aims to tackle this challenge with its Sion electric car, which is set to hit the market in 2023 with a price tag of 25,000 euros.

What sets the Sion apart from other electric cars is its integration of 56 solar panels, which can generate up to 150 miles of energy per week in sunny weather.

Production of the Sion is slated to begin soon in Finland, and the car has already been showcased in various locations worldwide, including New York City.

 

Our insights 

As a research and development company, we recognize the lightning-fast pace of digital technology development. We constantly seek to stay abreast of the latest trends and accumulate new knowledge, knowing that the demand for innovative solutions far outweighs the opportunities to create them.

Many narrowly focused projects requiring specialized expertise can take years to develop. This is reflected in the ever-increasing number of startups, which currently number over 2,500.

As the number of ideas and opportunities continues to grow, so will the demand for their implementation. If you have an idea, we are here to help make it a reality. Let us work together to bring your dreams to life.

 Imagine: The Development of the World

The world was created in seven days (168 hours), and another thousand years (many hours) for testing and adjustments. 

Developer: Here’s the thing, it was just that the technical task (TT) was unclear, and I had to make a few changes. Yes, according to the plan it was two weeks. Well, they didn’t take several things into account, or they were mistaken, so we had to make some adjustments. We had a difficulty rating of much lower than it actually was (10/10). But it’s not a problem, we can clean it up now, and somewhere in a thousand years it will be ready! 

This story is not uncommon. No, this is not about creating the world as a whole, but about the ability to correctly assess the timing it will take to create it. The same word that exists in almost all modern industries – estimate. If it isn’t already obvious from the word itself – estimating is about calculating the time and man-hours it will take to complete a project.

 

How to estimate deadlines correctly

According to McKinsey’s research, 66% of projects ultimately require more resources, and 17% are completely different once the project is complete. As a result, the amounts of time required for revisions are two to three times higher than those initially stated. The blame could be placed on the teams working on the project, but in reality, the actual estimate of the deadline is to blame.

The cause for such discrepancies are often caused by vague descriptions of technical tasks (TT) and may include reasons like the abstractness of the final product, or unpredictability of volume. Taking into consideration that each project is something unique, it is not necessarily surprising that mistakes are made in the evaluation process.

 

What questions should you ask for an accurate deadline estimate?

Prior to starting the estimate, it is imperative for the developers’ team to gather information through conversations with the customer. It is in this conversation that insights are gleaned about each project. While, to the customer, it may seem that the task is quite obvious, and can easily be carried out without fail, it is at this point that the most inconspicuous mistake lurks, primarily due to a lack of information.

Now stop and think: 

What questions would I ask before making an estimate? Have you thought about it? Write your questions down on a piece of paper so we can compare.

Below are some of the questions that should be asked in order to make an accurate estimate:

  • What are the business goals of your project? An obvious question with which to start, but for some reason, everyone immediately rushes to learn about the product, its benefits, and other, little-needed information. In reality, it depends on the business goal for which the product or service is created. The final product will depend on whether it is to triple your company’s income, increase conversion, etc. As an example, if you are an environmental company with a goal to expand your client base, you could talk about ecology for 3 hours, but in the end, the goal will still be to expand the company’s client base, which is where the focus should remain.
  • What is the purpose of the project?  These points look similar, but if we are talking about a company-wide problem, the specific numbers are important here. To ensure success, the customer will need to share specific details. For example: Our goal is to onboard 100 new clients each month.
  • Is there a “killer feature”? Does your product have a killer feature that makes it unique from others like it. Highlighting this feature is essential, then, and needs to be included in the estimate.
  • What is the value of the project? What about the benefits?  When offering a product or service, value is a multidimensional factor where all the conditions need to be met. While the value is important, it is critical to stress the benefits to your audience. The developer will be able to include these factors in the estimate and narrow the focus for development.
  • How will you get started? Here is where you can get stuck for a long time. It can be tricky to make the decision to ask for support from a development team or order a business analysis service, etc. It is worth considering all the options. Perhaps in this particular situation, it would be more beneficial to cut the scope and invest in the best outside option for launching.
  • Is there an end-to-end solution?  That is, is there a plan to go through the entire product from start to finish? A full-cycle contractor can help with this.
  • Are there technical clarifications from checklists for the sale of specific services? Providing these checklists and technical clarifications will streamline development and help clarify the details involved.
  • How and how often will your company deliver the product or service?  Thanks to regular demonstrations, it is much easier to take into account all the needs that arise along the way and immediately adjust for your tasks.

Now you can start the discovery phase, according to the results of which you should have wireframes and at least a high-level specification or prototypes. Now there is everything for an estimate! 

Only with all the information, can you count on an adequate assessment of your outsourcing partner or developer. It is worth mentioning that most likely, at least 90% at one point or another have not conducted a full assessment. 

As an example, if your contractor is especially self-confident and brags that “yes, I will do everything here in a week and it will be fine,” then you should doubt because a specialist or developer can forget to take into account some features which will ultimately result in additional unplanned money and time. It is this reaction that can help you determine how experienced the person is sitting opposite you.  

For the most part, “pessimists” are already experienced workers. They have more experience with these cases, so they know bottlenecks and take into account more scenarios and pitfalls that will appear during implementation. It is these experienced professionals who have compiled a set of tools (templates) for drawing up a project assessment.

In the next article, we want to tell you what estimates of projects you can get, depending on the accuracy of detail.

Over the past ten years, the number of educational startups has grown immensely. We understand that interest in developments in the field of education is directly related to digitalization. As such, we decided to share one of the recent case studies related to the educational system in Germany.

You never know for certain where a problem will arise, and what will delay the release of the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for presentation to investors. Inevitably things change, and more often than not they change more than a few times. These changes can start with the MVP itself and end with changes in the goals of the project.

 

Let’s analyze the situation

Let’s say there is a client with a fixed budget, tight deadlines, and bloated functionality. 

Prior to the investor’s arrival, there was a clear deadline for the implementation of the MVP and its demonstration to investors. But without the investors, further, development was impossible, because a large chunk of work was related to the development of APIs (Applicable Programming Interfaces) for providing third-party services. The API itself was very crude and untested, and funding was needed to perform necessary tests and adaptations.

Thus, the work had not yet begun, and things were already getting tense.

This is how the development of an educational startup, “My German University” began. It started as a web application for students looking for a master’s degree program in Germany.

 

There are no unsolvable problems, there is only a bad BA (business analysis)

Before connecting all resources, our Business Analyst, based on client prototypes, formulated a brief for “User Stories”

It was with a short and understandable description of the functionality in hand, that we were able to define a scope. After that, our experienced Project Manager formulated a task prioritization and a tracking plan for all intermediate stages of work.

To keep the project within the budget and finish on time, we proposed simplifying the non-critical functionality. This allowed us to create a working application that could be easily demonstrated to interested parties.

To optimize budget and speed up development, we used an iterative approach with weekly sprints and releases.

 

We know what to do and how to reduce risks

In the beginning, we warned the client about the risks of integrating third-party services that do not have documentation for their API, and whose actual performance is unknown. We discussed the risks of changes, clarified the requirements, and potential adjustments.

After assessing all potential risks, we took responsibility and started development. For continuous monitoring, we proposed a task tracking system and regular meetings, and in the end the project was a huge success.

 

Eventually (In the end)

In the end, having won in early 2020 InnoRampUp (IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH), one of the most attractive government grants in Germany – the company moved from Berlin to Hamburg. 

According to their website, in May 2021 the number of unique search queries exceeded 237 thousand, and the number of views approached a million, while the viewing time was 05.08! The number of current programs has grown from 1660 at the time of launch to 2231, and 30 universities have already signed an agreement to provide unique offers to students.

We are proud to be involved in the success of such fulfilling projects, this creates a passion for us to continue to take on new ideas and improve our own skills.

 

Our world has turned upside down this year. Spring 2020 is the greatest remobilization of the workforce since the Great Depression. Those who did not work online and had no experience had to quickly change the paradigm of thinking, configure services, and search for markets. The education market did not stand aside but accelerated online traffic. Our team took part in a large-scale online conference in the field of education EdTechX Global. According to experts, the online education market in 30 days of spring has grown more than 15 times and continues to grow. This is certainly a unique moment in time to develop an educational project. We are in a hurry to share the most relevant trends in the education market.

 

– LAS in education. LMS has already become a common educational solution. Together with LMS, LAS systems – learning augmented systems – are actively entering the market. LAS helps to improve training performance, engagement, and reduce costs through state-of-the-art augmented technology. LAS can be used in many fields of activity: in healthcare, in corporate training, in the military, in schools, universities, and for example in preparing for work in public safety.

The educational value of LAS is closely linked to the way in which it is designed, implemented, and integrated into formal and informal learning environments. LAS allows students to engage modern way thinking students in training and helps to focus on learning. It includes:

– creating short, interactive instructional content that is easy to understand and reinforces longer core learning materials;

– a separation from traditional “just in case” learning strategies that emphasize repetition and memorization;

– transition to on-demand, move forward training methods that help the student bridge specific skills gaps in real time.

LAS will satisfy the most demanding training needs:

–  reduce costs and save time with easily customizable dive scenarios.

improved coordination of individuals and teams through access to performance indicators;

co-training teams using telepresence;

analysis of the emotional state of students using biometric IoT sensors.

 

– VR / AR in training. An important consideration is how AR technologies support and afford meaningful learning. The use of AR has become more accessible as it no longer requires specialized equipment and may easily be used on mobile devices. Most people now own mobile devices, and the use of these devices has increased, thereby enabling greater access to AR. The applications for mobile AR in education are increasing rapidly, and the feasibility of mobile AR has increased due to advances in mobile technology. The education related AR applications are now more commonly found on mobile devices.

 

– Artificial intelligence. The next major focus of digital learning will be the reconfiguration and optimization of delivery, powered by AI that is able to learn from experience and improve the efficacy of human and machine learning. We will not dwell on specific technologies for a long time; we have launched a series of articles on technologies in education “Education technologies: how to make your project useful and engaging?”, stay tuned for updates on our blog.

 

– Adaptive learning will receive another round of development and popularity. This is a learning process using special algorithms to build an individual learning path that meets the unique needs of the student. The number of students is constantly growing, and the world, which entered the pandemic, was forced to completely switch to distance learning. Therefore, educational technologies will receive intensive development, which will, on the one hand, adapt to each individual student, and on the other, will be scalable. Adaptive systems just allow you to adapt to the pace of different students. Or offer them teacher assistance when they need it, and not their classmates.

 

– Online schools are a way out for those who want to get an education in another country, live remotely, have limited opportunities, etc. Even “yesterday” mixed “classrooms” were in demand, where there is an opportunity for students to be in the audience, and the teacher may be from another country, or some students and the teacher in the audience, and some students online. There are lots of modern schools now fully operational online. These are ordinary schools, for ordinary children, with teachers, a blackboard, bells, diaries, assignments.

The student is assigned a specific value teacher who helps to build a learning plan for the child or helps the child determine the directions, further build a learning plan, and motivates to follow it. An individual approach to each student, taking into account his abilities and talents, which is ensured by various forms of individual consultations: online consultations on each subject weekly; video conferences, group consultations in the form of a daily advisory chat; full-time consultation with the teacher. Group work – during the lesson, children have the opportunity to gather in separate online rooms. A virtual imitation of campuses, group work, practice in unique emitted real conditions, holograms of teachers, and many other technologies that complement the educational process so much that the need for an offline component is rapidly declining.

Distance learning frees up more of your own time for visiting various interest groups, developing individual talents, completing various courses, or traveling.

One of the most important issues of online learning, which has not yet been fully resolved, is the assessment of knowledge on how to evaluate students, and the point is not so much in honesty as in getting real feedback, the lack of which makes learning ineffective. A child cannot compare his achievements with those of other children. It is as if locked in its own online space. The only criterion for its success is the result of the evaluation by the teacher. Sometimes it’s just the number of points scored in the test. But the child also needs a more detailed description of his response. Here, distance learning has significant advantages over a regular school, where the teacher and student are limited by the time of the lesson, and the teacher simply does not have time to give a qualitative assessment of the student’s efforts. In an online school, this is possible. Neither the teacher nor the student is limited in time. An important role is played by the dialogue between teacher and student. Both written and oral online communication. The student needs to receive quality feedback. This additionally stimulates him.

 

– Alternative to university education. School graduates are increasingly refusing to receive a classical diploma in favor of alternative education. The main reason was the changes that the labor market is experiencing. People need to spend less and less time on training and formalities like sitting in an audience. The historically formed educational system does not satisfy the demands of the modern economy, which has a need for personnel who have undergone quick training. Moreover, the further, the more universities will lose relevance, because modern teenagers are distinguished by dynamics and multitasking. For six traditional university years, they can master several professions and try a lot. For this generation, six years is a long time. And in connection with quarantine, the issue of alternative education has become more acute.

Demand is growing for a variety of platforms with educational courses and lectures, both paid and free. They have become one of the relevant alternatives to dusty university audiences. The student determines the goal for himself, selects the “path” and the algorithm, selects a set of courses and a project that needs to be completed. The training is accompanied by pear-to-pear components and people working in the industry who carry out mentoring functions and gradually integrate the future specialist into the industry.

 

In essence, as we see the educational process can become a people-less process. We can definitely note a niche where people have not yet come up with any solutions and robots, artificial intelligence and algorithms cannot completely replace a person in the near future, these are teachers for preschool children. There are a number of reasons and justification for this, but this is a separate topic for research.

Only flexibility will help survive and flourish. By removing some of the barriers that people around the world may face in accessing education, EdTech startups already offer a wide range of educational opportunities in both developed and developing countries. This makes the knowledge of the highest class available to an increasing number of people, finally, there are technologies that will allow you to educate different children in one group so that each will have their own unique learning path, according to the characteristics of the brain, perception of information and individual inclinations. 

No business succeeds when it stands still. The same goes for teachers, students, and entrepreneurs in the field of e-learning. It’s important to stay up to date with current facts and trends, study the data that shows how, when, and where your audience spends time on the Internet, and benefit from it. Due to the fact that the virus will not recede – school, universities, courses need to have time to develop an online learning process over the summer, summer has to be hot in every sense, there is no time to relax.

 

Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality

Are you trying to decide which direction to take your new tech business? The field of educational technology and programs is an excellent choice. After researching this topic, we offer our recommendations here

One Thing is Clear

Our research shows educational products are a very promising option for development, and over time the popularity of such virtual solutions will only grow.

Every year the number of EdTech tools for the education system is increasing, and as a result of the rapid spread of the virus, the market has grown 10-15 times in the last 30 days. This growth is because teachers, educational institutions, and companies that use new technologies gain advantages over their opponents. We have prepared an impressive list of cutting-edge educational technologies that can attract even more consumers to these products. 

In this article, we will begin to consider virtual and augmented reality. In the following parts, we will analyze in detail a complete list of these technologies.

 

Virtual and Augmented Reality Technology 

Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR). Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies are seeking to reach their peak. International Data Corporation estimates that in 2019 the market volume was 16.8 billion dollars, and by 2023 the market volume may reach 160 billion dollars. These forecasts do not take into account the momentary rapid growth of the market. 

Many of these AR/VR developments have been successfully applied to education. Images, sounds, and the immersion effect only accelerate information learning. Business coaches, teachers, and students can learn different disciplines with AR and VR-enabled devices.

 

Virtual Reality in Action

VR videos are gaining popularity, with 360° viewing angles that can be viewed through virtual reality glasses. This immersive learning experience attracts students much more than what they are used to in their day-to-day presentations and lectures.

 

Using VR To Introduce Concepts and Experiences

Many of these virtual ideas have already been implemented in the classroom. For example, an American school for elementary-aged students has created a virtual excursion: a tour of the classrooms and corridors of a middle or high school. This helps school children learn about the new place in advance. This allows students to feel more comfortable with the idea of moving from elementary or middle school to the next level in an immersive, low-stress environment.

 

Travel, Experimenting, and Fighting Crime

Some schools use virtual reality to create an experience. Students ride on roller coasters, walk in an amusement park, drive a car. A school in Ireland has recreated selected historical sites using 3D modeling software.

Students in the Czech Republic already use VR controllers for biological and chemical experiments. For example, they penetrate the human eye and manipulate their parts to understand how they work. In addition, the British University has created a virtual space for criminology students, where they hunt for evidence to solve a crime.

 

Virtual Reality in Business

VR is also ideal for the HR field. It allows large corporations to create their own worlds. Worlds in which you can create complete training scenarios: repair, installation, disassembly. This allows large-scale training of new or inexperienced employees to work with real objects without the objects themselves.

 

Augmented Reality in Action

Augmented Reality Technologies (AR) can design digital information (images, video, text, graphics) on top of device screens and combine virtual objects with the real environment. Augmented Reality can work at the level of visual images and the level of sensations. This technology will actually develop and will find a wider application than VR. AR has not yet reached the peak of its capabilities. 

 

Augmented Reality in the Classroom

As an example of the potential use and technology effectiveness, a series of experiments was conducted in which one group of children was shown visual material with AR during the lessons, and for the second group, the students were shown visual materials using posters and diagrams. 

It was revealed that in the group where augmented reality was used, children’s percentage of information assimilation approached 90%. In addition, the level of discipline increased, and it was possible to keep the attention of about 95% of the audience. The results in the group with two-dimensional examples showed all indicators were half or three times less.

Using AR technologies allows you to create micro-applications with interesting content without restrictions. You can expect to see many quests, immersive shows, and simple educational videos in the future using AR technology. 

 

Augmented Reality in Special Education

AR technologies can also play an important role in educating children with physical, social, or cognitive disabilities. After all, AR technologies can create an opportunity for an inclusive learning environment tailored to everyone’s needs and capabilities. For example, augmented reality gloves that mimic the touch and allow visually impaired learners to hear the teacher and feel the objects they need.

Adding Modern Technologies is no longer just an idea … it’s essential

Modern technologies help to inspire, involve, and motivate students and facilitate the educational process. But the real value of technology is to personalize learning for each learner – creating an adaptive learning environment. Modern online learning systems must listen to the needs of society and quickly implement changes using new technologies to effectively reach the potential of learners and employees and maximize understanding and business benefits.

 

Is it worth launching new educational projects in a new reality and investing in existing ones? How will the online education market change during and after quarantine and pandemic? Such issues began to arise from our customers due to the announcement of quarantine. 

We are interested in developing our customers’ business and do not stand aside. Our marketing and business analysis team conducted their own research (for our clients in the field of education) and formed the top market trends.

Let’s first determine what reality we are in. It can be clearly defined as a situation of uncertainty. In such a socially significant sphere as education (secondary and higher), distance learning will gain more and more popularity. As for online training services for business, and private persons they also will not stand still. Some enterprises, unfortunately, have now suspended or reduced their activities. Others try, if possible, to adapt to remote work. People found themselves in difficult situations, but this is not a reason to panic. Many perceive the current situation as a new opportunity to improve their own professionalism, to obtain a new specialty.

 

Who needs online training? And is society ready to pay for distance education?

  1. Using the latest technology provides teachers and students around the world with amazing new opportunities for online education. And this means that the need for the development of educational projects will grow and require new approaches to their filling and communication between students and teachers.
  2. The main audience of online training services is small and medium enterprises and ordinary people. Most of the private audience are people of medium or high income. They are now working, have savings, and are considering investing in education. Moreover, it is unlikely that anyone is currently planning holidays abroad.
  3. People will look for online training opportunities in order to gain additional skills and become a valuable specialist in their own company, or find another, higher-paying job.
  4. SMEs are now in limited operation mode and are more than ever interested in expanding the knowledge and possible functions of their staff. Companies employees and entire businesses who have switched to remote work are interested in improving their digital literacy, personal effectiveness, and consider online training as an opportunity for pumping personal qualities. This means that in the near future a decline in sales in the online education market is not expected.

It is also worth noting that some types of distance services are seeing increased demand for their products. If you were planning to launch your own educational product, start now. The situation of uncertainty is not a reason to postpone your plans for later.

 

What online services are in demand in the market?

  • Training programs. Modern professions that make it possible to work remotely: IT specialties, designers, online consultants, online sales. People actively master these specialties in order to find remote work or part-time work on freelance.
  • Separately, it is worth noting the training of professions in the field of online education. The industry has a noticeable shortage of personnel and a high demand for technical administrators, methodologists, and producers. Therefore, training services in these areas is a great investment.
  • Internal online training systems for companies. Educational services that allow companies of any level and field of business to quickly integrate new employees into the workflow, adapt to innovations or organize new business processes for current employees.
  • Financial knowledge. Online courses where people are taught to plan the budget and effectively manage the company’s money and personal income in current realities are very important.
  • Online courses on sports and a healthy lifestyle. Of particular interest are personal online training with a trainer or drawing up a personal healthy lifestyle program. In conditions of quarantine and the intensity of modern life, such services will become increasingly relevant. And people are willing to pay for such individual lessons.
  • Upbringing and children’s development. Such courses have always been particularly popular and very relevant during quarantine when parents must figure out what to do with a child locked with them in four walls and forgetting what walks and games with peers are. Entertainment products are also popular – for example, online modeling or painting lessons for children. Online lectures for teenagers using troubling topics.
  • In the field of psychology, there is a high demand for online courses on how to maintain self-control, how to get along in the family, and avoid stressful situations in family isolation (this is an urgent problem while quarantining).
  • Time management and personal effectiveness. Many specialists who switched to remote work were not ready for the features of such work and were looking for courses where they would be taught how to work more efficiently and competently in managing their time. Also, various time tracking services should be included here.

This is just a small list of online educational projects that are relevant now and will gain more and more popularity in the nearest future.

 

What can be done to make your products in high demand?

  • Practice-oriented training. Please clearly communicate the measurable and concrete results that students will receive using your online service.
  • Focus on successful cases. Tell in your communication how the life of your students has changed after training.
  • For vocational training services, consider providing employment assistance. People who are in search of work, consider courses where during training they can take an internship in companies and after graduation receive job offers.
  • Offer short courses (1 to 3 months). Long-term programs are less in demand in a situation where people do not know what tomorrow will bring them.
  • Project training. Your service will attract more attention if students study and develop their own, working project. By the end of the training, students will receive a ready-made project, ready to be launched on the market, or already started during the training process.
  • Offer an inexpensive product or a profitable package. The issue of price in a crisis becomes painful, and people even longer decide to buy expensive educational products.
  • Pack your courses under quarantine. How to be effective at remote work? How to play sports at home without equipment? How to find a new niche for the business? How to optimize resources or costs?
  • Open the asynchronous learning format. Most often, services only practice synchronous learning (when a student listens to a course with a group and the lessons open sequentially, one after the other). Offer people the opportunity to learn asynchronously and access all learning content at once. This will be a very popular service for students who want to quickly learn, for example, a new skill. Asynchronous learning allows students to design their own learning schedules.
  • Consider the option of installment payment for training, offer the sale of training “parts”. Depending on the orientation of your service, this way you can attract more customers who want to study.
  • Try to show why your product is worth the money. A potential audience always has this question. And you’d better answer it than your clients will go to think and find convincing arguments.

Pay your attention. You need to talk to your audience. Talk to them on your educational service website, in reviews, in articles, in advertisements, speak at online conferences (a great opportunity to declare yourself and your product). Remove objections, talk about the opportunities that your products provide at this particular time. In conditions of total uncertainty, there is nothing worse than silence. Provide new products in response to market demands, and then no economic crisis will stop the development of your project.

WebSummit

Every Web Summit is completely different. We do not know yet what we will perceive this year. But we can definitely say that it is very numerous and diverse. In the meantime, active preparations for #WebSummit2019 are underway, and we want to remind you what the #WebSummit2018 was like. Last year this technological conference brought together over 70,000 participants. It’s not in vain, according to Forbes magazine, this conference is the best high-tech event in the world. The specialists from around the world meet at the summit to keep abreast of upcoming trends, to build a network, to present their projects or find investors.

 

Where?

By tradition, everything went on in Portuguese capital, Lisbon. The entire event consisted of 23 major thematic conferences, which were located in several buildings. All performances took place in parallel with each other. Every space was divided into many zones with a stage, each is dedicated to its field: these are not only technologies and IT developments, but also VR / AR, marketing, game industry, mobile applications, AI, Big Data, Social Media, IT Security, cryptocurrency, startups, sports and much more. The WS site posted a schedule where you could draw up your own plan and attend those presentations that are most interesting to you.

 

For whom?

This is a large-scale event for large company managers, business owners, startups and representatives of various industries. A great opportunity to learn a lot from the world of high technology. A record number of start-ups were presented at the Web Summit – 1800. More than 1200 speakers from different parts of the world appear on the summit stages, including the creator of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee, Microsoft President Brad Smith, Oculus Rift inventor Palmer Lucky, stage director Darren Aronofsky, eBay CEO Devin Wenig, Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider and even former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

 

What did they say?

The keynote of all opening speeches was the issue of a secure future on the Internet. The world has reached the point where 50% of the Earth’s population is connected and has Internet access. And now it can be considered one of the basic rights for the majority. It is in our power to make this space friendly and helpful. And how to put digital solutions at the service of society, while avoiding the traps lurking on the World Wide Web?

 

Interaction!

The state paid a lot of attention to this event. The speakers were the President of Portugal, the Prime Minister of Portugal, the UN Secretary-General (Portuguese by nationality). We were pleased with the number and openness of discussions that took place with real performers, top managers of the largest companies and corporations in the world. Speakers shared trends, problems, were told where the vector of their further development is directed. Everything is extremely compressed but in essence. It is worth a visit to get inspired, but you need to have a clear understanding of what you are interested in.

 

Startup and Corporate Business.

Real-time startup showcases grow up and become more solid every year. Previously, young projects rarely demonstrated prototypes of their developments. This year there were more beta and growth projects demonstrating work products and the real customer base. As for corporate business, one can clearly see how their approaches for using innovations continue to change. For example, even PVA holding presented its well-known brands: Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. Brands are trying to show openness to new technologies and are looking for competitive advantages not only in increasing sales. Their interest is not an investment for dividends, but the application of technology in their business. This could be achieved both by acquisitions of startups and simply by obtaining exclusive rights to these technologies.

 

Why is it important to attend?

In addition to conferences, exhibitions, and forums on the Web Summit 2018, there was something else. This was a party network where startups meet with technology companies and investors; the place where the presence of advanced technologies, including, for advertising and marketing, took place. This was a more interactive event format.

 

What can you get?

The most important reason why we should attend such an event is a new experience and inspection. For our clients, first of all, we are experts and consultants, and accordingly, it is critically important to understand all the latest trends and convert them into plans, strategies, actions. This means being professional and fulfilling our responsibilities in a quality manner.

 

We will definitely take part in the #WebSummit2019, since such conferences are an almost perfect way to keep abreast of technological trends, monitor how industries solve their problems, and simply expand the circle of business communication.

In today’s world, a webinar is not only a remote lecture on video communication but a useful tool for generating leads and promoting on the Internet. By giving people the opportunity to find out the information they are interested in, you will receive contact information of potential customers already interested in your services in return. On gaining wide application in the advertising field, webinars received a powerful push to automate many functions. After all, to use all the capabilities of this tool you need to perform many operations manually. Therefore, we have prepared materials on how to make an assistant tool in conducting webinars, which meets all modern and personal needs.

Understanding Multiple Webinar Scenarios

Remote presenters. Of course, it makes no sense to consider the functions of tools without regard to specific use cases. Modern programs for webinars successfully merge on and off campus using remote interaction features. For example, as a webinar has two parties – learners and presenters – participants can access an event from all over the globe using PC or phone. That’s why if there are several presenters who are not in one place, they can either access all the features by joining the event or even run several programs on the presenter’s PC remotely.

Discussion management. An important role in the webinars is played by discussions. You can, at your own discretion, determine who can participate in the discussions during the webinar. However, it should be noted that not always the possibility of managing textual communication is the determining factor for the choice of the instrument. Sometimes basic settings are enough especially if there is only a need to deliver the same information right away to a large number of listeners.

Training integration. In training webinars within companies, there is usually a need to organize group work. Therefore, some of the tools allow learners to interact with each other in a mixed webinar which is combined with face-to-face activities. There are webinar tools integrated with the distance learning environment called Moodle. The creators of Moodle training courses have the opportunity to build in the learning process such training formats as online training, and master classes, into their webinars.

Promotion enhancement. Also, more and more often webinars are used not in training but promotional purposes. Some of them make it possible to create a landing page for an online event with a webinar description and registration form. After registration, a mass mailing of invitations to the webinar can be carried out directly from the platform.

Webinar Application Design

Research & training. First of all, to start the development you need to determine the target audience of the future application. Answer the following questions first:

  • In what kind of webinars will it be used? (advertising, training)
  • How many experts can be present simultaneously (for instance, round tables allow to collect several experts at one event to discuss the topic)
  • The number of participants (if you are going to develop a tool for your own organization) and the limit of participants by subscription (for application monetization)

To define a format of webinars which will be organized by means of application you can also use market research results.

Development. In the development of the application associated with the video signal, you will have to face the prevention of connection loss, the quality of signal transmission, video capture from the host computer screen, etc. Also, you may need to develop algorithms for remote connection and control of a computer.

Basic features to be implemented:

  • Waiting room
  • Timeline
  • Live Chat
  • Transmitting the screen & voice
  • Email automation
  • Participating confirmation
  • Capturing video of the webinar

Advanced features:

  • Whiteboard
  • Participants analytics
  • Mobile support
  • Ability to draw on the screen
  • Ability to mute some attendees
  • Monetization tools
  • Multiple host support, etc.

Quality assurance. Another important point is ensuring the quality of the application. Webinars require the simultaneous connection of a large number of people (from 2 to several thousand people), which implies high loads on the server side. Therefore, it is important to test the application operation in both ideal and unfavorable conditions – unstable connection, numerous simultaneous requests, etc.

Support. Technologies do not stand still, so it’s important to implement improvements to the application as often as possible. The support team will cope with this task.

Available Solutions: GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar

GoToMeeting is a well-known webinar and video-conference tool with a long history. This is the basic solution allowing to create conferences with up to 15 people first launched in 2004. In addition to the basic features, it gave an ability to record discussion for further playback, sharing access to individual applications, tools for drawing on the screen and for generating reports. It gradually evolved into one of the greatest webinar tools as it uses patented technology that allows access to an arbitrary application running on the presenter computer in real time. GoToWebinar is another project of the same company, Citrix Online, used to create webinars for 1000 people simultaneously.

Summary: How to Make a Successful Application for Webinars

Creating a reliable application for webinars is not much different from creating any other quality application. All you need to remember about the peculiarities of this sphere is that it needs to support working with a large number of participants in real time, which means high software and server loads. However, carefully designed application architecture and quality testing of all the elements of the system will allow you to create a worthwhile product for both mass and personal use.

 

 

Sincerely yours,

Itera Research team

Launching a new startup, either online or offline is quite a risky journey, but more and more people are being encouraged to offer new services and products. At the same time, however, more and more startups are failing. According to Harvard Business School research, 70 to 80% of all startups fail to deliver a return on investment and a whopping 90 to 95% fall short of meeting projections. Many experts agree that 50 to 90% of all startups shut down completely within the first few years.
We conducted research to find out what entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and angel investors think are the main reasons for such failures. We could post a long list, however we will indicate what in our view the top three reasons are.

Market Failure

Despite being the topic of much discussion in startup communities, market failure is the number one reason. Startups tend to develop products for themselves. They think they have identified a problem and how to solve it, ignoring the fact that users are already solving that problem. A solution is often too far from what the market needs. As a result, the market doesn’t need the product, the market doesn’t understand the product, or the market doesn’t know of the product.

Not Selling Before Launching

After getting their first investment, startups want to implement too many “nice to have” features instead of focusing just on MVP. As a result, startups work too hard on the product and not enough with the market to build a user/customer base.

Wrong Team

Startups tend to hire friends, freelancers or low-cost programmers instead of established companies. They do this because they want to implement more features for less money. As a result they offer a substandard solution in a short amount of time that, while it may solve the user’s problem, is buggy and hard to use. As a result, startups lose users right from the start.

Summary

Before launching a new business it is crucial to research the market. Determine what your audience is, the best way to reach it and tailor your communication, what the problem is, how it is being solved currently, how big the market is, whether there are any competitors, what they are offering and how, etc. The research should be comprehensive because knowing the market is the key to success.
Once the market has been defined, the next step is to test it with a high-quality MVP. It should include only features that solve users’ problems and nothing else. It should be clear and easy to navigate so everyone can understand and use it.
Development of a startup infrastructure is highly important. The technical team is the base of the whole online business. The development team should be competent, experienced, dedicated to being the best and building great products together.

Sincerely,
Itera Research Team