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The Rise of the Acquihire: Breaking Down the Trends in Talent Acquisitions

The acqui-hire (aka acquihire) is a relatively recent phenomena that describes when a struggling company (generally but not always an early stage startup) is acquired primarily for its talent. Instead of buying companies for their products, or even potential financial contribution, acquirers who are leading the acqui-hire movement are now purchasing teams of smart people (generally engineers) who have a history of working well together with the hope that dropping in these teams might accelerate and advance their own businesses.

For startups that are not successful (or not successful enough) and who may be hitting the Series A Crunch, the acqui-hire offers a nice alternative to death – a soft landing if you prefer. It lets the company’s investors, if they have any, recoup some or all of their money and might give founders/the team a bit of money, a job and options/bonuses in the presumably more valuable acquirer.  Acqui-hires are not where F.U. money gets made (translation: no unicorns here).  At the end of the day, they are a much better alternative for both investors and founders who can now talk about their startup that was acquired and leave with something versus nothing.

We wanted to take a look at CB Insights data on acquihires between 2012 and 2013 to see trends in this relatively new type of exit. It is worth noting that acqui-hires are hard to isolate & identify. Some are obvious as the acquirer states it, but many acqui-hires inevitably get dressed up as acquisitions in an attempt to put lipstick on a pig.

Here is what the available acqui-hire data says…

Acqui-hires highlight that there is demand for mobile talent

 

The following graph shows a breakdown of the tech acquihires since 2012 by sector. Given that the tech industry itself is highly concentrated in the internet and mobile sectors, it is no surprise that most acquihired companies are in these two sectors. Internet clearly wins, with almost 60% of all acquihired tech companies operating in the internet space. Mobile, which comes in second, makes up about 38% of all acquihires while traditional software companies make up only 4% of all acquihires.  The share of mobile is significant given that mobile is still a relatively small portion of overall VC but is growing quickly (the mobile industry recently had their first $1 billion+ quarter).  Acquirers are clearly interested in mobile expertise and talent.

 

Most acqui-hired companies raise < $5 million

 

Of the companies on our list that were acqui-hired between 2012 and 2013, 40% companies did not receive any disclosed funding prior to their acquisition. In these cases, the founders might have done fairly well given that there would have been no investors to satisfy first. As evident in the chart below, a majority (86%) of the companies that were acqui-hired raised less than $5M.

via www.cbinsights.com

4 ways insurers can implement mobile performance metrics - FierceHealthPayer

Mobile app performance in the health insurance industry continues to grow in importance and popularity. And as insurers embrace mobile strategies, it's imperative to measure their performance against cost and success at achieving business goals, FierceMobileHealthcare previously reported.

Listed below are ways to implement and operate mobile performance metrics, according to Insurance & Technology.

Determine resources

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Insurers should have a game plan when it comes to their mobile insurance team. Identify who will spearhead the project by performing a feasibility check to compare and contrast page tagging. That way, the team can assess if they'll require script-based tagging.

Figure out what to implement

Insurers need to identify what is high-priority--customer top tasks and most visited pages, for instance--and implement a phased approach. That way, the insurer can explain full implementation over time while focusing on areas that measure technical fitness of the app and the level of results.

Analyze data across various dimensions

By using mobile metrics as a base, insurers should look at different dimensions, such as time, content, marketing and technology, to better measure performance. The variety of dimensions will help paint a picture of what needs improving and how the technology is performing.

What to improve

Improving the sites that generate the most traffic may bring in the biggest return on investment and have the best impact on overall customer experience. By looking at total page views, insurers can determi

via www.fiercehealthpayer.com

Operationalizing Accountability in Insurance Mobility

July 18, 2014

Session time: the average amount of time spent on a mobile site

Benefits: helps determine if the website is meeting established goals. This metric measures network traffic for mobile apps and usage from existing customers. Is the goal to provide information customers need in the least amount of time, send them to a different website or engage them with content so they stay on the website as long as possible?

Depth of visit: average number of screens viewed compared to number of visits

Benefits: shows how engaged customers are with the site. It is critical for measuring effectiveness of specific pages that have a defined purpose (e.g., content campaigns or transactions). For example, your website is launching an awareness campaign with key content on the home page. Because visitors can view multiple pages within the same visit (e.g., home page and others), it is essential to know how much time was devoted to each visited page to measure effectiveness.

Frequency of visit: ratio of the number of visits to the number of users over a period of time

Benefits: identifies the frequency of visits to a mobile website and measures user loyalty. This is the most universal, fundamental and accurate way to measure traffic volume, and the most popular and widely reported metric for cross-comparing traffic from various websites.

Bounce rate: ratio of number of user visits with a single view event to total number of visits

Benefits: measures the percentage of users that come to the website and instantly leave, which is invaluable in determining website performance. For example, a directional site may be looking for a high bounce rate to direct visitors from an external site. For content-heavy sites, if the bounce rate is high, the website may not be appealing or interesting, and visitors will leave without opening another page. This shows how comfortable a customer is with mobile technology and the relevancy of the content and features.

Total downloads: number of times your app is downloaded from an app store

Benefits: demonstrates the amount of interest in an app. Counting the number of times an app is downloaded from an app store will provide the highest range of active users that may visit the site at any one time.

App users: number of unique app users over a period of time

Benefits: tracks how many people actually use the app after downloading.

Active user rate: ratio of the number of app users to the total downloads

Benefits: helps explain the gain or loss of audience over time.

New users: first time app users during a specified period of time

Benefits: compares the rates of new and active users to stay ahead of the customer attrition curve.

Retention rate: a real-time view of actual usage

Benefits: provides a sense of whether an app is engaging users over the short and long term.

Usage rate: how many people are using the site over a period of time

Benefits: Uses mobile website metrics to determine the effectiveness and ease of use of the mobile app and to measure the level of interest.

via www.insurancetech.com

The key to press release success: multiple visual elements [Study + infographic] | Beyond PR

via blog.prnewswire.com

Why the Internet of Things Narrative Has to Change

Internet of Things is the current hip phrase of technology evangelists, geeks and all kinds of clairvoyants. If, according to tech blogs and websites, 2013 was the year of big data, then 2014 certainly is the year of Internet of Things.

New projects, big funding rounds, the general hype and excitement are everywhere. And yet, we don’t really get the whole thing right. The general media seem more concerned with new smart thermostats design than how the concept of IoT is changing our lives. It’s time to approach this massive subject properly and start avoiding common misconceptions.

It’s not about things

The problem with Internet of Things is that everyone seems concerned only about the Things, maybe because the name, which kind of implies that. Every time a new connected light bulb or smart sensor hit the shelves, it’s hailed as another harbinger of the near future, where every single device is a digital entity as well as a physical one.

In the meantime, news like the one about BT, IBM and ARM joining forces with 40 other companies to build HyperCat, a Web platform for unified processing of IoT-generated data (a huge thing if it reaches widespread adoption) or Intel and Samsung creating an IoT consortium go under the radar for most people. And that’s just completely missing the point.

Just as the mainstream inception of electricity wasn’t about the light bulb, toaster or radio, the next step in the evolution of technology isn’t about Lockitron or Wink. Just think about it – it’s not any single, particular device that played the role of the ‘killer app’ for bringing electric current into households and businesses. It was the electricity itself.

It’s the unified framework with a set of open APIs that made it possible for hackers and tinkerers of 19th and early 20th century to completely change the world. Virtually anyone with the right set of tools and enough knowledge about technology could put together something to be easily and almost instantaneously connected to the network.

Therefore, it’s not the Things that are the point here – it’s the Internet.

Gotta admit though, the metaphor isn’t perfect, as the case is a bit more complicated here (of course I took the liberty of simplifying history of industrial electricity for the sake of this short post as well, but the Web is even more complex). That’s because by saying Internet, I’m actually referring to much more than just infrastructure that allows to send and receive all those bits and bytes.

There are two additional elements that are absolutely fundamental to the very concept of IoT. One of them is data, generated by billions of devices around the world, finally providing digital world with enough real world context. It’s best explained with Stacey Higginbotham’s words:

This can be cool. It can be creepy. And it can be convenient. But as is always the case when we encounter technological shifts,

via thenextweb.com

Brains or Bull Market? VC-backed Exit Valuations Skyrocket in 2014

At the 500 Startups PreMoney Conference in June, LP investor Fred Guiffrida of Horsley Bridge had this to say about evaluating VC funds:

Don't confuse brains with a bull market

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And while the IPO markets may look tame compared to the heady dotcom days by pure quantity, VC-backed tech company exit valuations globally continue to climb. According to CB Insights valuation data, aggregate exit valuation for global venture capital-backed tech exits has seen a huge step-up from recent quarters, hitting $52.8 billion in Q2 2014. Compared to the same quarter last year, aggregate tech exit valuations for VC-backed companies have jumped over 367%. Of note, the valuation jump in Q2 was largely driven by international exits including JD.com, Jumei and Just-Eat.

The chart below highlights the aggregate exit valuation of global tech exits since the start of 2013 by quarter. While aggregate exit valuation has bumped up in a big way, it’s worth remembering that most venture-backed startup exits are smallerthan the headline-grabbing home runs.

Of course, whether this run up is the result of brains or a bull market is something we’ll let you decide.

via www.cbinsights.com

What is GrowthHacking?

Growth Hacking from Mattan Griffel

Qu'est-ce que le Growth Hacking ? » Toile de Fond

Le growth hacking est un concept venu de la Silicon Valley qui commence à avoir ses échos en France. Dans le meilleur des cas, vous êtes déjà tombé sur l’article d’introduction au growth hacking sur Presse citron. Mais voilà, ce n’est pas encore très clair… Et puis d’ailleurs, c’est pas facile à prononcer tout ça…

Pas de problème, on va reprendre les choses dans l’ordre.

 

Quelques cas pratiques

Un des premiers et des plus célèbres growth hack vient d’Hotmail. Avant de devenir le site utilisé par des millions d’utilisateurs que l’on connait, Hotmail était un des premiers webmail (lancé en juillet 1996 par Sabeer Bhatia et Jack Smith) avec une faible croissance. Au bout de quelques semaines, les fondateurs se rendent compte que 80% des inscriptions proviennent de recommandations. C’est là que Tim Draper, un des investisseurs, eut l’idée de mettre une phrase à la suite de chaque email :

P.S. I love you. Get your free email at Hotmail

Résultat : la croissance décolle. Au bout de six mois, Hotmail atteint un million d’utilisateurs. En 18 mois, la start-up a 12 millions d’utilisateurs (sur les 70 millions internautes de l’époque) et est vendue à Microsoft pour 400 millions de dollars.

Un autre exemple que je trouve assez significatif est plus récent. Il s’agit de la croissance d’Airbnb, une startup proposant une plateforme de location de logements. Il faut savoir qu’aux Etats-Unis, lorsqu’on a une annonce à poster sur internet, on pense la plupart du temps à Craiglist, un site recueillant quotidiennement un trafic colossal. L’idée d’Airbnb ? Poster automatiquement chacune des annonces de leur plateforme sur Craigslist (contournant au passage toutes les sécurités du site), et attirer ainsi un trafic énorme.

On trouve de bon exemples dans toutes les startup web qui ont connu une très forte croissance : Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Groupon, Instagram, Pinterest…

 

Growth hacking : définition

Le growth hacking n’est pas une nouvelle discipline, mais plutôt une nouvelle façon de voir la croissance des entreprises web. Le propre du growth hacking est de faire intervenir tous les métiers du web ensemble pour maximiser la croissance. Elle s’oppose à une vision traditionnelle ou travaillent séparément le marketing chargé de générer du trafic et les développeurs opérant sur le site, suivant des objectifs différents.

Pour faire simple, le growth hacker n’a qu’un seul objectif : la croissance. Ainsi, peu importe le nombre de visites sur le site si de ces visites ne découlent pas d’inscriptions, de partages et de revenu. Pour mieux comprendre comment travaille le growth hacker, le schéma AARRR de Dave McClure représentant le cycle de vie d’un client est parfait :

 

1. Acquisition : SEO, SEM, relation de presse, emailing…
2. Activation : faire agir le visiteur sur son site : création d’un compte, inscription à une newsletter…
3. Retention : faire revenir le visiteur ; le canal privilégié est très souvent l’e-mailing.
4. Referal : utiliser l’utilisateur de son service comme vecteur de la communication : invitations par emails, partages sur les réseaux sociaux…
5. Revenue : l’utilisateur paie pour le service

Le growth ha

via toiledefond.net

Airbnb Launches Massive Redesign, With Reimagined Listings And A Brand New Logo | TechCrunch

Today at an event for its users, Airbnb announced a massive redesign to its website and mobile apps that is designed to make it easier for users to find the information that they need while also making listings on its platform more appealing. The company also introduced a new, modern logo that will replace the lower-case cursive “a” that has defined it over the last several years.

The functional elements of the website and mobile apps will largely stay the same, following a massive overhaul Airbnb did last year. But it’s updated the look and feel of both with this update.

With the launch of the new site, Airbnb has largely gone “flat,” swapping out its previous design filled with shadows and gradients and instead filling it with more white space and a common font throughout. It stripped text that used to be overlaid on top of photos and placed it below the images and added host photos alongside listings, so guests know whose place they’ll be staying at.

That starts with Airbnb’s Discover feed, which has been updated to take into account more information about a user’s location to show nearby listings and destinations. For folks in San Francisco, that could mean listings at nearby “getaway” spots such as Tahoe, or popular destinations like Los Angeles or Portland.

That feed largely replaces city and neighborhoods information that had been highlighted in previous versions of its design. But have no fear, that info isn’t going to disappear — it’s merely being better integrated into other parts of the platform. (More on that below.)

A Brand New Listings Page

Overall, the new design highlights the things that really matter when users are trying to decide if they want to book a listing or not. It starts with giant images that fill up the top half of the screen in users’ browsers in listing pages, and follows with ratings, a photo of the host, and relevant info about what kind of listing it is, how many guests it can accommodate, etc.

From there it provides information at a glance about the listing — what kind of amenities are provided, what the cancellation policy is and the like — and then provides the host’s description below. According to Airbnb head of user experience Katie Dill, that decision was made to highlight the hierarchy of information that guests look for when deciding whether or not to book.

To make it easier for guests to do so, Airbnb has made its booking widget on listings pages “sticky,” so that it remains visible on the page as users scroll.

Over the past few years, Airbnb has worked hard to create neighborhood guides for many of the major cities around the world that its guests hope to stay in. By doing so, the company can show guests what they can expect when they arrive and what kinds of activities, shops and restaurants are available nearby. With the new design, Airbnb brings that information directly into the listings page.

A New Brand

via techcrunch.com

Insight Report: The Rise of Online Aggregators

The emergence of online aggregators has revolutionized the distribution of insurance products and services. Distribution in the insurance industry has become increasingly diverse, with online aggregators, direct online sales, agencies, brokers, auction sites and mobile-based distribution. Online aggregators have enabled consumers to access multiple quotes from different insurance service providers, and their presence is spreading across the world, bringing fundamental changes to the insurance industry. This trend is likely to continue until 2020.

Online aggregators have become a growing phenomenon in the global insurance industry. Online aggregators first emerged as a marketing channel for insurance products and services in the UK insurance industry in 2002 with the launch of confused.com. After just a decade, online aggregators now account for 60% of new motor insurance policies and 50% of personal insurance lines. The growth trend is similar in other European markets such as Germany, France, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands. Although online aggregators are highly successful in the UK and other key European economies, they are yet to achieve similar success in other parts of the world. The American and Asia-Pacific regions provide growth opportunities for online aggregators over the next five to 10 years, and online aggregators have already established footholds in key markets such as the US, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and India.

The rise of online aggregators has radically changed how personal insurance lines are marketed. Instead of aiding the sale of insurance products and services, online aggregators have now become a key competitor for insurers, and have led to price-based competition and falling profitability. Large insurers with well-established brands are the biggest losers in the online aggregator-dominated market, whereas smaller insurers are the biggest beneficiaries. Brand dilution, and falling rates of customer retention, market share and profitability are key challenges faced by leading insurers due to the emergence of online aggregators. Smaller insurers, low-cost providers and new entrants have benefitted from rising price-based competition and access to a wider customer base.

The addition of a new distribution channel for personal lines of insurance is also a direct threat to insurance brokers. Motor and home insurance in many European markets, including the UK, Germany, France and Italy, have transformed from a decades-old broker-led market to an online aggregator-led market in less than a decade. A similar trend is also expected in other key world economies in the next five to 10 years.

More than half the world's population is expected to have internet access and own smart mobile devices by 2018, and this trend is significantly changing consumer buying behavior. The ever-growing use of social media is also making customers more internet-aware, and consumers are using multiple channels to purchase insurance products, with growing numbers using online channels to make purchase decisions. Online aggregators are particularly attractive to these consumers and their changing buying behaviors. Convenience, ease of use, access to the best deals, and one-stop shopping are key factors that attract consumers to online aggregators.

Online aggregators are an easy ga

via www.consumerelectronicsnet.com

The Insurance App Side of the IBM and Apple Partnership - Insurance Networking News

Apple and IBM have partnered to bring IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone and iPad for three insurance-specific mobile applications, including Mobile Sales Agent, Mobile Underwriter and Mobile Claims Adjustor, according to Karen Davis, director of external relations for IBM Global Business Services.

IBM MobileFirst for iOS Solutions for insurance, health care, banking, retail, travel, transportation and telecommunications will become available starting this fall and into 2015, the companies said. The apps will be developed exclusively for iPhone and iPad and feature IBM cloud services optimized for iOS, including device management, security, analytics and mobile integration.

“iPhone and iPad are the best mobile devices in the world and have transformed the way people work with over 98 percent of the Fortune 500 and over 92 percent of the Global 500 using iOS devices in their business today,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “For the first time ever we’re putting IBM’s renowned big data analytics at iOS users’ fingertips, which opens up a large market opportunity for Apple. This is a radical step for enterprise and something that only Apple and IBM can deliver.”

The new IBM MobileFirst for iOS applications will be built in an exclusive partnership that leverages IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities, with more than 100,000 IBM industry and domain consultants and software developers, and Apple’s consumer experience, hardware and software integration and developer platform. The products are intended increase efficiency, effectiveness and customer satisfaction, the companies said. As part of the agreement, IBM will sell iPhones and iPads with the industry-specific solutions to business clients worldwide.

See also: The Mobile Side of Digital: From OK to Great

“Mobility—combined with the phenomena of data and cloud—is transforming business and our industry in historic ways, allowing people to re-imagine work, industries and professions,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and CEO. “This alliance with Apple will build on our momentum in bringing these innovations to our clients globally, and leverages IBM’s leadership in analytics, cloud, software and services. We are delighted to be teaming with Apple, whose innovations have transformed our lives in ways we take for granted, but can’t imagine living without. Our alliance will bring the same kind of transformation to the way people work, industries operate and companies perform.”

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:

• Mobility
• SailThru Featured
• Data Management
• Claims

via www.insurancenetworking.com

Mobile Sales Agent, Mobile Underwriter and Mobile Claims Adjustor are among the enterprise solutions scheduled for release.

Travelex Insurance Services Launches Mobile Website - MarketWatch

OMAHA, NE, Jul 16, 2014 (Marketwired via COMTEX) -- Travelex Insurance Services is excited to announce the launch of its new mobile website for handheld devices such as smartphones or tablets. The mobile version of the website allows customers to engage in travel insurance enrollments with an easy-to-use interface that keeps up with an increasing on-the-go market.

Having an enrollment component on a mobile device is just one feature that separates Travelex Insurance Services from its competitors. Both leisure and business travelers depend on their phones and tablets for many aspects of travel, and this new site allows customers to enjoy the simplicity and flexibility of handling the purchasing process at their own pace.

Travelers are already seeing the benefits of the Travelex Insurance Services new mobile interface unfold, as the responsive design allows for the information to be displayed on screens of any size. "It was simple using my phone to get a quote and purchase a policy," explained Ann Marie Abboud, a Travelex customer. "I entered my trip details and in a matter of minutes had travel insurance for my family leaving on our trip next week. The convenience made it so easy to protect our travels."

With the new mobile site, customers can accomplish many navigational tasks, including:

        
        --  Learn more about Travelex's leisure, business and flight protection
            plans
        --  Auto-dial capabilities for emergency traveler assistance, claim filing
            and customer support
        --  Mobile access for fast quotes and purchases
        --  Auto links to request plan changes and find essential trip-related
            documents
        --  Answers to FAQs like, "Why do I need travel insurance?"
        
        

Now customers can access and learn about great ways to protect their trip investment no matter where they are with the new Travelex Insurance Services mobile website.

About Travelex Insurance Services:

Travelex Insurance Services, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is a leading travel insurance provider in the United States. The company was founded in 1996 when the Travelex Group purchased the travel insurance distribution services of the Mutual of Omaha Companies. Travelex delivers a wide range of travel protection plans through travel agencies and tour operators, in major airports and online at www.travelexinsurance.com .

About the Travelex Group:

Travelex is the world's largest foreign exchange and business payments specialist. The group is also one of the leading global providers of outsourced travel money to banks, travel agencies and other financial institutions. The group serves businesses and individual travelers through nearly 700 banks, stores, malls and airports in four regions: the Americas; United Kingdom; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit www.travelex.com

via www.marketwatch.com

Investing in retirement: The $15 trillion question | The Economist

WHAT to do with your money when you retire? It is a question that worries many workers in their late 50s and early 60s as they prepare to forsake the daily commute. And it is a question that fascinates the financial-services industry, which would love to get its hands on people’s retirement pots.

The question is all the more urgent because pensions as people used to know them are disappearing in the private sector. The traditional defined-benefit (DB) pension was paid by a company on the basis of an employee’s length of service and final salary. Companies are retreating from such promises because of the cost; investment returns have been poor and people are living longer. Instead, staff are being offered defined-contribution (DC) plans, in which both employers and employees put money into a pot.

In this section

• The $15 trillion question
• Neither liquid nor solid
• Sub-zero conditions
• Managing Mammon
• Time and punishment
• Competition, hammered

Reprints

Related topics

• Industries
• Financial services
• United Kingdom

A pot is not a pension. It can be turned into one by buying an annuity, an income that will last until death. But outside Britain, few exercise this option. And the British government is in the process of abolishing the requirement to turn a DC pot into an annuity. Folk will be free to use their money as they see fit when they retire.

The sums are huge. According to TowersWatson, an actuarial consultant, 58% of all American pension assets are in DC schemes. In Australia, the proportion is 84%. In 13 countries studied, DC assets comprise 47% of the total, or around $15 trillion.

Some people may celebrate retirement by blowing their money on a world cruise or a sports car and then rely on the state to care for them. But the vast majority will be more responsible and will try to convert their pots into an income. This will involve a bunch of difficult questions, the answers to most of which are not knowable in advance, and on which they will struggle to get independent advice (many intermediaries get paid more for selling higher-charging products). How long will people live? How much will they need to set aside to cover the cost of nursing care? What will be the rate of inflation? What is the outlook for investment returns?

The finance industry has a whole range of products for retirement, all of which involve a certain degree of trade-offs. For example, most retired people would like some certainty about their future income. But that certainty comes at a cost; financial-services companies can provide it only by investing in assets with

via www.economist.com

Le big data menace l’assurance

Le big data menace l’assurance :

Le marché de l’assurance est en plein chamboulement : le principe de la « mutualisation des risques » qui sous tend le fonctionnement de nos assurances est largement menacé par l’analyse fine désormais permise au client via le BigData.

Les effets collatéraux sont évidents : à moyen terme, les meilleurs clients sauront qu’ils n’ont plus un besoin indispensable de s’assurer compte tenu des risques faibles qu’ils courent. Les mauvais assurés en revanche, s’expose à des radiations massives… Covéa (MAAF, MMA et la GMF) travaille notamment à un projet permettant de croiser les données relatives aux accidents survenus aux jeunes conducteurs et l’attitude au volant afin de leur proposer des incitations tarifaires.

Il y a quelques semaines nous évoquions le cas d’Axa qui conditionne un avantage santé à un objet connecté. Les clients se voient offrir un bracelet Withings Pulse O2 en l’échangent du partage de leurs données. Les plus actifs -ceux réalisant au moins 7.000 pas par jour- recevront des chèques-cadeaux et des bons d’achats pour les féliciter de tout faire pour rester en bonne santé.

via connected-objects.fr

New app draws on the cloud to streamline insurance claims

A new app is aiming to even the playing field between users and large insurance companies by storing information such as receipts in the one digital location.

 

iGuard allows users to stop storing fading receipts in their wallet or an old shoebox and instead have a digital inventory of their assets which can be linked to Dropbox or iCloud.

 

Graham Moore, the founder of iGuard, says many people have been let down by insurance companies after having their valuables stolen or destroyed in a fire and he wanted to make the claim process easier for everyday Australians.

 

“Often people get so caught up in actually getting insurance, that they forget that proof of purchase is one of the most important things,” he says.

 

“Exactly a year ago my stepson was at a loss of thousands of dollars after his ute was broken into and tools were stolen overnight. Regardless of the insurance he had paid thousands of dollars for over the years, he was still unable to claim most of his property, as he didn’t keep every single receipt for each tool.”

 

Moore says as a result he created iGuard – a “safe place” to store images, receipts and other information.

 

“All your purchases and valuables will be readily available and safely stored in the iGuard app for any future insurance claims,” he says.

 

The idea behind the app is to remove the danger of receipts being lost or destroyed in an incident such as a house fire. The app also stores information such as a product’s model, serial number and item description. All this can then be sent in a PDF document to the user’s insurance company via email.

 

Moore says he bootstrapped the project, which took 12 months. He works as a website developer on the side and says the biggest hurdle was learning the iOS platform.

 

Despite the difficulties of juggling a day job with developing an app, Moore says he would gladly do it all again – and encourages people with innovative ideas to go ahead with their project and see what happens.

 

“Just build it,” he says. “It doesn’t matter what the code looks like beneath it as long as the end result is a useable app that benefits everybody.”

 

iGuard is available from the iTunes store for $1.29.

via www.startupsmart.com.au

Fund Review: AXA Framlington Global Technology fund - FTAdviser.com

Jeremy Gleeson took over as manager of the £207m Axa Framlington Global Technology fund in July 2007. He invests in global companies that engage in research and development, manufacturing and design in the technology sector.

He says: “I look at the global technology industry and choose to invest in companies that I believe have a strong growth profile and are fairly valued or undervalued.”

via www.ftadviser.com

Innovation meets insurance: 5 disruptive payers - FierceHealthPayer

It's no longer business as usual for health insurance companies in the post-healthcare reform market. Insurers now have to think outside of the box if they want to compete and thrive while vying for consumers' business.

The editors at FierceHealthPayer have highlighted five innovative payers that are taking major steps to revolutionize their businesses and to reshape the health insurance landscape.

Check out our list of five disruptive payers, including Highmark and Independence Blue Cross, whose innovations are shaking up the industry. Click on a name in the list below or navigate using the "next" button to learn more.

• Highmark
• Independence Blue Cross
• Oscar Insurance

• MVP Health
• UnitedHealth

via www.fiercehealthpayer.com

Sharing economy : San Francisco chasse le geek, mais la ville agira-t-elle ? | L'Opinion

Les utilisateurs de Monkey Parking, une application qui permet aux automobilistes de vendre leur place de parking aux enchères, s'exposent à une amende de 300 dollars. Une amende justifiée, qui souligne les limites de l'économie du partage.

Publié le mardi 24 juin à 08h19

Voilà qui doit remettre la communauté californienne de geeks à sa place : tout utilisateur de l'application Monkey Parking qui revendra sa place de parking à un autre aux enchères s'expose à une amende de 300 dollars. Une décision compréhensible : une place de parking est un bien public que seule la ville est en droit et en mesure d'opérer, d'entretenir et de monétiser. Par conséquence, la société italienne qui opère l'application est contrainte de fermer son service sous peine d'une amende de 2 500 dollars. Si la municipalité de San Francisco explique qu'en dehors d'être illégale cette activité encourage les conducteurs à utiliser leurs smartphones en conduisant, il n'est pas certain qu'elle puisse en dire autant le jour où ce type d'applications seront intégrées au tableau de bord des voitures connectées, d'autant qu'à terme, elles le seront toutes.

Cet exemple traduit cependant bien les limites de l'économie du partage, qui par définition fonctionne le mieux quand les produits «partagés» (en fait loués ou vendus) sont volumineux et chers, caractéristiques qui expliquent le succès de plateformes comme Airbnb ou Blablacar. Reste que quand il s'agit d'un bien public, les veilles méthodes persistent. Et pour cause : déployer une infrastructure connectée est un coût pour une ville qui préfère acheter des capteurs pour améliorer son efficacité énergétique ou sa gestion de l'eau. Mais pour les américains, du moment où il existe une demande dans de grandes villes comme San Francisco ou New-York en matière de fluidité de gestion de place de parking, le marché est légitime. 

L'ironie de ce prétendu nouveau marché est qu'il ne profite pas vraiment financièrement aux utilisateurs à terme : en partant du principe que sur une période d'un mois l'offre et la demande se stabilisent et que l'utilisation d'un véhicule - et donc de places de parking - est régulière pour la plupart des utilisateurs de ces applications, seul l'éditeur de l'application se sera réellement enrichi en prenant une commission sur les transactions. Car le solde pour l'utilisateur (qui achète une place pour ensuite la revendre), tend à s'équilibrer, à moins que ce dernier décide de faire jouer un fort taux d'inflation sur ce bien public, ce qui est économiquement insensé. Pour les utilisateurs, c'est finalement l'aspect ludique qui risque de primer, sans compter le gain de temps, évident, qui les a poussé à utiliser l'application.

via www.lopinion.fr

What Happens to Your Social Media Profiles When You Die? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Does life on social media go on after you pass on?

Image: Mashable Composite, Getty Creative, Magnilion, SoberP, thadthum

By Sylvan LaneJun 24, 2014

One of life's most perplexing existential questions gets a lot more complicated when you factor in social media.

While there's no definitive answer to what happens to us when we die, Dan Shaffer at WebpageFX put together a visual guide to social media life after death. While Twitter will start deleting accounts after six months of inactivity, most other social networks won't touch your profile unless specifically asked by a family member or an agent of law enforcement. Whether your account is deleted or deactivated, your data will be interred with your profile, and will typically only be unearthed if needed for a legal investigation.

See also: Facebook Has Spent $22 Billion on Acquisitions. That's Equal to the GDP of Uganda.

Different sites require various forms of identification and proof of death to delete a profile, but Facebook allows you to turn a lost loved one's profile into a memorial page. The memorialized timeline is accessible and searchable only to friends, who can still post and look at pictures. The profile won't trigger birthday reminders, nor will it appear in "People You May Know" prompts, so friends will only see it on their own accord.

Facebook won't delete profiles on its own, though, which raises another interesting question: When will the profiles of dead Facebook users outnumber those of the living? According to research by XKCD, that will happen around 2065 if Facebook stops growing, or around 2130 if its membership keeps expanding.

Now if only we could figure out if there was an Internet heaven or hell.

via mashable.com

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