Janet Harrison – Startup Fortune https://startupfortune.com Startup News, Guides, Training and Entrepreneur Community Forum Sat, 15 Jul 2023 06:08:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.8 https://startupfortune.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ICON.png Janet Harrison – Startup Fortune https://startupfortune.com 32 32 What is mindfulness and how to practice it? A beautiful story that helps you understand how to practice mindfulness in your daily life https://startupfortune.com/what-is-mindfulness-and-how-to-practice-it-a-beautiful-story-that-helps-you-understand-how-to-practice-mindfulness-in-your-daily-life/ https://startupfortune.com/what-is-mindfulness-and-how-to-practice-it-a-beautiful-story-that-helps-you-understand-how-to-practice-mindfulness-in-your-daily-life/#respond Sat, 15 Jul 2023 06:08:00 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=4353

What is mindfulness and how to practice it? A beautiful story that helps you understand how to practice mindfulness in your daily life

We all want to live a joyful life. Being mindful definitely speeds up the road to a joyful life. Here’s a simple story that can help you understand mindfulness and meditation. We all get the questions like ‘how to practice mindfulness’, ‘how to meditate’, ‘what is mindfulness’, ‘how to calm our mind’ and etc. This beautiful story will help you get a better understanding of mindfulness and how to practice it in our daily life.

A humble effort to bring an insightful story on understanding mindfulness, peace and happiness. This story is created based on a short writing by the great buddhist master Thích Nhất Hạnh. Hope you enjoy the story and find it worth your time. Please share your feedback so we can create more meaningful and entertaining stories.

What is mindfulness video

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New Indian Startup to Launch Kids Focused Fintech https://startupfortune.com/new-startup-to-launch-kids-focused-fintech/ https://startupfortune.com/new-startup-to-launch-kids-focused-fintech/#respond Mon, 25 Jan 2021 08:08:12 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=3541 After a two-year-long sabbatical, former senior vice president of Paytm Shankar Nath has turned an entrepreneur. Along with Paytm alumnus Ankit Gera, Nath has co-founded Junio. This would be the second entrepreneurial gig for Nath.

According to its website, Junio is a kids-focused smart card that lets children make digital and physical purchases. It also acts as a credit card and imparts financial discipline to children. Other than that, it allows parents to control smart cards through the app wherein they can create in-app chore lists and tie them with perks. The app also enables instant fund transfer, notifications and flexibility to cancel the card at any moment through the app.

The app is yet to be launched and it will go live in a few weeks from now. Nath and Gera have no plans to raise funds in the immediate future.

Nath has served as a chief marketing officer or CMO at Paytm for about five years. He was on sabbatical for two years after moving from Paytm. However, Gera spent over four and a half years at the SoftBank-backed firm.

Kids-focused fintech and neo-banks are a new concept in India, but they have been evangelised by several startups in the US and the West. Junio would also compete with Sequoia-backed FamPay. This Bengaluru-based firm was established in 2017 and had raised $4.7 million in a seed funding round from Y-Combinator, Sequoia India, and Global Founders Capital.

Step and Paris-based PIXPAY have also been building kids focused banking solutions. The kid focused banking might turn into a big investment in future, seeing the range of investments and fundi it is receiving.

https://style.yahoo.com/exclusive-interview-derek-more-plates-141747788.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-interview-derek-more-plates-141747788.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-interview-derek-more-plates-141747788.html

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Predictable Branding Strategies for an Unpredictable Year https://startupfortune.com/predictable-branding-strategies-for-an-unpredictable-year/ https://startupfortune.com/predictable-branding-strategies-for-an-unpredictable-year/#respond Fri, 08 Jan 2021 10:48:14 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=3638 Currently, businesses are  faced with multiple challenges. Losing market share, changing consumer behaviour, shuttered down stores are some of these challenges. The need of 2021 for brands will be to be noticeable.

Take care of your consumers

In a study it was found that 77% of brands are irrelevant in the lives of consumers. Nobody would care even if they disappear.

In another report it was found out that only 79% of the 2,447 global consumers who were surveyed could recall instances where brands positively responded to the COVID-19 outbreak. The brands took initiatives to positively impact their customers, workforces, and communities through the crisis. 

This gave a positive impact to the consumers. People  now see businesses as more competent than nonprofits and governments when it comes to solving global issues. This certainly shows how people value brands that align with their own personal values. 

Agility

Drastic measures will be seen in the coming year to rebuild the economy as India tries to position itself as a manufacturing hub in the new world order. India is trying to regain  its momentum to reach its aspired pre-Covid vision of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy. 

It would be necessary for the brand to be purpose-focused. It would also help to reposition the brand in a meaningful way to meet the needs of the stakeholder. 

A business can dramatically change course during its life cycle. An efficient internal marketing team can help you get the desired attention.

Growth of digital and physical retail 

Digital is definitely set to rise. But it is not the end of physical retail. No matter how engaging or convenient the digit market is, virtual reality cannot wipe out the human dimension of commerce. There is something refreshing in physical space interactions, trying on clothes, a trip to the mall with friends and it will be back,eventually.  But the whole purpose is to make a sale, whether customers are show-rooming or web-rooming. 

Localizing brand presence

Local stores came into sharp focus after the shutdown. The lockdown brought the relevance, trust and sustainability elements of local stores. Hence, making one’s presence by hosting community events, sponsoring local events and developing hyper local messaging strategies to address these local forums. This will drive engagement while addressing people’s fears and misgivings. 

Also read:

https://finance.yahoo.com/top-5-digital-nomad-leaders-100440646.html

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Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s Startup Lumi Labs Raises $20 Million https://startupfortune.com/former-yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayers-startup-lumi-labs-raises-20-million/ https://startupfortune.com/former-yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayers-startup-lumi-labs-raises-20-million/#respond Sat, 16 May 2020 03:50:08 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=2408 Lumi Labs is a tech incubator founded by Marissa Mayer and Enrique Muñoz Torres, based in downtown Palo Alto. It focuses on the consumer media and artificial intelligence space.

“Thinking about what’s next, I returned to my roots, rented the original Google office where I started my career, and founded a lab with my longtime friend and teammate @eamunozt. A bit of info: http://www.lumilabs.com” said Marissa Mayer in a tweet.

Mayer and Torres are launching Lumi Labs at 165 University Ave., a small office building that’s been home to some of the Internet’s biggest success stories, like Google, PayPal Holdings, Logitech International and Danger.

Mayer joined Google in 1999 as employee number 20, and was pivotal in the company’s development of AdWords — now a multibillion-dollar business. She left the search giant in 2012 to lead Yahoo as its eighth and final CEO.

Lumi Labs, a consumer app incubator co-founded by former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, has raised $20 million in venture capital funding, according to an SEC filing.

The intrigue: Lumi is based at 165 University Ave. in Palo Alto, where Google was headquartered in 1999 when Mayer became one of its earliest employees. She declined to comment when contacted by Axios.

This post is tagged under: Marissa Mayer, Lumi Labs, Yahoo CEO

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The Push for a Cashless Society and Cryptocurrency Future https://startupfortune.com/the-push-for-a-cashless-society-and-cryptocurrency-future/ https://startupfortune.com/the-push-for-a-cashless-society-and-cryptocurrency-future/#respond Thu, 30 Apr 2020 11:08:16 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=2279 Just last month, the United States congress debated over the creation of a “digital dollar” as a digitized form of the fiat dollars that would be backed by the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central banking system. As trillions of dollars in stimulus have flooded the United States economy over the last 5 weeks, the debate over unlimited federal spending and its long-term effects on society wages on. And many blockchain and crypto currency experts have weighed in suggesting that there hasn’t been a better time than the present to push for adoption of existing digital currencies, such as Bitcoin.

As the most well-known digital currency, Bitcoin has seen renewed interest thanks to the global pandemic, and it recently gained over 100% since hitting it’s 52-week low on March 13th. Since Bitcoin operates much like a commodity and enables a system of digital transactions, it has been called ‘digital gold’ by many. However, given its volatility since inception in 2009, Bitcoin has been seen as quite a risky asset in comparison to most traditional assets, including the U.S. dollar.

Can Bitcoin serve as the digital currency of choice by the masses?

The answer is unclear, but it has without a doubt made a significant impact as a ‘Founding Father’ of the $220 billion digital currency market. The pros and cons of Bitcoin are well documented. Weighing favorably, Bitcoin is the most transparent financial payment network in the world, allowing for global peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries. As ‘programmable money’, Bitcoin is cheaper and faster than traditional banking services, can be spent in the same was as ‘traditional’ digital cash, and is can have rules implemented that authorize transactions.

On the downside, Bitcoin has no regulatory oversight (which may be considered a pro by some) and its value against traditional currency, like the U.S. dollar, has been very volatile. And given that all transactions are public, traceable, and permanently stored in the Bitcoin network, consumers and businesses that require transaction privacy are out of luck. In addition, since Bitcoin is immutable, transactions cannot be undone, causing worry over a lack in ability to process refunds or chargebacks as a standard function of Bitcoin itself. Lastly, Bitcoin is seen by many as ‘anti-establishment’ even though it can be complimentary to existing fiat and digital payment measures we have in place today.

A few other currencies to watch

There are other cryptocurrencies that show promise and may serve as the catalyst for crypto adoption. Surprisingly enough, regulatory pressure from some governments and central banks are pushing cryptocurrencies to adopt privacy-focused capabilities while being able compliance with government regulations. Perhaps the best well-known privacy coins are Monero and ZCash.

Both are among the top 30 cryptocurrencies globally from a market cap perspective and they have varying levels of privacy features. Monero uses a combination of stealth addresses and a privacy technology called Ring Signatures to make sure transactions cannot be linked to a single address while making transactions virtually untraceable. While ZCash uses Zero-Knowledge Proof technology to shield transacting addresses once the are recorded on the blockchain. However, both Monero and ZCash are privacy-centric cryptocurrencies that are strictly used for payments and do not have smart contract functionality which may limit their mass adoption potential.

One of the most promising privacy cryptocurrencies that is launching this Spring is QURAS Coin, or XQC, on its own blockchain protocol is QURAS. QURAS is the world’s first public blockchain that allows toggled private transactions in public smart contracts. Unlike any other privacy-focused protocol, QURAS uses a combination of both Ring Signature and Zero-Knowledge Proof to allow individual users and businesses to select the suitable privacy level for any transaction purpose.

This ‘best of both public and private worlds’ blockchain gives businesses the opportunity to use blockchain for transparency, trust, and efficiency gain while protecting confidential information, something that has touted as a major barrier for enterprise adoption. In addition, with the combination of the two privacy technologies, QURAS users can adopt a digital ID that allows for greater compliance with regulations as well as real world use cases that require verifiable identification that cannot be tampered with or manipulated.

Upon the launch of QURAS’ main network next month, XQC will be accepted as a form of payment in over one hundred retail stores in Japan. Once that occurs, XQC will be the most widely accepted cryptocurrency as a form of payment in the entire country, second only to Bitcoin itself. In order to be a viable cryptocurrency as a means of payment, speed and scalability are essential. That’s why QURAS has been built to handle up to 1,000 transactions per second.

When asked about the delicate balance between privacy and transparency when it comes to blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Shigeki Kakutani, Founder and CEO of QURAS, said “Privacy is a valuable commodity and I want to give users the choice of either open or anonymous transactions while adhering to their both business and regulatory compliance as necessary.” Shigeki and his team see major industry adoption on the horizon as QURAS can offer wide-ranging applications built for medical data sharing, retail, gaming, supply chain and traditional finance.

Steering Towards Fiat Alternatives of the Future

As society continues to go digital in more ways than ever during the pandemic, it may lead to a cryptocurrency adoption unlike anything we’ve seen to date. Decreasing trust in traditional banking and the greater financial system by millennials coupled with ever-increasing cashless payments and comfortability with digital currencies makes the present a ripe time to see fiat alternatives come into play. While privacy, security, and volatility are all key concerns of many, every single major organization – from national governments to the Fortune 500 – either have looked or are looking at how blockchain and cryptocurrency can affect their operations and business affairs.

The table is set for these serious conversations to move forward. Only time will tell where they will lead us.

This post is tagged under: QURAS, Shigeki Kakutani

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How To Select The Right Payment Gateway For A Startup? https://startupfortune.com/how-to-select-the-right-payment-gateway-for-a-startup/ https://startupfortune.com/how-to-select-the-right-payment-gateway-for-a-startup/#respond Mon, 27 Apr 2020 11:10:51 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=2259 It is very important for startups to choose the right payment gateway from the very beginning. The right payment gateway will ensure the secure transfer of funds from the payment application to the merchant’s account. Depending on their merchant’s business needs, payment gateway service providers usually offer several features.

It becomes important for the merchants to clarify their needs to the service providers to ensure that their business has a comprehensive digital payments model. Depending on the need of the customer, the payment transactions should be enabled on the app, web pages and/or webfront. Quick and easy onboarding is a challenge that online payment solutions providers faced even earlier when they were trying businesses to adopt digital modes of payments.

Startups that face mobility and time constraints should consider a gateway that offers the option of online boarding as it is fast, easy and a convenient process for payments . it is to be noted that a few payment gateways have a purchasing fee and also an added monthly subscription fee. It results in an increase of the burden in the long run, when combined with the payment processing fee and certain other hidden charges. Hence one should always go for a service provider that offers zero setup charges and no Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC).

The checkout experience is also important. It is one of the key drivers in the growth or reduction of payments while making online transactions in the country. The customers are unlikely to make online payments on your platform if they face any challenge while making online transactions. But they will continue using the services if they are able to make a swift transaction. Hence, it is important to choose a payment gateway that offers a seamless experience to the customers.

The gateway selected should be secure for the business and the consumers. It is vital to ensure that the payment gateway service provider has a ready set of tools to prevent any online frauds. A gateway when it complies with the PCI DSS achieves the highest level of data protection. Any business should ensure that its payment gateway is PCI DSS certified.

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Tiny Robots To Teach Children, Educational Company Launches mTiny Robot https://startupfortune.com/tiny-robots-to-teach-children-educational-company-launches-mtiny-robot/ https://startupfortune.com/tiny-robots-to-teach-children-educational-company-launches-mtiny-robot/#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2020 09:43:06 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=450 Tiny Robots To Teach Children, Educational Company Launches mTiny Robot

 

The global provider of educational solutions STEAM Makeblock today launches its new product. It is a small robot that teaches children to learn computational and sequential thinking.

The robot is called mTiny and provides a stress-free learning experience for children over 4 as a toy, but it is more than that. It helps young people learn transversal knowledge and comes with extensive study packages. It is also interesting to note that it offers a learning experience without a screen, which is supposedly exclusive to this product.

By using mTiny, children can play coding games and discover new things to learn. The fusion of intercurricular content takes advantage of new philosophies and teaching practices to foster curiosity for knowledge.

The mTiny robot has more than ten facial expressions and more than 300 sound effects that provide a more immersive gaming and learning experience. Almost needless to say, but in spite of everything, mTiny is also composed of ecological and non-toxic materials so that your children do not suffer damage when using it.

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Kings Garden Inc on the Value of Brotherhood and the Direct Correlation Between the Team and Success of the Organization https://startupfortune.com/kings-garden-inc-on-the-value-of-brotherhood-and-the-direct-correlation-between-the-team-and-success-of-the-organization/ https://startupfortune.com/kings-garden-inc-on-the-value-of-brotherhood-and-the-direct-correlation-between-the-team-and-success-of-the-organization/#respond Wed, 08 Apr 2020 07:10:26 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=2035 The cannabis industry is notoriously one of the most competitive and cutthroat industries in the world. With a $10 billion market at stake, it is no surprise why some of the world’s leading companies and entrepreneurs are fighting for their share. Additionally, investors have started to allocate more of their resources towards cannabis, which has resulted in an additional inflow of over $14 billion globally in 2018 alone.

One of these titans, Kings Garden Inc was founded in California in 2015 by entrepreneurs Michael King and Charlie Kieley. Kings Garden has also launched their medical product line in January 2020.

During this rare opportunity, Kings Garden was nice enough to break down how they have grown this successful from the lens of both their founders and leadership team. We will hear how important culture has been and how a sense of brotherhood has built a team bond that resonates beyond the business itself.

  1. Michael and Charlie, can you please introduce us to them and explain how they help power the organization?

Sure, we pride ourselves on our people, our brotherhood and our relationships with each other. That is our backbone and we are only as strong as each other. That has been the foundation from day one that we continue to build on. It takes a certain kind of character and personality to fit our mold and its certainly not for everyone. We don’t take any shit or allow excuses. We are ruthless in our approach to execution, and we set extremely high expectations for everyone.

With that said, we have a great time doing what we do, we have fun messing around in and out of the office, and we all love what we do. Kings Garden is our family. Today we employ approximately 180 people and will be growing by approximately 15% over the next 3 months.

We have a tremendous amount of beautiful, strong and amazing women in Kings Garden like Lauri Kibby (CFO), Fiñe Score (Executive Assistant), Lauren Steffany (Field Marketing Director), Sarah Halpert (Social Media Manager), Olivia Bustillos (Manufacturing Manager), and many more. What they bring to the company and the importance of their roles is unmatched. We wouldn’t be where we are without them. We have so much love and respect for all of them.

Our leadership team and brotherhood consist of the following people, based on seniority:

Ivan Talan, VP of Marketing. Ivan was one of the first people to join Kings Garden as Ivan and Michael go back many years and are like family. Ivan invested his money along with his time and is an integral part of the organization. Ivan currently oversees sales, marketing, social media, and brand awareness. Ivan is a true warrior accomplishing herculean tasks which at times of assignment seem impossible. When the company was just launching and we needed to create a brand, Ivan took it upon himself to create the name and the logo. He told us he will handle it, and he did. As the production was starting to outpace the sales, we needed Ivan to create and run a sales team. Ivan, not having any experience in sales, took it upon himself to run all sales. He was so successful that the entire state of California got introduced to the Kings Garden brand practically overnight, going from a backlog of product to a complete shortage.

There is not a single task that Ivan has been asked to handle which he couldn’t, regardless of his experience with it. Ivan is one of the most reliable, honest and hardworking people we know. The saying “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog” describes Ivan perfectly. Ivan is an absolute animal who will not eat or sleep and will blast his 165lb body through concrete walls to get something done, because he said he would. Ivan is a brother, we love him, and respect him very much.

Jeffrey Fellbaum, VP of Distribution. Jeff was one of the first employees of Kings Garden who joined us during the construction of our very first facility. Jeff and Charlie go back years to when they used to work on construction projects together. When Jeff joined us we could not pay him very much due to a very tight budget, but we made Jeff a promise that we will take care of him. Not asking for anything and taking home almost nothing, Jeff believed in us and what we were doing. Jeff has always done and continues to do so much for the company.

Currently Jeff oversees all “product out” and all “money in”. Essentially, not a gram of any product goes out without Jeff’s approval and not a dollar comes in without Jeff signing off on it. We are blessed to have Jeff as he is one of the leaders of this organization who demands and receives perfection from everyone. With a tremendous amount of responsibility, Jeff’s attention to detail and respect earned through leadership is an example for so many. Jeff is a tremendous person and we are beyond blessed to have him as our brother.

Tyler Geld, Head of Cultivation. Tyler joined us in the second year of operations, quickly displaying incredible managerial and leadership skills. In no time, he became a manager of the facility in which he was operating. Very quickly he was promoted not so much by choice but by sheer will power to manage 4 facilities, then 6, and ultimately within 12 months, Tyler became Head of Cultivation. Tyler is an incredible person who commands people with his bravado. With Tyler at the helm, people perform or heads roll.

This should come as no surprise because Tyler, or as we like to call him “Cuz”, is also a tremendous athlete. Tyler’s dedication to sports via his purple belt in Jiu Jitsu and his passion for iron on the training grounds, is a huge reason for his success. Tyler pays tremendous attention to detail, has impeccable scheduling skills, internal drive to outperform every single time, and a burning desire to produce results. All of that can be seen in the flawless operational excellence and consistent high-quality product. We love this man as he is our youngest brother.

Cam Magallanes, VP of Processing and Packaging. Cam joined us roughly 2 months after Tyler and like Jeff, Cam and Charlie go way back to the days they used to work on farms together in Northern California. Cam started out as the processing (trim room) manager, as this has been his experience prior to joining Kings Garden. The processing room grew quickly over 3 years from 12 people, to its current size of 80. Cam is also in charge of the packaging division which consists of an additional 30 people. If that wasn’t enough, we also tasked Cam to oversee all manufacturing operations, thus adding an additional 20 people.

Cam’s larger than life personality and no bullshit approach to operations, results is precision like output of 600-700 lbs of finished flower on weekly basis. The finished flower then moves to the packaging department where it is packaged into 1/8th oz jars, 1/4 oz jars, pre-rolls, and grams. Excess biomass is transferred to the manufacturing facility where it is processed and packaged into shatter, budder, sugar, diamonds, and vape pens. Cam’s ability to manage multiple verticals, to know exactly what’s going on where, and to have his finger on the pulse the way that he does is unheard of not only in this industry, but in any industry. With Cam, the more we put on his plate, the tighter everything runs. Cam operates with a sense of pride and alpha male ability to lead, Cam dominates daily. Cam’s reliability allows us to sleep good at night knowing that big brother has everything on lock down.

Tommy Kieley, CMO. Tommy has been with Kings Garden for two and a half years and for his entire life with his brother Charlie. Tommy’s drive, relentless pursuit of perfection, and complete and utter dominance in anything he does and in everything he touches, has led to the way the company is perceived in the world. From design, to implementation of artwork, packaging, website, online store, more packaging, equipment, retail presence, and much more.

Tommy has dominated not only the CMO position, but also everything he touches and gets involved in. With complete disregard for the hours in the day or days in the week, Tommy just gets things done. His ability to dominate leaves everyone he is working with outside of Kings Garden crying for mercy. Mentally, Tommy is one of strongest people we know. Tommy is a huge inspiration to Kings Garden not only with his actions but also with his character, personality and work ethic. Tommy is a dear brother who we all love very much.

Gary LaSalle, VP of Operations. Gary joined us roughly two years ago, however, we have been working with Gary for close to three years prior to him joining the company full time. Gary has been our electrical contractor on all of the projects making sure that all of the nearly 250,000 sq ft of operations are in fact operating. Additionally, Gary’s and Charlie’s family go back a few generations. Gary is a beast and an executioner. Sometimes his laid-back personality confuses people, but if they bring out the beast, it’s unlikely that they will ever forget it.

If anything needs to be done in any part of the organization in regards to any matter, Gary will get it done. From design, to construction and operations, Gary is a terminator whose skill is unmatched and will literally do anything to make sure the task is finished. One of the most reliable people we have ever met in our lives, Gary is the definition of excellence. Gary is an incredible, gentle and kind person who gives the somewhat “rough” group of guys a warmer and gentler side. We all truly love this man and are blessed to have this brother in our family.

  1. Thanks for the introduction to your team Michael. Could we get feedback from your team on how this brotherhood has benefited them and Kings Garden?

Ivan: “I am living a dream every day of my life being surrounded by family at work. I am beyond blessed to be surrounded by these men, and the pleasure I get from working together is beyond words. I always knew we were going to do something great together, but what I am proud of the most are the relationships we have been able to establish and the team we have been able to build. We are in the cannabis industry, but really, none of that matters. It’s the people and what we are willing to do for each other.”

Jeff: “If you are able to do what you love, and love the people you are doing it with, it becomes a labor of love. If you are winning you can’t lose.”

Tyler: “The reason why this team is so special is not because of the level of experience each person holds. It is solely due to the amount of respect, love and most importantly trust we have for each other. Each of us has a great amount of responsibly and we are only as strong as our weakest link. Every day we are dealt a long list of tasks, issues and hurdles that we must come together as a team to conquer. We all have one goal in mind, which is to be the highest quality, extremely efficient and most consistent operators for not only one of the biggest cannabis companies in California but one of the best companies in the world.”

Cam: “Kings Garden has shown me you can choose your family as well as your friends. We breed winners here, everything is a thought-out process, and we do not rush to be like the other brands out there. This is where large-scale cannabis meets the top shelf.”

Tommy: “At its basic reduction, when everything Kings Garden has accomplished over the years is stripped away to reveal its core, it’s easy to see one simple truth; we are a family. You fight & you win for your family. This is what drives our tenacious appetite and enables us to succeed in our industry without fear or envy of others. We drive each other and we win for each other every day, without fail. We know who we are, where we come from, and what we believe in. We protect our roots.”

Gary: “The team that Mike and Charlie have assembled are the most loyal, hardworking and dedicated men and women that I have had the pleasure to work with. A true family environment.”

As you can see, we are a family with personal relationships dating back to before the start of the company. This has built a sense of responsibility, loyalty, and brotherhood. We rely on each other, push each other, and demand greatness from each other. The stronger each one of us is, the stronger the company is.

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An Interview With SafeSense, The Project That’s Building The World’s First Active Safety Bicycle Handlebars https://startupfortune.com/an-interview-with-safesense-the-project-thats-building-the-worlds-first-active-safety-bicycle-handlebars/ https://startupfortune.com/an-interview-with-safesense-the-project-thats-building-the-worlds-first-active-safety-bicycle-handlebars/#respond Tue, 26 Nov 2019 01:11:03 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=880 The brains behind SafeSense are rethinking what bicycle safety means. Using cutting-edge technology used by the likes of Tesla, they want to revolutionize bicycle safety. SafeSense is a startup based out of Philadelphia.

Hello Jibran, welcome to Startup Fortune, it’s indeed a pleasure to have you with us today. You are building a very unique project here. Could you tell us a little about how it all started? Where did you get such an interesting idea to work on?

Thank you, I appreciate it. This idea was actually born 2 years ago. I was doing a 6 month internship in center city and I occasionally used to bike there. In a span of 6 months, I had 3 very close encounters with cars. There were always cars pulled up into the bike lanes, picking up or dropping off people, and then there were these crazy drivers who were either distracted or late for work. My friend and I joked that only if we had someone sitting behind us who could spot cars, how great would that be? Then the realization struck, why don’t we build something that will do that for us.

Are bicycle accidents really that big of a problem?

Certainly, without any doubt. People think that cities are becoming bicycle friendly by giving cyclists their own lanes, and theoretically that should reduce accidents, but it doesn’t. Just two days ago, a report came out that bicycle accidents had seen their worst year in the past three decades. Every year, for the past decade, car accidents have been decreasing, but bicycle accidents have been increasing. More people are now biking due to environmental or health concerns, so there are more bicycles on the road than ever before. Just as an example, NYC is one of the leading cities for bicycle safety, and they spent billions on a project called Vision Zero, which aims to reduce bicycle accidents, and last year, according to their own Department of Transportation’s data, 26 cyclists died, and there were almost 5000 injuries. That is about 400 bicycle accidents every month. 

How does SafeSense work?

SafeSense works like blindspot monitoring for cars, but it’s much smarter than anything available for cyclists right now. So we are developing an AI powered camera which will have a vision capability, meaning that it will be able to see things like a human eye would. It will identify and track vehicles behind a cyclist. It will be mounted on a bicycle seat post, just like a rear reflector is mounted on a seat post. Now alongside that, we have a pair of handlebar grips that we call “active grips” and these grips can light up, they can vibrate, and they can beep at you. When a vehicle is detected, the grips will glow red, this will enhance awareness by letting a cyclist know that there is a vehicle behind them, and if the AI camera determines that a car is coming too close or is on a dangerous trajectory, the grips will flash, vibrate, and beep at the cyclist.

WOW. Where can we buy this?

We are finalizing our prototype but we will be launching a Kickstarter campaign in mid December, if you’re interested.

Can you tell us more about the core team members? Who are your key people?

Our core team is a group of amazing and dynamic individuals working on SafeSense. I happen to have an excellent co-founder and bicycle enthusiast, alongside me, Robbie. Then we have two brilliant people, Toan and Josh, and they are working on developing the AI camera. Then we have Su, she is a master at user interface designing, and she is designing an app. And we have Lorenzo, our creative lead, and he’s helping us with our Kickstarter campaign.

Just curious, do you think consumers would be interested in adding more technology to their bicycle? Assuming these would be expensive. Or how economical is it?

Well, first of all, people spend a lot of money on bicycle accessories. Last year, people in the US spend over $3 billion on bicycle accessories. Now, our product retails for $299, which is a very competitive price point in the bicycle accessory market. Initially, it probably won’t appeal to everybody’s budget, but eventually we want to make it even more affordable. We want to make it as affordable as possible so that more people can stay safer.

How are you funding the project? Have you already got any investors?

Right now, we are funding it ourselves, and we won a competition a few months back which greatly assisted us. In the near future, we are launching a Kickstarter campaign for crowdfunding.

In your opinion, what makes the project an important one in today’s world?

I personally am a believer of technology and I think that this is the best time to introduce SafeSense to the world. At a time like this when more and more people are biking, and accidents are increasing, we cyclists need better safety. If I say the phrase bicycle safety in the year 1980, what would you think? Probably a helmet. And if I say the same thing but changed the year to 2019, your answer would probably be the same. In a span of 4 decades, no new safety technology has been introduced for bicycles. This is why our motto is bicycle safety beyond the helmet.

Your technology, artificially intelligent sensor monitors and tracks vehicles, do you have plans to expand your services to other vehicle segments as well?

Other vehicle segments already have this technology. Car accidents are decreasing, and they are decreasing because of new safety technology like automatic braking, lane assist, and blindspot monitoring. We are just bringing another version of that technology for bicycles.

Is this just one project or do you have more ideas in the pipeline?

The one thing that our entire team shares, is the passion for creating great products that are a cross-section of arts and science. I think that a product should be beautiful enough to be eye catching, but simple enough to get the job done. SafeSense is just the first step. While creating SafeSense we realized the huge innovation gap in the bicycle market and we want to disrupt this mafia of old bicycle manufacturers and accessory manufacturers like Trek and Garmin that make ugly looking overpriced products. We have a couple of other things that we want to start working on as soon as SafeSense is out of the door.

Thank you again for taking time for doing this with us. We wish all the best for your project.

Thank you very much for this opportunity, and I would like to mention that our Kickstarter goes live in mid december so go to our website www.safesense.xyz and sign up to be added to our mailing list.

You can find more details about SafeSense at: 

www.safesense.xyz

https://www.facebook.com/SafeSenseTech/

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GlobalGeeks Inc. Becomes The Fastest-growing Company In The U.S. Specializing in Remarketing of Second Hand Consumer Electronics That Were Once In Your Drawer Collecting Dust https://startupfortune.com/globalgeeks-inc-becomes-the-fastest-growing-company-in-the-u-s-specializing-in-remarketing-of-second-hand-consumer-electronics-that-were-once-in-your-drawer-collecting-dust/ https://startupfortune.com/globalgeeks-inc-becomes-the-fastest-growing-company-in-the-u-s-specializing-in-remarketing-of-second-hand-consumer-electronics-that-were-once-in-your-drawer-collecting-dust/#respond Sat, 05 Oct 2019 03:19:40 +0000 https://startupfortune.com/?p=841 By bringing a sustainability in mobile phone industry, GlobalGeeks Inc., the New Jersey based startup group has evolved as a fastest growing U.S company by recreating renewed consumer electronics & valuable mobile services.

In this fast paced world, people routinely race from one thing to another in every walk of their life, moving as quickly as they can and filling up every second with as much activity as possible. But they tend to forget about the importance of recreating and refurbishing. By using this immense potential providing technique of refurbishing the used mobile phones, GlobalGeeks has revolutionized the mobile services industry. The company offers high quality renewed and affordable second-hand phones, tablets and other consumer electronics with a warranty so the users globally can enjoy excellent devices at very affordable prices with responsible customer service.

GlobalGeeks is one of the most trusted companies in the U.S that acts as a global authenticated and a direct source of mobile devices. By providing a service that covers companies and users globally, the company desires to further grow in other countries by increasing their recovery on excess inventory. The company actually gives a hand to people especially for those who can’t afford the brand new devices, by delivering them like-new used handsets that comes with a warranty. Every device that GlobalGeeks collects and recovers undergoes through a very severe 60-point inspection process to ensure complete customer satisfaction.

Devices are available in multiple grade levels such as A+, A, A/B, B/C, C etc. Based upon the grade level requirement by the customer, the product will be delivered to them. The company aims to help the clients by refurbishing and reusing electronics by extending the life of a product to keep them out of the waste stream. “To truly succeed in life, adding value to others always comes first. Once you achieve others goals & dreams, you’re on the right track to achieve yours.” shares Mr. Ahmad Loul, CEO and founder of the company.

About GlobalGeeks

Established in 2017, the company is headquartered in New Jersey, U.S.A. GlobalGeeks is a U.S. privately held responsible tech solutions company that specializes in consumer electronics and contributes to the best re-use of electronic devices extending its life span. The firm provides retailers, wholesalers, corporations and international traders with premier mobile services that range from device distribution and refurbishing to asset recovery solutions. They have multiple offices which are located in U.S., Europe, Middle East, and South America. GlobalGeeks has a variety of certifications, spanning precise quality standards and environmental responsibility. More details about the company and its services can be found at: www.globalgeeks.com

Media Contact Information:

Name: Cara Doherty
Company: GlobalGeeks Inc.
Email: Cara@globalgeeks.com
Website: https://globalgeeks.com

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