How do you make sure your software really shines? Here are some tips to make your beta launch unforgettable: Find Passionate Beta Testers You don’t just want users; you want vocal users who push your software, servers, and sanity to their limits. You want testers to report glitches, errors, and crashes. The more often people use your software, the more problems you can find early. This is the time to locate and patch any bugs....

According to a report from Enterprise Strategy Group titled The Life and Times of Cybersecurity Professionals, 70 percent of cyber security professionals believe that their organization is being negatively impacted by the skills shortage in the tech industry. To make matters worse, “63 percent say the cyber security skills shortage has increased the workload on existing staff, 41 percent have had to hire junior personnel in lieu of more experienced staff, and 41 percent claim the cyber security staff spends a disproportional amount of time on incident response and limited time on planning and strategy....

The report comes from digital investment advisor Stash and was completed June 6-9, 2017, making it one of the few company ethics studies to survey those fully aware of ride-share company Uber’s very public PR crisis, which most recently resulted in the departure of the company’s SVP of Business, Emil Michael. The first sign that Uber had a problem: Over 200,000 users deleted the app in a January protest of the company’s ethics....

SWON is a smart device that attaches to 99 percent of existing shower heads. As the first WiFi-connected shower head, users can save approximately $200 on utilities and 10,000 gallons of water per year by understanding how their shower is working and utilizing the many features available in the SWON. Speaking of features, this little device is stacked. It can regulate temperature and shower length, beeping to let you know when you need to get in and out of the shower....

Seven years later, the company, now in its own facility in Westbrook, Maine has widened its scope. While residential wind turbines are still a major part of Pika’s business, the cofounders eventually realized the underlying platform technology they had developed to make backyard turbines more accessible could also be applied to more efficiently manage power grids and incorporate renewable energy sources. Last September, Pika announced it had won a $875,000 grant from the U....

Tech.Co is hosting their eighth annual Startup Night that will allow innovative startups to make their mark on the famous conference. For the last eight years, we’ve mixed together the world’s brightest startups in a venue jam packed with technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and investors. Tech.Co’s 2017 Startup Night promises to be our best time at SXSW ever. Tech.Co will be showcasing approximately 30 of the hottest startups from around the world at SXSW....

From the new generation of consumer tech products to the innovative advancements of artificial intelligence, technology always provides an exciting look at what the future might hold in the new year. And that’s what we’ve tried to show at Tech.co from the beginning. In case you missed it, we’ve published a wide range of articles all year on topics ranging from self-driving cars to social media addiction. Take a look at some of our best below and get ready for even more tech news in 2019....

Do you read Tech.Co every day? Once every couple of weeks? What kind of content would you like to see? Are we being helpful enough in providing resources for startups and entrepreneurs. Please let us know! Need more Tech.Co? Sign up for the Tech.Co newsletter today, and get the weekly wrap-up direct to your inbox. Here are this week’s Tech.Co Top Stories: Like what you’re reading on Tech.Co? Have some great knowledge and think you have what it takes to write some great content for others in the startup or tech space?...

Join us this September in Silicon Valley for Innovate! and Celebrate 2016! Register now and get ready for a fantastic 3-day journey. Need more Tech.Co? Sign up for the Tech.Co newsletter today, and get the weekly wrap-up direct to your inbox. Here Are This Week’s Tech.Co Top Stories: Do you have a copy of our book, yet? Order your copy of Startup Mixology: Tech Cocktail’s Guide to Building, Growing, and Celebrating Startup Success!...

It’s also worth mentioning that Tech.Co is on the ground at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, and we’re covering everything from new tech to innovative startups. Follow our coverage here and make sure to check out all the brand new gadgets hitting the market after the festivities have concluded And remember! Apply now to Tech.Co’s Startup of the Year competition, which will give you a chance to join us at Innovate!...

STARTUP SHOWCASE Saturday night will be the return of Tech Cocktail’s official SXSW Startup Celebration Mixer Event – a “Startup Showcase” mixer style event at SXSWi (check this link out in case you missed last years – SXSW 2011). Past showcased startups at our events have received great feedback and press, been funded on the spot, met new employees and investors, and some have even been acquired. Some of our SXSW showcased startup alumni include Foodspotting, Khush, Mobile Roadie, Storify, Tango, Sifteo, Sphero, Votizen, PopVox, GameSalad and many more....

Today, the Seed Accelerator Ranking Project released a ranking of the top 10 cities with the most growth in startup funding. Since their focus is on accelerators, they set out to answer this question: which accelerators have had the biggest impact on their ecosystems? One of the first ways to measure this is by looking at how funding activity has changed. Here is a ranking of those regions; scroll down for more information on how it was compiled, and a deep-dive report into four ecosystems: Austin, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St....

If you’re looking to identify certain problems and cracks in your sale strategy that have caused your funnel to break, consider these top four reasons: You Have Poor Quality Leads One of the greatest indicators of why a sales funnel is broken starts with the leads. Having a lead capture campaign that may not have been targeted correctly can be one of the biggest factors that end up derailing your sales efforts....

Here are six criteria that will tell you the typography that’s right for your brand: Readability Text has one undeniable purpose—to be read. If you can’t read a piece of text, it’s useless. The art of typography is about achieving a balance between aesthetics and readability, and that should be what you look for in your design as well. This is true for either body text, headings, or logos and other applications....

While the disadvantages are obviously numerous and should not be taken lightly, many are still highly interested in finding startup jobs. You have various different sites to help you find a startup job. The demand is high for these jobs, but why is that? Mainly: a startup job offers many advantages that often can’t be found in other traditional jobs. Motivating Growth Environment One of the advantages of working for a startup company is that the companies will encourage individualism and creativity, and strict hierarchy normally doesn’t really exist....

OpenTable OpenTable is perfect for the foodie on the go – this app focuses on securing reservations for you. You can search restaurants, view their menus, and even check out user reviews before you reserve your spot for a later time or date. Users can also earn rewards on this app, to redeem “Dining Cheques” that are good for any restaurant on the app. ChefsFeed ChefsFeed is a food-delivery app that lets you choose from a variety of restaurants – all suggested from reviews by local chefs....

In general, though, it is accepted that sleep is vital for business success, which is why more and more entrepreneurs are turning to sleep tracking to get the edge. Monitoring our sleep/wake patterns, a method formally known as actigraphy, is an ideal way to gain the insight necessary to determine how efficient our quality of sleep actually is. Enter The Sleep Tracker Sleep trackers are designed precisely with this purpose in mind....

This time for the #StartupsEverywhere series, Lisa talks with me about the challenges of building an ecosystem in a small town, who is rolling up their sleeve to help and her theCO entity. Lisa Garner is the Executive Director of theCO in Jackson, TN I am theCO’s Executive Director. My role has a number of facets—I manage the space and our employees, plan and organize our events and programming, and do the initial mentoring for entrepreneurs at theCO, among other things....

Attention Begets More AttentionCase in point, an article about Redskins owner Dan Snyder in the Washington City Paper: “The Cranky Redskins Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder” by Dave McKenna. This fascinating article published by a small local paper averaged 16 web comments per week for the fist 12 weeks it was published before something changed on January 30th. But deeper analysis actually reveals that after two weeks after the article was published, the comments averaged only 3 comments per week and then In the 13th week comments spiked to 470 comments...

But that’s not why most of the 24 percent of Americans participating in the gig economy do it: The majority are just looking to shore up their income by adding another stream, small as it might be. After all, most of these side-giggers are accounting for an entire 19 percent of their total income with their side gigs, which adds up fast. But those who plan to keep adding to their monthly earnings until they’ve got an interest-accruing nest egg will need to operate on another level....