But, as much as this scenario brings about a particular problem all of its own with capital outflows out of the United States reaching worrying heights, there are also an increasing number of companies moving back to the United States. Now, whether you’re based in America or you’re reading this post from outside of the States, if you’re serious about business you have to be serious about America. The vastness of the American economy and the reaches of Americana influence are matched only by the far-reaching power of the US Dollar – the Republic of Zimbabwe can attest to that, they no longer even use their own currency anymore. Different discussion for sure, but still of interest.

So what is driving American businesses back home, and is this a sign of things to come – how do these businesses survive abroad at all and what drove them there in the first place?

Let’s discover more.

Image By GDJ

WHAT MAKES A COMPANY LEAVE AMERICA?

The most obvious reason we have to explore here is the complex, never-satiated, and permanently demanding debacle that is the United States system of taxation. Depending on the city and state you conduct your business in, how many employees you have, and the industry you’re operating in, you’ll experience a very different taxation system. There is that and then actual monetary policy. Not just the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve, but how it translates to corporations themselves. We could all get better at managing our money, specifically cash reserves.

With States like Texas on an aggressive drive to bring in investment from tech companies leading to something like a “nouveau’ silicon valley in the State, they have achieved this only because they have installed a highly attractive tax deduction system. Companies setting up shop in the State will enjoy little to no State taxation and some of the most favorable Federal taxes in the country, with a generous deductible program for new startups that create jobs, and the rule is simple: the more Texans you employ, the more generous your taxation becomes. Just ask Elon Musk.

The problem is that taxation, simply in words, is sufficient in and of itself to cause stress to investors and the money-people.

But, we also know that that is not entirely true. New York City has some of the highest tax rates in the country – for individuals that are. For all the skyscrapers in New York, there are ten times that amount of companies based there who have taxation domiciled somewhere other than New York, and in most cases – not in America at all.

The Caribbean has been particularly successful in luring company HQs to their shores. With promises of highly lucrative taxation systems and, in many cases, little regulation, it’s no wonder that the “Yanks” are on the move.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF AMERICAN TAX

You may be surprised to learn that some of America’s biggest and most loved brands are no longer…well, “American”.

Burger King is Canadian after they acquired Tim Hortons, Budweiser of all companies now calls Belgium home, and Purina is now Swiss after their merger with Swiss giant Nestle.

What is more than just a little interesting is that many companies have left the USA for the United Kingdom – not exactly known for its liberal tax regime. Many American families have followed and now call London home. Sparking something of a “little America” in England’s capital, they bring that highly attractive Greenback with them. Relocation and migration it’s big businesses not just logistically but also in terms of consumption.  New migrants from America tend to come from backgrounds higher up on the social strata and need services that range from banking to Building Surveyors when they get there.

But it’s not exactly an easy process, so how bad is the tax in America that so many are prepared to navigate the complex migration system practiced in countries like the UK?

Let’s see how America compares.

Firstly, America is only just behind the UK in the Group of 7 nations that between them represent the world’s most industrialized nations, in terms of tax collection. So what’s the attraction? The UK is expensive, the weather takes some getting used to, and post-Brexit is not nearly as competitive as before.

Well, it turns out that they’re moving there precisely. Nearly 40% of American businesses in Britain pre-Brexit had to consider moving to other countries in the European Union. Still, many decided against it – and returned to the United States instead.

Photo By Stux

So if that’s true, and it is – why is it happening?

Well, the plot thickens, and it turns out that the problem that sent American companies packing for shores abroad is the reason they’re returning – American businesses set up company HQs abroad knowing full well that they won’t turn a profit, thereby creating a massive tax write-off opportunity.

And therein lies the problem, and it’s a multi-billion dollar problem.

These companies are not breaking any law unless it can be proved that they are deliberately devaluing or mismanaging their companies to gain this advantage, and the short answer to that is this: Good luck with that.

This sort of blatant abuse of the laws of the United States is providing tax campaigners with limitless fodder. It is costing the US economy hundreds of billions of dollars and, in recent times, even more.

The overall issue is way more complex to explain here thoroughly, but certainly, it is skewed to the advantage of CEOs and holding companies.

It is precisely the liberal business environment of the United States that makes it so competitive. Still, it is not necessarily an environment that is shared equitably, at least not yet. Speaking to whether or not you should take advantage of those laws? Only you can decide if that will work for you or not, but what is somewhat unfair is the lack of access to those benefits that the “average Joe” would experience.

The post When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough…Go Abroad (And Then Come Back Home) appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

Change management is a process that allows you to manage the impact of change on your business. Change can come in many forms, from shifting market conditions to revised regulations and new technologies. When change occurs, it can disrupt your organization and threaten its ability to function. Change management helps you anticipate and plan for the impact of change so that any disruption to your business remains manageable. This article first explains what change management is and why it’s necessary for companies that operate in dynamic markets. It then outlines the primary principles of effective change management processes, including why they’re required, how they help you remain agile as an organization, and key considerations when designing them within your business operations.

What Is Change Management?

A change management process is a strategy or procedure you employ to manage the impact of change on your organization. It’s necessary for all organizations that operate in dynamic markets or face shifting regulatory environments. Change affects every business, but the best organizations plan for it and implement systems to help deal with that change effectively. Change management processes include change strategy and road mapping, change management governance, and communication and training around change. Change management is a cyclical process that begins before a modification occurs and runs through the aftermath and recovery from it. Change can be both expected and unexpected. To be effective, change management processes must account for every type of modification. This includes establishing protocols for how to respond to unanticipated change.

Why is Change Management Processes Necessary?

Change management processes are necessary because organizations don’t exist in static environments. Instead, they operate in competitive business environments where conditions are constantly shifting. As a result, change will always be a regular occurrence in most organizations. Change can come in many forms, from shifting market conditions to revised regulations and new technologies. When change occurs, it can disrupt your organization and threaten its ability to function. Change management helps you anticipate and plan for the impact of change so that any disruption to your business remains manageable. Change management is particularly critical in industries that experience high levels of regulatory change, such as healthcare and financial services. Robust change management processes can help your organization minimize the impact of regulatory change and remain compliant. In addition, change management helps prepare your organization to respond to unanticipated shifts in technology and market demand. This enables your organization to continue to be agile and responsive.

Key Considerations When Designing Change Management Processes

Organizations that manage change effectively have systems in place to respond to change before it happens and recover quickly. Organizations that don’t handle change effectively find themselves constantly reacting to change, which can significantly disrupt their business. Communication and training are essential to managing change. Organizations must effectively communicate upcoming changes to employees, partners, and customers to know what to expect. They must also train employees and partners to respond to those changes when they occur. All change is not created equal. There are three types of change that organizations must respond to: 

Transformation: A transformation is a change that is required to achieve an organization’s strategy. It’s a permanent change that will last for the foreseeable future. Transformation can include pivoting the business model or completely overhauling product or service offerings. 

Transitions: Transitions are temporary changes. They’re often prompted by external factors and are expected to last no longer than a few years. Transitions often include regulatory changes or shifts in technology standards. 

Emergencies: Emergencies are unanticipated changes that require an immediate response. They can be caused by natural disasters or other internal or external factors.

Defining Your Change Management Strategy and Roadmap

Change management processes start with an effective change management strategy. A change management strategy outlines the conditions that trigger change management planning, the changes that require a change management process, and the desired outcomes of these processes. Change management strategies should be applied to all departments and functions within your organization. This helps ensure that all relevant change is managed effectively and consistently. Once you’ve established your change management strategy, you’ll need to create a roadmap that outlines the process for managing change. The roadmap should include details such as who is responsible for initiating and managing change, how change is reported, and the process for evaluating and approving changes proposed by employees.

Ongoing Governance of the Change Management Process

Change management processes can be prone to over-engineering, but they must also be robust enough to manage unexpected changes. Change management processes are ongoing and should be managed by a governance committee. This committee should consist of senior leaders from across the organization tasked with overseeing the change management process. The committee should review the roadmap for the change management process and adjust it as necessary, approve all change requests, and review all change reports. The committee should meet regularly, either as a group or in subcommittees, to discuss the change management process’s state and consider ways to improve it. The committee should also regularly review metrics around change management, such as the number and types of changes reported, to ensure the process is operating effectively.

Conclusion

Change is inevitable, and organizations need to manage the impact of that change on their business. Change management is the process that allows you to do this by anticipating and planning for the effects of change so that any disruption to your business remains manageable. Change management begins with an effective change management strategy. This strategy outlines the conditions that trigger change management planning, the types of changes that require a change management process, and the desired outcomes of those processes. A change management roadmap details the process for managing change. It includes details such as who is responsible for initiating and managing change, how change is reported, and how it is approved. The change management process is ongoing and operated by a governance committee.

The post Change Management: The Process That Keeps Your Business Running Smoothly appeared first on Grit Daily News.

“Over the years, we have seen what works, what doesn’t, and where the gaps are,” said Stamford. “The biggest gap is organizations needing more and more tools and services to secure themselves effectively. The key to effective security is joining the dots, not having more dots scattered in more places.”

Here are the four main points to consider when considering cybersecurity for your company.

Understand What You Need

Unless you have many resources to throw at it, what do you do to best secure your organization? What does best secure even mean? Which tools do you buy? Do you need a pen test? There are endless questions, and the answers seem to change daily, so how does anyone deal with this?

“Ultimately, if you determine that a cyber attack could massively harm your business, then make it a higher priority,” said Stamford. “If it won’t impact you ‘too much and you can keep going, then maybe make it less important. Obviously, it has to be important if you have compliance requirements to meet. Keep in mind that laws are changing, and if you don’t take at least a reasonable level of care, you may be liable for harm done to others.”

Consider Resources

The need for security is pushing up the price of the security. Because the sector is “hot,” it’s flooded with applicants. “Unless you have a considerable budget to spend on security resources, it’s difficult to get someone who can help,” said Stamford. “Ask yourself, ‘What are we trying to protect? So what’s the most important piece of data (and where is that data), or technical asset for us?'”

Realize That Business and Tech Are Connected

“Often cybersecurity issues are placed in a technical context,” said Stamford. “But if they can’t be tied back to the organization, then it’s hard for non-technical people to understand them, and even harder to show value.” Historically cybersecurity is seen as a purely technical field; this doesn’t help anyone. 

Get Past the Hype

Because almost everyone is impacted by cybersecurity, everyone is trying to sell something. Right now, there is so much hype “this product will make you 100% secure!” “Stops all attackers” “A.I to secure your business” that we are in a boy who cried wolf situation. Stamford said, “Everything is being questioned, nothing seems to do what it says, and organizations build up more resentment for anyone offering any solution.” Instead, ask, “Are we getting the most from the money we spend on cyber security?” That will help weed out the schemes from the players that will help your business’s security. 

The post Why Businesses’ Bottom Lines Can’t Ignore Cybersecurity: Expert Breaks Down What to Know appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Lakeside Software, a leader in cloud-based digital experience management (DEM), has appointed David Keil to the role of Chief Executive Officer. 

Keil’s track record as a leader of growth-stage enterprise matches Lakeside’s profile as one of the leading companies in the rapidly expanding DEX space.  

Lakeside offers unique solutions for a new generation of employee satisfaction and technological advancement. The pandemic revealed many gaps in company IT systems with the sudden transition to at-home work. Employees were left in the lurch, forced to troubleshoot issues previously handled by entire IT departments. 

Through comprehensive IT monitoring, Lakeside can predict and troubleshoot tech issues before they even occur, giving employees the opportunity to focus on their jobs. Their cloud-based digital experience management gathers and analyzes everything that could impact the user and gives an unmatched level of visibility. This level of monitoring is necessary for a digital workforce and helps increase productivity over time. Proactive IT operations such as this will help companies excel in today’s predominantly remote and hybrid work environments. 

“I am joining Lakeside Software at the optimal moment for the company and the market,” Keil said in a press release. “Our products are recognized as best-in-class by leading analysts, our investors have one of the strongest technology portfolios around, and the demand for digital experience management solutions is exploding. I anticipate a significant growth phase ahead and could not be more energized to lead the Lakeside team forward.”

Before joining Lakeside, Keil worked as Chief Operating Officer and board member at Tricentis, a software testing solutions company, where he was responsible for global sales, business operations, and post-sales functions. At Tricentis, he led a team of over 700 employees and grew the business from $65M to over $200M. 

Over the past several months, Lakeside has announced a number of major enhancements to its product suite including the expansion of its Digital Experience Cloud, the release of its Executive Insights and its interactive dashboards, as well as geographic expansion within the United Arab Emirates and France. 

The post Lakeside Software’s New CEO to Lead Digital Transformation appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Understanding the True Cost of Mistakes

The real cost of hiring the wrong person can hurt in many ways. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, up to 30% of the employee’s first-year earnings can comprise the average cost of a bad hire. This type of money is a lot for anyone to throw away. The topic of employee retention is something so many organizations try to tackle, but with fair to mixed results. Because when we understand the true cost of our mistakes and understand that the equivalent of approximately 4 months of an employee’s salary could be our final bill on an employee who has done nothing, we must address the topic of hiring the right person, from a financial as well as a professional perspective. So what do we need to recognize at this juncture? 

This is where, potentially, an executive search firm could help. Finding the right people is crucial, but also having a robust evaluation process that takes into account competency based on leadership assessments, reference checks, and behavioral-based interviews can be a major boost to help a company find the right person the first time. 

Where Can We Access Top-Tier Talent?

Businesses have a lot to focus on at any given juncture, and when we’re on the lookout for the right talent, it can be a double-edged sword. From one perspective we’ve got to address the best resources, but we also have to understand the quality of those resources. Accessing top-tier talent can prove troublesome when you are going through resources that most businesses have access to, such as the open job market, not to mention the fact that it provides extra work for your in-house team. 

Therefore, we have to have access to the right talent that gives us the ability to determine if these people are worth pursuing further. We need to overlook agencies and certain recruiters who say they have top-tier talent. The best approach is to find companies that can give you insights into the best performers, which saves you the hassle of liaising with potentially hundreds of unqualified applicants. 

Having External Guidance

Your business has a lot to deal with. The HR department may find themselves in over their heads when it comes to hiring someone within a very specific skill-set, especially if it is a brand new role in the company. When you are in the process of filling a newly created position, this adds to the challenge. Filling the right position does not just include skills but it demands assessing the cultural fit, as well as providing you with the support you need to put strategies in place, like compensation, structure, and the appropriate candidate motivation criteria so you can choose the right person the first time. Therefore, we have to look outwards before we look inwards. 

Hiring somebody with a very specific skill-set is never easy because it means we are looking for a needle in a haystack. The application process can be incredibly daunting for the employer as well as the employee, so when we are looking for the right individual, we have to form a close bond with an external company that can give us insight. The aforementioned executive search company can be an invaluable asset here because it will give companies external guidance and show them what the market is actually like in terms of potential candidates, but also help businesses understand what they are actually looking for! So many times, organizations seldom have an idea of what they’re looking for and may use the template of a role that already exists, but it’s far more important to craft a role from scratch, which is where external guidance can give any business a solid advantage. 

Learning to Protect Relationships with Competitors

Every company is looking to hire the best talent. No doubt your contemporaries are doing the same and are potentially headhunting the same individuals. Looking for top-tier talent means that you potentially have to engage in a battle of sorts to get what you want, but the fact is that when you are undertaking this approach, you could be undercutting your contemporaries, which could cause you problems in the future. 

Rather than engaging in a battle, finding external companies that offer discreet support can help protect professional relationships. Finding top-tier talent means that we still need to protect our business in as many ways as possible. 

Saving Money and Time

Every company is looking to minimize its outgoings. The cost of sourcing, researching, and recruiting talent is increasing and can be a potential waste of time if you don’t hire the right individual. Recruiting the right executive or mid-level manager the first time around is never an easy thing to achieve if you don’t have the right resources. 

As businesses are always looking to cut corners, when it comes to talent we could argue that we should spend a bit more time on it. In order to actually find the right people that do the role to the best of their ability and are a good cultural fit with the company, we should not necessarily operate with cutting corners in mind as this means we will always settle for less. 

The post What Does It Take To Find Top-Tier Talent? 5 Major Considerations for Your Business appeared first on Grit Daily News.

This isn’t unusual in the production industry. Still today, giant studios routinely rely on independent production companies and freelancers for basically every major television and film production. The content you love—created by Netflix, Apple, Disney and major movie studios—is almost all being shot, lit, edited and colored by independent creators. 

Yet while the technology exists to bridge the gap between independent contractor and enterprise client, for a number of reasons, widespread adoption of that technology hasn’t happened. As the creator economy continues to grow annually at unprecedented rates, the clear lack of infrastructure is becoming an exponentially larger problem. Enterprise corporations want to partner with young, agile, inspired creatives—but those creatives can’t afford the enterprise-grade tools the corporations may want or expect. The media and production industry is ultimately in a transition period that will last years before the two worlds can be bridged. 

Ad hoc solutions are fewer and farther between

By 2010, my agency was producing digital content for Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 clients—billion-dollar companies that trusted us with data that could impact stock prices and brand reputations. One client asked me to invest in a $100,000 firewall to block potential cyber threats from our editing server. I balked at the idea; instead, we simply never connected our servers to the internet. 

That trick worked 10 years ago. Today, in an industry more reliant than ever on cloud-based tools, that’s not an option.

This anecdote illustrates a fundamental problem that persists today, more than a decade later. Too much is being expected of workers who don’t have the means to pay big costs out-of-pocket just to keep working. In fact, the premise is flawed: the onus should not be on freelancers to spend thousands of dollars each year for software subscriptions and security safeguards on top of the capital hardware costs needed just to work in the creator economy. 

As an example, earlier this year, I heard from a content creator who’s working on a project for one of the largest studios in the world. They run a small production company and are, of course, expected to maintain their own infrastructure. So it was a critical hit when their prosumer server was attacked by a hacker who demanded a bitcoin ransom to unlock it. In this case, it wasn’t just the company at stake—the client’s assets were also at risk—but the responsibility for recovery lies solely with the business owner. You might argue that security infrastructure is a cost of getting into the creator economy, but where does that argument end? Where is the line drawn? 

The most frustrating part of this conversation is that the technology to solve these problems already exists. Enterprises have access to it. Some may even use it internally. But while most software solutions focus on companies, independent creators get left behind. 

The onus is on companies to find the right solution

Technology options for freelancers and SMEs are limited. So when they’re hired by an enterprise, the responsibility ought to lie with the enterprise to provide the independent contractors with the best possible tools. In an ideal world, this wouldn’t cost the company anything extra; it would simply be part of their everyday workflow. 

Consider what a waste of time, money and human resources it is for enterprises to invest in custom-built internal solutions, specifically digital asset management systems, but still use an ad hoc combination of emails, hard drives and consumer SaaS solutions for working with outside contractors—and relying on those contractors to bring their own infrastructure. What did all that time and money go toward?

Unlike decades ago, when my production company was figuring out the best way to handle assets and ensure security, modern tools exist today that mitigate many of these tech problems. My new company, Alteon.io, is one of many working in this space; we democratize enterprise-grade production tools for content creators of all sizes. And we’re not alone. Enterprises are using Brightcove for video content distribution, Telestream for transcoding and mainstream tools such as Slack, Zendesk and Zoom for everyday workflows. Creatives, both independent freelancers and within enterprises, aren’t trapped the way they once were. 

Yet the reality still hasn’t changed much. Freelancers are still struggling to keep up with their workloads and clients’ demands. And at the end of the day, as is often the case, it’s people at the bottom of the ladder who struggle the most. 

Naturally, enterprises are difficult beasts to change. They are mired in bureaucracy and slow to change their ways. But as technology continues to revolutionize the creative industry, workflow shifts are inevitable. We could all be creating more quickly, easily and efficiently. I encourage all company decision-makers to take some time to investigate some of the truly top-tier solutions out there—and independent creators should take it upon themselves to be bold and recommend solutions to their larger clients. Based on a survey my company conducted with hundreds of production professionals in 2020, around 40 per cent of clients allow their freelancers to make recommendations about media storage and delivery methods. While not a majority, that fact tells me that a significant number of clients are open to following their contractors’ leads. 

For too long, as much as technology has empowered creatives, it has also limited creativity itself. But technology is catching up to where creatives are operating. Now that we are at a point where we can break the mold, it would be shortsighted not to. By acting collectively, and embracing what modern technology has to offer, we can usher in a better future for the creative industry.

The post Let’s Bridge the Tech Gap in the Creator Economy Between Enterprise and Freelancers appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Additionally, the process is not that difficult once you know what you need to do. All you have to do is follow the guidelines and have some patience during the long process. So, if you want to learn about trademarking a name and protecting your goods or services, read on.

Trademark Basics

Many people think of a trademark as a way to own a word, even to the point of stopping others from using it. However, the scope is far smaller than that. In fact, the power only holds up within the same industry, such as two restaurants, products, or businesses. And even then, to have a trademark at the national level, more is required.

Even still, applying for a trademark can be incredibly useful. If you get a basic trademark, it prevents local competitors from using the name. Not only does it allow you to build a stronger brand, but it gives ample legal and counterfeiting protection. Plus, registering the trademark pushes it to the national scale.

In fact, if you only want a basic trademark, you have it the moment you start using your trademark. But those are limited rights, only applying to the area the goods or services are circulating. That is where registering comes in, which is mainly what this article will discuss.

Symbols

Trademark symbols are also important to know. By using trademark symbols, you are letting people know that you have a claim on the name. There are three basic symbols to keep an eye on, which include:

• TM is used for goods
• SM is used for services
• ® is used for registered trademarks

You can use the first two, TM and SM, whenever you want. However, the registered symbol can only be used once registration is officially done with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Scope

There is one thing to keep in mind when it comes to trademarking a name. The name must be connected to goods or services. Registering is not possible at all unless you have attached the name to something, though it is not limited to a single good or service.

It is important to know what it is your name is attached to and have relevant information at hand. Providing details on what goods or services the name is attached to will make the application more likely to succeed. Moreover, during the application, do not provide additional goods or services for future protection. Otherwise, it might be denied.

Strength

One important step of any trademark, especially when it comes to a name, is for it to be distinctive. You want it to stand out since it will be one of the things people know about your product, service, or company. Moreover, distinctive trademarks are stronger, making it easier to stop others from using them legally.

There are many things that can make a trademark strong or weak, but the USPTO outlines some of them on its website. If you are looking to make a strong trademark, consider the following:

• Fanciful Trademarks: Invented words. There are many of these out there, and they exist only for the good or service they represent. Exxon and Verizon are two such examples.

• Arbitrary Trademarks: Words that have no relation to the goods or services they are assigned to. Apple is a great example. If it were an apple orchard, they could not use it as a trademark, but since it is used for a technology company, it is a strong trademark.

• Suggestive Trademarks: Words that suggest something about the product, such as what it does or its quality, without explicitly stating it. Coppertone is one example, while Android is another. One hints at what the product does, while the other is related to the technology field that it exists in.

On the other hand, there are also weak trademarks. Keep in mind that these are not only weak but might not be registrable. They include descriptive trademarks, such as “creamy” for a yogurt brand. There are also generic trademarks that hit the nail on the head, like “computers” for a computer company.

Why You Should Trademark a Name

The most basic reason to register is for protection. The legal protection provided is a great way to protect your brand. It also becomes far-reaching, allowing you to expand without having to worry about potential conflicts down the road. Here is a list of benefits other than legal protection:

• Your trademarked name will appear in a database to inform others it is taken
• It can be used as a basis to file for foreign trademark protection
• It allows any lawsuits to be brought up in federal court
• You gain access to the registration symbol
• The registration helps prevent the importation of goods with infringing trademarks

There are many ways to receive a trademark. Common law rights only apply to the geographic location, while state and federal trademarks increase the scope and power of protection. You can also apply for trademarks in other countries, though there is no worldwide trademark. Additionally, if you keep using it, it can last forever.

Steps for Trademarking a Name

Now that there is an understanding of the trademark process, it is time to get down to what you actually need to do. Fortunately, the process does not have to be terribly difficult. The first step is searching for similar trademarks, followed by the application. The details are below.

Step 1 – Search for Existing Trademarks

According to the USPTO, one of the main causes of rejection is having a similar name to an existing trademark. It is not just exact matches, either. In fact, any name with the potential to cause confusion runs the risk of rejection. The goal is to prevent customers from thinking unrelated products come from the same company.

That is why it is important to do some searching before committing to the process. You are looking for exact or similar trademarks. There are plenty of resources to help, but some of the common places to search include:

• Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)
• State trademark databases
• The internet

It is relatively easy to find officially registered trademarks since they are within TESS. However, it can be more difficult to pin down local businesses. It is important to do as much research as possible. Of course, the trademark examining attorney assigned to your application will perform a search as well, but it is limited to registered trademarks.

Step 2 – Prepare for Your Application

The very first thing you need to consider is your mark. When you submit an application, you must submit the mark you wish to protect. It can be as simple as the name written as plain text for a name. You are essentially applying to a trademark without regard to styling.

You will also need to identify the goods or services in which you plan to apply your mark. After all, you stand a good chance of rejection without the appropriate goods or services.

Moreover, the application process also requires a “basis” for filing. The basis for filing is the legal reason you are allowed to federally register the trademark. Common filing bases include but are not limited to:

• Use In Commerce: Using it when selling or transporting goods out of state. The same is true for services. A good example is food that might be grown in one part of the country but be sold all over. For this type of basis, you will need to provide proof it is used in commerce, along with other information.

• Intent to Use: If you have not started using it yet but intend to, this is the right choice. You must plan to use it within three to four years, and you cannot actually move from the application to registering the trademark until it is being used in commerce.

You might also need to get an attorney. If you live in the US or its territories, it is not required, though it is encouraged by the USPTO. On the other hand, if you live elsewhere, an attorney that is legally allowed to practice in the US is required for the application process.

Step 3 – Apply for the Trademark

When you have finished preparing, it is time to apply for the trademark. The first step is setting up an account at USPTO.gov. Not only will it give you access to the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), but you can find answers to any remaining questions on their site.

Once you have an account, you can file the application online. Keep in mind that it requires a non-refundable application fee. Since going in unprepared could mean rejection and losing the application fee, make sure to check all the boxes before jumping into things.

After applying, the next step is to wait. Using the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system, you can monitor the entire process. In fact, you need to check at least every six months to avoid missing a deadline. There might be more than you need to do or think about, so regularly keep an eye on things.

Step 4 – Work With the USPTO Examining Attorney

The USPTO will examine your application to ensure everything necessary is done, which might take several months. Once that is determined, it is given a serial number and sent to an examining attorney. The attorney then reviews the application. The review includes things like:

• Ensuring it is compliant with all rules and statutes
• Making sure the application fee was paid
• Searching for conflicting marks
• Examining the application itself
• Reviewing of the drawing and any specimen

If things do not go as planned and changes need to be made to the mark, a letter (office action) will be sent out. However, if the changes made are minor, you might receive a phone call or email.

A rejection at this stage is not necessarily the end of the process. If you receive an office action, you need to respond within six months. If you do so, the process can carry on. Otherwise, it is considered abandoned.

Step 5 – Approval or Denial

The final step is where it all comes down to approval. If things go well, the mark will be approved for publication. In that case, those who think it might damage their business have 30 days to speak out. Opposition can extend the time until it receives final approval, but getting past it moves the process to the next stage of approval.

You need to continue to monitor the process every step of the way using the TSDR system. The next thing you will receive if things continue smoothly is a certificate of registration. An exception to that is if the basis for filing is based on intent to use. If that is the case, you receive a notice of allowance, but you will be required to:

• Use the mark in commerce and submit a statement of use (SOU) within six months
• Request a six month extension if you do not use it in commerce within six months

There is an additional review if a statement of use is sent in. Additionally, things might change depending on whether the extension filing is done in a timely manner. However, the end result is eventually the same, approval or denial.

Step 6 – Maintain the Registration

Keeping the registration “live” requires the filing of maintenance documents. In fact, if it is not done, it will cause the registration to expire or be canceled. If that happens, you will have no choice but to begin things anew, and there are no guarantee things will not change during the next application.

You also need to keep an eye on things, checking in annually to be safe. You can do that using the TSDR system. There are specific dates that you want to pay close attention to listed on the USPTO’s site. Also, make sure to keep your physical registrant address and email address up to date at all times.

Things You Might Need to Know

The big steps above will take care of most of what you need to know. However, there is other important information that might help. For instance, how much the process costs, a timeline, and some common problems. Here is a rundown on some things you should know:

• Cost: There are two filing options, which are TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard. The plus is $250 per class of goods or services, while the standard is $350. Therefore, it can add up quickly if you have a lot of goods or services. There are also fees attached to maintaining your registration.

• How Long It Takes: The time it takes can vary greatly, especially if you are applying with intent to use. However, the usual amount of time is between 12 and 18 months.

The process can take a long time, but it is worth it if you want the registration and additional protection. Moreover, each step takes less time, so you can see progress step by step as you go.

Common Problems

There are many common problems, including those that are fixable and those that are not. A few examples of both will be featured below, though you can visit the USPTO’s official website to see more on the common problems. To start, here are some mistakes you might run into that can be fixed:

• Descriptive trademark name
• The use of someone else’s name without their consent
• The trademark only has a surname

The fixable mistakes are things that can be changed without starting the application over. However, there are many unfixable mistakes that can bring the process to an end. Make sure you avoid these things if possible:

• The wrong party is identified as the trademark owner
• Incorrectly identified goods and services
• Conflicting with another trademark
• Generic or commonly used trademark names

If a mistake cannot be fixed, then the application will come to an end. Not only does that require you to start everything over again, but it means you have to pay the application fee once more.

Final Thoughts

The process for getting a name trademarked has some key information you need to keep in mind. However, as long as you prepare well, there is no reason the process should fail. Moreover, once you get the ball rolling, you start to receive more potential protection. It is well worth the time, and it will only strengthen your brand.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Trademarking a Name appeared first on Grit Daily News.

“Fortunately, there is good news to report from these new entrepreneurs. Business ownership appears to be working for many, as 71% are satisfied with the growth they have achieved for their business and 91% believe that their business will succeed within the next two to three years. But there are clear warning signs on the policy front. These new entrepreneurs view possible regulatory actions focused on technology companies as harmful, and would undercut their ability to compete and drive sales,” said SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan.

When these new business owners launched their firms, 60% described the economy as not favorable and 78% viewed their market as competitive.

“Despite the great risk and competitive market, many of these new entrepreneurs saw an opportunity, and technology and technological tools have been critical to their risk-taking and success,” added Kerrigan.

More than two-thirds (68%) of respondents use online platforms and marketplaces operated by Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, and they expressed concern about how possible regulations and legislation would impact their access to consumers while imposing new costs on their firms. These U.S. technology leaders are the targets of a 2021 White House executive order calling for increased tech regulation, as well as proposed bills in Congress, including the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S. 2992) and the Platform Competition and Opportunity Act (S. 3197).

The survey of small business owners who started their businesses between 2020 and 2022 found that:

● Only 5% agreed that “Congress’s policies are helping the economy and small businesses like mine.” 59% said Congress’s policies are hurting the economy and small businesses.

● Eight in ten respondents said less regulation by President Joe Biden was “very” or “somewhat” important for their business to succeed. Only 9% believe President Biden’s policies “make it easy to start and grow a business.”

● 61% of respondents were “very” or “somewhat” concerned that government regulations against America’s largest technology companies would negatively affect their businesses.

● Respondents are most concerned with losing access to free services and increased costs to access and retain customers.

“It’s clear that these new entrepreneurs appreciate the services large technology companies offer that enable them to affordably reach their customers. These owners worry losing access to these free or affordable services will interfere with how they run their businesses,” said Kerrigan. “Instead, our research found that these business owners largely want President Biden and Congress to focus on the urgent issues of taxes, inflation and supply chain challenges.”

The survey found that new small business owners consider inflation, access to capital, and President Biden’s policies to be the three top impediments to their businesses. When asked what issues were important for President Biden to address to help them succeed, the top three cited by new small business owners are lowering taxes and a simpler tax system, inflation, interest rates, and supply chain issues. Access to capital, incentives to invest in startups, affordable health coverage, less regulation, and labor shortages are also categorized as important.

“Business owners are overwhelmingly relying on their savings to fund their businesses,” said Kerrigan. “Three-quarters of respondents used their savings as initial capital, with just 10% using small business loans and 1% using venture capital. This shows just how much is at stake for these entrepreneurs.”

Methodology: TechnoMetrica market intelligence screened and recruited potential respondents by phone for the study from January 26-March 6. Qualified respondents received email invitations to take part in an online survey. The national study includes responses from 316 business owners. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 5.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

About SBEC

SBE Council is an nonpartisan advocacy, research, and education organization dedicated to protecting small businesses and promoting entrepreneurship. For 28 years, SBE Council has worked on and advanced a range of private sector and public policy initiatives to strengthen the ecosystem for strong startup activity and small business growth. Visit www.sbecouncil.org for additional information. Twitter: @SBECouncil

The post New Research: Pandemic Startups Expect Change and Success, But Worry Government Policies Will Hurt Their Operations and Sales appeared first on Grit Daily News.

What Is a Startup Accelerator?

The first thing you should know about startup accelerators is that they are a great way to take a startup to the next level quickly. Startup accelerators are essentially a support system where there are resources to help your startup go from 0 to 100 rapidly. 

Accelerator programs work with startups for a short time (3-6 months) depending on the program. They invest some sort of capital for a percentage of equity into your business. Their overall goal is to increase the size of your business and establish value by providing useful tools to boost growth. 

In the last few years, you’ve had companies like YCombinator and Techstars that have been able to create great programs and helped launch some of the most successful businesses in the world. In this article, we want to help you understand how they work, what the process is like, and what to expect if your company is accepted into one of these.

Accelerators VS Incubators: What Is The Difference?

Startup accelerators and startup incubators are two terms that are often used interchangeably. However, they differ not only in the service they offer but also in their target audience. 

Startup incubators are focused on helping startups that are just at the start of their journey, even when in the product development phase. Startup accelerators, on the other hand, focus on startups that are already operational and have a minimum viable product.

Incubators can be seen more frequently in academic circles like Universities as programs that allow students and graduates to get access to office space and mentoring. Accelerators, on the other hand, are usually programs offered by private organizations that focus on helping the startup grow. This means that a startup could graduate from an Incubator and join an accelerator but not the other way around.

Some key differences between accelerators and incubators are:

• Duration Of The Program. Incubators generally are the longest programs running from 6 months to 2 years. Accelerator programs are relatively faster and are done over 3 to 6 months. 
• Funding And Equity. Another solid difference between these is that incubators, more often than not, do not fund nor take stakes. On the other hand, accelerators typically offer a small seed investment and access to a credible mentor network in exchange for equity or convertible shares.
• Program Application And Selection. For incubators, the selection process hugely relies on one-on-one interviews to assess the entrepreneur’s intent. The criteria are focused on the idea itself, its impact, the team’s capability, and market potential.

Accelerators are selected on a variety of things. These include product/market fit, the X factor of the founders, and the high potential of ROI for investors.

What makes a good startup accelerator?

If done well, startup accelerators help companies to reach their goals in a quicker, more effective way. This is a various months process where a variety of tools are given to the alumni, expanding their opportunities, knowledge, and networks.

But, what makes a startup accelerator good? Certainly, there are 3 main elements to identify a good accelerator. 

1. Mentoring and teaching. Good accelerators rely on quality teachers and mentors who can share their field knowledge. They should allow and encourage you to engage with them during the length of the program. This can happen through meetings, calls, or time in their physical facilities and offices.
2. Teaching from problems. A successful accelerator program should use conflicts that may emerge as opportunities for startups funders to learn and grow. A program of this sort is a great opportunity to reflect on possible conflicts and problems with the help of mentors.
3. Networking. An accelerator should help build a network of important connections around a company that can last for its lifetime. These programs work with investors and venture capital firms that are looking to invest in promising startups. An accelerator will give you credibility as a business, which will be very useful in the future for hiring and fundraising.

On the other hand, a non-successful accelerator lacks the type of vision that involves these three elements, trying to copy other accelerators and failing.

The Process Of Startup Acceleration

Now that you know what a startup accelerator is, let’s break down the process of startup acceleration. This process is often divided into 5 main stages: applying, getting funded, learning, networking, and the Demo Day. 

Applying

The first step in the acceleration process is applying. This is all about submitting the necessary documentation and making sure you fulfill the requirements. This is usually done by filling out a form in which you will be talking about yourself, your business, and your background. If the accelerator likes what you’ve stated, they will call you in for an online or personal interview. 

During that time, you can expect questions about the market, your business plans, and how you feel about your product. Typically, it’s a very small percentage of people that get admitted into accelerator programs as they are extremely competitive. 

There are places like AngelHack or even Ycombinator that are labeled to be harder than Harvard to get into. We are talking about a percentage of acceptance that ranges between 1% to 3%. This is extremely low and you can feel special if accepted. 

We also have a little advice for you. When getting the interview, we suggest you let all the passion come out. Make them understand why your background is the best to execute your business idea and bring it to life. You’ll surely do great!

Getting Funded

The next step in the process is going to be getting funded. Basically, when you attend an accelerator program, they give anywhere from $10,000  to $120,000 for a percentage of equity in your business. 

That could range from as little as 5% all the way up to 12%. Now, the structure of the investment is, for the most part, going to come in a convertible or safe note. These are documents that usually startups utilize for raising capital. 

This also means that the investment they are giving you is not coming with equity or valuation. Instead, the money given to you is going to convert into equity when you do your next round of financing. 

This ideally happens at your Demo Day when you connect with other investors, which is a topic we will get into very soon. 

Learning

Learning a lot is the exact definition of what you’ll be doing there. When you attend one of these programs, there will be many experts and other founders that have also been successful. Here, you want to go and meet those of them that have a lot of knowledge, getting to learn from their experience. 

By doing this, you will get their help on either the product or understanding internal processes. There are also going to be workshops and all types of sessions in different areas. These can include marketing, fundraising, and others which can be extremely useful. 

Again, there are certain days where you are going to be in attendance, and then there are other days that will be like in the office. Hours will be used to ask questions and use that as a Q&A to understand how you are progressing. 

Networking

Networking is extremely important when it comes to getting your startup to succeed. This is because there are a lot of startups out there and there is a lot of noise, which you can stand apart from with the right connections. 

When it comes to the network, if you take a look at Ycombinator, you will be able to have potential access to founders of Dropbox, Airbnb, and other big companies. If you access the right network, you will gain access to companies that could help your startup’s business model succeed in your respective industry. For this reason, looking at the graduates of the accelerator you are applying for is extremely important!

When founders attend a program like this, they end up already with a bunch of customers. This is because those customers (big companies) were essentially at one point, attending this specific accelerator program. 

Also, startup acceleration networks can help you connect with angel investors or venture capital firms. Taking all this into account, you’ll really want to make sure to understand who is part of their network and how they can help you on achieving the milestones that you need. 

Demo Day

The last step in most accelerator programs is the demo day. When it comes to the demo day, it means you’ve already done your 3 or 6 months as part of the cohort of that batch of the accelerator. You’ve already made your progress and now it’s time to showcase your product or service. 

Essentially, on that demo day, you are going to be explaining your finished product characteristics to investors. There are going to be all types of investors in the crowd watching for your pitch.

When investors finish considering which pitch is the best, they will reach out to the founder. They will want to engage in order to potentially invest in the business. For that reason, be prepared to persuade and explain the best parts of it.

You want to be very careful here. The best accelerator programs are the ones that bring qualified investors to demo day. There are other programs where most of the time you see a bunch of service providers that ultimately are going to waste your time. Avoid those! 

In summary, don’t forget to be cautious and when asking the program questions, ask them about their type of investors in demo days. Maybe they can give you some case studies too

Best Startup Accelerators

When startups look for mentorship and education intended to accelerate their growth, finding a business accelerator can be crucial. As you may imagine, there are quite a few to choose from. This choice will probably be influenced by your startup’s location and other factors. Let’s go ahead and list some of the top Startup Accelerators.

YCombinator

This was one of the pioneers in the seed accelerator programs, started by Paul Graham in 2005. YCombinator has already launched more than 2000 startups including Airbnb, Doordash, Twitch, and Reddit. They remain one of the largest accelerators in the U.S.

YCombinator counts with a stellar reputation for producing outstanding program graduates such as the ones mentioned before. They invest in the startups and receive in return small stakes in the companies they fund.

Once a startup is approved on the program, they help make their ideas into reality, pitch these ideas to investors, and close beneficial deals for growth. It’s a 3-month long program that culminates with a Demo Day, where a small invite-only audience is presented with the company. 

Also, their support doesn’t stop after the program ends. They rather stay active and committed with their YC graduated alumni through the rest of their business journey.

Techstars

This is another startup accelerator that has been working for a long time. Techstars selects about 300 startups to join their mentorship and guidance 3-month program annually.  

This is an intensive program in which, if selected, your startup will receive financial aid of $120,000 and hands-on access to their start-up mentors.

This startup accelerator has hosted many accelerator programs in different locations, giving startup founders more freedom and convenience to build their ideas. Techstars provides funding and fundraising opportunities, workshops, and curated resources, not to mention countless moments where you can learn from your peers.

This accelerator is known for having themed or industry-based programs during which the startups selected belong to similar industries and focus on similar results. Some of these are, for example, energy or social impact. 

500 Startups

Based in San Francisco, California, this startup accelerator manages global venture investments in more than 70 countries. 500 Startups breaks away from the typical deadline system and accepts applications on a rolling basis.

Their 4-month long startup accelerator program focuses on growth and scaling. When accepted, startup founders in their program gain access to a network of other startup founders and mentors, on top of a funding aid of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 500 Startups offers within the program hands-on support for the startup´s product and business strategy. 

500 Startups also counts with other programs in addition to their main one. These alternative options focus on other topics or are specifically made for some countries. For example, in 2020, 500 Startups launched a specific accelerator focused on working a startup in the times of Covid-19 and tackling its difficulties.

AngelPad

AngelPad is a startup accelerator with locations in New York City and San Francisco. They have launched more than 150 startups since 2010. Unlike other accelerators, AngelPad handpicks small amounts of startups to work with for three months of the year.

This accelerator was ranked as the number one business accelerator based on a study done at MIT and Brown University.

During the program, AngelPad assists startup founders with funding and finds the best product-market fit. They also work on refining the startup´s target marketing strategy to enhance and get the best results for your business. 

MassChallenge

MassChallenge has multiple global offices in places such as Mexico, Israel, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, while headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. They invest in high-potential startups from different industries around the globe with no equity taken.

What makes them different from other startup accelerators is that they are no-profit. Over the last 10 years, they have worked with 2500 startups and raised an astounding 6 billion dollars in funds, and generated more than 3 billion in profit.

Dreamit Ventures

Dreamit Ventures is a venture capital and accelerator firm that focuses on startups with market-ready product growth. They have already launched more than 300 startups.

Their program provides founders with access to various important resources such as access to executives, investors, and thought leaders. They target three types of fields and have a program for each: health tech, urban tech, and secure tech.

New Venture Challenge 

Also known as NVC, New Venture Challenge is one of the premier accelerator programs in the U.S. More than 300 startups have graduated from this program and gone on to raise more than 1 billion dollars in funding and 7.5 billion dollars worth of merger and exit investments.

Some of the successful and well-known companies that they have launched are Braintree, Venmo, Simple Mills, and Grubhub.

Boom Startup 

Founded in 2010, Boom Startup is a top-ranked business accelerator located in Utah. They provide startups with pitch development, minimally viable product creation, extensive mentoring from experts, investor introduction, and many more.

They use a lean startup methodology to launch their acceleration plan. With this approach, startups can easily learn what works best for them. Boom Startup offers a mainly mentor-driven approach.

AlphaLab

AlphaLab is a software accelerator firm located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their immersive 4-month program offers early-stage tech founders funding opportunities, mentor networks, an entrepreneurial environment, and a series of educational sessions. 

They invest up to $50,000 into a startup business, in exchange for 2.5% to 4% equity in a company. Another unique quality of this startup is the possibility for alumni to qualify to raise additional capital through an innovation works seed fund of up to $600,000

Google Launchpad Accelerator

Google Launchpad Accelerator program gives startups founders access to a variety of tools to help accelerate their business growth. Equity-free support, close partnerships with Google, google engineers, PR training intensive mentoring, and more are offered to the alumni.

The program offers all-expense-paid training at their Silicon Valley headquarters.

Launch KC

Launch KC is an industry-specific startup accelerator located in Kansas City. It is an initiative of the Downtown Council and the Economic Development Corporation, both of Kansas City.

Launch KC helps Co-hoards get involved with a top-level partner that makes a small investment in the firm and participates during the growth process by providing a number of opportunities for startups.

Offering industry-specific mentoring and education, Launch KC creates a space of opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs while growing the local economy.

Accelerating Your Startup Without an Accelerator

Unfortunately, startup accelerator programs are extremely competitive. This means that many founders who apply are not accepted and have to find another way to accelerate their startup’s growth. If this is your case, worry not! Many successful startups have made it without participating in an accelerator program.

Building a successful startup is all about grit. By translating your passion into action, you can obtain results similar to those of an accelerator without participating in a program. All that is required is that you create a solid plan and stick to it.

We are not gonna lie, the experience and resources accelerators provide can make it easier for you to grow your business. However, there are a lot of resources out there that don’t require you to be part of the 3% to take advantage of them. Remember what accelerators are all about: Education, networking, funding, and pitching.  Let’s take a look at how to accelerate your startup without an accelerator!

Educate Yourself

The first thing you can do is start reading more books about startups. Or, even better, core a blog post. There are a bunch of founders that have written these amazing startup books. A famous one is Peter Thiel, one of Paypal’s founders. Learning from famous entrepreneurs can provide you with unique insights that you can then translate to your own business.

Conferences, meetups, and online courses are also great ways for you to educate yourself on the ins and outs of entrepreneurship. With most events taking place now in an online or hybrid manner, it is extremely easy for anyone to participate!

Podcasts are also a great way for you to educate yourself. In fact, Grit Daily has a podcast specifically aimed at those looking to learn about the reality of the startup world! 

Ensuring that you keep learning about your industry and how to grow a business is extremely important. However, don’t forget that a startup is more than just its founder… Provide your colleagues with the necessary means to educate themselves too!

Surround Yourself With Like-Minded People

Bring people around you to ensure that you are building that support group. One very known strategy is bringing like-minded entrepreneurs to break bread. That could be lunch or dinner. 

What most accelerators do are office hours where they coach and talk with you. Once a week they bring in a pretty notable entrepreneur to share their story. However, the same advice that you get being in there you can get every week using this strategy.

Bring people together, share their stories, and have you shared your stories so far of getting going. This will build that base foundation to create your own accelerator. 

Create Your Own Pitch Deck

You really want to create your own pitch deck. Having your own pitch deck and creating those 10 slides of information about your competition, your market, and your strategy will get you crystal clear on what you are building. 

That’s what you would learn if you are in a startup accelerator. However, you can do this for yourself, and having that capacity of creating a pitch deck for your startup is going to be very useful. 

Having a great pitch deck is extremely important if you want to get funding in the future, which you will. For this reason, make sure to review your pitch every now and then, as well as to get second opinions. By building a strong pitch deck you will get closer to having your startup succeed!

Keep Applying!

The fact that you were not accepted by an accelerator program doesn’t mean that you can’t apply again. In fact, most accelerator programs will provide you with important feedback on the reasons for the rejection.

Make sure to review your application and find out what could be improved. Not only will this increase your chances of being accepted to the same or other program but will also provide you with great insights. The world of startups can be a harsh world, which is why learning from your mistakes is essential to navigating it.

The post What Is a Startup Accelerator and Why Should Startups Join One? appeared first on Grit Daily News.

What Is the Metaverse?

The concept of Metaverse is nothing new despite its recent appearance in pop culture. In fact, the word “Metaverse” has been around since 1992 when it was introduced in a science-fiction novel by the title of “Snow Crash”. Written by American author Neal Stephenson, the novel depicts the metaverse as the successor of the internet which operates as a virtual world that users can access via portable terminals.

Stephenson’s metaverse was bound to the laws of physics just like in real life, with users even having to walk or use monorails to commute in the virtual world. However, the concept of metaverse has evolved to represent a virtual world in which users can live a second digital life. Unfortunately, the definition of what this actually entails is non-existent as everyone seems to have their own idea of the requirements.

Despite the lack of clarity on what actually constitutes a Metaverse, you probably are already familiar with the idea. If you have watched movies like “Tron”, “Ready Player One”, or “The Matrix”, you have seen what the metaverse represents. You probably also have heard or even played games that could arguably be considered a metaverse in itself, as is the case of “Second Life”.

What is important for you to keep in mind is that the idea of the metaverse is still changing and evolving. This fact is important as when investing in a metaverse stock, you are investing in the company’s vision for the metaverse, not the metaverse itself… as there is no such thing.

Why Should You Care About the Metaverse?

We understand if our previous explanation of the Metaverse and the examples we mentioned made you underestimate the potential of the metaverse. While it is true that most iterations of the metaverse depicted in movies and existing platforms are game-like, there is so much more to it. As a digital world means to offer the chance of a “second life”, a metaverse should also offer a wide range of services that extend beyond gaming.

Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPG) like World of Warcraft have been around for years, offering players a virtual world to roam freely. This makes gamers closely familiar with the concept of metaverse but not necessarily users until this point. What would set a virtual world like WOW apart from the Metaverse is its range of functions.

The idea of the concept being pursued by the big companies at this time includes complex economic systems that open the doors to monetization through commerce, advertisements, virtual real estate, virtual jobs, and much more. As such, the metaverse creates a virtual world that mirrors the real world, instead of being a world with pure entertainment value. 

As the metaverse is basically the real world taken into the digital realm, independently of the form, the possibilities are endless. Imagine the chance of creating virtual businesses, items, organizations, and anything else in a virtual environment populated by millions of people from all around the world. 

By merging the internet and real life, the metaverse promises a new way to live. It is not a surprise that Grayscale estimates the metaverse is a $1 trillion revenue opportunity for the advertising, social commerce, and tech industries. Even if you choose not to invest in the Metaverse, it will play an important role in shaping your and our future.

This potential the metaverse represents to reshape the digital realm was some of the biggest companies heavily investing in its development. Let’s take a look at 8 metaverse stock you should consider investing in!

What Companies Will Benefit the Most From the Metaverse’s Success?

With the Metaverse representing such a great financial opportunity, it is not a surprise that some of the biggest companies in the world are taking part in its development. For example, Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, for $68.7 billion was motivated by the Metaverse. This makes the company one of the latest tech giants to join the race.

Several tech companies have already been working on the metaverse directly or indirectly for a while. These are the companies we will focus on for this list while taking a look at their journey into the metaverse so far. No, with no particular order in mind, let’s take a look at the top metaverse stock you should consider investing in!

Nvidia

Nvidia is widely known as the leader in the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) market ever since its founding back in 1993. However, despite its prominent role in the industry, it has been expanding into other fields over the past years. The favorite of millions of gamers and power users around the world, Nvidia is now working on Artificial Intelligence (AI), data science, cloud computing, self-driving vehicles, computing, and more.

Nvidia’s stock grew in value by more than 125% during 2021 as a result of the increasing demand for GPUs and data centers. The company reported record revenue of $7.1 billion for the third quarter of 2021, which represented an increase of 50% from the revenue it generated over the previous year. 

GPU and data center demand is still on the rise as the transition to remote work continues to take place for millions of people and businesses move to operate online. However, the company also has an important role to play in the development of the metaverse due to its relevance in the AR and VR spaces.

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, has also proven to be one of the most vocal supporters of the metaverse, having talked about it for years. Back in April of 2021, Huang delivered a keynote on the topic of the omniverse, a company’s version of the metaverse specially designed for engineers. Ever since the announcement, the project has continued to gain relevance among the engineering community as the company keeps prioritizing its development.

With metaverse platforms being likely to require high specs for the processing of graphics, Nvidia’s 83% share of the GPU market will allow the company to benefit from the metaverse craze. 

The great thing about investing in Nvidia metaverse stock is that you are investing in diverse applications of its technology which are poised for growth. In addition to this, its approach to the metaverse (omniverse) is unique in nature, which means that any competitor would be at a disadvantage. 

Coinbase

Let us be clear: Coinbase is not working on any metaverse project that we know of at this time. However, this doesn’t mean that the company has nothing to gain from the success of the metaverse.

As you probably know, Coinbase is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges out there. As one of the only exchanges operating in the United States, the exchange has grown exponentially over the past years. In fact, it became the first major exchange to go public back on April 14 of 2021.

Blockchain technology is being used by several projects on the development of decentralized metaverses. Names like Decentraland, Axie Infinity, and The Sandbox have been making headlines over the past months, with all of them making use of blockchain and crypto to run their virtual economies.

As one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges out there, Coinbase will surely be one of the go-to platforms for the trading of cryptocurrencies powering future decentralized metaverses. If you believe that decentralized metaverses will be able to go mainstream, this is certainly a metaverse stock to add to your portfolio.

Unity

Unity is one of the most important names in the gaming industry. The game development platform has become one of the most popular game engines with more than 1.5 million monthly creators. The engine has grown so big that many consider it to be a strong competitor to Epic Games.

Despite not having the best year in 2021, Unity’s metaverse stock has seen its value increase by over 9.92% over the past 6 months. The company also reported revenue of over $286 million during the third quarter of 2021, an increase of over 43% when compared to the past year.

With Unity powering many of the most popular mobile and desktop game titles, as well as other platforms, the metaverse explosion could get its total addressable market even higher.  The company is not planning on taking a leading but a “support” role in metaverse development, as Unity’s senior VP of revenue Julie Shumaker told Forbes back in December.

Despite not being actively working on the creation of its own metaverse, Unity is committed to making the transition to the metaverse easier. The company envisions the metaverse as a transition space that connects multiple games and ecosystems together through accessible doors. 

In line with this idea, the company has launched its work toward making connectivity between games easier through features like Unity Gaming Services. However, for the company to play a real supporting role, it would need to introduce new features that allowed creators to include such “lobbies” that would host players moving between spaces.

For now, Unity’s potential to benefit from the metaverse craze is related to the relevance it has as a game engine. If this is not enough for you to seriously consider it, just know that Unity’s CEO John Riccitiello seems committed to having the company play an essential role. Back in November of 2021, he stated “We’re the underlying toolset for creating the metaverse”.

Epic Games

Epic Games is the company behind Unreal Engine, one of the biggest game engines out there. While Unity has the biggest market share in the mobile game market, Unreal has managed to be a worthy competitor while completely dominating the PC and console markets.

Fortnite, an online game with more than 350 million players, is another popular product in Epic Games’ belt. Despite having been around for years, the game has continued to be one of the most popular titles by keeping the game fresh via unique partnerships and updates. This has made the game transcend its original nature to become an internet phenomenon and even work as a social network of sorts.

Epic Games is betting on Fortnite to grow until it achieves metaverse status, a process that has taken place organically over the years. The already huge user base of the game also provides the company with a competitive advantage.

Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO and founder, is known to be one of the most enthusiastic executives when it comes to the metaverse. Last year, he referred to the importance of the metaverse and the race to build it by stating:

“Over the coming decades, the metaverse has the potential to become a multi-trillion-dollar part of the world economy. The next three years are going to be critical for all of the metaverse-aspiring companies like Epic, Roblox, Microsoft, Facebook,” he said in an interview after. “It’s kind of a race to get to a billion users, whoever brings on a billion users first, would be the presumed leader in setting the standards.”

Back in April of last year, Epic closed a $1 billion funding round launched “to Support Epic’s Long-Term Vision for the Metaverse”. This vision includes the connection of many of Epic’s most popular titles, which include Fortnite, Rocket League, and Fall Guys, as well as facilitating interaction between titles built with Unreal Engine.

Meta

This is a metaverse stock that couldn’t miss in this list! While the metaverse has been in the mouth of millions of people over the past year, the company that helped it popularize the most was Meta. Formerly known as Facebook, the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg rebranded itself to make its commitment to the development of the metaverse clear for everyone.

Ever since the rebranding, Meta has redoubled its efforts to develop the metaverse, investing over $10 billion on its metaverse unit during 2021. This investment allowed the company to create a working prototype that is currently in beta (Horizon Worlds), which is why the company is planning to invest more over the next few years.

Patent applications submitted by Facebook to the US Patent and Trademark Office show that Meta’s metaverse will be heavily focused on virtual stores. These would allow users to acquire digital and real-world goods, as part of a commerce-led business model.

As one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Meta is not sparing in expanses when it comes to winning the race. The company is working on technology that would allow for the creation of hyper-realistic avatars that could be able to replicate poses, facial expressions, and more.

While Facebook’s public perception has grown increasingly negative over the past years, the company is making efforts to change this. For this reason and its approach, many experts see Meta as one of the safest bets on the Metaverse. Just like Epic Games, Meta already counts with a huge user base it can easily incentivize to adopt its vision of the metaverse.

AMD/INTEL

Back in December of last year, Intel recognized the important role the metaverse will play in the future of computing. However, the company believes that computing capabilities need to increase by “several orders of magnitude” in order to make the metaverse a reality. This is where both AMD and Intel come in.

AMD and Intel are the Coca-Cola and Pepsi of the CPU world. These companies power most of the devices people would use to access the metaverse, which is why they stand to benefit from the success of the metaverse.

While GPUs have been the go-to solution for gamers for decades, the short supply over the past years has forced CPU manufacturers to improve their discrete graphics chip market. This, in combination with the additional computing power needed by upcoming platforms, would result in developers prioritizing CPU optimization for the metaverse.

The demand for CPUs in the metaverse will not be limited to end-users but will also include the companies developing it. Back in November, Meta announced that it would be using AMD’s Epyc chips in its data centers, many of which will power its metaverse.

Betting on AMD or Intel’s metaverse stock is investing in the infrastructure that will support the metaverse, no matter if decentralized or centralized models succeed. Investing in AMD or Intel is a matter of which approach you believe more in. 

Amazon 

Just like with our previous entry, Amazon is also a metaverse stock you might want to consider if you are thinking about investing in the infrastructure behind the metaverse. As the company behind Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon has the biggest share in the cloud computing market and has a lot to benefit from when the metaverse gets off the ground.

In addition to this, Amazon will also benefit from the commerce opportunities that the metaverse will create. With an online model that has already proven to be incredibly successful, not only would the company be able to offer its services in the Metaverse but also expand its services. For example, Amazon could link real-life goods with virtual ones, as well as offer virtual goods like real estate, 3d models, services, and more.

It is also important to note that while the Metaverse is not exclusively focused on gaming, this will surely play an important role in it. This, in combination with its social nature, will also have a profound impact on the streaming industry. With Amazon also being the company behind Twitch, this trend would also prove extremely beneficial to the e-commerce titan.

Amazon has not disclosed any plans to play an active role in the development of the metaverse yet. However, we believe that the reasons we already listed are more than enough to consider investing in and treating Amazon stock as a metaverse stock.

Tencent

The Chinese internet giant is one of the most influential companies in the social media and gaming industries in the world, and certainly the biggest in China. This places the company in a unique position to capitalize on the increasing interest and cultural relevance of the Metaverse.

This week, it was announced that Tencent would be acquiring Xiami’s BlackShark gaming division. BlackShark is a company that manufactures gaming phones and accessories but will be changing its focus to AR/VR hardware after the acquisition. With this move, Tencent will further expand its capabilities and synergy with metaverse development as this could be the building block it was missing.

Back in 2021, Tencent revealed its vision for the Metaverse in an earnings call when CEO Pony Ma said:

“The way we look at Metaverse in terms of sort of — at a high level is that we feel that anything that really makes the virtual world more real and making the real world richer with virtual experiences can actually sort of becoming part of the Metaverse big world. And as a result, we felt it’s going to be an opportunity that really adds growth to the existing industries. For example, it will be an addition to the gaming industry.”

Tencent is also the second-largest stakeholder for Epic Games, which certainly opens the doors to interesting collaborations. With other Chinese companies like Baidu joining the metaverse race, it is just natural for Tencent to follow through now that it has acquired the last piece in the puzzle.

The post 8 Metaverse Stocks You Should Consider Investing In appeared first on Grit Daily News.