How AR Allows Retail To Become Digital First

I KNOW HOW TO THRIVE ONLINE

The world has been pushed over the digital transformation edge by COVID-19, forcing all ‘non-essential’ businesses to either be online, or perish. As uncertainty continues to grow among small and medium sized businesses, it’s efforts like what our good friends Rao Mubariz “Not That Moby,” Austin Larson, and CJ Finley are doing that help make all of this, a little bit brighter. “Online-First Summit 2020” aims to help business owners shift their business models, offerings, and customer acquisition online in the face of social distancing.  Read the entire article here

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The Purpose Of A Minimum Viable Product

In what might be the least understood and communicated reasons to develop an MVP as a startup, appreciate that it’s about preserving resources.What are the top 3 reasons startups fail?

1. Team
2. No market
3. Run out of resources

And those three reasons account for easily 90% of the causes. Your job, as a founder, is actually to avoid failing to 1, 2, and 3 until you crack the market and find a model or funding to keep going. Most startups put too much time and effort into a product. Most founders are too fixated on the solution they want or the affirmation they have that it’s right. An as a result, most ventures experience teams that fall apart, discover they’re wrong, or run out of resources. So, MVP: Build as little as possible that can on its own work and persist. Be viable.  An MVP could be something like a newsletter. You convert people, it grows, and you can get a sponsor. In your space: MVP.

And an MVP such as that is truly an MVP. It proves you can convert, grow, and make money. It will in and of itself subsist and live on. And most importantly, it gives you a market to develop. Companies build what the market wants. They invest minimally in determining that and then they iterate. Read the entire article here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• May 11-14 – Online First Summit
• May 14-15 – Entrepreneur’s: Startup Story Live 
• May 18-22 – Gamerjibe’s Virtual Job Fair
• May 19-20 – Microsoft Build

Our friends at The Center For Creative Entrepreneurship have put together an incredibly comprehensive calendar for creative professionals! Check out their fantastic line up here.

Sonos Move Review

I have to begin with a confession, I’ve been addicted to Sonos since April 2004, one month before the company’s official public debut. They did a pre-launch exhibit at a digital music conference, I played with their first product, the ZP100 & I was hooked.

Sonos mainstreamed the networked/multi-room music concept. They have been refining and improving the experience for over sixteen years with successive products like the Play:5, Play:3, Play:5 gen2, Play:1, Playbar, Sub, Play One, Amp and most recently, the Sonos Move.

The Move is the first Sonos product to debut with both Bluetooth and battery power. There is an updated Play One that also supports Bluetooth, but isn’t designed for portability. The Move lets you take Sonos to the pool, the beach, camping or post-pandemic, the office party!

To be brief, the Move has exceeded all my expectations. It sounds great, looks great and eclipses its nearest competition, the UE Megaboom 3, in nearly all metrics, except bass response. The big question is whether or not $400 for a ‘Bluetooth speaker’ is a wise investment.

It’s a really simple decision: If you already have a Sonos device, it’s the logical addition to your audio ecosystem. If not, there are a few things to consider.

On the Plus side:
Great sound
Sturdy portability
Alexa & Google Assistant compatible (handy when you’re in the pool!)

Negatives:
Pricey compared to other high-end competitors
Large size
No line-input

The details:

• Price: $399
• Dimensions:  9.44×6.29×4.96 inches
• Weight: 6.1 pounds
• Speakers: One downward-firing tweeter and one mid-woofer for mid-range vocals and bass
• Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice support: Four far-field microphone array
• Durability: IP56 rated for protection from dust particles and water spray
• Operation: touch controls for volume up/dn, prev./next track, play/pause & microphone status
• Power/Battery life: USB-C charging/up to 10 hours at moderate volume, after 2.5 hour charge
• Connectivity: Sonos mesh networkWi-Fi and Bluetooth streaming (Bluetooth 4.2)
• Codec support over Bluetooth: SBC and AAC
• Additional features: Supports AirPlay 2 on Apple devices iOS 11.4 and later

The Center For Creative Entrepreneurship

The Center for Creative Entrepreneurship at 2112 supports entrepreneurs in the creative industries through ongoing hands-on training, mentorship, networking events, boot camps, and archived content for both artists and creative entrepreneurs.  CLICK HERE to learn more.

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