How to Make $100,000 Beating Facebook

Are you a coder or startuper who thinks you can come up with a better social network than Facebook? If you do and you are successful, you can win $100,000.

Jason Calacanis, an angel investor and entrepreneur who is a leader in the startup world, has come up with a great offer, the "Openbook Challenge". 

Calacanis's organization, LAUNCH, will be funding seven teams that want to build a billion-user social network which will replace Facebook with a social network that is good for society.

Out of an estimated 100 teams that are expected to apply, 20 will be chosen as finalists, then seven teams will be chosen to receive $100,000 (for six percent, from the LAUNCH Incubator Fund) and join the LAUNCH incubator. 

If you want to know more details about how the competition works, how the finalists and winners will be chosen, and the timeline, check out the Calacanis web site. 

How IoT Will Change Startups

Guest article by Lisa Froelings, business and productivity consultant

How IoT Will Change Startups

The Internet of Things is a miraculous marvel of modern technological advancement and innovation. It is the system by which all devices can interact with each other and create massive networks of information and data. We have already seen the system work well in our personal lives as our smartphones now keep our computers up-to-date. In the coming years there will be an ever growing explosion of devices and technologies that utilize The Internet of Things platform. 

In other words, this will be an unavoidable event when all interconnected devices communicate with each other and allow us to be everywhere all of the time. The area of our lives that will be impacted the most, however, is our businesses. Startups specifically are going to completely revolutionize the way they start business and how they operate. 

The Internet of Things brings with it many changes that owners will have to accustom themselves to so that they are not left behind by the train of technological innovation. How then will IoT change startups? The question is inherently manifold as the technology interacts with so many parts of business from marketing to employee management. The biggest innovations, however, will be in communication and that will change the way startups interact forever.

This year we will see the largest exponential growth of wifi-connected devices in history. This means that people all over the world will have access to the internet on devices such as smartphones and tablets. This will increase the amount of communication and interactivity that people all over the world have with one another. For startups, this is an incredibly useful innovation as it then provides potential employees the ability to interact around the world. 

This can dramatically reduce the cost of hiring employees for startups that are just trying to get their footing. When an owner sitting in Utah can hire a full stack developer in Thailand and communicate clearly at any time then we have made substantial progress in creating a startup world that is conducive to success. The hyper-connected nature of the Internet of Things allows people to access files and applications wherever they are. 

This can eliminate the idea of having offices all together and can dramatically reduce the money needed for a product to work. Startups rely on every bit of financial sourcing and using any part of that on unnecessary objects hampers the goal of product innovation. The rise of interconnected devices will allow startup owners to save more money without sacrificing good employees and productivity.

The rise of telecommute work is only one advantage of the Internet of Things as startup owners will now be able to work on their product wherever they are located. Using the different technologies available will allow startups to operate efficiently and for minimal cost. The nature of these devices is to communicate with one another which will allow all facets of business to increase in productivity but, for startups, this communication can dramatically reduce the need for having multiple devices. 

Since the Internet of Things has begun to explode we now have web-based applications that can automatically update your smart phone so that you can have entire conferences in your living room. There is nothing in the way for startup owners to operate wherever they are and work on their project whenever they want. For those in material design, the interconnectivity of smartphones with VR devices will allow someone to sculpt and design a product while sitting on the beach. 

It can allow an entire team to work together in a singular space digitally. Since every part of business is now online, there is never a need for a startup owner to be away from their work or to lose any information. It also allows for employees to have their own schedules and investors to communicate with owners whenever they need to. 

The Internet of Things will see a rise in the amount of new businesses and will completely change the way businesses operate for the better. The ability for people to access all of the things they need to access online anywhere they are will make for a more efficient world that is healthier and more productive. Having access to instant communication and information will save many businesses from going under. This, combined with automation, will see an explosion in the number of startups created and the number of businesses that succeed.