Padmasree Warrior On Her Move To NextEv 05-16

Padmasree warrior on her move to Next Ev

.....................................................................................................................................

NextEv, a Chinese electric car company potentially taking on Tesla and Faraday Future, has tapped Padmasree Warrior for the U.S. CEO position. Warrior will also head up software development and the user experience globally for the Shanghai-based company.

According to Warrior, NextEv has already pulled in half a billion dollars of the $1 billion it plans to raise from the likes of Sequoia Ventures, Joy Ventures, Tencent Holdings and Hillhouse Capital – with plans to grow the business and hire in the hundreds under her leadership in the near future.
The company launched out of stealth today and plans to ship an electric vehicle model rivaling Tesla in late 2016 – including a model that will reportedly match Tesla’s “Ludicrous” speed (0 to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds). The vehicles will first roll out to Chinese consumers and then to other parts of the world, including the U.S.

Warrior tells TechCrunch she was picked for the role because of her strong tech background. She spent the last seven years as the chief technology and strategy officer at Cisco and 23 years before that as the CTO at Motorola. Warrior also sits on the board of several tech companies such as Box and Microsoft. She left her Cisco position in May of this year, according to her LinkedIn profile and considered many career moves – including a possible appointment as Twitter’s CEO – before landing the position at NextEv.

This is her first startup gig and the first time she’s ventured into the automotive industry. Warrior came into the TechCrunch studios today to speak with me about her about plans for the future of the NextEv and why she made the move into electric vehicle. 


View at the original source

These technologies are shaping the future 05-16

Cloud computing has been named the technology most likely to shape the future, according to an IBM survey.

The poll questioned C-level executives from 70 countries on which technologies they thought would be particularly important in the next three to five years. The following chart, produced by Statista, shows the percentage of CxOs (C-level executives) who identified a particular technology as influential.

Of all the respondents, 63% said cloud computing and related services would have the biggest impact by 2020. Next on the list was mobile solutions – named by more than three in five CxOs. The top three is completed by the internet of things, with over half the respondents considering it likely to be important in the next three to five years.

Other technologies on the list include cognitive computing, bio-engineering and innovations relating to energy.

They are all technologies with the potential to have a positive impact on societies, from mobile banking in the developing world to the solutions we need for tackling climate change, and also meeting our energy needs. The World Economic Forum’s Emerging Technologies Report highlights the most innovative solutions to the world’s toughest challenges.

Competitors now look and feel so much different. No industries are immune to digital disruption. It’s starting to change the way entire industries are thinking about things. If you focus only on the thing that you know, you will miss the thing that’s coming at you from the left or the right. You have to be willing to be disruptive. Learn fast, scale rapidly. You have to make big strategic bets.

Is my strategy ambitious enough? What do I do to make sure that I’m fit for the future? How do I actually execute? Outthink Boundaries.

View at the original source

How an Ecosystem Mindset Can Help People and Organizations Succeed 05-14

How an Ecosystem Mindset Can Help People and Organizations Succeed

Greg Gopman has had an interesting two and a half years. In December 2013 he was an up-and-coming young San Francisco entrepreneur and CEO of an incubator, when he posted an offhand comment on Facebook about homelessness in his city. In part, he wrote:

In other cosmopolitan cities, the lower part of society keep to themselves. They sell small trinkets, beg coyly, stay quiet, and generally stay out of your way. They realize it’s a privilege to be in the civilized part of town and view themselves as guests. And that’s okay.

Gopman’s post quickly went viral, was blogged about endlessly at media sites such as Gawker’s now-defunct Valleywag, and he became a poster child for everything wrong with the tech industry in the Bay Area. Overnight, his career came to a complete standstill.

But what Gopman did next was the interesting part: he threw himself at the task of actually trying to fix the homeless problem in San Francisco with the typical zeal of a startup entrepreneur.

Gopman’s journey is a great illustration of how to adopt what I call an ecosystem mindset: an understanding that the keys to new value and growth likely do not reside within one’s current boundaries but beyond them, and that success involves forging new connections to solve problems and create new value as a team. It’s a mindset that very few big companies and individuals have, but need.

Gopman’s first step was to conceive and create a product to solve the problem, a set of “I love SF” wristbands. The idea was that homeless people could sell them and help support themselves. Nobody called him for a resupply.

Next, he spent months researching current approaches, going out and talking to local organizations working with the homeless. His idea was to host a Town Hall to End Homelessness, bringing to bear his own expertise in organizing hackathons.

At the end of the event, Gopman met a man who had recently been made homeless after a stroke left him unable to work. The two started meeting regularly and trading notes, the man telling Gopman about what homeless camps actually needed. Gopman went to visit homeless encampments with his new colleague, and even spent a night sleeping in one.

The two launched a small business based on mutual observations of what people in these camps spend their time doing. The business fared much better than the wristband idea, but they eventually shut it down.

Finally, Gopman began hosting meetings for a group of activists, civic workers, and homeless people. They devised a plan for homeless encampments that would operate more like cooperatives, and would include case managers, vocational schools, showers, wifi, a dining hall, and wellness programming while operating at a profit. They named it A Better San Francisco.

While the internet continually paints Gopman as yet another shallow Silicon Valley tech bro looking to salvage his reputation, I believe Gopman’s story perfectly embodies the journey away from a closed Organism Mindset toward a more open Ecosystem Mindset.

The journey is one that everyone, individuals and organizations alike, can benefit from: start from a self-centric position, and meet, talk, and fail your way outwards. Along the way, partner with others, try small tests, and learn.

So how do you undertake this journey — either as an individual or as an organization? Let’s look at GE as an example.

Build new connections. Nobody can truly understand the ecosystem they operate in without getting out and wading in it. Take Beth Comstock, Vice Chair at GE. Comstock now oversees GE Ventures, so it is her job to grow GE’s ecosystem and to make money doing it, but long before she took on that role, she was always meeting people, traveling from city to city, and hosting events. She knows that getting out and building new connections is the way to build value for her company.

Establish channels between possible partners. These channels do not need to be — should not be — business deals per se. They should be created with the intent to understand how collaboration can happen. GE and GE Ventures, for example, actively seek and develop channels rather than simply looking for budding new companies to invest in. They’ve established Open Office Hours with senior-level experts at partner offices in Redwood City, panel discussions at like-minded accelerators in Boston, and similar initiatives in hotspots of new value creation around the country.

Partner with others. GE and their Ventures arm are also constantly on the lookout for new partners. The organization currently counts 61 startups in their portfolio in fields as diverse as energy, healthcare and manufacturing. They partner as well with mature organizations, such as Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, to find and accelerate new solutions and add value through training and mentoring.

Of course, sometimes these partnerships end badly, as with the much-celebrated partnership between GE and Quirky, a New York manufacturing startup. Last year, Quirky declared bankruptcy last year and GE claimed that Quirky hurt its reputation with customers. Occasional outcomes like these are table stakes in the game though, and should not deter one from pushing forward with new partnerships across the ecosystem — and GE Ventures has pushed on accordingly.

Foster sustained action. GE invests time, money, and resources to create sustained, active relationships with accelerator programs in an array of fields and locations, from Energy Excelerator in Honolulu to Robotics Hub in Pittsburgh. The result for GE and its partners is an ongoing, complex exchange of ideas, value, and initiatives, which often dovetail with each other since everyone involved sustain contact and pass information back and forth. The result, for each player in the ecosystem, is certainly no worse than if they were pursuing their goals on their own, and potentially much greater because of their interconnection.

As Greg Gopman’s story shows, you don’t need to have a separate venture arm like GE with a huge budget to make this all work. It’s really just about applying the principles of the Ecosystem Mindset with whatever means you have: reach out, set up channels, partner, bring people from different parts of the ecosystem together for your cause, and go forward. If you do this, you’ll find that your solutions will take on new life. They’ll be more complex, more distributed across the ecosystem, more resilient, and more suited to survival in the modern world of increasing complexity and change.

View at the original source

Where are the world’s population hot-spots? 05-11

Where are the world’s population hot-spots?

From a population of a little over 170m in 1 C.E., the world’s population is forecast to exceed 9.5 billion by 2050.

An interactive map created by Population Connection charts this growth, highlighting recent rapid population increases, as well as concentrations of people around the world.

Charting over 2,000 years of history, the map offers an insight into our life on earth.

How has the population changed?

2,000 years of human history has seen a significant expansion in the global population, with the world population in 2015 put at 7.3 billion people.

The following two maps show this change from 1 C.E. (the same point as 1 A.D.) to the present day.

The dots represent population hotspots of over a million people. Where this population is spread out, the dot is placed in the middle of the approximate range. So, as this first map shows, in 1 C.E. the global population was concentrated in Europe, and particularly the Far East.

The 2015 map highlights the spread in the population around the globe, from Africa to South America. The timeline also shows the rapid population expansion since the Industrial Revolution, with the population remaining below 1 billion until 1800.

Where is the population concentrated?

Europe and the Far East remain major hotspots today, as they were in 1 C.E.. Hotspots have also emerged in India, Japan and coastal areas of the Americas.

There are also large population concentrations across much of central Africa and part of the Middle East. You can even see a hotspot down the Nile in Egypt.

At the other end of the scale, large areas continue to have much lower concentrations. The Sahara, the outback of Australia and much of Canada and Russia have very few dots.

What does it mean?

Population expansion puts a strain on resources and the environment, presenting challenges for the world as a whole. This strain is most keenly felt in population hotspots, and also in areas which have seen the most rapid expansion.

This interactive map offers an important insight into global population trends and patterns, which can help policy-makers tackle these challenges.

View at the original source

Postsecondary Success 05-10

Content and Data reproduced from Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation website.

America as 100 College Students

America’s postsecondary student population is more diverse than ever. Many students attend school while working part- or even full-time. Some are raising children while in school. And, in many cases, they’re financially independent.

There’s no one-size-fits-all path to (or through) college – and we need to plan our education policies accordingly.

What would America look like as 100 college students?

View enlarged image

Visit the links below to view the related Data.

Gender: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics. Table 

Age: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics. Table

Type of School: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics. Table

Race: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics. Table

Enrollment: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics. Table

Employment: U.S. Department of Education, Demographic and Enrollment Characteristics of Undergraduate Students. Table 8.

Financial Aid: National Center for Education Statistics. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

Housing: American College Health Association. National College Health Assessment.

Children: U.S. Department of Education, Demographic and Enrollment Characteristics of Undergraduate Students. Table 1.

Learning Environment: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics. Table

1st-Grader With No Hands Wins National Handwriting Contest 05-10

1st-Grader With No Hands Wins National Handwriting Contest  


Here's a great story that's inspiring people across the country.

A seven-year-old girl born without hands has won a national handwriting contest.



Anaya Ellick, from Chesapeake, Virginia, does not use prosthetics. Instead, she uses her forearms to
write.

The first-grader reportedly beat out 50 other competitors to win the special-needs category prize at the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest.

The category consists of students with intellectual, physical or developmental disabilities, and Anaya's impressive handwriting was picked to be the best of the bunch.

"There is truly very little that this girl cannot do," Tracy Cox, Anaya's principal at Greenbrier Christian Academy, told ABC News.

"She is a hard worker," Cox said. "She is determined. She is independent. She is a vivacious and a

no-excuses type of young lady."

For winning the contest, Anaya received $1,000 and a trophy, according to Zaner-Bloser.
Her school was also awarded with a gift certificate to purchase print and digital resources for students and teachers.

Way to go, Anaya!


View at the original source

This Word Has Zero Meaning—Yet, You Probably Already Used it Today 05-09

This Word Has Zero Meaning—Yet, You Probably Already Used it Today

Image Credit : Shyam's Imagination Library

.........................

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a brainstorming meeting. After one particularly important idea was mentioned, someone responded with “That’s a really interesting point.” And then, crickets.
OK, not exactly, but it definitely brought the conversation to a halt—until one person took the long silence as an opportunity to speak up.

What she said surprised me:

“I’m sorry, I just have to ask. What do you mean by interesting? Break that down for me.”
What did he mean by “interesting?” I sure didn’t know—and neither did he really. And in that brief moment, as I watched this person try to explain why he found this interesting, I realized just how meaningless the word was.

I find myself using “interesting” all the time. That was an interesting movie. I’m interested to hear what you think. I think it’s interesting that…

I use it when I don’t want to say something (for fear of retaliation), when I don’t even know how to put my thoughts into words, or when I don’t want to confront how I really feel inside.

But from this conversation, I realized that this word not only contributes nothing to the conversation, but it made it seem that the person who said it didn’t want to be involved with what we were all sitting there trying to accomplish. It was the perfect neutral—not too mean, not too encouraging, not too deep that he’d have to jump in and take initiative. In fact, it could have been taken as an insult: I don’t really care either way, so I’ll just acknowledge that you spoke and move on. Just think, have you ever felt elated that someone said your thoughts were “interesting?” I didn’t think so.

After this experience, I decided to swear off the word altogether (except for writing this article, of course). The reason is simple: I like honesty. Honesty is productive—it shows that you actually listened to someone, then took the time to think through what he or she said in order to craft a thorough and useful response.

Ever since I swore it off, I’ve become more in tune with my emotions and have had more meaningful and productive interactions in which I was able to learn something new about myself and others around me—a.k.a., I gained some serious emotional intelligence.

Now, I present my challenge to you: Let’s take more conversation risks and start to break down what we mean by “interesting”—rather than using it as a scapegoat. Do you mean that it’s surprising, or maybe something you really hadn’t thought of before? Do you believe that it’s a good idea, but not practical right now? Or, do you absolutely love the concept but aren’t sure if other people agree?
Say those things! And, if you truly don’t have a response, that’s OK too—just saying “I’m not sure how I feel about that” can be a great way to further discuss what about it confuses, upsets, or bugs you. But when things remain ambiguous, nothing gets done.

The next time the word “interesting” pops up in your head, I dare you to try to process it and figure out what you’re really thinking before saying it out loud. You’d be surprised how many better, stronger, and more exciting phrases there are out there—I can tell you from practice that it is one word you can definitely live without.

View at the original source