Day: April 22, 2020

This $30 Business Bootcamp Can Help You Validate Your Idea Before Launch

wayne April 22, 2020

Don’t get caught by surprise; this proven process can raise your chances of success.


2 min read

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It may sound shocking, and yet it’s true: About 90 percent of startups fail. There are many reasons why that’s the case, but one of the most common is that they aren’t able to effectively validate their product or idea. While your eureka business idea may sound ingenious to you, there’s a lot that goes into validating if everybody else will feel the same way. It’s hard work, but it’s essential work — because if there isn’t a real market for your idea or product, then you’re doomed.

If you haven’t launched a startup before or been through the trial and error of idea validation, you may need a little extra help. That’s where the Idea Validation Bootcamp comes in.

From the innovators at Startups.com, the Idea Validation Bootcamp is a comprehensive course that takes an actionable approach to idea validation. It

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Is A.I. better at diagnosing illnesses than doctors? Don’t believe all the hype

wayne April 22, 2020

Subscribe to Outbreak, a daily roundup of stories on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on global business, delivered free to your inbox.

Artificial intelligence is better at analyzing medical images for illnesses like pneumonia and skin cancer than doctors are, according to a number of academic papers. But that conclusion is being called into question by recent research.

A paper published in March in medical journal The BMJ found that many of those studies exaggerated their conclusions, making A.I. technologies seem more effective than they were in reality. The finding is significant because it undermines a huge ongoing shift in the health care industry, which is looking to use technology to more quickly diagnose ailments.

It also calls into question a tech industry that is scrambling to develop and sell A.I. technology for analyzing medical imagery. The paper’s authors are worried that overzealous companies and their investors may push to sell the technology before it has been thoroughly vetted.

“With no disrespect to venture capitalists—obviously they’re an important part of the funding process for a lot of this innovation—but obviously their enthusiasm is always to try and get things to market as quickly as possible,” says Myura …

Stocks rebound, but cheap oil looks here to stay

wayne April 22, 2020

Good morning, and Happy Earth Day. Fittingly, I’m seeing plenty of green on the screens. Oil traders though are singing the blues this morning.

Let’s see where investors are putting their cash. Hold onto your hat.

Markets update

Asia

  • Asia is mixed. Japan’s Nikkei is down, but the Hong Kong and Shanghai indices rebounded in afternoon trade there.
  • Oil again is in the spotlight. Futures contracts for Brent crude, the international standard, fell to a 21-year-low during Asian trade. The markets’ rejection of oil may seem like an Earth Day stunt. If only.
  • To India now where Facebook cannily sealed a $5.7 billion investment in Jio Platforms, one of the world’s fastest growing tech companies in one of the fastest growing markets. Facebook is popping in after-hours trade.

Europe

  • European bourses all opened in positive territory with the benchmark STOXX Europe 600 Index up nearly 1%.
  • From lockdown to restarts. The focus is now on the latter as coronavirus case numbers continue to decline across the continent, particularly in Italy, Spain and France.
  • Heineken this morning laid out the thorny path to recovery exporters face. Coronavirus sank beer volumes in March. That was expected. But the
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