Beware ‘founder-friendly’ VCs — 3 steps founders should take to protect their companies

In 2014, it seemed like pretty much anyone with a pulse and pitch deck was capable of raising huge amounts of capital from prestigious venture capital firms at sky-high valuations. Here we are four years later and times have changed. VCs inked a little more than 3,100 deals in the last quarter of 2017, according to Crunchbase — about 500 fewer than the previous quarter.

For aspiring startup founders, it’s a “confusing time in the so-called Unicorn story,” as Erin Griffith put it in a column last May — an asset bubble that never really popped, but which at the very least is deflating. In the confirmation hearing for new SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, lawmakers lamented the dearth of initial public offerings as companies that thrived in private markets — from Snap to Blue Apron — have struggled to deliver meaningful returns to investors.

This all creates a number of dilemmas for founders looking to raise capital and scale businesses in 2018. VCs remain an integral part of the innovation ecosystem. But what happens when the changing dynamics of financial markets collide with VCs’ expectations regarding growth? VCs may not always be aligned with founders and companies in this new environment. A recent study commissioned by Eric Paley at Founder Collective found that by pressuring companies to scale prematurely, venture capitalists are indirectly responsible for more startup deaths than founder infighting, technical debt and slow customer adoption — combined.

The new landscape requires that founders in particular be judicious in the way they seek out new sources of capital, structure cap tables and ownership and the types of concessions made to their new backers in exchange for that much-needed cash. Here are three ways founders can ensure they’re looking out for what’s best for their companies — and themselves — in the long run.

Take time to backchannel

Venture capitalists are arguably in the business of due diligence. Before they sign the dotted line, they can be expected to call your competitors, your customers, your former employers, your business school classmates — they will ask everyone and their mother about you.

It goes without saying that differences of opinion regarding your business strategy can lead to big conflict down the road.

A first-time founder is also new to the pressures of entrepreneurship, of having employees rely on you for their livelihoods. Whether you are desperate for cash because you need to make payroll, or you’re anxious for the validation of a headline-worthy investment, few founders take the time to properly backchannel their investors. Until you can say you’ve done due diligence of your own, your opinion of your VCs is going to be based on the size of their fund, the deals they’ve done or the press they’ve gotten. In short, it will likely be based on what they’ve done right.

On the other hand, you likely don’t know anything about the actual partner that will join your board. Are they intelligent in your space? Do they have a meaningful network? Or do they just know a few headhunters? Are they value creators? What is their political standing in their firm? Before you sign a term sheet, you need to take the time to contextualize the profile of the person who is taking a board seat. It gives you foresight on the actions your investment partner will likely take down the road.

Think beyond your first raise

If you do decide to raise capital, make sure you are in alignment with your board regarding your business plan, the pursuit of profit at the expense of revenue growth, or vice versa, and how it will steer your decision making as the market changes. It goes without saying that differences of opinion regarding your business strategy can lead to big conflict down the road.

As you think about these trade-offs, remember that as an entrepreneur, your obligation is to the existing shareholders: the employees and you. As the pack of potential unicorns has thinned, VCs in particular have turned to unconventional deal structures, like the use of common and preferred shares. For the founder who needs to raise cash, a dual ownership structure seems like a fair compromise to make, but remember that it may be at the expense of your employees’ option pool. The interests of preferred and common shareholders are not perfectly aligned, particularly when it comes time to make difficult decisions in the future.

Is VC money right for you?

VCs frequently share information, board decks and investor presentations with members of the press and the tech community, sometimes in support of their own personal agendas or to get perspective on whether to invest or not. That’s why it’s particularly important to backchannel, and more importantly, that you have allies that you can call on and people who can ensure some measure of goodwill. A good company board cannot be made up of just the investors and you: You need advocates that are balanced and on your side.

Venture capital is far from the only way to finance an early-stage business.

These prescriptions can sound paranoid, particularly to the founder whose business is growing nicely. But anything can cause a sea change and put you at odds with the people funding your company — who now own a piece of the company that you’re trying to build. When disagreements arise, it can get tense. They might say that you are a first-time founder, and therefore a novice. They will make your weaknesses known and say you’ll never be able to raise again if you ignore their invaluable advice. It’s important that you don’t fall into the fear trap. If you create a product or service that solves an undeniable problem, the money will come — and you will get funded again.

The term founder-friendly VC was always perhaps a bit of a misnomer. The people building the business and the people planning on cashing in on your efforts are imperfect allies. As a founder and business owner, your primary responsibilities are to your clients, to the company you’re building and, most importantly, to the employees who are helping you do it. As founders we like to think that we have all the answers, especially in bad times. Making sure you have alignment with your investors in challenging and unpredictable situations is critical. It’s important to anticipate how your investors will problem-solve before you give up control.

Venture capital is far from the only way to finance an early-stage business. Founders looking to jump-start their business have a number of alternatives, from debt financing and bootstrapping to crowdfunding, angel investors and ICOs. There are indeed still many advantages to having experienced investors on your side, not simply the cash but also the access to hiring and industry knowledge. But the relationship can only benefit both parties when founders go in eyes wide open.


via TechCrunch
Beware ‘founder-friendly’ VCs — 3 steps founders should take to protect their companies

NASA Makes Two Decades of Satellite Images of Earth Available To the Public

The longest continuous daily satellite observation record of Earth ever compiled is

now available for all of us to peruse

. Tom Yulsman, writing for Discover Magazine:

Multiple instruments aboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively, have kept close watch on the virtually the entire planet for nearly 20 years. Now, for the first time, the entire treasure trove of imagery and scientific information is available for exploration in Worldview, an engaging, interactive web-based application. I’ve been using Worldview regularly to find imagery for use here at ImaGeo since I launched the blog in 2013. But until now, there was a significant limitation: The data available went back only to 2012. Now, after more than five years of work, NASA has extended what’s available on Worldview back to the year 2000, when the Terra satellite first became operational. Terra was lofted into polar orbit with a suite of five remote sensors. The most comprehensive is an instrument called the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS.

via Slashdot
NASA Makes Two Decades of Satellite Images of Earth Available To the Public

Firearm Instructors: List your Ohio CCW and gun classes at the NEW OhioGunClass.org

ohio gun class searchable directory
by Dean Rieck

We’ve just unveiled our brand new website for firearm instructors to promote their gun classes. It’s called OhioGunClass.org.

And you’re invited to get your classes listed right now.

NOTE: This new listing will replace our current listing page, so if you have a previous listing, please visit OhioGunClass.org to create your new account.

We offer 3 different listing options, including a FREE listing to post basic details about your CCW and other firearm and self defense classes.

Signing up is simple. Just choose your listing option, fill out a short form, and click the button to create your account. Then start sharing details about your classes.

Prospective students can search for classes by keyword or location.

OhioGunClass.org offers many cutting-edge features to draw attention to your classes. Depending on the listing option you choose, you can …

  • Provide complete class descriptions.
  • List your specialties, such as pistol, rifle, CCW, and more.
  • Manage reviews from your students to build credibility.
  • Share links to your Facebook page and other social media.
  • Promote special offers with discount coupons.
  • List special events in a sitewide calendar.
  • Share photos and videos to create excitement.
  • Post job listings to grow your business.
  • Offer class-related products for sale.
  • And much more.

Plus, we’ll give you a hand by promoting OhioGunClass.org on our main BFA website, in our weekly newsletter, and on Facebook. It won’t be long until OhioGunClass.org becomes the TOP directory for Ohio’s 4 million gun owners to find the classes they’re looking for.

CLICK HERE to sign up and create your listing account now.


via Buckeye Firearms Association
Firearm Instructors: List your Ohio CCW and gun classes at the NEW OhioGunClass.org

No More Photoshop: 5 No-Signup Image Editors on the Web

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It is a pain to fire up Photoshop, Pixelmator, or GIMP for a simple task like resizing some photos or blurring sensitive information in an image. Well, you don’t need to. Use these websites to do your job in a jiffy.

I’m a big fan of doing common web tasks without signing up


10 Common Web Tasks You Can Do Without Signing Up




10 Common Web Tasks You Can Do Without Signing Up

Security bugs like Heartbleed make it clear that your logins and passwords are not safe. But what if you could use the Web for common tasks without signing up for an account?
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. Apart from the convenience, it’s also a big step in protecting your privacy online, especially when you realize how much information websites store about you.

When it comes to everyday operations for an image, you’d be better off using one of these web apps to quickly and efficiently finish what you need to do.

Image Blur (Web): Blur Sensitive Information in Photos

No More Photoshop: 5 No-Signup Image Editors on the Web image online imageblur

When you share a screenshot or an image, it can often have sensitive information that you don’t want others to know. You might want to protect someone’s identity by blurring their face or even stop bots from reading your email address.

Image Blur is the simplest tool I’ve seen for this task. It only lets you upload images from your hard drive, so you can’t use links to photos. Once the image is uploaded, draw a rectangle anywhere and click “Blur it” to apply the effect. You can have multiple rectangles in the same image to blur different spots. After finishing, you can download the image to your hard drive again. Nothing is stored in the cloud, and the servers are purged periodically, so as to protect privacy.

Image Blur is tremendously convenient to use, but if you’re looking for a little more control, try LunaPic. You’ll need to register to use it, but the web app lets you both pixelate and blur images online


How to Easily Pixelate or Blur Your Images Online




How to Easily Pixelate or Blur Your Images Online

Need to pixelate or blur an image real quick? Use these free tools and it won’t take but a second.
Read More

.

Screely (Web): Add a Beautiful Background to Images or Screenshots

No More Photoshop: 5 No-Signup Image Editors on the Web image online screely

Don’t share a drab old image on the internet, or a badly cropped screenshot that ruins the rounded edges of the window you took it in. There’s a better way. It’s called Screely.

Crop your drab image to the desired size first, and then upload it to Screely. The site will automatically add a background to it, along with a drop shadow, making it look like those professional screenshots and images you see online. You can change the color of the background too.

For screenshots, Screely lets you add a fake window title bar if you want. It only has the Mac title bar theme though.

Screely is a simple tool that does its job well. What was usually five to seven steps in Photoshop is now much faster.

AddText (Web, Android, iOS): Quickly Add Text to Any Image

No More Photoshop: 5 No-Signup Image Editors on the Web image online addtext

Whether you’re creating a “One Does Not Simply” meme or actually adding a caption to an image, AddText is the easiest and quickest way to finish the job. Plus, it’s quite customizable.

Once you upload the image, you can add as many text boxes as you want. Each box can have a different font style, color, size, and position. Go wild, it’s all up to you. There are some quirky and fun font styles available here, so go through the selections, you might find something cool to make your text look interesting


5 Sites That Make Any Text Look Interesting




5 Sites That Make Any Text Look Interesting

Make text look fun. You don’t need to be an artist as these easy web tools make boring text look downright fascinating.
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.

AddText also has mobile apps for Android and iOS, which are just as easy as the web app. Since the web version doesn’t work well on mobile screens, the apps are a better solution. But it defeats the purpose of a quick, no-signup app, so you might as well get one of the best smartphone photo-editing apps


12 Great Smartphone Photo-Editing Apps You Might Not Know




12 Great Smartphone Photo-Editing Apps You Might Not Know

You probably know about the big smartphone photo editing apps, but do you know about these 12 lesser-known options?
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No More Photoshop: 5 No-Signup Image Editors on the Web image online social image resizer tool

The blog Internet Marketing Ninjas developed a cool web app for anyone who wants to change their social media picture. As you probably know, you usually need a cheat sheet for social media sizes


Social Media Cheat Sheet: All the Key Image Sizes to Know




Social Media Cheat Sheet: All the Key Image Sizes to Know

We’ve put together a list of all the important image sizes that you’ll need on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Tumblr.
Read More

, since Facebook, Twitter, and others keep changing the dimensions of profile pictures, headers, and so on.

Social Image Resizer Tool (SIRT) gets rid of the cheat sheet. Upload an image and you can start cropping it perfectly. Choose what you are making first, like a Facebook header or YouTube profile picture, and SIRT will automatically give you rectangle or circle selection accordingly. Resize and drag it to the desired part of your image. You can see the original image size, the selection size, and the final size at all times.

Once you’re done, choose JPEG, PNG, GIF, or ICO as the final file format and download it to your hard drive.

BIRME (Web): Resize and Rename Many Images in One Click

No More Photoshop: 5 No-Signup Image Editors on the Web image online birme

Bulk Image Resizing Made Easy, or BIRME, is the simplest online tool I’ve come across to resize and rename images in a batch. Plus, it’s surprisingly customizable too.

First, upload all the images you want to resize. Choose the desired height or width (and you can have the height or width auto-adjust too, depending on portrait or landscape pictures). Apart from resizing, BIRME will also crop images to your desired aspect ratio, so choose wisely. You can also add a border to all the photos. Images will be saved in JPEG format at 80% quality by default, so you might want to pump that up. And you can rename them too, of course.

BIRME smartly gives users the option to download all photos as a ZIP file, or individually if that’s what you want. As long as you have a fast internet connection to upload and then download those pictures, BIRME is better than resizing images in bulk on a computer


How To Convert & Resize Images In Bulk




How To Convert & Resize Images In Bulk

If there is a single time-saving tip that I could ever offer to any writer, student, professional or anyone else that needs to produce documents with images, it’s the ability to bulk-resize images.
Read More

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Not Just Photos, Videos Too

Such simple, no-signup editors aren’t the sole domain of photo editors. If it’s a video you want to crop or resize, there’s a solution for that too. Try one of these free online video editors that make you anonymous


5 No-Signup Free Online Video Editors That Make You Anonymous




5 No-Signup Free Online Video Editors That Make You Anonymous

You don’t always need to install an app for simple video editing. These five free online video editors can handle many video editing jobs without asking you to register.
Read More

, it takes almost no time to do what you need to.



via MakeUseOf.com
No More Photoshop: 5 No-Signup Image Editors on the Web

How Special Paint On The Hood Of The World War II Jeep Protected Soldiers’ Lives

Photo credit: Farrell Fox; Art by Jason Torchinsky.

If you’ve ever seen a picture of a World War II Jeep with brown paint between the points of its “invasion star,” you might have assumed it was just an aesthetic touch. But it was much more than that: the paint was there to keep soldiers safe. Here’s how.

The paint’s purpose was to protect against chemical weapons attacks. It’s called “M5 liquid vesicant detector paint” (a vesicant is a chemical agent that causes blistering.)

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After speaking with avid World War II re-enactor, retired U.S. Marine Corps tank mechanic and connoisseur of WWII Jeep canvases and also vesicant paint (he currently sells replicas of the stuff) Farrell Fox—I learned that this paint was actually standardized by the European Theater of Operations in 1943.

ETOUSA, Jan-Dec 1943

A “restricted” government document, which Fox told me he found in the National Archives, describes how the paint works, and how it should be applied to the five-point star (the star was the “National Symbol of all motor vehicles assigned to tactical units” per the War Department’s 1942 document AR 805-5).

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“In order to provide for the detection of liquid vesicants, the following procedure is adopted,” the European Theater of Operations document reads. “When the national symbol is located in a position visible to the driver, the space between the points of the star will be painted with paint, liquid vesicant detector, M5, to form a circle around the star.”

“In the presence of a vesicant spray attack,” the document continues, “the detector paint will give warning by becoming discolored from its normal brown to red,” going on to say that the paint does not work if the vesicant is a vapor.

The document continues, saying that if the star symbol isn’t visible, a two-square foot blotch of paint should be painted on an area that the driver can see, and that the paint has to be renewed twice a year or “whenever it becomes checked and chalky.” The paint should be cleaned with a brush and water, and it should be kept away from leaded fuel, the document states.

Photo credit: Farrell Fox

It’s no surprise that this paint was meant for the European theater, as Germany had become well-known for its chemical weapons use during World War I.

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In fact, according to a paper written by the U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command, American researchers during World War I developed a paint out of linseed oil paint and a “du Pont lacquer/linseed oil enamel paint,” copying the Germans, who were painting their mustard shells to detect leaks.

(At the same time, it’s unlikely that the paint actually helped save any lives during the Second World War, as the Nazis are known to have used chemical weapons primarily in concentration camps, and not battlefields. Still, given the extensive use of gas during the previous war by the Germans, it makes sense that it would have been seen as a necessary and practical precaution.)

According to the document, the prototype paint turned from yellow to red within four seconds of contacting a mustard agent, but the research was never finished.

The report goes on, saying that after looking at blue British detector paint in the early 1940s, the U.S. army came up with olive drab M5 Liquid Vesicant Detector Paint (it’s worth noting that a number of sources say the paint was more of a yellowish-brown color), with 7.8 million four-ounce cans making their way to the U.S. military by the end of World War II (here’s one original can for sale on Ebay).

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The paint was brushed onto various surfaces, and dried within five hours. After that, for the next month, the paint would turn red when met with a liquid mustard agent. (Note that this conflicts with the European Theater document, which says the detector paint generally works for six months).

Photo credit: Farrell Fox

Some sources online state that the paint is effective at detecting not just mustard gas (which, it’s worth noting, isn’t actually dispersed as a gas but rather as liquid droplets), but also Lewisite vesicant and even nerve agents.

Replica M5 Paint on the hood of a 1 1/2 Ton Chevy K43; Photo credit: Chad Phillips

Using paint to detect such chemicals is crucial, as—according to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons—agents like mustard gas, which have a characteristic odor, tend to dull a victim’s sense of smell “after only a few breaths so that the smell can no longer be distinguished.” In addition, the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention states, respiratory damage can occur in the presence of even tiny, unsmellable concentrations of the agent.

Image from: War Department Training Circular TC-51

So the paint is there to provide soldiers with a detection method other than smell, which is important, because the effects of mustard gas are devastating, with Lifehacker describing them in an article, writing:

Once exposed, victims smell an odor similar to mustard plants, garlic, or horseradish. Soon, they begin to feel intense itching and skin irritation over the next 24 hours. Gradually, those irritated areas become a chemical burn and victims develop blisters filled with a yellow fluid (here’s the least graphic photo I could find). These burns can range anywhere from first-degree burns to deadly third-degree burns. If one’s eyes are exposed during an attack, blindness is also a possibility.

It’s obviously critical for soldiers to be able to recognize the presence of this nasty stuff, which is why the U.S. military used this M5 vesicant detection paint not just on vehicles (more than just Jeeps; thats a Chevy K43 truck hood in the photo above), but also on helmets and on “gas detection brassards,” which Allied soldiers wore on their arms as they invaded Normandy.

via Gizmodo
How Special Paint On The Hood Of The World War II Jeep Protected Soldiers’ Lives

Our Favorite 4K Monitor Has Never Been Cheaper

Dell’s P2715Q 4K monitor has always been one of the most affordable 27” 4K IPS display on the market, but today, it’s all the way down to $364, the best price we’ve ever seen.

If you aren’t familiar, IPS displays boast superior color accuracy and viewing angles compared to the TN panels you’ll find in most inexpensive 4K monitors. I own the 24” model of this exact monitor, and I absolutely love it, just make sure your computer is powerful enough to drive it.



via Lifehacker
Our Favorite 4K Monitor Has Never Been Cheaper

This Footage of Kilauea Lava Pouring Into the Ocean Is Completely Bananas

GIF

It’s been well over a month since the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island started erupting, and molten lava continues to pour into the ocean at a steady pace. New footage shows the dramatic extent to which the lava is producing “laze”—an unholy and potentially deadly mixture of steam, toxic gas, and tiny shards of volcanic glass.

The US Geological Survey captured the stunning video just after 6:00 am local time on June 4, and again in the early afternoon. The wall of laze along the front of the flow is about a half-mile wide.

By the time the morning segment of the video was taken, lava from Fissure 8 had been pouring into the ocean for at least seven hours straight. As it cools, the molten material is forming an entirely new delta in Kapoho Bay. By the time of the afternoon footage, lava had practically filled the shallow bay. This volcano is literally changing the shape of the island before our very eyes.

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The laze, a portmanteau of “lava” and “haze,” may look beautiful, but it’s potentially deadly. When the 2,140-degree-Fahrenheit lava hits the ocean, a chemical reaction occurs, producing a mix of hydrochloric acid, steam, and tiny particles of glass. The ensuing clouds of laze can cause lung damage, eye and skin irritation, and death in some extreme cases.

In case you’re wondering, the residents of the homes behind the creeping wall of noxious gas have fled. To date, over 2,500 people have had to evacuate, and more than 300 people are currently seeking refuge at community centers.

[USGS]

via Gizmodo
This Footage of Kilauea Lava Pouring Into the Ocean Is Completely Bananas