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Tag: #FaceMasks

Observations and More Lessons Learned from the New Normal

Observations and More Lessons Learned from the New Normal

It’s odd how companies have always had rules to which they had strictly adhered, but the lockdowns and behavioral changes brought several other necessary changes and issues to light, and always important for founders to observe and find that white space in the landscape that need that needs to be filled.  In terms of the current work landscape, for example, employees are not only working from home, but presently, sometimes from a home that might be thousands of miles away from the office. Suddenly, we can not only work remotely: it has been more or less mandatory for months and considering that 500K+ residents have already permanently left NYC, that trend may well continue.  No worries: we’ve proven that we can work for a NYC-based company, even if we’re in, say, Ohio. Zoom is the new normal and the stock price, yes, zoomed.

Not surprisingly, tracking devices on employees’ computers are also becoming the new normal.  Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean your boss isn’t watching you, Vox reported. In fact, “Software that monitors remote employees is seeing a sales boom.” Speaking of Zoom, “The videoconferencing software, for example, used to allow hosts on its paid service to turn on something called “attention tracking.” This feature let them see if meeting attendees navigated away from the app for longer than 30 seconds during a meeting, which served as a good indication that they were looking at something else. It couldn’t see what they were looking at instead, and it could only be activated when the host was in screen-sharing mode… the company disabled the feature after widespread outcry, which demonstrates how much people dislike features like these and why employers should exercise discretion if and when they use them.” Read More...

Subject Matter Experts and Entrepreneurship

Subject Matter Experts and Entrepreneurship

This week, we thought we’d look at subject matter experts, taken from the lens of carbon emissions with lessons for both entrepreneurs, and investors.

The good news about the lockdown: carbon emissions, which we’ve been told are a danger and will wipe us all out in X amount of years, are decreasing, given that fewer factories are fully operational, and there are fewer commuters on the roads. On the other side of the coin, although COVID-19 Cuts Car Crashes — But What About Crash Rates? According to StreetsBlog (and underreported in mainstream news), “both car crashes and crash fatalities have more than doubled in the North Star State (Minnesota) since the virus began to accelerate in the state.” In New York City, more motorists died in the period between March 2 and April 8 — even though there are so few cars on the road, as Streetsblog NYC reported.” Read More...

Post-Covid Tech: The Tipping Points and the Breaking Point

Post-Covid Tech: The Tipping Points and the Breaking Point

Om Malik did an excellent piece recently entitled The Inevitable has happened. And in a hurry, on fairly recent past crises and the opportunity zones that they created for technology. Head’s up, people: take note of this current crisis, especially since we’re still in medias res and observing first-hand where the shortfalls are. Case in point: The Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020.

It’s not tech,but it’s there. Read More...