# Top 10 in Tech - What to know for Week ending April 12, 2019

Published: 11 April 2019
Canonical: https://www.top10in.tech/posts/week-ending-april-12-2019

## 1. FINTECH 2019 5/5

The final part of a Five part series on the Future of Fintech by Business Insider. This one covering both [AI and blockchain](https://nztradeandenterprise-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/jon_davies_nzte_govt_nz/EfnPuNUGn1lBoTCn9KOoy9UBfEuIqq_T6TiJlrDsoHTPKw?e=xL7BBW) which are making the leap from hype to reality.

Link: https://nztradeandenterprise-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/jon_davies_nzte_govt_nz/EfnPuNUGn1lBoTCn9KOoy9UBfEuIqq_T6TiJlrDsoHTPKw?e=xL7BBW

## 2. ROBOTS

APAC will reign as the [hub of demand for steadily growing robotics market](https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/u/0/sh/84e7b497-c10b-4e43-b624-3100990a208b/41eb30ec30c19ece4cb8fa82864a4bb2). Annual shipments of industrial robots in the three markets leading adoption are set to surpass 1.2 million by 2024, up from an estimated 525,000 in 2019

Link: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/u/0/sh/84e7b497-c10b-4e43-b624-3100990a208b/41eb30ec30c19ece4cb8fa82864a4bb2

## 3. CLOUD

This may come as a surprise to some, but with [massive data breaches](https://haveibeenpwned.com/) constantly in the news (and the trending topic at last months RSA!), cloud storage can actually be [much more secure than onsite solutions](https://securityboulevard.com/2019/02/sensitive-data-is-safer-in-the-cloud). Also - guess who is adopting cloud faster than other industries?. [It’s the Financial Sector](https://ibsintelligence.com/ibs-journal/financial-services-ahead-of-other-sectors-in-hybrid-cloud-adoption). (According to Nutanix, [hybrid cloud deployment has reached 21% penetration among financial services firms](https://www.nutanix.com/press-releases/2019/03/27/new-report-reveals-financial-services-industry-embracing-hybrid-cloud), compared to a global average of 18.5%)

Link: https://haveibeenpwned.com/

## 4. SALES

Cognitive bias is everywhere and often are of the biggest obstacles to navigate during the sales process. [This blog post](https://www.saleshacker.com/cognitive-bias-sales) from the team at Sales Hacker describes some of the biases sellers face and how to use navigate through them.

Link: https://www.saleshacker.com/cognitive-bias-sales

## 5. SERVICES

Microsoft did it, [Apple are in the process of doing it](https://medium.com/@bethanymarz/by-the-numbers-a-snapshot-of-women-in-vc-f8fc4b00514f) (here is a [deeper dive on why](https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2019/4/4/apple-plus-brand-versus-subscription)) Other big brands are finding new life and new growth opportunties in services based revenue over traditional products. Fender are now [also in the game](https://www.fender.com/play), which is validating the business model of NZ’s own [Melodics](https://melodics.com/). [This article breaks down the pricing and unit economics model of Fenders new service](https://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/fender-play-pricing).

Link: https://medium.com/@bethanymarz/by-the-numbers-a-snapshot-of-women-in-vc-f8fc4b00514f

## 6. WOMEN IN TECH

By the numbers, [Bethany Crystal](https://medium.com/@bethanymarz) takes a look at [women VC’s around the world](https://medium.com/@bethanymarz/by-the-numbers-a-snapshot-of-women-in-vc-f8fc4b00514f) (and where they are, which is apparently not in NZ).

Link: https://medium.com/@bethanymarz

## 7. WELLNESS

Being a founder of a startup is far from [smooth sailing](https://medium.dave-bailey.com/how-to-set-boundaries-with-your-startup-2d983f971d51) and can take a pretty hefty toll on personal wellbeing . First Round Capital [discuss this in detail](https://firstround.com/review/founder-exposed-opening-up-about-startup-failures-and-vulnerability) and in particular discuss the need to admit to being vulnerable and accessing great mentorship and coaching.

Link: https://medium.dave-bailey.com/how-to-set-boundaries-with-your-startup-2d983f971d51

## 8. ANGELS and VC’s

A majority of all tech companies are at relatively early (seed/pre seed) stages of growth and all face challenges raising capital. [This article](https://medium.com/ramen-ventures/should-we-raise-our-pre-seed-from-angels-or-a-vc-ee389cec171f) and complimentary [google doc](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Jf9dkJ71RAoqK-lM9aY5mAg478MxwKeV6a2gxYKLY4E/edit?usp=sharing) outlines the current state of this stage of the capital market by asking the question "Should companies raise their pre-seed round from angels or VCs?”. Meanwhile US VC funding remained strong in Q1 2019 as [investors deployed $32.6 billion across 1,853 deals](https://www.svb.com/globalassets/library/managedassets/pdfs/1q_2019_pitchbook_nvca_venture_monitor.pdf)

Link: https://medium.com/ramen-ventures/should-we-raise-our-pre-seed-from-angels-or-a-vc-ee389cec171f

## 9. VOICE

Amazon is now [letting companies create voice skills for use in the office](https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/2b4d2dc0-22d4-4e41-a51e-436adc687d7f/create-an-alexa-skill-for-your-organization-in-minutes-with-alexa-for-business-blueprints) with the launch of Alexa for Business, where users can use [existing blueprints](https://aws.amazon.com/alexaforbusiness/blueprints) to create their own voice-activated commands onto of Alexa without having to write code……..."Alexa, create a Discover Canvas"

Link: https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/2b4d2dc0-22d4-4e41-a51e-436adc687d7f/create-an-alexa-skill-for-your-organization-in-minutes-with-alexa-for-business-blueprints

## 10. ZOOM

Our favorite collaborative tech tool is set to go public later this month ([forecast at $8.25 Billion!](https://www.businessinsider.com/zoom-sets-ipo-price-range-2019-4)) and at $425m in ARR and growing, Jason Lemkin and the SaaStr team [take a close look at what make Zoom really super impressive](https://www.saastr.com/5-interesting-learnings-from-zoom-as-it-gets-ready-to-ipo): a) it has fantastic [unit economics](https://avc.com/2019/04/scaling-a-company-while-controlling-costs) and, b) is very profitable, [unlike other IPO businesses](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-tech-unicorns-are-raking-in-cash-but-losing-big-money-11553857200). Weirdly enough, in 2018, the [profitability of companies that IPO had the INVERSE impact on price](https://www.recode.net/2019/3/21/18274843/unprofitable-tech-unicorn-ipo-stock-market-profit).

Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/zoom-sets-ipo-price-range-2019-4

## POD OF THE WEEK

The road to success is paved with failure, Freakonomics talk to creatives on [how to fail like a pro](http://freakonomics.com/podcast/creativity-5/)

**BONUS:** Amazon are running a [free online conference for Voice developers and designers](https://developer.amazon.com/alexa/alexa-live) on May 2nd (Pacific)

Link: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/creativity-5/