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Day: May 26, 2023

What’s wrong with Leica Q3

by Om Malik
This post is by Om Malik from On my Om

It was a major news day for Leica — the Wetzlar, Germany-based company known for its iconic cameras released Q3, the latest version of the Q, the best-selling fixed lens camera. And new as it might be, Q3 is a big step backward for a product that won a Red Dot award for design when it first came to the market in 2015. 

The new Leica Q3 camera features a new 60-megapixel sensor first featured in the Leica M11 camera. The new sensor has some newer capabilities. It has better EVF, wireless charging, and a better back display. It also has better autofocus, thanks to a new blend of phase and contrast detection. It has a lot of video capabilities. But let’s face it, what matters is not inside the camera but in the back. 

The rear screen flips — much like a Fuji, Sony, or any other camera on the market now. Leica has taken its sweet time in embracing the flip screens. Nikon and Canon first added flip screens to their cameras in 2008, Sony added flip screens in 2010, and Panasonic (rumored to make Leica’s innards) introduced a flip screen in its cameras in 2011. 

New Leica Q3 Camera

Weirdly, introducing the flippy-tilty screen takes away from Leica’s uniqueness. The company has been able to charge more for offering less. The Less is more — and more means more money in Leica’s coffers. Leica’s black-and-white camera costs more than its color version. Nevertheless, the flippy (Read more...)

Side Hustle to Full Hustle

by David Cummings

Last week I talked to two different entrepreneurs working on side hustles. We talked about the big ideas, progress so far, what’s working, what’s not, etc. Then, I asked the hard question: what will it take to go full-time? Going full-time is a huge milestone, and rarely achieved. I’ve talked to hundreds of entrepreneurs over the years working on side hustles and it’s easily less than 5% conversion from part-time to full-time status. And therein lies the ultimate problem.

Working on a business part-time almost never provides for enough progress due to lack of rapid iteration.

Sure, you can make some progress. There are simple items to complete, basic infrastructure to organize. Things like customer discovery and business model canvas can be started. These are all worthwhile and part of the journey. Ultimately, startups are all about speed. The faster you translate market needs into solutions, the faster you find product/market fit. The faster you iterate on the customer acquisition process, the faster you find a repeatable, scalable business model. The faster you achieve these milestones, the faster you can raise capital (if needed!). Speed, speed, speed.

Startups require a herculean effort. A day job, plus a side hustle, plus a family, plus other obligations is often too much. If the vast majority of full-time entrepreneurs fail, what are the odds of a part-time side hustle? I realize not all entrepreneurs can go full-time and that other facets of life create their own opportunities and challenges.

Startups are hard. Doing (Read more...)

Unlocking Capital: The Power of Venture Debt for Startups with Billy Libby of Upper90

by MPD
This post is by MPD from @MPD - Medium

On this week’s episode I do a deep dive into the world of venture debt with special guest Billy Libby, CEO and Co-founder of Upper90. Get ready to uncover a groundbreaking approach to financing early-stage startups that challenges the traditional equity-focused model. Upper90 is on a mission to make credit accessible to tech companies at an earlier stage, allowing founders to retain a greater ownership stake in their businesses. Billy shares valuable insights on how venture debt can provide a lifeline to entrepreneurs, highlighting real-world examples of asset-based lending and innovative solutions for capitalizing on growth opportunities. Whether you’re an entrepreneur seeking financing options or simply curious about the evolving landscape of startup funding, this episode is a must-listen. Join the conversation and gain a fresh perspective on the intersection of technology, finance, and entrepreneurship.

Links

Listen via your preferred platform here.

Unlocking Capital: The Power of Venture Debt for Startups with Billy Libby of Upper90 was originally published in @MPD on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Deferred Thursday Tweets — "both metaphorically *and* literally a dumpster fire."

by Unknown

Deep in the heart of Texas


  


I actually live a few blocks from Warner's Studios.


I'm sure the striking writers won't use this as an excuse for mockery.


Rampell (Read more...)

Survivor bias and the mistake of stability

by Seth Godin
This post is by Seth Godin from Seth's Blog

An asteroid has never destroyed the Earth, therefore an asteroid never will.

This brand has been involved in scandals before, and it has always come back stronger, so there’s nothing to worry about.

There have been technology changes before, but we’ve always managed to find clients for what we do.

Survivor bias is the trap of only considering the successful entries when thinking about risk. For example, if you look at the performance of mutual funds after ten years, most of them seem to do pretty well. But that’s partly because the ones that did really poorly didn’t make it to ten years.

We are lucky enough to live on a planet that hasn’t been destroyed by an asteroid. But that doesn’t mean that other planets haven’t had their life forms extinguished–we’re simply unaware of them.

Past performance is no guarantee of the future. Sorry.

We should plan accordingly.