Lingfield College Business

Why U.S. hardware startups will start moving to China SLAVA SOLONITSYN, RUVENTO VENTURES @SOLONITSYN MARCH 19, 2017 8:35 AM Hardware startups seem to be “in” one minute and “out” the next in Silicon Valley. For years, venture capitalists wouldn’t go near hardware startups. They were,  as Wired put it , “the ugly stepchild of venture capital.” This started to shift a couple years ago thanks to cheaper parts, rapid prototyping, and crowdfunding. However, the tide is turning once again. VC investments in hardware now seem to be slowing. We’re seeing a  drop in funding to IoT , for example, and  fewer deals in smart home hardware . We’ve also seen some big  failures  in consumer hardware. Take Lily,  a drone startup that raised $34 million  in preorders in 2015 and announced in January that it will not be going into production. Or consider Google’s acquisition of Nest, which has been described as a “ disaster .” Pebble is anot...

McDonald's announces plans to begin home delivery service in the UK The fast food giant is looking to extend its delivery services   CREDIT:  RUI VIEIRA/PA WIRE   Helena Horton   2 MARCH 2017 • 1:44PM M cDonald's has announced it is looking into extending its delivery service to countries including the UK. The fast food giant already delivers to countries including China and Singapore, and now it's set its sights on the US, France, the UK, Germany and Canada. The company said with the rapid increase in food delivery in these countries “the landscape has created an exceptional opportunity for growth”. “Because of our extraordinary footprint, McDonald’s is uniquely positioned to become the global leader in delivery,” it said in a statement. Watch |  Ronald McDonald to limit public appearances 01:16 B ecause most customers in its five biggest markets live within  three miles of a McDonald's , deli...

An in-depth look at how big data is changing the way retailers treat customers The Future of Shopping Is More Discrimination For you, a very special price indeed. Harris & Ewing / Library of Congress / PureSolution / Shutterstock / Zak Bickel / The Atlantic JOSEPH TUROW     FEB 27, 2017     BUSINESS Share   Tweet   … TEXT SIZE   Like  ​The Atlantic ? Subscribe to  ​ The Atlantic Daily​ , our free weekday email newsletter. Two years ago, at a retail-marketing conference called “The Internet of Things: Shopping,” a consultant took the stage and predicted that by 2028, half of Americans will have implants that communicate with retailers as they walk down stores’ aisles and inspect various items. By 2054, he added, this would be true of nearly all Americans. The rest of the vision went like this: Based on how long shoppers hold an item, the retailer’s computers would be able to determine wh...