0.2% Purchase Rates Through Amazon Alexa

Project 3

Another reminder that trial and adoption of new technologies does not necessarily guarantee habitual changes – it’s a tricky dance to educate and convince users to go beyond their comfort zone, especially when they are used to a certain shopping experience.

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The State of the IPO Market

Project 1

High amounts of private funding from VCs in 2017 were instrumental to creating strong IPO opportunities for 2018 onward.

The problem with ‘explainable AI’

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NEW YORK––IBM has created a computer, called Watson, that will play against the best Jeopardy contestants for three nights, Feb. 14, 15, and 16. The host of Jeopardy, Alex Trebek, rehearses for the upcoming show. (Photo by Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The first consideration when discussing transparency in AI should be data, the fuel that powers the algorithms. Companies should disclose where and how they got the data they used to fuel their AI systems’ decisions. Consumers should own their data and should be privy to the myriad ways that businesses use and sell such information,… Continue reading The problem with ‘explainable AI’

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Q1 2018: Single PE Mega-Deal Dominates Quarter With All Other Segments Slowing; Robust VC Investment In Q1 Follows Two Back-To-Back $1B Quarters In 2017

Canadian private equity investment activity experienced a slower quarter in Q1 2018 with $6.5B invested over 137 deals. $5B of that total was from the buyout of Husky Injection Molding Systems Limited with participation from CVCA member OMERS Private Equity Incorporated. This deal aside, there is a significant cooling in activity in the first quarter of 2018, with… Continue reading Q1 2018: Single PE Mega-Deal Dominates Quarter With All Other Segments Slowing; Robust VC Investment In Q1 Follows Two Back-To-Back $1B Quarters In 2017

Technology innovation on the second half of the chessboard

EarthNow recently announced a $1 billion investment, perhaps the largest-ever Series A financing round, to build a global constellation of satellites. Ant Financial announced plans to raise $9 billion at an expected $150 billion valuation, making it the most highly valued privately held company. Last year, SoftBank embarked on a $100 billion investment fund, 30… Continue reading Technology innovation on the second half of the chessboard

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How ZTE became the focal point of US/China relations

Here in the States, ZTE has been content with a kind of quiet success. The Chinese smartphone maker has landed in the top five quarter after quarter (sometimes breaking the top three, according to some analysts), behind household names like Apple, Samsung and LG. Suddenly, however, the company is on everyone’s lips, from cable news to… Continue reading How ZTE became the focal point of US/China relations

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