What: Signature is an innovative, research-based HR conferenceWhen: Sunday, November 5 to Tuesday, November 7, 2023Where: The Hilton Orlando

Signature, the Premier HR Conference From McLean & Company, Returns in Five Days

Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo both spoke to the importance of the new institute, along with unveiling other safety measures the U.S. will deploy, on Wednesday at an A.I. Safety Summit in the United Kingdom.

The Biden Administration to Create New A.I. Safety Institute to Tackle A.I.'s 'Dangerous Capabilities'

Maury Alliance's final Breakfast with The Mayor featured city leaders discussing growth, planning and tourism's latest economic impact on Columbia.

Breakfast with The Mayor addresses growth, tourism and planning for the future

A court says Pennsylvania can't enforce a regulation to make power plant owners pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Pennsylvania court permanently blocks effort to make power plants pay for greenhouse gas emissions

The public are to be consulted on plans that could ban new takeaways near schools or youth clubs in Bristol. The city council has approved a draft Local Plan that would also stop three or more takeaways from opening next door to each other. City Hall chiefs are concerned takeaways are contributing to rising levels of obesity.

New takeaways near city's schools could be banned

Plans to build 25 homes in a North Yorkshire village have been recommended for approval ahead of a planning meeting next week. North Yorkshire Council's Skipton and Ripon planning committee will meet on Tuesday to consider an application for the development in Cononley. A previous bid for the village was refused in December 2022.

Plan for village homes recommended for approval

Local law enforcement will implement heightened security measures for Sunday's New York City Marathon due to a rise in tensions around the globe, officials said on Wednesday. The top endurance athletes as well as the 50,

Athletics-NYPD plan heightened marathon security, citing global tensions

“It’s as if the sea star is completely missing a trunk, and is best described as just a head crawling along the seafloor,” study co-author and Stanford University evolutionary biologist Laurent Formery said in a statement. “It’s not at all what scientists have assumed about these animals.”

The sea star's whole body is a head

New report outlines how caregivers face a series of financial and professional challenges, and ways financial advisers and employers can help.

Caregiving: A Growing Problem with Costly Impact on Budgets, Careers, Retirement

This suggests that, over the course of evolution, starfish and other echinoderms may have developed their five-sectioned bodies by losing this central trunk section, allowing them to hunt and feed differently from other animals.

Scientists Finally Solve Mystery of Where Starfish Keep Their Heads

Get the most recent info and news about Plan A on HackerNoon, where 10k+ technologists publish stories for 4M+ monthly readers.

Automate your company's ESG and carbon footprint reporting and reduce your emissions. Create decarbonisation plans plans based on data and science.

Plan A

Table of Links Abstract and 1 Introduction 1.1 The twincode platform 1.2 Related Work 2 Research Questions 3 Variables 3.1 Independent Variables 3.2 Dependent Variables 3.3 Confounding Variables 4 Participants 5 Execution Plan and 5.1 Recruitment 5.2 Training and 5.3 Experiment Execution 5.4 Data Analysis Acknowledgments and References 5 EXECUTION PLAN We plan to perform a baseline experiment at the University of Seville in the first semester of the 2021–2022 academic course, and then, replicate the experiment at the University of California Berkeley at the beginning of the second semester. At each location, the experimental material provided to the students will be localized, i.e., in Spanish in Spain and in English at the USA, and the translation will be carefully checked by bilingual experimenters.[1] Independently of being the baseline or the replication, the execution plan of the twincode study consists of the steps described below. 5.1 Recruitment In this initial step, we plan to motivate the students to voluntarily participate in the study as an interesting experience in remote pair programming but without mentioning that the main goal is to study the effect of gender bias. We also remark that for the purpose of the study, they must remain anonymous to their partners, so they must neither mention nor ask any personal information. The interested students must register in the twincode platform providing some demographic data and accepting the participation conditions. Authors:
(1) Amador Durán, SCORE Lab, I3US Institute, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain (amador@us.es);
(2) Pablo Fernández, SCORE Lab, I3US Institute, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain (pablofm@us.es);
(3) Beatriz Bernárdez, I3US Institute, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain (beat@us.es);
(4) Nathaniel Weinman, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (nweinman@berkeley.edu);
(5) Aslı Akalın, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (asliakalin@berkeley.edu);
(6) Armando Fox, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (fox@berkeley.edu). This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license. [1] At the time of writing, discussions are underway for another replication at the Northern Technical University at Ecuador. If this replication is eventually carried out, the experimental material will also be adapted to the local variant of Spanish if deemed necessary. Table of Links Abstract and 1 Introduction Abstract and 1 Introduction 1.1 The twincode platform 1.1 The twincode platform 1.2 Related Work 1.2 Related Work 2 Research Questions 2 Research Questions 3 Variables 3 Variables 3.1 Independent Variables 3.1 Independent Variables 3.2 Dependent Variables 3.2 Dependent Variables 3.3 Confounding Variables 3.3 Confounding Variables 4 Participants 4 Participants 5 Execution Plan and 5.1 Recruitment 5 Execution Plan and 5.1 Recruitment 5.2 Training and 5.3 Experiment Execution 5.2 Training and 5.3 Experiment Execution 5.4 Data Analysis 5.4 Data Analysis Acknowledgments and References Acknowledgments and References 5 EXECUTION PLAN We plan to perform a baseline experiment at the University of Seville in the first semester of the 2021–2022 academic course, and then, replicate the experiment at the University of California Berkeley at the beginning of the second semester. At each location, the experimental material provided to the students will be localized, i.e., in Spanish in Spain and in English at the USA, and the translation will be carefully checked by bilingual experimenters.[1] Independently of being the baseline or the replication, the execution plan of the twincode study consists of the steps described below. 5.1 Recruitment In this initial step, we plan to motivate the students to voluntarily participate in the study as an interesting experience in remote pair programming but without mentioning that the main goal is to study the effect of gender bias. We also remark that for the purpose of the study, they must remain anonymous to their partners, so they must neither mention nor ask any personal information. The interested students must register in the twincode platform providing some demographic data and accepting the participation conditions. Authors: (1) Amador Durán, SCORE Lab, I3US Institute, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain (amador@us.es); (2) Pablo Fernández, SCORE Lab, I3US Institute, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain (pablofm@us.es); (3) Beatriz Bernárdez, I3US Institute, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain (beat@us.es); (4) Nathaniel Weinman, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (nweinman@berkeley.edu); (5) Aslı Akalın, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (asliakalin@berkeley.edu); (6) Armando Fox, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (fox@berkeley.edu). Authors: Authors: (1) Amador Durán, SCORE Lab, I3US Institute, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain (amador@us.es); (2) Pablo Fernández, SCORE Lab, I3US Institute, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain (pablofm@us.es); (3) Beatriz Bernárdez, I3US Institute, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain (beat@us.es); (4) Nathaniel Weinman, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (nweinman@berkeley.edu); (5) Aslı Akalın, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (asliakalin@berkeley.edu); (6) Armando Fox, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (fox@berkeley.edu). This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv available on arxiv [1] At the time of writing, discussions are underway for another replication at the Northern Technical University at Ecuador. If this replication is eventually carried out, the experimental material will also be adapted to the local variant of Spanish if deemed necessary.

Twincode Execution Plan and Recruitment

Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) policies in digital business encompass integrated practices that ensure that your processes align with regulations, industry standards, and internal policies. Most commonly it refers to governance structures, risk management, and compliance measures. The regulatory part of the digital landscape evolves dynamically and leans towards tightening measures, at the same time, risks and error costs continue to rise. This is why creating a specific GRC strategy is essential for digital businesses. In this article, we will talk about key components and best practices for implementing a successful and suitable GRC strategy for a digital business. Key Components of an Effective GRC Strategy GRC is a complex and nuanced domain where the same strategy may work perfectly for one organization and be ruinous for another. However, there are common guidelines to follow, which allow for the creation of a successful GRC strategy that is tailored to your specific business needs. Establishing governance frameworks Governance frameworks play a vital role in defining responsibilities within your organization and empowering decision-makers at different levels. This typically involves clearly outlining roles and responsibilities, creating relevant documentation and company regulations, aligning these regulations with business goals and ensuring all employees are familiar with them. Identifying and Assessing Risks Risk management is a crucial aspect of a GRC strategy for various reasons. Conducting proper risk assessments and pondering their mitigation can save businesses significant costs by preventing potential accidents, rather than dealing with their consequences. For effectiveness, risk assessments need to focus on high-impact risks, and be conducted regularly and systematically. You can use AI tools to enhance risk analysis and assessment by identifying potential blind spots, gaps and increased human factor-related risks. This proactive approach helps in safeguarding the organization against potential threats and ensures resilience and sustainability. Implementing Compliance Programs Implementing compliance programs is about ensuring that the organization adheres to relevant laws, regulations, standards, and ethical practices. The important factor here is not to make these processes inflexible which renders them unable to accommodate frequent and ever changing legal requirements . It is recommended not only to consider the current regulations but also stay alert for forthcoming ones, preparing for them in advance and gradually, to ensure that any changes don't come as sudden disruptions for your company. Integrating GRC into Organizational Culture Integrating GRC into organizational culture is essential. Merely creating a GRC policy is insufficient if it isn’t integrated into daily routines and behaviors of employees at all levels of your organization. Only when GRC becomes a part of the organizational DNA does it become truly effective. The key point here is to understand how regulations translate into actual activities. Aligning GRC Efforts with Business Objectives A GRC strategy should never be detached from your company’s business goals, mission and values. In fact, it should actually support and add value to them. This alignment means that setting GRC priorities needs to be directly linked to key business objectives, ensuring resources are focused on areas of highest impact. 8 Steps to a Successful GRC Strategy Now, from theory to practice. The following steps aid us and our clients in developing a functional GRC strategy that doesn’t deplete the security budget, remains transparent for performance assessment and is scalable and flexible. Decide on the use of GRC Platform This is where it is absolutely crucial to do your homework. Research and compare off-the-shelf solutions that are available on the market from the point of view of whether or not they cover all your GRC needs and determine if additional complementary tools are needed. Sometimes, it is worth investing in a custom GRC solution that is tailored to fit your particular GRC demands rather than try and make do with generic solutions that may leave certain areas uncovered. Consult with compliance and GRC experts and involve your solution architects in the decision-making process to select the best option. Create a GRC Project Roadmap Set your priorities and present them in the form of defined milestones and timelines. Make sure they are realistic and are broken down into manageable phases. Then assign responsibilities for the tasks on the timeline you’ve created. Make them transparent and avoid situations where too many cooks can spoil the broth. Communicate the plan to everyone involved. Perform a Gap Analysis This stage involved identifying the existing GRC processes and evaluating them against your roadmap objectives. Then compare your current practices against industry standards, regulatory requirements, and best practices. Once you’ve identified the gaps, prioritize them based on their risk and impact on your business, and plan actions to address them. Determine and Align Stakeholder Expectations Stakeholder engagement is essential for carrying out effective GRC policies. Make sure it starts at the earliest stages. If you have to (and you probably will), plan meetings to discuss and align on the GRC strategy's goals, priorities, and outcomes. Don’t stop there, you need to keep the stakeholders in the loop of all the GRC-related developments, gather and analyze their feedback and ensure their active participation in decision-making. Define the Objectives Use the SMART objectives-setting technique. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound and this abbreviation perfectly reflects the qualities that should define your GRC tasks. Incorporating regular reviews and feedback loops into GRC objectives is crucial for ensuring their effectiveness. Conduct a Comprehensive Organizational Risk Assessment Use a structured framework to conduct risk assessment activities. Another great tip here would be to maximize the use of existing resources such as leveraging the cross-functional expertise within your team. You may already have a compliance expert within your organization potentially working on other projects. Keep a comprehensive log or a documentation of all identified risks with set priorities and mitigation options. Standardization Standardization is key to maintaining consistency and effectiveness in your GRC policies. By standardizing procedures, training, and onboarding processes, you ensure that rules are interpreted uniformly across the organization. Develop a comprehensive set of GRC training materials and procedures making it mandatory for employees to be familiar with them.  Consider incorporating GRC clauses into employment contracts to reinforce compliance. Additionally, adopt and implement industry best practices tailored to your business structure. Conduct regular training and workshops to increase awareness of your GRC policies and keep employees updated on its developments. Management and Revision The process of refining your GRC policies is ongoing. This ensures its scalability, flexibility and alignment with industry standards. So, monitor it, conduct performance checks, gather feedback and identify improvement areas on a regular basis. Best Practices in Creating a Working GRC Policies Besides understanding the steps for creating and implementing GRC policies tailored to your business, here are some tips to ensure its effective execution. Starting small, simple, and focused No need to roll-out a huge-scale system that will complicate matters for your company. Start small, try out, build on it and expand gradually. Keep the focus on high-impact factors. Leadership commitment Cultivate initiative within your leadership by openly communicating GRC principles throughout the organization. Emphasize that these principles are fundamental to the company’s long-term success and reputation. Prioritize risk and compliance activities At an enterprise level, this is what quantifies the value achieved at each stage of your GRC policy implementation. Engage your employees This is where you can get creative. It could be interactive training sessions on ethical decision-making, workshops on identifying and mitigating risks in your workers’ operations, and forums for discussing compliance challenges. Do not forget to encourage feedback and show you value it. Introduce proper incentives You can revise your company’s performance appraisal system to include GRC-related metrics. Your employees can be rewarded not just for achieving business targets but also for demonstrating adherence to compliance standards, ethical behavior, and effective risk management in their tasks. Conclusion Well-planned and implemented GRC strategy is crucial for success in today's digital business landscape. By establishing a robust operational framework, organizations can achieve regulatory compliance, effectively manage risks, improve efficiency, safeguard their reputation, and make informed strategic decisions. Furthermore, fostering a culture of GRC awareness among stakeholders promotes a sense of collective responsibility and accountability, encouraging an environment of cohesion and resilience. Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) policies in digital business encompass integrated practices that ensure that your processes align with regulations, industry standards, and internal policies. Most commonly it refers to governance structures, risk management, and compliance measures. The regulatory part of the digital landscape evolves dynamically and leans towards tightening measures, at the same time, risks and error costs continue to rise. This is why creating a specific GRC strategy is essential for digital businesses. In this article, we will talk about key components and best practices for implementing a successful and suitable GRC strategy for a digital business. Key Components of an Effective GRC Strategy GRC is a complex and nuanced domain where the same strategy may work perfectly for one organization and be ruinous for another. However, there are common guidelines to follow, which allow for the creation of a successful GRC strategy that is tailored to your specific business needs. Establishing governance frameworks Establishing governance frameworks Establishing governance frameworks Governance frameworks play a vital role in defining responsibilities within your organization and empowering decision-makers at different levels. This typically involves clearly outlining roles and responsibilities, creating relevant documentation and company regulations, aligning these regulations with business goals and ensuring all employees are familiar with them. Identifying and Assessing Risks Identifying and Assessing Risks Identifying and Assessing Risks Identifying and Assessing Risks Risk management is a crucial aspect of a GRC strategy for various reasons. Conducting proper risk assessments and pondering their mitigation can save businesses significant costs by preventing potential accidents, rather than dealing with their consequences. For effectiveness, risk assessments need to focus on high-impact risks, and be conducted regularly and systematically. You can use AI tools to enhance risk analysis and assessment by identifying potential blind spots, gaps and increased human factor-related risks. This proactive approach helps in safeguarding the organization against potential threats and ensures resilience and sustainability. Implementing Compliance Programs Implementing Compliance Programs Implementing Compliance Programs Implementing compliance programs is about ensuring that the organization adheres to relevant laws, regulations, standards, and ethical practices. The important factor here is not to make these processes inflexible which renders them unable to accommodate frequent and ever changing legal requirements . It is recommended not only to consider the current regulations but also stay alert for forthcoming ones, preparing for them in advance and gradually, to ensure that any changes don't come as sudden disruptions for your company. Integrating GRC into Organizational Culture Integrating GRC into Organizational Culture Integrating GRC into Organizational Culture Integrating GRC into organizational culture is essential. Merely creating a GRC policy is insufficient if it isn’t integrated into daily routines and behaviors of employees at all levels of your organization. Only when GRC becomes a part of the organizational DNA does it become truly effective. The key point here is to understand how regulations translate into actual activities. Aligning GRC Efforts with Business Objectives Aligning GRC Efforts with Business Objectives Aligning GRC Efforts with Business Objectives A GRC strategy should never be detached from your company’s business goals, mission and values. In fact, it should actually support and add value to them. This alignment means that setting GRC priorities needs to be directly linked to key business objectives, ensuring resources are focused on areas of highest impact. 8 Steps to a Successful GRC Strategy Now, from theory to practice. The following steps aid us and our clients in developing a functional GRC strategy that doesn’t deplete the security budget, remains transparent for performance assessment and is scalable and flexible. Decide on the use of GRC Platform Decide on the use of GRC Platform Decide on the use of GRC Platform This is where it is absolutely crucial to do your homework. Research and compare off-the-shelf solutions that are available on the market from the point of view of whether or not they cover all your GRC needs and determine if additional complementary tools are needed. Sometimes, it is worth investing in a custom GRC solution that is tailored to fit your particular GRC demands rather than try and make do with generic solutions that may leave certain areas uncovered. Consult with compliance and GRC experts and involve your solution architects in the decision-making process to select the best option. Create a GRC Project Roadmap Create a GRC Project Roadmap Create a GRC Project Roadmap Set your priorities and present them in the form of defined milestones and timelines. Make sure they are realistic and are broken down into manageable phases. Then assign responsibilities for the tasks on the timeline you’ve created. Make them transparent and avoid situations where too many cooks can spoil the broth. Communicate the plan to everyone involved. Perform a Gap Analysis Perform a Gap Analysis Perform a Gap Analysis This stage involved identifying the existing GRC processes and evaluating them against your roadmap objectives. Then compare your current practices against industry standards, regulatory requirements, and best practices. Once you’ve identified the gaps, prioritize them based on their risk and impact on your business, and plan actions to address them. Determine and Align Stakeholder Expectations Determine and Align Stakeholder Expectations Determine and Align Stakeholder Expectations Stakeholder engagement is essential for carrying out effective GRC policies. Make sure it starts at the earliest stages. If you have to (and you probably will), plan meetings to discuss and align on the GRC strategy's goals, priorities, and outcomes. Don’t stop there, you need to keep the stakeholders in the loop of all the GRC-related developments, gather and analyze their feedback and ensure their active participation in decision-making. Define the Objectives Define the Objectives Define the Objectives Use the SMART objectives-setting technique. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound and this abbreviation perfectly reflects the qualities that should define your GRC tasks. Incorporating regular reviews and feedback loops into GRC objectives is crucial for ensuring their effectiveness. Conduct a Comprehensive Organizational Risk Assessment Conduct a Comprehensive Organizational Risk Assessment Conduct a Comprehensive Organizational Risk Assessment Use a structured framework to conduct risk assessment activities. Another great tip here would be to maximize the use of existing resources such as leveraging the cross-functional expertise within your team. You may already have a compliance expert within your organization potentially working on other projects. Keep a comprehensive log or a documentation of all identified risks with set priorities and mitigation options. Standardization Standardization Standardization Standardization is key to maintaining consistency and effectiveness in your GRC policies. By standardizing procedures, training, and onboarding processes, you ensure that rules are interpreted uniformly across the organization. Develop a comprehensive set of GRC training materials and procedures making it mandatory for employees to be familiar with them.  Consider incorporating GRC clauses into employment contracts to reinforce compliance. Additionally, adopt and implement industry best practices tailored to your business structure. Conduct regular training and workshops to increase awareness of your GRC policies and keep employees updated on its developments. Management and Revision Management and Revision Management and Revision The process of refining your GRC policies is ongoing. This ensures its scalability, flexibility and alignment with industry standards. So, monitor it, conduct performance checks, gather feedback and identify improvement areas on a regular basis. Best Practices in Creating a Working GRC Policies Besides understanding the steps for creating and implementing GRC policies tailored to your business, here are some tips to ensure its effective execution. Starting small, simple, and focused Starting small, simple, and focused Starting small, simple, and focused No need to roll-out a huge-scale system that will complicate matters for your company. Start small, try out, build on it and expand gradually. Keep the focus on high-impact factors. Leadership commitment Leadership commitment Leadership commitment Cultivate initiative within your leadership by openly communicating GRC principles throughout the organization. Emphasize that these principles are fundamental to the company’s long-term success and reputation. Prioritize risk and compliance activities Prioritize risk and compliance activities Prioritize risk and compliance activities At an enterprise level, this is what quantifies the value achieved at each stage of your GRC policy implementation. Engage your employees Engage your employees Engage your employees This is where you can get creative. It could be interactive training sessions on ethical decision-making, workshops on identifying and mitigating risks in your workers’ operations, and forums for discussing compliance challenges. Do not forget to encourage feedback and show you value it. Introduce proper incentives Introduce proper incentives Introduce proper incentives You can revise your company’s performance appraisal system to include GRC-related metrics. Your employees can be rewarded not just for achieving business targets but also for demonstrating adherence to compliance standards, ethical behavior, and effective risk management in their tasks. Conclusion Well-planned and implemented GRC strategy is crucial for success in today's digital business landscape. By establishing a robust operational framework, organizations can achieve regulatory compliance, effectively manage risks, improve efficiency, safeguard their reputation, and make informed strategic decisions. Furthermore, fostering a culture of GRC awareness among stakeholders promotes a sense of collective responsibility and accountability, encouraging an environment of cohesion and resilience.

How to Correctly Plan and Implement A GRC Strategy in Your Digital Business

Written by Dmytro Shtapauk, Business Process Architect of Techstack No one likes doing extra work, and I have to say, it’s fair. This is the reason why startups or small teams often choose to ignore processes and jump in accomplishing high-priority tasks first. Test documentation is sacrificed in this case because its contents seem obvious to a small team of founders plus one or two testers, and writing it down is viewed as a waste of time. Time goes by; new team members join the team. The founders take on new responsibilities and have limited time to share expertise. After many pivots, they can hardly remember what they did; even more, they may lose test cases or other useful resources that could save time and effort. What seemed a reasonable sacrifice at the start turned into a bottleneck. Running a software product requires strategic thinking By introducing test documentation early, you save many hours of rework and eliminate bugs that could leak to production. In this infographic, I’ve gathered some math to define the maturity of your QA process. If you find out that you’re doing well, there we go—your team is doing great! If you find any of the metrics out of the bounds, don’t worry — below you can read about the possible problems and find a solution. You can always get back to my article about that benefit both founders and the team. how to write a test plan and a test strategy 5 Things That May Mean You Need a Test Plan and Test Strategy: an Infographic Working in QA means thinking ahead and preventing problems. You may need someone to or discuss how your product can benefit from QA automation or improved processes. exchange thoughts about your QA practices

Developing a Test Plan and Test Strategy for Your Business

In terms of attracting new employees, startups have a tremendous edge. In contrast to large corporations, startups can provide employees with the opportunity to become highly wealthy by participating in the company's ownership. You may learn more about early-stage startups' equity distribution techniques by reading this article. Startup Equity Distribution Plan When it comes to the startup equity distribution plan, there are as many perspectives. Before signing any equity split agreement, it's usually a good idea to seek the opinion of professionals. Keep reading to know a few valuable pointers. What is Startup Equity? Ownership interest in a company is generally referred to as . Businesses usually use stock as a form of equity. While it is possible to own equity in any asset, this is not always the case. When you start a business, you should know how equity shares are classified and who receives what. startup equity Types of Startup Equity There are several ways a startup's owners might reward their employees and investors with premium pricing and other incentives based on their equity interest in the company. The common types of startup equity are listed below: Convertible Debt Notes A convertible debt note is a method of securing a loan from an investor by using the company's equity as collateral. The convertible note promises to either pay back the loan with interest or grant discounted equity during a subsequent financing cycle. In either case, investors receive their money back, plus interest, or a lesser price for a stake in the company. In order to obtain much-needed capital without having to give up any stock for a long time, this is a popular method for new enterprises. After a convertible loan note has been in place for 12 to 18 months, the company should undertake a Series A financing round in which investors can purchase discounted ownership in the company. Incentive Stock Option As a reward to employees, companies offer Incentive Stock Options (ISOs), which allow them to purchase shares of stock at a reduced price and avoid paying capital gains taxes. As ISO profits are treated as capital gains rather than regular income, they receive a tax advantage. Stock options that do not meet the Internal Revenue Code's standards to be referred to as ISOs are called Non-Qualified Stock Options (NSO). These profits are taxed as income rather than capital gains. How does Startup Equity Work? Employees and investors are typically given a stake in the company in exchange for their contributions. It is determined by criteria such as the timing of the equity distribution, the level of participation and commitment, and the company's current worth. Founders, on average, receive the greatest initial equity. Stakeholders deserve to have a share in their company's success, which is why startup equity is so important. Early investors also generally receive more equity than others who join the firm later because their investments are larger in relation to the company's initial valuation. It's also common for early employees to have a larger stake in the company than those who join later in the process. In addition to fundraising stages, equity distribution is tightly linked. Your financial situation inevitably shifts as you proceed through funding rounds, and in almost every case, how you allocate equity shifts as well. Things to Consider Before Splitting Startup Equity An equity split between the company's founders, investors, and employees can be a difficult task to do. The following is a list of things to keep in mind while determining the correct equity split for your new business. - Co-founders and employees may be ready to accept a lower wage because they feel their ownership part in the company will be worth more in the future. Among the best examples is Nike's logo designer, who was paid around $35 a share of the company's equity, which is now worth almost $640,000. Replacement of salary - As a thumb rule, the person who came up with the company's primary value proposition is entitled to the most stock. However, this isn't always the case. The value of a good idea does not outweigh the value of actual, physical contributions of capital and sweat equity. The idea to split equity between two or more co-founders should be based on earlier developmental efforts contributed by each of them. As an example, one of the co-founders of Instagram ended up obtaining a 40% stock position because he was the creator of a company. Another co-founder came on board later and was given a 10% ownership in the company, and the balance was dispersed among investors and staff. A reasonable equity split - The stages of a startup determine the share percentage. It is customary for co-founders and early employees of a startup to receive a higher share of the company's ownership (Before series A funding, seed round) as compensation for their work and risk-taking in the company's early stages. Stage of a startup - A vesting schedule is generally recommended regardless of how equity is allocated among co-founders. The equity split agreement specifies in detail when and how co-founders might exercise their stock option rights under a vesting schedule. An effective vesting schedule can help prevent a startup firm from being collapsed by the departure of one of its co-founders, who may take a significant chunk of the company's worth with them. Vesting schedules How to effectively split equity in a startup? In the early stages of a new company, the founders possess all of the company's equity. As long as you are the only founder, you have full ownership of the business. More individuals investing their time and money means more likely you will have to divide up the company's stock and give some of it away to those who have supported you. In some cases, you may want to grant a non-founder or financial backer an equity part in your company. A common example is when employees are compensated with equity rather than wages or salaries. The below brief explains how to split equity effectively. Founders Entrepreneurs who start a company with two or more co-founders face the challenge of dividing startup equity by role fairly and evenly. At this early stage, most likely, you still hold all of the company's equity. Splitting this among the founders before handing a stake to investors is a good idea. Each founder should receive a fair share even if their investment does not match that of the other co-founders in the ideal situation. When beginning a new firm, it's not only about how much money each founding partner contributes. Other factors to consider include, but are not limited to: Each entrepreneur adds a unique set of skills and knowledge to the company. One partner's contribution of tangible assets or equipment The amount of time that each party devotes to the startup venture It's reasonable for entrepreneurs to demand compensation for all of these variables. Investors In order to award equity to third-party investors, you need to have a firm foundation on how to distribute equity to founders who have reached an agreement on its division. The amount of equity you're ready to sell must be determined at every stage of investment, from the seed round through Series A, B, and C. An equity stake in your company is exchanged for money from investors. Again, the quantity of stock received by each investor should reflect the amount invested. Well-known investors may try to cut the price or increase their equity stake because of their experience, unique knowledge, and/or success in the past. Accepting a cheaper offer is up to the majority of stakeholders; however, consider how other investors may feel if they discover you have paid more for their part of the company. Whenever you transfer equity to a new outside investor, consider how much of your original investment is being lost. For example, ensure that the company's founders have at least a 51% ownership in the company's equity. Employees Employee stock and vesting schedules might well be necessary at some point in a new company's life cycle. Typically, this is defined as: The primary founders of the company. First-time hires (the first 25 hires by the startup) Soon-to-be-hired staffers (the 26th and subsequent individuals to be hired) They can have a huge impact on your company's success because they are the first ones to walk in. There is a chance that they can bring unique expertise or access to markets that you otherwise would not have. However, you may not be able to afford to pay your first staff a salary due to a lack of established income or cash flow. You can avoid this problem if you give your first employees a stake in your company's long-term success through a stock offer. A common technique to figure this out is to compare the current value of your firm to the value it will hypothetically be worth when a new hire joins you. This increased value determines how much equity you can provide to that person and yet break even on hiring them. Even though you give away some stock, you can still make a profit if you give them less than the break-even point. However, an equity share provides them with a genuine interest in ensuring that your company succeeds to the fullest potential extent. Conclusion We hope you found this post helpful in figuring out how to split your shares in a way that doesn't insult anyone and doesn't get misplaced. 90% of the time, individuals agree on how the company's future profits will be split, preventing any potential issues as startups grow swiftly and unpredictably.

How to Effectively Plan a Startup Equity Distribution?

HackerNoon Reporter: Please tell us briefly about your background. I am the co-founder and CEO of Plan A and co-founder of the Greentech Alliance. The latter is a community of 1,000+ startups that are connected to over 350+ advisors from VC, media, and business. Prior to Plan A, I worked in investment banking, venture capital, and fintech in Asia and Europe. What's your startup called? And in a sentence or two, what does it do? We are Plan A. We have developed a science-based, one-stop SaaS platform that helps companies to decarbonize their operations. Our end-to-end software empowers businesses and organizations to accurately measure, monitor, reduce, and report their carbon footprint while improving their ESG performance. What is the origin story? A few years back, I went on a trip to Morocco, to explore the best places for surfing. This trip was definitely an eye-opening experience. I expected to see beautiful places to surf, but everything was really polluted, mostly covered in plastic. For the first time, my eyes were open to the negative impact we, humans, had on our planet. After this experience I got back to London and started to dig deeper into the topic of pollution and climate change, spending all my free time for the next 6 months educating myself on climate change and the correlation it had to pollution through online courses, books, and scientific papers. The knowledge I accumulated showed me that the situation worldwide was actually much worse than what was communicated across channels. My next step was to conduct a vast survey with 300 people and 100 companies to understand the behaviors and opinions about climate change. This was the final straw. After this, I was beyond convinced that addressing climate change needed a different approach. I quit my job and founded Plan A. What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to solve this problem? The Plan A team consists of 40+ experts in climate data science, tech, business, design, and more. We gather some of the brightest minds such as our CTO and ML expert Oliver Spragg as well as our CEAO Vamsi Akuraju (ex Climate-KIC, WWF, Potsdam Institute). What I love most about our team is that we are so many like-minded people who share the same mission and vision day in and day out. We all want to tackle climate change by helping companies on their way to becoming truly sustainable. It’s this high level of cross-functional expertise combined with our passion and devotion to the cause that makes me confident we will be successful. If you weren’t building your startup, what would you be doing? There is so much evidence - and it’s ever-growing - that climate change is by far the biggest challenge of our time and that we have incredibly little time left to take action and turn the tide. That is why there would have been no alternative scenario for me - I would have founded and started building Plan A anyway. At the moment, how do you measure success? What are your core metrics? Within our company and throughout our teams we have various OKRs, KPIs, and metrics we want to deliver on to be successful. Our vision as a company, however, is that we want to empower organizations of all sizes to build a sustainable world. Therefore, two key metrics need to be mentioned here: The number of clients we can support in decarbonizing their activities across scopes 1, 2, and 3, as well as the number of carbon emissions they have reduced by using our SaaS platform. What’s most exciting about your traction to date? What is really exciting is that we have successfully supported more than 100 organizations from various industries around the world with our software and consultancy services to achieve their sustainability goals and reduce a significant amount of CO2 emissions. Through our information and education campaigns, we have reached, educated, and engaged over 1,000,000 people - from individuals to employees and directors to private, non-governmental, and governmental organizations. What technologies are you currently most excited about, and most worried about? And why? What really fascinates me is artificial intelligence and its many applications. I think AI is both a curse and a blessing because it can be used for good but also for the exact opposite. In the fight against climate change, AI is irreplaceable and a crucial part of our SaaS. What drew you to get published on HackerNoon? What do you like most about our platform? Hackernoon luckily found us. What I like most is the community, the valuable stories and insights, and the exchange. Vote for Plan A as the . startup of the year, Berlin

'Climate Change is By Far the Biggest Change of Our Time': Lubomila Jordanova, CEO Plan A

"Never Invest Without A Plan" and Other Mistakes That Developers Should Avoid When Investing

Nowadays, we rarely see firms in the CBD industry being innovative with their products. It's often always the same thing. This lack of innovation inspired my search for CBD companies who are genuinely redefining their industry with modern concepts and technology. I concluded my search after finding a unique CBD store created by entrepreneur, (Also Known as Astyle Alive). Alec is the founder of , a firm that offers premium CBD (Cannabidiol) products. Alec De Layno Martin Tranquil Store From Vegan Gummies to healthy Granola bars, Tranquil store ensures it caters to a community of diverse consumers. Apart from this, they also offer premium quality flower, several different Tincture flavors, soft gels, and Lollipops. Tranquil Store is a firm that's set to transform the way we see the CBD sector. In this interview, Alec tells us much about his that he hasn't disclosed anywhere else, let's have a look at what he has to say; company Why is now the time for your company to exist? After years of trying ineffective sleep aids and prescription medications with undesired side effects, we came across CBD and gave it a try. After doing my research & talking with others around, I realized many people struggled with stress, anxiety, and depression daily. Tranquil Store was started to help ourselves, friends, and now the world. Our products are available around the globe for everyone like us. What is unique about your business? What is unique about my businesses is the transparency, values, the message we spread, and the fact that we are for the people. We do our best to cater to the people. We value our customers' feedback highly. We aim to create the best experience over and over again. You could come in contact with us multiple times throughout the day, and that experience you receive would be as if it was your 1st encounter. Innovation, customer service, accuracy, and critical thinking are a few words used to describe my businesses. If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting, what would it be? My advice to anyone starting out would be to come up with a plan. You should have a plan A, B.C, and even D. I wouldn’t advise you to rush into getting off the ground but don’t delay either. Try to execute your goals as much as possible. Do not be afraid to reach out for a helping hand. A closed mouth does not get fed, and you never know, the person you ask for assistance may do more than just that. What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to solve this problem? I love that my team has the desire to become the number 1 leading CBD company worldwide. My team works around the clock to come up with new products to release to the world as well as put dedicated time and effort into coming up with solutions for anyone in need. If you weren’t building your startup, what would you be doing? If I weren’t building my startup, I would be focused on 3 of my other businesses or at the round table with another startup idea ready to tackle. At the moment, how do you measure success? What are your metrics? I measure success once I make consumers happy. Once consumers are giving me positive feedback and I see that I'm climbing up the ladder. I measure the outcomes and not the proxies. What’s most exciting about your traction to date? The most exciting thus far would be Pre-registration. The site has been receiving a lot of customers who have been doing pre-registrations and that just puts a smile on my face to know how consumers are awaiting the launch for Tranquil Store. Where do you think your growth will be next year? Next year I'm hoping Tranquil will be doing upwards of a million in revenue. I like to put my hat high. Tell us about your first paying customer and revenue expectations over the next year I am hoping that the 1st customer to make a purchase will have the experience of a lifetime. I am aiming to make each experience as if it's your 1st, even if you are a repeat customer. What aspects of life do you think anyone striving to be an entrepreneur should focus on? I believe the focus should be on yourself.. Taking care of yourself allows you to keep a level playing field, which helps to overcome any obstacle and grab success. What principles and values have you learned so far on your journey to success? Values: A commitment to sustainability and to acting in an environmentally friendly way, A commitment to excellence, A commitment to helping those less fortunate, loyalty, motivation, respect. Principles: Fairness, integrity, honesty, leadership, excellence, bold, patriotism, accountability.

“Have a Game Plan After A, B, and C,” CBD Industry Founder, Alec De Layno Martin

A project specification is a comprehensive description of the objectives for the development of the project. It contains all the goals, functionality, and details required for a development team to fulfill the vision of the client. It describes how the software product will be used from a user perspective and performance details such as speed, availability, and response time. Its main purpose is to make good communication with developers and know what they need to do. You can prepare a project specification for any tech projects such as apps development, websites. It is prepared with strong collaboration with every person involved in the project, from the project manager to software developer What is a Software Specification? Software specification is a set of documents that has enough information on how final products look like and their performance. A ‘good’ software specification describes all the functional and technical specifications required to get things done. A comprehensive specification may contain detailed information and extensively describe the scope of work: Project objectives Targeted audience Product structure Product behavior Project milestones Deployment requirements In a narrow sense, software specification is an instant reference for all the concerned stakeholders of a project. It accumulates the customer’s needs and requirements. Simultaneously, it provides necessary information for the developers, quality assurance team and management. As we know, there are two types of specifications; functional and technical specifications. The major difference between these two is, the functional specification describes how the product will perform whereas technical specification describes the technical aspects of software product development. Functional Specifications It is a software development design document. It is well-detailed information on how the product will perform from the perspectives of users. It provides information on the general understanding of how the product will look and work after everything required has been implemented. It is not that vague and a non-technical person too can prepare it too. Technical Specifications It is meant to describe all the technical aspects of software product development. You can find the following things:- Detailed information on the interface signatures Class models Specific algorithms As you know, technical specifications dwell only around the technical aspect of the software product development. It is more sophisticated and complex for a non-technical person to prepare this kind of document Why do You need Software Specifications? Project specification is the essence of software product development. A well-prepared project specification document helps to direct both the client and the developer on the right path throughout its project life. Some tech companies may not require the specified project specification but without them, they get entangled and the development process may take a long time to finish. The following headings signify the importance of project specifications. Here are 8 important reasons on why you should not neglect software specifications: You define your requirement It is a clear cut reason for why you need to create specification documents. If you are able to define your requirements and expectations clearly then your project has more chances to perform well and get success. It makes your project estimation smooth If a product is not fully specified, it is almost impossible to like the budget requirement for the project. And this brings failure in the distribution of the workload too. So, if the product specification is created by the in-depth analysis done by professionals then it can make a fair estimation of budget and you can work on it smoothly. estimate the project To make the project schedule right A properly created project specification helps to assess the workload of the whole team and each member separately which . Not only this, it precisely assigns the tasks and checks the progress of software product development. prevents the heavy workload Developers get to become familiar with your product Software developers can make totally different perceptions and put their own experience on your product. If the product specification is created, developers know better about your idea, vision and how the final product will look like. If you take these things lightly, the result might get deviated more from what you want. If you pick out the mistakes in earlier days of development you can somehow change and correct them. But after a major part of development is already done, it is really hard for you to avert the mistakes. It makes clear that the product specification has huge importance. It not only saves your time and budget but also helps to make the type of product you really want. And the next thing, you cannot always check on the progress of product development, it is not feasible. Sometimes, it is not a bad idea to listen to how developers put their vision on your product. Their suggestions can become crucial for you to the latest technology. Overall, you can benefit from the experience and skills of the best developers. At the counterpart, it is certain that when two or more ideas collide there are chances of misunderstanding and disputes. These controversies can go really big and tough to solve. At this point, the product specification can help a lot. Since what you want to have and how you want it to work is mentioned in the product specifications; there will be less room for disputes and if there arise any disputes then you can take the reference from the product specifications to resolve. Development team knows your idea better As you have put a really hard effort to prepare and document the product specifications, you always want a better understanding of the developers' team. The product specifications help both the client and the customer to reach an understanding. All the efforts you made to make the product of your interest and idea you put into it will not go in vain. It actually engages the developers’ team to meet all your expectations about the product. Ensure transparency After creating a product specification, the process of software product development becomes a lot easier. It will have a clear mention of what work is assigned to whom and when the work has to be completed. It makes the development process systematic through enhanced communication. Due to the seamless workflow, productivity is more likely to get enhanced. It significantly reduces the chances of errors and controversies. Risk and cost reduction A product specification has a clear description of the design and architecture of your product, and it offers a boundless development process. There is no need to make an investment in the redevelopment of the product because there would not arise a situation where anything goes wrong. The development team follows everything mentioned in the plan. Product maintenance The market is always changing. Your product will not work efficiently throughout the lifecycle unless you respond to changes and adapt them to your product. The product specification leaves room for making changes to the product on later days even after the product is deployed. The project starts to fulfill all the requirements and in that case, you can bag huge success. There are fewer disputes and misunderstandings during the development process. A project with a well-prepared project specification is sufficient for taking the right direction throughout its life. It’s a plan, where everything you need for your project is clearly specified. Information is provided for what to apply under what circumstances. Apart from this, a good level of understanding is maintained between the client and the developers. Your idea is heard or understood better and you will actually get the product exactly what you wanted. How to Get a Specification for Your Project? You might have an idea and you don’t know what to do next. Since execution is what matters more than just an idea in your head. You might want to own a business and take it to the next level using different mobile and web applications. Your initial ideas are greatly needed by the developer’s side to build your dream into reality. We, the developer team from Truemark, can give your 3 options to build the specification for your dream project. 1. Somehow, you already have a ready-made software specification: Just provide us your technical specification and we will carefully analyze your specification and we will make sure that it meets our tech expertise. After that, we are ready to collaborate. 2. You create functional and technical specifications yourself: You can create functional and technical specifications from your side. It is not an easy thing to create one though. To create it, you will need an experienced technical specialist. Make sure to include everything, so that you provide us enough details to make the project successful. No worries even if you even miss a few things, we will provide you a project manager and a technical specialist to revise your requirements and even plan the whole architecture as soon as we get your requirements. 3. We jointly prepare win-win project documentation: Why not we prepare win-win project documentation? All you have to do is provide us the basic information about your product. We will then note out the requirements and work to prepare a specification in collaboration. We will again let you revise the final documentation for revision and to add missing specifications. This was also published , and I hope this article helped you! here

PLAN A

plana.earth

11-50 employees

Since 2017

COMPANY RANKING

PLAN A

EVERGREEN INDEX #9395

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PLAN A

plana.earth

11-50 employees

Since 2017

COMPANY RANKING

PLAN A

EVERGREEN INDEX #9395

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STORIES ABOUT PLAN A

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