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Investor funding is a powerful tool that can help you accelerate growth, open doors, and achieve your vision. But it isn’t the right strategy for every startup. And even if it is, you must know how to time your fundraising, navigate the complexities of term sheets, and pitch with confidence.

Pre-seed is the first round of startup financing, where entrepreneurs seek to validate their idea and build an early prototype. It’s important to set clear milestones during this stage, including thorough market research and product validation by testing with customers to prove the concept’s viability.

Seed funding is the second phase of startup financing, which helps startups with more traction and proof-of-concept. Startups seeking this form of investment should be prepared to demonstrate significant revenue growth and a path to profitability, as well as have solid team dynamics and a clear product-market fit.

In Series C and beyond, companies use funds to expand into new markets or make strategic acquisitions. This stage is often marked by intense growth pressures, with investors demanding high returns and a fast-track to an exit strategy such as an IPO or sale.

To avoid these challenges, startup founders can take a different approach by bootstrapping—using personal savings or reinvesting early profits—to launch their venture. However, many startups struggle with cash flow management and lack the liquidity to grow quickly. That’s where a digital startup banking solution such as Digits can come in handy. With a tailored dashboard that offers real-time financial transparency, startups can manage their business finances and maintain consistent cash flow with industry-leading yield and access to high limit business credit cards.

Local news is the reporting of events, issues and activities that directly impact a community or geographic area. It plays a critical role in fostering a sense of community identity, addressing local concerns and increasing civic engagement by keeping citizens informed about government decisions and community events.

Local journalism, defined by the Pew Research Center as “news in which people’s daily lives are the primary focus,” can take many forms. It can be found in traditional for-profit print and broadcast journalism, digital-only outlets, community and participatory media, and nonprofit investigative journalism organizations. These news outlets report on the people and places that are closest to their communities, reflecting their values, culture, and interests.

Traditionally, the delivery of local news has been primarily through television networks’ affiliates. These stations either broadcast a standalone local newscast or run short segments during morning network newscasts. Often, local news departments have their own distinct branding and studio designs, which differ from the national brand.

Despite the growth of digital platforms, local news remains essential to democracy. Research indicates that it informs voters about the issues they face, promotes civic engagement, and holds government accountable. It can reduce political polarization and increase voter turnout, and it contributes to community identity and cohesion by connecting residents to their city’s history, economy, and culture. When communities lose their access to local news, civic participation suffers and trust in journalism erodes.

The new gadget release cycle is always in full swing, but keeping up with every single new smartphone, smart speaker and hi-fi product can be a daunting task for even the most dedicated enthusiast. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered. This week’s highlights include Google’s Pixel 10 smartphones, Ricoh’s GR IV compact camera and FiiO’s flagship portable hi-fi player. For the refined gentleman and athletic bodybuilder, we’ve also rounded up a collection of wireless headphones that offer industry-leading noise cancellation and immersive audio comfort. Read on to discover all of these 2024 cool tech products and more, curated by the GadgetFlow team. This article is routinely updated throughout the year. Keep up with the latest news in our News section.

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Social media is a key element of today’s digital landscape. It influences how people communicate and connect online, and it plays a crucial role in building brand awareness and driving engagement. Understanding the top social media trends can help businesses keep up with industry developments and create content that engages followers.

Trends on social platforms are influenced by algorithms that boost content that’s popular, generating interaction and reaching more users. As a result, they can take off in a short amount of time and become viral sensations that can dramatically affect the way a business is perceived.

In 2025, video continues to dominate on all social channels and ephemeral content is surging. Streaming apps like Threads and BeReal have grown in popularity while platforms that allow users to create stories that disappear after 24 hours, such as Instagram and Snapchat, have seen increased adoption.

As the number of available content on social platforms increases, audiences are demanding value in their interactions. Adding interactive elements such as polls, quizzes, Q&As or personalised storytelling to your content can help to boost audience engagement and build a strong connection with your followers.

For example, the ‘Who TF Did I Marry?’ TikTok series was a masterclass in episodic storytelling, keeping viewers engaged with each new clip. Similarly, Sephora’s augmented reality (AR) makeup trial feature allowed consumers to experiment with different makeup looks before they made a purchase in-store or online.

A software update is a modification of existing code that corrects security and functionality problems in programs. It can also improve a program’s performance or make it compatible with other programs. It can be applied manually or automatically by the manufacturer. Some updates are rated as critical and should be installed immediately. Others are categorized as important or moderate. The software publisher usually provides the update free of charge.

One of the most compelling reasons to keep your phone’s software up to date is that it can protect you from cybercriminals and viruses. Hackers can use old software to access your information or hijack your device to attack other devices and users. Newer software uses more effective protocols that are harder to crack and that can block many of the exploits used by hackers.

Updating your phone’s software can also give you exciting new features. For example, you can get health features that track your steps and give you accurate weather reports, or a faster operating system that enables you to download apps more quickly and easily. Your phone may also have improved voice recognition and more accurate face identification.

When a company releases an update to its mobile products, it should provide clear, concise, and detailed release notes that explain how the update works, what it does and doesn’t do, any known limitations or dependencies, and how it will impact the user experience. A good set of release notes can help users understand what’s being changed and decide whether to install the update or not.

Breaking news is defined as an event or story that occurs immediately, requiring immediate reporting. This type of news typically requires that journalists interrupt regular programming to provide updates on a story as it develops. Breaking news may focus on any number of events, including natural disasters, political upheaval, or significant social issues.

As anyone who has gone through a broken relationship or bad job experience can attest, breaking news is never easy for the receiver. Whether you are an HR leader informing employees of layoffs or a physician delivering end-of-life news to patients and their families, being able to communicate difficult news effectively is one of the most important communication skills for any professional.

When preparing to deliver bad news, it is helpful to think about the key message and the person for whom you are communicating. It is also important to consider the severity of the news and the nature of your relationship with the person receiving the information. More serious news may require a more personal medium such as face-to-face conversation or phone call, whereas less serious news may be able to be delivered through email.

For many people, breaking bad news is a necessary part of life. Often, it is hard to avoid, but effective delivery can make the experience less painful and awkward. Ultimately, the objective of any bad news conversation is to have the recipient take action that will improve the situation or result in positive change. For example, a doctor might want the patient to pursue treatment options or a law enforcement official might want an individual to seek help and stay safe.

A data breach happens when confidential or private information is shared with a party that’s not authorized to access it. This can be the result of accidental disclosure by an employee, loss or theft of unencrypted devices, or hacking into a system with software vulnerabilities. Cybercriminals can use a variety of tactics to gain entry to the data, including social engineering or phishing, spoofing attacks, or using malware.

A major source of data breaches comes from a company’s own employees. This can be the result of malicious intent (such as an angry or laid-off employee seeking to harm a firm) or simply a lack of security awareness and controls. Malicious outsiders, known as hackers, are another big problem. They can work individually or as part of a larger organized crime network. Financial gain is the primary motivation for many hackers, as they steal credit card numbers, bank accounts and other data that can drain funds from people or companies.

While prevention efforts reduce the number of breaches, they cannot completely eliminate them. When they do occur, the impact can be devastating. The damage to a company’s reputation and finances may be irreparable.

In addition, a breach can lead to legal obligations and fines. For example, US organizations subject to HIPPA must notify the Department of Health and Human Services, affected individuals and the media if their personal healthcare data has been compromised. State laws vary as to how quickly they must provide notifications and whether a risk of harm analysis is required.

Space exploration is the activity of humans and other species traveling into the reaches of outer space. Initially, this was just gazing upward in wonder (see astronomy), but as scientific understanding of the solar system and universe developed, so did a desire to travel beyond Earth. This urge was first expressed in literature, then by rocket enthusiasts in many countries who formed societies to study the possibility of long-distance spaceflight. One of these groups, the Society for the Study of Interplanetary Travel (SSISP), produced liquid-propellant rockets that could reach orbital velocities.

Once such technology became available, the “space race” of the Cold War era pushed governments to develop programs for launching humans into space. For most of the 20th century, national government-sponsored space programs served a number of practical purposes: they increased knowledge, enhanced national prestige and power, and contributed to economic prosperity. Private companies also profited from activities in space, such as telecommunications relays.

Since then, humans have visited the Moon and lived for extended periods on orbiting space stations. Uncrewed spacecraft have landed on the Moon, Saturn’s moon Titan, Venus, Mars, and a few asteroids and comets. Some of these probes have even reached the inner Solar System, where they have gathered information about the heliosphere, a bubble around the Sun that contains solar wind particles.

The next major goal is the establishment of permanent bases on other celestial bodies such as the Moon, Mars and asteroids. This will provide a base for conducting unique and risky experiments, manufacturing equipment and providing access to the resources of these worlds. It will also allow scientists to understand the effects of long-term human living in space and test the viability of future interplanetary voyages.

When you think of news update, you may immediately think of black-and-white journalism in a newspaper or a nightly recap on the television. However, news doesn’t just apply to a city or a nation; it can also be an update on a specific company or even a single department within a large corporation. Sharing news within an organization can have many benefits, both from a marketing viewpoint and from a team-building perspective. For example, many businesses will create a weekly or monthly news update for their employees that highlights important events or projects over the previous period. This allows the company to recognize employee accomplishments in a way that is more formal than a regular company newsletter.

Some news updates are based on hard reporting, which involves interviewing multiple sources and doing extensive research into a particular subject matter. This type of report should be unbiased and not include the writer’s personal opinion. For example, an in-depth piece on the effects of a fire could include interviews with victims and fire crews to get a more rounded view of the situation.

Other news pieces are based on data or statistics and use spreadsheets and charts to reveal information in an attractive and digestible manner. This is often done to make an otherwise dry topic more appealing to a broad audience, such as an article about how climate change is affecting various regions or countries around the world. An infographic is an effective method for displaying this type of data and can be very effective when used correctly.

As mobile technology continues to advance, it can be hard to imagine a life without it. From smartphones to tablets, laptops, and even some cars, mobile devices can help us work remotely, connect with family and friends, access education online, and stay up-to-date on the latest news and trends in our industries. In fact, according to this chart, the number of smartphone users has surpassed 3 billion worldwide.

One of the most important things to understand about mobile technology is that, at its core, a cellphone is essentially a radio. In fact, wireless communication technologies can trace their roots all the way back to Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone in 1876 and Nikolai Tesla’s development of the radio in the 1880s.

Cellphones transmit by sending signals over a network of base stations, which cover the entire globe. These base stations are separated into uniform areas of coverage, known as cells. If multiple cellphones try to use the same frequencies at the same time, they would interfere with each other and make it impossible to tell one call from another. To prevent this, each cellphone transmits using a different frequency than the others in its cell.

When you’re on the move, your phone has to keep re-associating with these cells to maintain a connection. When it reaches the edge of one cell, your device’s base station notes that the signal is weakening. Then, it coordinates with the base stations in the next cell on a control channel and hands off your phone to them. The new cell then picks up your signal and starts transmitting on its own frequency.