Y-Combinator startup Taskade raises $5M to create a real-time collaboration productivity platform to take on Asana, Notion, Trello

Enterprise software tool startups are so often birthed to either un-bundle or re-bundle what came before them. In an age where “consumerization of the enterprise” is a trendy phrase for investors, it was natural a startup would come along to bundle its take on some of the trendiest startup tools.

Taskade appears to be the love child of Notion, Slack and Asana. It’s a tool for startup teams to collaborate around projects that can be re-organized based on how the individual user best works through tasks. The startup graduated from YC in the most recent batch and has now locked down $5 million in seed funding from Grishin Robotics and Y Combinator, Taskade CEO John Xie tells TechCrunch.

It’s a platform that tries to meet an awful lot of needs at once. You can take notes, designate tasks, chat with co-workers, set goals and visualize everything you’ve already completed.

The startup certainly seems to take a page or two from Notion, where you can re-visualize databases in tables or Kanban boards with ease. Taskade has built this framework into a more collaborative tool, while trying to place limits on itself so that users aren’t left with an endless amount of customizations, something that can be both a blessing (to the technically minded) and a curse (to those who don’t find exploring a piece of software deeply enjoyable).

Taskade’s platform is organized around tasks arranged inside projects. Rather than being organized around pages, which can contain multiple data sets and perspectives, Taskade’s projects are limited strictly to one database each. It’s certainly a limitation, but one that probably cuts down on confusion and the temptation to stuff pages with as much as you can think of.

“Notion is a beautiful product, I think at some point it just gets extremely hard to manage all the hierarchy with the cross-linking and whatnot,” Xie told TechCrunch. “For us, we just wanted to make it much simpler and more workspace-driven so you are able to collaborate with multiple teams.”

The collaboration is another distinguishing factor of the platform. The team has built a commenting stream that lives inside each project so that a project can have its own ongoing dialog without forcing users into another Slack channel. You also can fire up video chats inside the project pages and chat through the data without opening another app or sending another invite.

The startups that Taskade is taking on feel ubiquitous. Slack went public this summer and is sitting on a $11.4 billion market cap. Asana has raised north of $210 million from investors. Notion, the youngin’ of the group, recently nabbed new funding at an $800 million valuation.

The team at Taskade is still quite small; there are just six employees at the company right now, organized remotely, but the focus is on using this funding to build out the product over time rather than pumping cash into sales and marketing, Xie tells me. The company has largely been building up early customers through word-of-mouth and has taken a particular foothold among creative agency customers.

The product has free and paid tiers, priced at $10 per month per user. Taskade is still flirting with how they want the relationship between their free and paid tiers to look. Xie tells me they’re hoping to transition to a usage-based free model rather than one that leaves certain features pay-walled.

The platform is available on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and the web.

Four New Watches Debuted by Seiko to Celebrate 55th Divers Watch Anniversary

Seiko has unveiled a brand new concept for 2020 in the form of 4 new watches which will celebrate the 55th anniversary of the brands first divers watch. The first 3 watches will be releasing in a trilogy to include a series of reissues all of which will be released on the anniversary of the first dive Seiko watches undertook.

The main Reissues include the 1970’s Tuna 6159, the 1960’s hi beat 6215 as well as the 62 MAS 6217. All will have their original base design including a number of updates including the ever bright steel construction. This is a finish which is completely unique to the brand and a new release for 2020. The historical references included on these watches will celebrate the anniversary and showcase some of the greatest improvements that Seiko has offered in recent years.

The ever bright steel construction stands as one of the best new products on the market in watch design. It includes a corrosive resistant 316 L surgical grade alloy that is used in many watches today and in the majority of construction across the watch. The material is used completely across the bolts, liners, and surfaces of the structure. The goal is to produce a marine watch which is able to resist corrosion like never before. The alloy is 1.7 times higher in its pitting resistance than most types of stainless steel used in dive watch designs today.

The brighter color of the alloy also brings it its name. The Polishing technique that is used with the metal here has also been seen in the sister brand of Grand Seiko watches. The mainline Seiko brand does not often use this style in its watch design however.

The 4th watch in the series is going to be a recreation of the 1965 divers watch. It remains an exclusive edition however. Built in a solid screw down case, this is a watch with an astounding 200M depth and beautiful construction.

Stay updated for more on these releases from Seiko.

Learning How to Create Stunning Visual Effects

You can find visual effects everywhere. In fact, you will be exposed to stunning visual effects when you are watching a movie, TV show or even an advertisement. These effects can deliver amazing results to videos and contribute a lot towards the impact that they can deliver at the end of the day.
Here’s a quick overview of visual effects. If you are interested in learning more about visual effects, you can think about using this article as a base to grab basic details.

Photo by Lenin Estrada on Unsplash

What exactly are visual effects? 

Visual effects, which are also known as VFX is a term that is being used to refer to media content, which cannot be captured with live action shooting. Due to the same reason, producers will come across the need to produce content with alternative methods. That’s where they pay their attention towards a visual effects service.

In most of the instances, producers tend to get the help of a VFX service during the post-production stage. Then they have a better understanding about content that they couldn’t capture during primary shooting. As a result, they will be able to go ahead and fill in all the gaps with the assistance of a visual effects service.

There is a possibility to go ahead and add visual effects into both captured and live action media. Depending on the requirement, appropriate methodologies should be applied to proceed with it. The tools needed will vary based on the requirement as well. However, digital tools are available to help the producers with getting any kind of a visual effect done as per their preferences. In other words, they will be able to get new environments, characters and objects into the videos with ease along with the support delivered by visual effects services.

Increasing demand for visual effects 

When you take a look at the media production industry, you will notice that the demand available for visual effects services is increasing along with time. Numerous factors have contributed towards this increasing demand as well.

Producers in today’s world are interested in coming up with the most compelling content. If they don’t come up with such compelling content, they will not be able to attract audiences towards the media content that they produce. However, they come across numerous issues when capturing these scenes. Some of the scenes cannot be recorded practically at all. That’s where they tend to take a look at the visual effects services.

For example, some of the actions that the actors have to perform can be too dangerous. Imagine a scene where a group of people are fighting against aliens who have come to destroy an entire city. There is no practical possibility to create such a set and proceed with traditional recording. Even if the producer spends a considerable amount of money, he will not be able to end up with desired output. Instead of moving forward with such a traditional path, the producers can think about going forward with visual effects. VFX can help the producers to create any such scenario with minimum hassle. They will only have to spend a fraction of the cost to get a better outcome. That’s the main reason why demand available for green screen services are increasing along with time.

Even if you want to shoot a scene in another country, you can think about getting the help of a green screen service. This will help you to refrain from the hassle of moving to another country with all the equipment and characters. Likewise, you have the opportunity to travel back and forth in time with the visual effects services that you are getting.

As a producer, you should never ignore the importance delivered by a VFX service . It is something that you must think about getting. Then you will be able to come up with the best quality videos, which can create a positive impact on what you do.

How to learn visual effects?

If you are interested in helping producers with getting their visual effects done, you can think about following an appropriate course. A large number of courses are available for you to learn how to create such effects. You can learn the basics from such a learning course and help the producers in need. The time and effort you spend on this will never be in vain. That’s because the demand for VFX service is increasing along with time. This can expose you to a large number of outstanding opportunities in the future.

Go ahead and invest your time and effort to learn how to create stunning visual effects with right digital tools. It will be one of the best skills that you can learn to benefit your future.

Cork Flooring

Spouse Drinks And Drives

One of the worst things about alcohol is that it encourages us to do stupid stuff. Now, getting drunk and doing something stupid as a college student might seem entertaining, but it’s certainly not the case when you’re supposed to be a responsible adult. 

Unfortunately, alcoholics have a hard time limiting their alcohol consumption and they end up doing stupid stuff more frequently than others. And one of the worst things you can do as an alcoholic is drinking and driving.

Why Drinking And Driving Is Illegal

There are plenty of people who believe that having a few and driving is not a problem. I’m serious. People are stupid enough to believe they can drive under the influence of booze without any problems. 

Well, that’s wrong, and I’m going to tell you why. It doesn’t matter if you’re a highly functional alcoholic. You might be able to work as well as you should when you’re under the influence, but you certainly can’t drive well. 

Alcohol is a sedative that slows down your reflexes and muscle coordination. You might be able to drive in a straight line, but your reaction time will be slower, and that can lead to accidents.

Why Driving Under The Influence Is Always A Bad Idea

I know alcoholics who used to drink and drive on a daily basis. They only drank a little, so they weren’t drunk, but they weren’t sober either. 

Now, one of these guys was heading home from his office. It wasn’t a long commute. He lived in a small town and he only had to drive 3 miles from home to work. This 3–mile route of his passed through an intersection. One evening, as he was heading home, a semi didn’t see the stop sign and crashed into him. 

My friend was one of the lucky ones. He was wearing his seatbelt and the semi crashed into his car’s middle and rear, so he wasn’t harmed. However, the car was severely damaged, and when the police came, they were surprised to find out that both drivers were under the influence of alcohol. 

The police established that the accident was the other driver’s fault since he was under the influence and ran the stop sign. My friend got off easy with a fine for DUI and a mild case of whiplash. But his problems were only starting. 

As I told you, my friend’s car was a total wreck. The semi hit him hard enough to bend his car’s B-pillar. Long story short, the B-pillar is a structural pillar and it’s very difficult and expensive to replace. Some car shops refuse to repair the B-pillar altogether. Anyway, when my friend talked with his insurance company to repair his car, he was surprised to find out his insurance didn’t cover his expenses because he was charged with a DUI. Instead of helping him, the insurance simply brushed him off and told him he had to pay for the repairs himself. 

Driving under the influence is never a good idea, even if you drive slow and follow all the rules. You never know what might happen when you’re on the road.

What To Do When Your Spouse Drinks And Drives

One of the problems people bring up in support groups is how to handle their spouses’ drinking and driving. This is obviously a dangerous behavior, so the family and friends of alcoholics often find themselves wondering how they could handle it. 

Honestly, arguing with an alcoholic about drinking and driving might not get you notable results. Alcoholics have a way of agreeing with you and doing whatever they wanted to do anyway.In addition, arguing with an alcoholic about his or her drinking might make them angry and defensive, so you might not achieve much. So here’s what you can do to stop your loved one from drinking and driving.

1.     Use A Support Network

I learned this one from a support group. It’s not uncommon for people in support groups to relapse from time to time. Alcohol addiction is nasty, and abstaining is a daily struggle. Some people relapse. We don’t judge them, we only try to help. Anyway, the support group encouraged members to call other members if they relapsed and wanted to drive. 

You could use this system yourself. Tell your spouse to contact you or other friends if he or she wants to drink and drive. Tell them you would rather have them calling than driving, so they won’t feel bad about doing it. However, you should keep in mind that you or the person who is picking them up shouldn’t criticize your spouse for drinking. Reinforce the point that calling for a driver is acceptable.

2.     Take The Keys

Another way to use the support system is to take the intoxicated person’s car keys. Talk to your friends and make an agreement to handle over your car keys whenever one of you drinks. This will allow you to look after one another and the peer pressure might convince your spouse to stop drinking and driving.

3.     Have Dry Nights Out

If you can’t convince your loved one to stop drinking and driving, maybe you can coerce them into it. Talk with his or her friends and have dry nights out if he or she continues to drink and drive. Your spouse might enjoy drinking, but he or she might think twice about driving after if the people around them would stop partying when he or she would do it.

4.     Have The Talk

If the problem persists and your spouse has developed a pattern of drinking and driving, you should have a serious talk. You might choose to talk alone, or you can plan an intervention. Drinking and driving is a hazardous behavior, and something bad is bound to happen. A frank conversation or an intervention might change his or her mind about this destructive behavior.

How To Stop Your Spouse From Drinking And Driving

If talking to your spouse about the dangers of drinking and driving does not change their behavior, you might be better off planning an intervention. Interventions are so popular because they work. When the room is filled with people you love and everyone asks you to change your behavior, you’re inclined to do it. 

For more information about this topic, please visit https://www.freddygetsalife.com/when-your-partner-is-drinking-and-driving/

Financial Inclusion By P2P Lending?

For those of you who are looking for information on fast loans and cash may have heard about the method of borrowing with P2P Lending. P2P Lending or peer to peer lending is a method of channeling alternative loans in addition to conventional methods such as bank loans or mortgaging assets in the mortgage agency. P2P Lending like SOFIS is one form of financial companies that use technology as its base or also called financial technology (Fintech).

SOFIS is a marketplace platform for business loan and personal loan that brings together borrowers and lenders with easy and fast processing, low and fixed interest rates, and can provide balanced returns between borrowers and sponsors who are willing to provide funding as investment diversification.

What is the difference between borrowing conventional lending and P2P Lending?

You may still be unsure of the individual lending system by way of P2P Lending, especially now that many other traditional financial institutions that provide claim to provide ease in the process of borrowing funds for both personal needs and for business development. Before deciding to apply for a loan to a traditional financial institution, it’s good to understand what differentiates between traditional financial institutions and the ever-expanding P2P Lending platform like SOFIS:

Source of funds

Cash loans to traditional financial institutions such as banks for example, funds obtained from customers’ savings funds are then played on loan to borrowers coupled with interest. So the bank has a responsibility to return the customer money played, so there is a risk of sanctions for borrowers who are late paying even the risk of losing the guaranteed assets. Funds disbursed through SOFIS come from lenders or investors who directly give their funds to the borrower. SOFIS does not require borrowers to provide guarantees and sanctions for very low payment delays.

Loan application submission

Applying for a bank loan requires you to submit your business plan forward, and a survey to the place of business, and also rely on the bank to determine whether you are eligible to take credit or not. Applying for loan investments through https://sofis.id , you only need to follow the submission flow that we have determined with the process that is not long, all done online, then just waiting for sponsors interested to fund your efforts.

Interest and fees

The amount of interest set for the payment of your cash loan is determined by the bank adjusted for the credit tenor term.  Through peer to peer lending platform, interests are based on the risk factors of the borrowers. Borrowers with history of borrowing through SOFIS and has successfully paid the loan, will have a chance to get lower interest. Fees will also lower as the interest gets lowered.

Thus, it can be concluded that the method of channeling loans through P2P Lending as done by SOFIS is a form of government program support, especially in this case Bank Indonesia and OJK in increasing the involvement of the community to utilize the services of financial institutions including to apply for loans. The government’s financial clarification program is still experiencing difficulties due to the limited access to financial services in Indonesian society. With the advent of fintech companies like SOFIS, of course, can be a bridge between the owner of the fund with you who need funds by utilizing financial technology is increasingly entered in almost all levels of society, especially for the middle class. 

This article is originally published at https://sofis.id/blog

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