AI smart glasses are a game-changer for the blind and low-vision community.
Don't take my word for it — I interviewed Jason Valley, a visually impaired Verge reader, for this week's Vergecast . Jason tells me how he uses the Ray-Ban Meta glasses as a visual interpreter, and how the Live AI feature has helped him live a more independent life after losing much of his sight. I also chat with Be My Eyes CEO Mike Buckley about why accessible design is universal design. Watch the full episode here.
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Entrepreneur
20 minutes ago
- Entrepreneur
The Key to Building Effective Corporate-Startup Partnerships
When treated as true collaborations, not just transactions, corporate-startup partnerships can unlock enormous value. Here's how to make them work. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Too many corporate-startup partnerships fall apart despite everyone starting out with good intentions. Big companies say they want to work with startups. Startups jump at the opportunity to scale their ideas. But a year later, both sides often walk away disappointed and empty-handed. It doesn't have to be this way. When done right, these partnerships can unlock enormous value that pays off many times over for both sides. But the key word here is partnership. Too often, corporations treat these relationships as transactions, not collaborations. And startups, for their part, don't always know how to navigate the maze of corporate expectations and politics. That may help explain why a 2024 survey of over 800 health-tech decision-makers found that just 15% of corporate-startup collaborations succeed — barely up from 13% five years earlier. Here's what I've learned about making corporate partnerships actually work. Related: Startups & Corporates: A Symbiotic Relationship Don't go silent after the kickoff One of the biggest mistakes I see corporations make is treating the startup business partnership like a box to check. They kick off the project, then walk away and expect the startup to deliver magic. I can tell you: That almost never works. Startups thrive on feedback, iteration and course correction. If you leave them alone for months, you risk missing key opportunities to adjust — or worse, ending up with something that doesn't fit your needs. As a startup, don't be shy about pushing for regular check-ins. Insist on ongoing conversations, even if it feels like you're nagging. I've worked with startups that were afraid to "bother" their corporate sponsor, only to find out months later that they'd gone down the wrong path. If you're not talking, you're headed for trouble. Watch for the "not invented here" syndrome Here's a common attitude trap: Big companies love to say they're open to outside innovation, but when it comes down to it, I've seen many struggle to embrace something they didn't invent themselves. When corporate teams subconsciously (or even consciously) resist integrating the startup's work because it feels foreign, or simply because of an ego reflex, the "not invented here" mindset is getting in the way of innovation. Startups need to pay attention to this dynamic early. Ask yourself: Is your partner genuinely committed to bringing your innovation inside? Do you see them involving their internal teams? Are they championing your work internally? If not, that's a red flag. A partnership where the big company never really intended to adopt your solution is just window dressing and will probably end up being a waste of your time. Related: When It Comes to Corporate Partnerships, Remember These 5 Relationship Tricks Don't let your corporation partnership get buried in bureaucracy Let's be honest: Corporations can be slow and bureaucratic. Startups … aren't. I've seen great startups get bogged down in legal reviews, compliance checklists and approval processes, draining resources and killing momentum. If you bring all the corporate bureaucracy to a startup, they will fail. Trying to find that balance is really important. As a startup, you need to be honest about what your team can handle. If there are just ten of you and the corporate partner is bogging you down in demands like you're a big vendor with endless resources, speak up. Don't be afraid to push back and set clear limits. Whether it's about timelines, resources or anything else, be clear on what you can deliver. On the corporate side, the best partnerships happen when the company makes an effort to adapt. Simplify processes and give the startup breathing room to operate. Again, startups beware: If you're not seeing that kind of flexibility, think carefully about how much you're willing to tolerate. This is even more important as corporate interest in startups grows. In 2023, corporate-backed deals already accounted for 19% of global venture funding, and the numbers are growing. This shows just how much big companies rely on these partnerships to drive innovation and how much is at stake if they fail. Redefine what success looks like One of the most important mindset shifts for both sides is understanding that success isn't always about launching a blockbuster product right away. In some of the best startup partnerships I've been a part of, the immediate result wasn't a shiny new thing on the market. 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Related: Making Startup-Corporate Partnerships Succeed: The How-To What you should take away If you're a startup thinking about partnering with a big company, here's my best advice: Speak up! Insist on regular meetings as part of the process from day one. Be honest about your capacity and set realistic expectations. Remember: Success is much more than a glossy product launch. These partnerships can be transformational. They can open doors you'd never reach on your own — but only if you go in with the right mindset and a true partner. If you treat it like an actual collaboration, not just a deal, you'll unlock opportunities others might miss.
Fast Company
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Spotify just turned your phone into a DJ booth
Impressing everyone when you're handed the aux in the car to play DJ just got easier. Spotify now offers the option to listen to playlists with seamless transitions between songs, plus the user interface to mix them yourself if you want. Spotify released the beta version of a new 'Mix' mode for its Premium subscriber tier Tuesday. The feature shows up as a 'Mix' button above a playlist track list that can be toggled on or off. Listeners can either opt-in to auto-transitions between songs, or they can mix their own transitions instead with pre-set options like 'Fade' or 'Rise,' and settings for volume, EQ, and effects. The feature is perfect for fitness instructors who want to program a playlist for a class or for anyone hoping to create a low-effort, high-impact soundtrack for a party. Mixing for beginners Spotify designed the Mix mode UI to make things simple for beginners. After tapping 'Mix,' the app shows each song's key and beats per minute to make track ordering simple, and visualized waveform and beat data help when finding the best part of a track to drop in a transition. Spotify advises newbies to choose songs with similar tempos and keys, consider the energy they're trying to capture with a playlist, and start with genres that are transition-friendly, since mixing 'works best with music produced for seamless transitions. Dance genres like house and techno tend to blend more smoothly.' Spotify's new feature comes two months after Apple Music announced its own 'AutoMix' option for a seamlessly mixed listening experience. Spotify takes the idea of automatic mixing and makes it customizable and shareable with the ability to swap and collaborate on playlists. There's also exclusive stickers and labels for custom playlist cover art that can only be used with mixed Spotify playlists. The Premium strategy Spotify reached its first full year of profitability in 2024. The company has more than 270 million paying subscribers and reported $4.75 billion in revenue for the second quarter of this year, up 10% year over year. That was lead by Premium revenue, which rose 12% for the quarter. Retaining and growing its paid subscriber base is key for the company's future growth. Spotify announced a price hike for Premium subscribers in markets outside the U.S. earlier this month, and it's pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to provide paid subscribers with content beyond just music by growing its video and audiobook offerings. With Mix mode, the Swedish streaming giant shows it's also finding new ways to offer Premium subscribers a one-of-a-kind music-listening experience that connects them with friends. Spotify's Mix mode takes something that could have been just for personal listening and makes it social.
Business Insider
21 minutes ago
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OpenAI CFO says these 3 things will help your company stay competitive in the AI era
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar shared some strategies to remain competitive in the evolving AI landscape. Companies should focus on automating real-world problems, she said. They should also focus on securing unique data sets from universities or companies. AI is advancing so quickly that many companies struggle to plan more than a few months ahead, making it difficult to build a lasting advantage. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar has three key tips for companies looking to stand out. First order of business is for companies to ask themselves whether they're solving a real problem, she said on CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday. "It sounds really trite, but sometimes I think people try to solve problems that don't really exist in the world." Instead, they should focus on automating complicated tasks that are necessary for real-world operations. There are a lot of complex business processes, especially in areas like finance, that can be automated with agents, she said. Lastly, she said that companies should focus on securing unique data sets. "90 plus percent of the world's data sits behind closed doors," she said. "It sits in university settings, and company settings, and so on. And so, can you access that in an appropriate way? That's what I think builds a competitive moat." The hunt for unique data is so fierce that even leading AI companies are pushing boundaries — sometimes at the risk of copyright violations. Meta considered acquiring publisher Simon & Schuster as a solution. Anthropic collected and scanned millions of pirated books while training its Claude model, which a district judge ruled in June did not constitute fair use. Finding proprietary data that isn't publicly available, and getting permission to use it, could be a legally sound foundation for a new AI company.
