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The Whole Planet Faces Degraded Internet Speeds Due To A Massive Cyber Attack

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Internet speeds around the world have noticeably slowed down due to a massive “distributed denial of service” attack, reports the BBC. These DDoS attacks bombard targeted web servers with so much dummy traffic that people trying to access a site for legitimate purposes are unable to do so. It’s most analogous to a traffic jam on a highway with no one able to move.

The BBC says that security experts are describing it as “the biggest cyber-attack in history.”

The attacks were focused on a company called Spamhaus, which maintains a “domain name system” to connect a typed-in URL to the correct server hosting the appropriate content. With this company’s services compromised, large portions of the web became less stable.

A Dutch web host called Cyberbunker states that it will host anything except child pornography or terrorism-related content. Spamhaus blocked Cyberbunker’s servers in an effort to weed out any spammers that might host their content with the company.

Now Spamhaus is alleging that Cyberbunker is collaborating with a Russian and Eastern European criminal organizations to facilitate the attacks.

A DDoS attack of 50 gigabits per second is usually enough to take out a major bank. Spamhaus is seeing sustained attacks of 300 gigabits per second. It’s only because of its distributed structure helping to effectively reduce the load that it’s still operational.

Why Your Elevator Pitch Should Be As Simple As An Explainer Video

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One of the fundamentals of owning a business is having a clear vision for that business. The elevator pitch is that vision edited down to its essential elements and stated in the most concise way. While not necessarily delivered in an elevator it’s theoretically meant to be delivered in the span of a sort elevator ride. That is essentially what an explainer video is. A short and to the point summary of your business. The rules for an elevator pitch and an explainer video are about the same. So here’s the list.

Essential ingredients for a successful explainer video and elevator pitch:

  1. Be concise and to the point
  2. Solve a Problem.
  3. State your Value Proposition
  4. State a benefit to the audience
  5. Request an Action

Be Concise
People are busy. They have their own daily concerns. Don’t bore them with long drawn out stories, complex analogies, or rambling thoughts. If you have a clear business plan you should be able to state it in a minute or so. If you can’t then practice until you can. When writing scripts for our animated explainer videos we often find that the customer has a difficult time stating their message clearly and succinctly. This is what we help them with. Look at each of the items on the list and see if you can explain each one as they relate to your business, in one sentence.

Solve a Problem
Everyone has some problem or business challenge for which they would welcome an effective solution. Identify the problem your product or service can solve.

Value Proposition
State clearly what your product or service will do to solve that problem. Here’s where you want to set yourself apart by offering a unique solution they can only get by doing business with you or your company.

A Benefit; What’s in it for them.
This part of the pitch might change depending on who your audience is. For our explainer videos we have to make that determination when writing the script. For in-person pitches you can shift that depending on if you’re talking to a potential customer, investor, or an advocate who might pass your name on to the right people. Have these distinctions clearly worked out and think about who this person is when you begin your pitch.

Request An Action
In advertising we call this a “call to action”. For explainer videos it’s stated at the end. We ask the viewer to download the app, visit our website, request a free demo, etc. For the elevator pitch here again this can change depending on whom you’re talking to. Be ready to end with this statement. Ask for a meeting, an introduction, or ask them to try the product. Whatever it is be ready and don’t be afraid to ask.

If you run a business you hopefully have clear answers to these questions. If you don’t, go back and work out the kinks in your business model. If you do, make sure you can state them clearly, concisely, and in a way that is relevant to the person you’re speaking to.

The Animated Explainer Video is your online Elevator Pitch. It’s there on your website, your youtube page,  facebook page, LinkedIn profile page, and anywhere else you can place it. It’s working for you 24/7 and available to the entire world, not just the chance person you meet in an elevator or other business setting. If your website doesn’t clearly state this in a way the visitor will grasp in the first few seconds, you probably need an explainer video.

10 Rookie Mistakes To Avoid When Asking For Money From Investors [Infographic]

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10 Mistakes to Avoid When Pitching Investors

Like it or not, money is the lifeblood of a business. If you are on the hunt for capital and have landed a meeting with an investor, your first impression can either be a deal breaker or money in the bank.

According to Founder Institute, an early-stage startup accelerator in Mountain View, Calif., one of the biggest flubs rookies make in an investor presentation pitch is failing to include charts and graphs. If you aren’t sure how to go about making charts and graphs that relate to your financial projections, you can consider hiring a business student or a certified public accountant for a day to help. Also, the institute says, steer clear of promising potential investors that your startup is going to be worth $1 billion by its fifth year. Investors want conservative estimates that they can trust, not pie-in-the-sky guesstimates.

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Other tips from the Founder Institute include:

  • Avoid a “hard coded” financial spreadsheet in your presentation – that is, don’t make your numbers unchangeable in a spreadsheet. Present your information so that investors can play with your various financial inputs to see how your business model will survive in changing conditions.
  • Skip what’s known as a “top down” financial forecast where you assume that your company will automatically win a percentage of some existing market. Instead, use what’s called “bottom up” forecasting, where you base your financial projections on an actual budget: essentially, how many items you are going to sell multiplied by how much each is worth.
  • Talk about the size of your total addressable market (TAM), but don’t focus on it. For example, if you are creating an iPhone game for women ages 35 and up, the size of the entire gaming industry would be your total addressable market and would be largely irrelevant. Instead, research your serviceable addressable market (SAM), which in this example would be the total market for women over the age of 35.

In the infographic below, Founder Institute offers a list of the 10 rookie pitching mistakes it sees on a regular basis.