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The newest £1 billion startup is led by one of tech’s youngest female CEOs

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This week, Canva announced a £40 million founding round making its founder, Melanie Perkins, 30, perhaps the youngest female CEO to be leading a £1 billion startup.

Perkins co-founded Canva in 2014 as a way to “democratise design” for everything from slide presentations to handouts. It offers web-based design tools for people who aren’t professional graphic designers as an alternative to Powerpoint or Adobe’s design suite.

Canva CEO Female Tech Leaders

The 250 person-startup has scaled quickly claiming it has 10 million users. It has raised a total of £82 million from investors such as Sequoia China, Blackbird Ventures, and Felicis Ventures, and Canva says it is already profitable and hasn’t touched money from previous rounds (investors valued the company at $1 billion in the most recent round). It plans to spend its new cash on product development to compete with incumbents like Adobe. The company is based in Sydney, Australia, and Manilla, Philippines.

Perkins follows in the recent footsteps of Katrina Lake, the founder and CEO of Stitch Fix. On Nov. 17, 2017, Lake became last year’s first female CEO to take a company public in the US in 2017. Her e-commerce startup listed for $1.4 billion on Nasdaq. In just six years, Lake built a profitable business with nearly $1 billion in annual revenue while raising just $42 million, a fraction of the sum many startups raise to achieve the same milestone.

Perkins and Lake remain the exception. Only about 6% of senior venture capitalists are female (down from 10% since 1999) and just 2.7% of venture-backed startups have female CEOs, according to studies by Babson College and Columbia University.

If your thinking about a career in Design, Marketing or Software Development please check out our latest featured jobs or contact one of our consultants. You never know, in the future you could be the next Melanie Perkins or Larry Page.

 

 

Apple Delays Release of HomePod Smart Speaker!

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Apple delays release of HomePod smart speaker, giving Google and Amazon a head start in Christmas sales this holiday season!

Apple has given Amazon and Google an even bigger head start in the race to get smart speakers into your home.

The tech titan said it’s pushed back the launch of its first smart speaker, the HomePod, from sometime in December (no specific date was ever offered) to “early 2018” so it can finish work on the device.

Missing the critical holiday season is a blow to Apple. The company loses the opportunity to sell the HomePod to shoppers in a more buying mood and help it break into the young smart speaker market. The delay comes as both Amazon and Google roll out aggressive discounts during Black Friday and beyond for their respective family of smart speakers, potentially cutting down on prospective HomePod customers.

For consumers, it means one less choice, even if the £349 HomePod represents a much more expensive option than the Echo Dot or Google Home Mini, both about £50.

Apple is likely being careful since it can ill afford a slip-up in this market.

“The only thing worse than this delay is introducing it and selling under a million and making no dent in the market,” said Michael R. Levin, of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. “That would be really embarrassing.”

apple-wwdc-2017-homepod-speaker-3973
Say hello to Apple’s HomePod smart speaker

Apple declined to offer more information for this story beyond their latest statement.

So how much does this delay hurt Apple?

From a financial perspective, it’s going to be a hiccup because Apple makes most of its money from its iPhone lineup. The HomePod fits as an ancillary business similar to the Apple Watch or AirPods, which aren’t nearly as important.

The bigger concern is the loss of a key opportunity to get into your home. Apple is already late to this field, ceding ground to Amazon, Google and speaker makers like Sonos, Sony and Lenovo (many of which use Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant).

Amazon, which popularized the smart speaker category with the launch of its Echo in late 2014, has already sold 20 million smart speakers in the US, taking 73 percent of that market. Google, which launched the Google Home last year, takes up the other 27 percent, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners said this month.

If you’re investing in one or a set of smart speakers from one company, you’re less likely to mix and match brands.

There’s still hope for Apple, which is known for coming into an already developed market and quickly taking over, such as with the iPhone for smartphones or the Apple Watch for wearables. The company famously has a rabid fan base willing to buy many — if not all — of its products. If the HomePod ends up being successful anyway, no one will remember this monthslong delay.

Yet Amazon and Google have already shown up with second- and third-generation products, and started developing app ecosystems and partnerships with smart home equipment makers. The HomePod was a first step toward matching these efforts, and now catching up to competitors could be harder.

Apple also hasn’t proven there’s a sizeable market for a high-priced smart speaker, with the most popular device in the field so far being the £50 Echo Dot. (The Google Home Max is even more expensive, at £399, and already available for sale.)

Check out some of our latest featured Jobs, they may not be working with Apple, but it could be the next best thing!

 

  • TECH ADVISOR

Software & Web Developers – Partner with us and receive your very own personal MacBook Air!

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STOP!! Check this out… Get a new Job by partnering with us and we will give you your very own Mac Book Air to keep! Wow!! Once your secure your new job we will give you your very own personal MacBook Air, a gift from us to you!
Submit your CV now and one of our team will be in touch!    Let’s Celebrate Success!!! 

Your New MacBook Air will be presented to you after completing a successful 6 month probationary period within your new job, just let us know what colour you prefer and its all yours! (6 Month term also applies to Temp/Contract positions)

How To Be A Web Developer

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Here at Graffiti Recruitment, we meet many people who would like to learn web development and launch a new career but simply don’t know where to start. Should you learn to code? Get experience at a startup? Come up with an idea for your own business?

When you’re not in the tech scene, it can seem almost impenetrable, we should know. But we’re here to tell you it’s really not so hard to get the skills you need to become a programmer if it’s something you really want to do. With the right support, motivation, knowledge and experience your career in tech is within arm’s reach.

In this post, we’re going to discuss what steps to take and in what order to take them when you’re first starting out learning to code & get that new career in motion.

 

Want to Learn To Code?

  1. Have A Goal

Decide what you want to create. Do you have an idea for the next big social network? Do you have an idea for a great app? A useful tool that you’ve always needed and not found anywhere? If you think there’s a need for it and it doesn’t already exist, you can be the one to create it. Your app might be something that your family / job / journey to work has inspired you to create. For example, top model and longtime coder Lyndsey Scott created an app for her ‘book’ – the portfolio of photographs, campaigns and experience that models take along to fashion castings to give casting directors an idea of what they’ve done before. The app is called iPort, which allows models to upload their ‘book’ or portfolio onto an iPad. She said:

“I built that app because it was something I personally needed,’ she said. ‘My book always ends up looking terrible, the books fall apart, the pages are tearing, it’s dirty, and it’s a mess.”

If you’ve noticed a gap in the market or a need that hasn’t yet been met, that’s where your app or website could come in.

 

  1. Learn To Code

Many of us first learned to code using Codecademy and lots of other free online tutorials. You will also need the support and expertise of someone who has already been there. It is for this reason that we suggest getting a mentor. While you are learning to code it’s crucial to have someone you can ask direct questions to about the small, fiddling things to do with programming, but what’s also invaluable is having someone on-hand who can give you advice in your career, help you build a portfolio or find work. As David Shariff, Senior Engineer at Yahoo said: “Don’t settle for knowing a concept, roll your sleeves up and dig as deep as you can.”

 

  1. Google For Solutions

Someone once told me that when you’re learning how to program you really learn how to Google stuff like a pro. This is a key skill as a developer. All of the answers you need to any question you might have you will find online, but knowing HOW and WHERE to find them is the tough part. You need to learn exactly which search terms are going to get you the answers you need, whether you find them on GitHub or StackOverFlow or on some obscure forum. When you understand how to Google for things you’ll find learning code will be much faster. It is part of the learning process to get from problem to solution in as little time as possible – and when you are under pressure in a real, working environment this skill will be invaluable.

 

  1. Copy Cool Things

Copy cool things you find on great websites like widgets, videos, parallax images etc. (do view source on a page). Add it to your code. Then try to understand what it is doing. This is a great way to learn any new skills and impress your friends by having something advanced to show at a relatively early stage in your learning. Websites like TryRuby are great for practicing what you’ve learnt directly in your browser without having to download any software.

 

  1. Showcase Your Work

When you are pitching to do a job as a web developer you’re not asked to show your certificates, you’re asked to show what projects you have been part of creating already. This is why it’s really important to build up a portfolio of work – websites, apps, code, to show in your interview. You may also be asked technical questions in your interview, so it’s good to be prepared – read up on websites like StackOverFlow, ask questions on there and answer questions if you think you can. You’ll be building up a profile and reputation while you’re doing it. The best way to showcase your work to employers is to set up your Github page and or Website of your own and showcase your projects from there.

 

Next Steps

So what’s your next step? Do you need to get some experience at a startup, buckle down and learn to code, or start putting together a portfolio for future job interviews? Maybe you need more advice on some more about the subject and career prospect, in which case you can call one of our team on 0330 2233 047 or if you have already experience as a Web Developer check out our latest jobs here and apply now. 

 

careerfoundry –  ROSIE ALLABARTON

Entatech Telford Employees – We Are Here To Help!

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Entatech Telford Employees made redundant due to failed buy over!

Following on from the earlier news that Beta Distribution had pulled out of a deal to acquire Entatech, reports have now emerged that the Telford-based distributor has gone out of business altogether.

Entatech had been widely advertised to potential buyers over the past few weeks. Following on from the failed acquisition, the company was apparently put into administration at 4pm yesterday with most staff relieved of their duties.

If you have been affected by the recent redundancies at Enta please feel free to get in touch with us on Hello@graffitirecruitment.co.uk or 0330 2233 047 or check out some of our latest featured jobs here! 

Apprenticeship Levy is now in place from April 2017, but how does it work?

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Research polled by the City and Guild skills group, has revealed that a third of employers liable to pay the new Apprenticeship Levy from April are not even aware of its existence. 500 senior decision makers from various organisations were asked about the impact of the impending changes to the apprenticeship system.

A similar number of employers said the levy, aimed at boosting apprentice numbers, would encourage them to hire more staff.

From this month, employers with wage bills exceeding £3m will be required to put 0.5% of their payroll into the levy to fund apprenticeships.  The purpose of the levy is to double spending on apprentices in England, resulting in three million new apprenticeships, “giving millions a step on the ladder of opportunity”.

From May this year, employers will be able to draw vouchers from the levy to fund apprentices.

The results of the research showed:

  • Only 33% felt fully informed about the new rules
  • A total of 28% were not sure whether it would affect their business
  • Only 31% said they would hire more apprentices because of the levy
  • And 15% said they would have to cut other recruitment schemes to pay it

The survey also revealed that 87% of employers were struggling to fill job vacancies, with 29% agreeing that this was true of apprenticeship places.

47% felt the levy was an effective way to get employers to pay for training, 43% said it gave them more control and 34% believed it would improve quality.

Kirstie Donnelly, City and Guilds managing director, said that lack of awareness of the new system was “a cause for concern”.

“We still have a hill to climb in convincing people about the benefits apprentices can bring to business.”

Donnelly said it was absolutely vital for government to communicate with “less enlightened businesses to help them see the huge potential benefits apprenticeships can bring”.

A Department for Education spokesman said the levy would improve skills and boost economic activity.

“Employers are at the heart of our apprenticeship reforms and have been working with us since 2013 to create the apprenticeship standards and ensure they are high quality and deliver the skills that they need.

“We have also provided a link to the Government levy guide for employers and an online calculator that enables you to understand how much levy you will pay and how you could use your digital funds to pay for training in future.

The Government is confident that the new apprenticeship levy will give millions a start in work, it could also help bridge the skills gap we are seeing throughout the UK and give many SMEs the vital support they require to grow and scale their business.

If you need any help or advice on the Apprenticeship Levy or Recruitment, please feel free to get in touch on 0330 2233 047 or email us on hello@graffitirecruitment.co.uk

Recruiting Times

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