Start-up FD; who are they and how are they different?
There is no getting away from it; a full-time finance director is a prohibitively expensive resource for most early-stage technology businesses. So frequently in the early days, the Founder handles the strategic financial challenges, and a financial controller or finance manager (or indeed office manager) keeps Companies House and HMRC happy as well as getting the invoices issued and the bills paid.
Nevertheless, the business will eventually outgrow these accounting arrangements and need a deeper more experienced financial perspective within the finance function. But what is a part time FD? Why is a start-up FD different? Why do you need one and how do you find one?
When is the right time to appoint a start-up FD?
In reality, however, most entrepreneurs seek the services of an FD because they have hit one of the following problems!
How much financial management skill do you have and how much time can you afford to spend on this? Even if you are accounting and finance literate, every moment you spend on the finances is a moment you can't spend doing what you do best – growing the business.
Managing cash flow during the pre-revenue and early-revenue generating years is often easier said than done, and poor cash flow management can quickly bring a business to its knees – even a profitable one!
A start-up FD will create a cash flow management strategy to enable the business to accurately appraise the cost of business spend and the impact in the broader organisation. Cash flow management is not only about when the money runs out.
Having said all that, even the best cash management strategy cannot always prevent cash running out and a good start-up FD can draw on previous experiences to manage priorities and put appropriate measures in place, to ensure the cash runway is as long as possible.
One of the major challenges that founders encounter is that raising a round of funding often takes more time than they expected. Convincing lenders to invest thousands, and potentially millions of pounds into their company is not a simple task.
Not only do investors usually require a financial portion of the business, but also a say in how you run your business. They will take comfort from an experienced hand steering the financial path; sometimes access to an Finance Director is a pre-requisite.
Related article: What's the right investment route for the growth potential start-up?
Understand how a funding round works and more crucially have been through the process before.
Can assess the business and determine when it is ready to raise investment.
Guide you as to the most appropriate type of funding (Crowdfunding, Private Equity or VC funding or perhaps even a grant).
Prepare the appropriate financial information to be shared with potential investors before any raise.
Be the point of contact for financial matters during due diligence.
Liaise with investors post-investment. It's easy to underestimate how much time this will take.
A key challenge for a fast-growing company is to structure the chart of accounts in such a way as to generate meaningful management information not only now but also in one, two and three years' time. Trying to unpick a year's worth of transactions and reshape them to provide new inform ation is a painful process.
Know what information will be critical in one, two and three years.
What does the part-time start-up FD look like?
First and foremost, the part-time start-up FD is a qualified accountant who has experience of working with start-ups. Essentially, they know that this stage of the company's evolution is different.
They bring a wealth of experience from lessons learnt for company 'A' and apply to companies 'B' and 'C'.
The Isosceles part-time start-up FD brings a network of contacts, and the team of finance professionals to support them, if required.
In public, they will support the CEO and the leadership team but have the confidence to privately test and challenge as a critical friend.
They are inquisitive; only when they understand every part of the business can they assess what drives profitability.
They can assess and manage the risks to the business, e.g. cybersecurity, Brexit, supply problems, customer issues, talent acquisition challenges.
They know the numbers; they can clearly articulate them in words that the audience (be it the CEO, stakeholder or investor) can understand.
The start-up FD will roll up their sleeves when required and perform any finance task within the finance function.
They often play the 'bad cop' delivering bad news to staff, customers and suppliers allowing the founder or CEO to maintain their relationships.
They know when there might be a problem. Expanding into new territories and markets, for example, brings unknowns and an experienced start-up FD will have a sense of when to hold back, what the potential issues will be and when to take advice.
If your business is going to leap from start-up to scale-up, you need the right resources and the right foundations to build on. Moreover, a big part of this is about creating a viable business model that has the efficiencies, financing and the systemised processes needed to scale.


text:
WATCH | Do you know this dancing truck driver? Traffic officials are looking for him
Ntwaagae Seleka
(Screenshot)
WATCH | Truck driver dies after crashing into home in KZN
Driver faces culpable homicide charges after 8 soccer players killed in crash
Mpumalanga truck driver facing perjury, theft charges after allegedly lying about hijacking
National traffic officials are on the lookout for a dancing truck driver, who may have been a little too excited on the road while enjoying Maskandi music.
In a video clip which has gone viral, the unknown driver can be seen dancing in his seat, taking his hands off the steering wheel and lifting his feet off the pedals while the music plays loudly in the background.
If he is found, he is expected to be charged with reckless and negligent driving.
Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) spokesperson Simon Zwane has appealed to anyone who might know the driver to come forward.
"We are looking for him. He must come forward to account for his behaviour," Zwane said.
"His behaviour is totally unacceptable and against the law. He is clearly disregarding the law and rules of the road.
"He is dancing to loud music and seen leaving his steering wheel, his feet are lifted in the air as he dances and [he] is not in control of the vehicle," said Zwane.
"We want to talk to him. We don't know who he is and where he is from. We are appealing to the public to help us identify him.
"This is what we are always preaching when we say motorists must behave properly on our roads. When we speak of irresponsible, we are talking about such people."
Zwane said the driver would have been unable to avoid an accident: "Imagine if other motorists wanted to alert him about a danger ahead, he was not going to hear that because of the loud music playing in the truck. Even if an animal was to quickly run ahead of his truck, he was not going to react on time."
Read more on: crime
Bloemfontein Jobs

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
#ifndef __WINE_DBT_H
#define __WINE_DBT_H

#ifndef GUID_DEFINED
# include <guiddef.h>
#endif

/* dbt.h doesn't use the normal convention, it adds an underscore before A/W */
#ifdef WINE_NO_UNICODE_MACROS
# define DECL_WINELIB_DBT_TYPE_AW(type)  /* nothing */
#else
# define DECL_WINELIB_DBT_TYPE_AW(type)  typedef WINELIB_NAME_AW(type##_) type;
#endif

#define DBT_NO_DISK_SPACE               0x0047
#define DBT_LOW_DISK_SPACE              0x0048
#define DBT_CONFIGMGPRIVATE             0x7FFF
#define DBT_DEVICEARRIVAL               0x8000
#define DBT_DEVICEQUERYREMOVE           0x8001
#define DBT_DEVICEQUERYREMOVEFAILED     0x8002
#define DBT_DEVICEREMOVEPENDING         0x8003
#define DBT_DEVICEREMOVECOMPLETE        0x8004
#define DBT_DEVICETYPESPECIFIC          0x8005
#define DBT_CUSTOMEVENT                 0x8006

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_HDR
{
    DWORD dbch_size;
    DWORD dbch_devicetype;
    DWORD dbch_reserved;
} DEV_BROADCAST_HDR, *PDEV_BROADCAST_HDR;

#define DBT_DEVTYP_OEM                  0x00000000
#define DBT_DEVTYP_DEVNODE              0x00000001
#define DBT_DEVTYP_VOLUME               0x00000002
#define DBT_DEVTYP_PORT                 0x00000003
#define DBT_DEVTYP_NET                  0x00000004
#define DBT_DEVTYP_DEVICEINTERFACE      0x00000005
#define DBT_DEVTYP_HANDLE               0x00000006

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_OEM
{
    DWORD       dbco_size;
    DWORD       dbco_devicetype;
    DWORD       dbco_reserved;
    DWORD       dbco_identifier;
    DWORD       dbco_suppfunc;
} DEV_BROADCAST_OEM, *PDEV_BROADCAST_OEM;

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_DEVNODE
{
    DWORD       dbcd_size;
    DWORD       dbcd_devicetype;
    DWORD       dbcd_reserved;
    DWORD       dbcd_devnode;
} DEV_BROADCAST_DEVNODE, *PDEV_BROADCAST_DEVNODE;

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_VOLUME
{
    DWORD       dbcv_size;
    DWORD       dbcv_devicetype;
    DWORD       dbcv_reserved;
    DWORD       dbcv_unitmask;
    WORD        dbcv_flags;
} DEV_BROADCAST_VOLUME, *PDEV_BROADCAST_VOLUME;

#define DBTF_MEDIA 0x0001
#define DBTF_NET   0x0002

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_PORT_A
{
    DWORD       dbcp_size;
    DWORD       dbcp_devicetype;
    DWORD       dbcp_reserved;
    char        dbcp_name[1];
} DEV_BROADCAST_PORT_A, *PDEV_BROADCAST_PORT_A;

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_PORT_W
{
    DWORD       dbcp_size;
    DWORD       dbcp_devicetype;
    DWORD       dbcp_reserved;
    WCHAR       dbcp_name[1];
} DEV_BROADCAST_PORT_W, *PDEV_BROADCAST_PORT_W;

DECL_WINELIB_DBT_TYPE_AW(DEV_BROADCAST_PORT)
DECL_WINELIB_DBT_TYPE_AW(PDEV_BROADCAST_PORT)

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_NET
{
    DWORD       dbcn_size;
    DWORD       dbcn_devicetype;
    DWORD       dbcn_reserved;
    DWORD       dbcn_resource;
    DWORD       dbcn_flags;
} DEV_BROADCAST_NET, *PDEV_BROADCAST_NET;

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_DEVICEINTERFACE_A
{
    DWORD       dbcc_size;
    DWORD       dbcc_devicetype;
    DWORD       dbcc_reserved;
    GUID        dbcc_classguid;
    CHAR        dbcc_name[1];
} DEV_BROADCAST_DEVICEINTERFACE_A, *PDEV_BROADCAST_DEVICEINTERFACE_A;

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_DEVICEINTERFACE_W
{
    DWORD       dbcc_size;
    DWORD       dbcc_devicetype;
    DWORD       dbcc_reserved;
    GUID        dbcc_classguid;
    WCHAR       dbcc_name[1];
} DEV_BROADCAST_DEVICEINTERFACE_W, *PDEV_BROADCAST_DEVICEINTERFACE_W;

DECL_WINELIB_DBT_TYPE_AW(DEV_BROADCAST_DEVICEINTERFACE)
DECL_WINELIB_DBT_TYPE_AW(PDEV_BROADCAST_DEVICEINTERFACE)

typedef struct _DEV_BROADCAST_HANDLE
{
    DWORD       dbch_size;
    DWORD       dbch_devicetype;
    DWORD       dbch_reserved;
    HANDLE      dbch_handle;
    HDEVNOTIFY  dbch_hdevnotify;
    GUID        dbch_eventguid;
    LONG        dbch_nameoffset;
    BYTE        dbch_data[1];
} DEV_BROADCAST_HANDLE, *PDEV_BROADCAST_HANDLE;

#undef DECL_WINELIB_DBT_TYPE_AW

#endif /* __WINE_DBT_H */

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
U.S. Postal Service governors, postmaster, address UPU exit
Feb 15, 2019, 8 AM
The United States, a Universal Postal Union member since its formation in 1874, is planning to leave it. USPS board members commented on the upcoming departure at a Feb. 8 public meeting in Columbus, Ohio. A 45¢ stamp marking the 125th anniversary of the UPU was issued in 1999.
By Michael Baadke
During its Feb. 8 public meeting in Columbus, Ohio, the United States Postal Service board of governors issued a comment on President Donald J. Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. membership in the Universal Postal Union.
Established in 1874 with the United States as a founding member, the UPU is a United Nations organization that coordinates mail activities and rates between its 192 member countries.
"We've been working closely with the administration on the Postal Service's relationship with the Universal Postal Union," said USPS governor Robert M. Duncan.
"The president's decision to move to self-declared rates is one that we fully support as a board. It will generate revenue and insure we're no longer subsidizing foreign governments and companies.
"And this board will continue to closely oversee this process that culminates later this year."
The recent decision by the White House to pull the country out of the UPU has been attributed by many sources as a response to certain UPU international postage rates favoring other countries, with China singled out most frequently.
According to a presidential memorandum signed by Trump Aug. 23, 2018, the United States is seeking "a system of fair and nondiscriminatory rates for goods that promotes unrestricted and undistorted competition."
On Oct. 18, 2018, UPU Deputy Director Pascal Clivaz confirmed that the organization received a letter the previous day from U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo.
"This letter constitutes notification by the Government of the United States of America that it hereby denounces the UPU Constitution and, thereby, withdraws from the Universal Postal Union," Clivaz said, quoting from Pompeo's letter.
The withdrawal will be effective one year from when the UPU received the letter, which would be this year on Oct. 17.
"I wish to inform you that [UPU] Director General Bishar A. Hussein will be seeking to meet with representatives of the Government of the United States of America to further discuss this matter," Clivaz continued.
"I wish to assure everyone that the UPU remains committed to the noble aims of international collaboration.
"This means ensuring that, by working with all 192 member countries, the UPU treaties best serve everyone, including the United States of America."
During the financial call question-and-answer period following the USPS board's Feb. 8 meeting, U.S. Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan also commented on the planned U.S. withdrawal from the international postal organization.
"The Postal Service and our governors, we fully support the administration's decision to move to self-declared rates.
"There are a series of regulatory proceedings that need to occur, so we'll continue to work both with the PRC [Postal Regulatory Commission] as well as with the State Department and other stakeholders as we work to implement this decision," Brennan said.
Connect with Linn's Stamp News:
Sep 19, 2018, 6 AM
Trump criticizes Universal Postal Union in memorandum
Oct 17, 2018, 12 PM
United States will pull out of UPU, White House announces
Dec 4, 2018, 8 PM
Trump's task force on USPS report targets labor costs, corporate structure


text:
The Future of Athleisure
Vishaal Narsey
MASTERS OF FASHION
Wearing sweatpants in public has never been more accepted than today and with more high-end brands capitalising on the trend, athleisure may be more than just a fashion fad.
Photo Credit: Teen Vogue
1998 marked the year of the yoga pants. Based in Vancouver, Lululemon Athletica introduced the public to the first pair of purchasable yoga pants. Fast forward 22 years and yoga pants have been pivotal in carving out a sub-genre in the fashion industry.
When I'm talking sub-genre, I'm talking about a US$46billion genre. And that was just in 2016. Since then, athleisure has gone on to infiltrate brands such as Dior and Givenchy.
What is athleisure?
If you're not privy to the happenings in the fashion world, athleisure may just sound like another boujee term for the latest trend. And to be honest, it pretty much is. Athleisure essentially refers to an athletic-inspired outfit that can be worn for exercise-purposes or for a casual outing.
Popularised by models such as Gigi Hadid, athleisure has brought yoga pants, sport bras and tank tops to the forefront. In 2016, Kanye West brought forward his take on athleisure at the New York Fashion Week. Showing off his $500 sweatpants at the time, the Yeezy brand has since then gone on to delve further into athleisure, partnering up with Adidas and constantly releasing new hoodies and tights.
Photo Credit: Racked
Since its inception, athleisure has become a reoccuring act at the New York Fashion Week. The 2019 Spring week did not fall short on the pattern, with brands like Saski, Blonde Republic and NNCY chiming in on the athleisure trend.
While high-end brands capitalise on these trends however, not everyone is convinced by the latest fashion statement. At the 2019 Milan Fashion Show, Italian fashion designer, Domenico Dolce spoke out against the growing trend saying, "Fashion is change. It is the time for elegance. People don't dream of sneakers any more. They dream of something different." And while the Dolce & Gabbana executive may feel like athleisure is an outdated trend, moves in the industry reflect otherwise.
Ivy Park / Yeezy
Photo Credit: Essence
Take Beyonce for instance. A 23-time Grammy winner, with an estimated net worth of $400 million, has relaunched her athleisure brand, Ivy Park. Focusing on products such as windbreakers and tights, it's hard to argue that the athleisure trend is dying out.
And if Beyonce isn't enough, then brace yourself for Kanye West. No stranger to the fashion industry, it seems as though Kanye has always presented athleisure type products as part of his collections. Now with two of the biggest artists in music devoting attention to athleisure, it may be here to stay.
The Future Trend of Athleisure?
Photo Credit: StyleCaster
By forcing its way onto the scene, athleisure may have opened up designers to become more experimental with their products. And with models confidently rocking 'gym-attire' to their next meeting or to lunch, it's clear that change is being welcomed.
Cranium Apparel is an Indian e-sport company that specialises in clothing for the gaming community. And while they have received backlash for their recent attempts to appeal to female consumers, their specialisation is the bigger picture. While not everyone may be a fan of e-sports, the fact that there is a company that specialises in clothing for the niche community could point towards the openings in the fashion industry.
Photo Credit: Upscale Hype
With music and fashion being intertwined so closely together, some artists have also gone on to make fashion statements. Hip-hop artist, ASAP Rocky is infamous for his decision to rock a Balenciaga-designed life jacket over a Gucci hoodie. Now while this was a goldmine for memes, it also represents the doors that athleisure have opened for the fashion industry. Is a life jacket fashionable? Why not. Who knows, maybe golf attire could look fashionable in the right context. Regardless, it seems as though athleisure is not only here to stay, but is also here to morph into a whole new abstract style of fashion.
Subscribe to FIB's newsletter for your weekly dose of music, fashion and pop culture news!
beyonceGivenchyDioryeezydolce & gabbanakanye westGigi HadidAthleisureASAP Rocky


text:
package com.hpe.caf.worker.testing;

/**
 * This should be called TestInstanceInfo....
 */
public class TestCaseInfo {

    private String testCaseId;
    private String associatedTickets;
    private String description;
    private String comments;

    /**
     * Getter for property 'testCaseId'.
     *
     * @return Value for property 'testCaseId'.
     */
    public String getTestCaseId() {
        return testCaseId;
    }

    /**
     * Setter for property 'testCaseId'.
     *
     * @param testCaseId Value to set for property 'testCaseId'.
     */
    public void setTestCaseId(String testCaseId) {
        this.testCaseId = testCaseId;
    }

    /**
     * Getter for property 'associatedTickets'.
     *
     * @return Value for property 'associatedTickets'.
     */
    public String getAssociatedTickets() {
        return associatedTickets;
    }

    /**
     * Setter for property 'associatedTickets'.
     *
     * @param associatedTickets Value to set for property 'associatedTickets'.
     */
    public void setAssociatedTickets(String associatedTickets) {
        this.associatedTickets = associatedTickets;
    }

    /**
     * Getter for property 'comments'.
     *
     * @return Value for property 'comments'.
     */
    public String getComments() {
        return comments;
    }

    /**
     * Setter for property 'comments'.
     *
     * @param comments Value to set for property 'comments'.
     */
    public void setComments(String comments) {
        this.comments = comments;
    }

    /**
     * Getter for property 'description'.
     *
     * @return Value for property 'description'.
     */
    public String getDescription() {
        return description;
    }

    /**
     * Setter for property 'description'.
     *
     * @param description Value to set for property 'description'.
     */
    public void setDescription(String description) {
        this.description = description;
    }

}