The scientific community cannot practise science without some set of accepted beliefs that form the foundation on how to practice science.  Normal science, the everyday work of scientists, is set on the assumption that the scientific community knows what the world is like. Its success comes from the community’s willingness to defend that assumption. But when it can no longer escape anomalies that overturn the tradition of scientific practice, then a scientific revolution will at last lead to a new set of commitments.

Scientific revolutions in a nutshell

Scientific revolutions happen in a specific pattern:<ul><li>Normal science: Adding to existing knowledge through experiments and study.</li><li>Puzzle-solving: Finding and fixing discrepancies in science.</li><li>Paradigm: The perfect example of an idea which can be expanded into the framework.</li><li>Anomaly: Finding a discrepancy between the current paradigm and experimental results.</li><li>Crisis: The discrepancy can’t be resolved. Some scientists dismiss it, while others try to show the current paradigm is wrong.</li><li>Revolution: The old paradigm is overthrown by new information, and eventually, a new one takes its place.</li></ul>

The pattern of a scientific revolution

Many people think that science progresses in a linear fashion, from ignorance to knowledge. If that were true, old ideas would never need to be overturned, only built upon.

Scientific progress is not linear

Normal science means the study based on the previous scientific knowledge that is learned through textbooks and formal education. These textbooks:<ul><li>Outline the main questions of a field and </li><li>Give methods to answer them. </li></ul> Scientists are happy to refer to past achievements without assuming they are necessarily correct. Therefore, science should be kept objective and open-ended.

The route of normal science 

Paradigms are at the heart of normal science. A paradigm is a collection of interconnected beliefs we use to understand the world. But it is a limited process.  Scientific discoveries become paradigms when they are remarkable enough to attract a loyal following but still leave questions and unsolved problems for followers.

Paradigms and discoveries

Because there is a paradigm doesn’t mean there is a set of rules that accompany it. Historians can generally find the paradigms of a given community, but finding the specific rules that the community followed is more difficult because:<ul><li>Scientists may follow the same paradigm yet disagree on how to interpret it. </li><li>Scientists have experience and knowledge they don’t communicate clearly or don’t realise others lack.</li></ul>

The priority of paradigm

One of the major functions of normal science is to solve anomalies. However, scientists often assure themselves there is a solution within the paradigm, and it must just be found. But this isn’t always the case.  Crises are a necessary precondition for the emergence of novel theories. Sometimes we have to discard scientific ideas that we find comfortable because the problems they tried to fix did not work.

Anomalies and crises

A paradigm will become messy as people try to expand their existing views outward into new, creative directions.  A crisis can end if:<ul><li>It is resolved within the existing and accepted paradigm.</li><li>The problem is categorically explained but without the technology necessary to test the ideas fully. The community postpone their inquires to the future when technology has progressed.</li><li>A new proponent arises that changes the paradigm. Competing views are fought out.</li></ul>

The response to crises

Almost every field has certain established beliefs and paradigms. It means that nearly anything could be subject to a crisis. When a paradigm changes, almost the entire world changes with them. Scientists ask different questions, follow different rules and use different terms. Scientific revolutions only go one way and are irreversible. A scientist who now views the world through a Copernican paradigm can’t go back to Ptolemy.

Paradigm shifts change the world

Normal science is commonly held conclusions. When scientific revolutions occur, they can be invisible and hard to detect, but they are of crucial importance.  A person will only change their mind about a scientifically held belief from an old paradigm through repeated testing.

The nature of scientific revolutions

This book singlehandedly changed the way most people think about the philosophy behind science and how transformation happens.

A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were—and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book. When it was first published in 1962, it was a landmark event in the history and philosophy of science. Fifty years later, it still has many lessons to teach. With The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn challenged long-standing linear notions of scientific progress, arguing that transformative ideas don’t arise from the day-to-day, gradual process of experimentation and data accumulation but that the revolutions in science, those breakthrough moments that disrupt accepted thinking and offer unanticipated ideas, occur outside of “normal science,” as he called it. Though Kuhn was writing when physics ruled the sciences, his ideas on how scientific revolutions bring order to the anomalies that amass over time in research experiments are still instructive in our biotech age. This new edition of Kuhn’s essential work in the history of science includes an insightful introduction by Ian Hacking, which clarifies terms popularized by Kuhn, including paradigm and incommensurability, and applies Kuhn’s ideas to the science of today. Usefully keyed to the separate sections of the book, Hacking’s introduction provides important background information as well as a contemporary context. Newly designed, with an expanded index, this edition will be eagerly welcomed by the next generation of readers seeking to understand the history of our perspectives on science.

books

Books

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

“One of the most influential books of the 20th century,” the landmark study in the history of science with a new introduction by philosopher Ian Hacking (Guardian, UK). First published in 1962, Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions ”reshaped our understanding of the scientific enterprise and human inquiry in general.” In it, he challenged long-standing assumptions about scientific progress, arguing that transformative ideas don’t arise from the gradual process of experimentation and data accumulation, but instead occur outside of “normal science.” Though Kuhn was writing when physics ruled the sciences, his ideas on how scientific revolutions bring order to the anomalies that amass over time in research experiments are still instructive in today’s biotech age (Science). This new edition of Kuhn’s essential work includes an insightful introduction by Ian Hacking, which clarifies terms popularized by Kuhn, including “paradigm” and “incommensurability,” and applies Kuhn’s ideas to the science of today. Usefully keyed to the separate sections of the book, Hacking’s introduction provides important background information as well as a contemporary context. This newly designed edition also includes an expanded and updated index.

Thomas S. Kuhn

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Hearsay is a testimony of documents quoting people who are not present in court. It is not hearsay for someone to comment on something said by another witness in court, but if the statement occurs outside of court, then it may be hearsay.

Hearsay

It is generally considered that a person is not likely to have the presence of mind to lie or give false statements during or immediately after a criminal act. If a statement is considered such an excited utterance, it might be acceptable as evidence. A written statement may also constitute hearsay. An exception is business records and government records.

Hearsay exceptions

A judge has discretion in sustaining or overruling hearsay objections. While a judge can sustain an objection because it is technically hearsay, in practice, most judges allow it because a person can be cross-examined.

A judge’s discretion

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Johnny Depp v Amber Heard: What is hearsay?

The nature of the workplace is changing thanks to evolving societal attitudes. While remote work is hogging the headlines, another revolution is taking place in workplaces: Centralization is out, and decentralized <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/management">management</a> is in, reflecting wider technological trends. Cryptocurrencies, Decentralized Autonomous <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/organizations">Organizations</a> (DAOs) and Web3 emphasize the benefits of a lack of centralized authority. Given the technological bent, every <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/organization">organization</a> has these days, it makes sense to adopt these principles in workplace management as well.

Centralized Org Structures Getting Obsolete

One of the common problems executives face is a lack of flexibility in their organizations during crunch time. Typically, crises blow up to critical levels before they come to the executives' attention, at which point they must personally intervene. Ideally, crises should be nipped in the bud, and lower-level employees must deal with them proactively.

Lack Of Flexibility

A centralized organization places an enormous amount of power in the hands of a few. The organization is structured vertically, leading to lengthy decision-making chains where every decision is second-guessed. In contrast, a decentralized organization prioritizes the opinions of people closest to stakeholders and subject matter experts. This results in a flat or horizontal organization that is nimble and addresses issues quickly.

Power In The Hands Of Everyone

<a href="https://hbr.org/2017/12/when-to-decentralize-decision-making-and-when-not-to">Decentralized organizations work best when responsiveness</a> is the top priority. An organization structured in this fashion also frees up executives' time to carry out more value-added work instead of chasing fires all the time. Another benefit is that lower-level employees are empowered to think about the organization's future instead of worrying about what their manager will think. The result is a flexible organization that is future-proofed.

Being Agile

Organizations face employee churn all the time, whether due to a lack of challenging work or dissatisfaction with the company's overall direction. Both of these reasons are interconnected. An inflexible organizational hierarchy leaves employees fighting to impress their managers instead of creating revenue-generating assets.With power consolidated in the hands of a few, leadership skills are scarce. Thus, when top-level executives move on, the company faces a tough time replacing those who departed and must engage resources to locate and vet suitable leadership.

Promotes leadership skills

Promoting from within is ideal because long-term employees understand the company and its products well. They've witnessed the company's processes from the ground up, which makes them ideal leaders. However, centralized organizations don't provide low-level employees with the opportunity to ascend to leadership roles.A decentralized organization forces employees to act as leaders. Thanks to greater autonomy and priority on responsiveness, employees must act decisively. Intrapreneurship increases, promoting creativity, and the organization is energized.

Fair Promotions

Scaling a business is a tough task. Typically, a centralized organization has to design new hierarchies and determine the degree of additional responsibility existing executives will bear. All of this results in a slow-moving expansion that often stops before it begins. In contrast, a decentralized organization can respond to changing business conditions quickly and scale accordingly. Thanks to every <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/team">team</a> and employee functioning as a separate cell, the organization can realize economies of scale and be nimble at the same time.

Easy Scalability

When expanding into a new market, a fully empowered team can research local norms and inform the broader organization of the steps it is taking to launch the company's products in that market. Thanks to the absence of lengthy approval times, the team can move quickly and establish a presence.An organization resembles a collection of well-funded startups or early-stage companies, with each team bringing its special brand of creativity and expertise to the broader community.

No Lengthy Approval Times

While <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/decentralization">decentralization</a> emphasizes individual <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/empowerment">empowerment</a>, executive teams also have an important role to play. In fact, executives steer the larger decentralized ship and do their best to empower their employees. Decentralization emphasizes lean management. The result is an executive team that is focused on maintaining conditions that allow lower-level employees to fully express their creativity. Lean management of this sort is not focused on establishing authority or micromanagement.

Efficient Management

Determining metrics and other performance indicators is also simple in this <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/structure">structure</a> since executives aren't involved in every single low-level decision that has to be made. Instead, they can focus on the big picture and ensure the organization's goals are being met. The result is a happier executive team that performs a massive amount of value-added work.

Focus On The Big Picture

The flexibility inherent in the organization also allows employees to choose the work they're most passionate about instead of following a default executive career path. Thus, people who are truly passionate about becoming executives and performing the tasks inherent to these roles occupy the positions.

Do What You Love To Do

Decentralization is much more than a buzzword these days. It's the best way for organizations to structure themselves in 2022 and beyond. Given the rapid change of pace in the business world, decentralization is the best way to future-proof an organization.

The Bottom Line

A quiet revolution is taking place in the workplace right now. Here's why centralized, hierarchal corporate structures are out.

crypto

Cryptocurrency

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

business

Business

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

4 Reasons Decentralized Business Management Is Booming

Do the junior person and the eminent person on a team receive equal blame for a retraction? It is found that the more junior members of the team see a substantial decline in citations of their work, while the more eminent members experience little or no change.
That double standard should make us question how we give credit and how we give blame.

Taking The Blame Vs Taking Credit

Coined by the sociologist Robert K. Merton in 1968, the effect is named for a verse in the New Testament book of Matthew: “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance.”The interpretation in the world of scientific research: when multiple scientists collaborate and the paper is well-received, it is automatically assumed this success is disproportionately due to the brilliance of the team’s most eminent author.In other words, those who are “rich” in reputation get richer with every success.

The Matthew Effect

Prior research has found evidence that the Matthew Effect indeed exists in a variety of fields: in academia, in technology, in the creative arts.Basically in just about any situation where you can’t observe the actual contributions to a product, and you’re trying to make assumptions about the roles of individual contributors.

Prevalence Of The Matthew Effect

The eminent person will be protected. The junior person, who gets less credit when things go right, will get more discredit when things go wrong.

A study was conducted where 500 papers published between 1993 and 2009 which had multiple authors and that had been retracted. Retraction, a potentially career-damaging blow in academia, happens when there is ample evidence that a paper fabricated data, plagiarized the work of others, committed a major error, or had other serious problems.The researchers found that the more eminent members of the team typically continued to be cited like the control group, a sign that their work was still respected. Their less well-known collaborators saw their citations dip below the control group.

Retractions Don’t Affect Everyone Equally

Why does the more junior person get more blame than their coauthors?There are two possible explanations. The first is that more eminent authors have typically published a larger body of work than their greener coauthors.The second explanation: Perhaps the better-known member of the team uses his or her social and institutional power to deflect the blame from him- or herself and to scapegoat less prominent collaborators.

Are Power Dynamics in Academia to Blame?

For those who work on teams, the findings can be read as a warning. It does suggest that if you’re charting your own career path, working with powerful people can be a risk. Be choosy about who you hitch your own reputation to.

A Lesson To Be Learnt

Here’s why consequences stick to some team members more than others, according to a new study of retracted academic papers.

career

Career

teamwork

Teamwork

Who Gets Blamed When a Group Project Goes Wrong?

Investors who disregard where they are in cycles are bound to suffer serious consequences. In order to get the most out of this book, an investor has to learn to recognize cycles, assess them, look for the instructions they imply, and do what they tell him to do.Investors need to study three main areas:<ul><li>Trying to know more than others about the “knowable,” the fundamentals of industries, companies, and securities.</li><li>Being disciplined as to the appropriate price to pay for participation in those fundamentals.</li><li>Understanding the investment environment we are in.</li></ul>

Investors are always in Cycles

<ul><li>The likelihood of permanent capital loss</li><li>Opportunity risk, the likelihood of missing out on potential gains</li></ul>Risk is all about uncertainty. Even though many things can happen, only one will happen.

The Two Risks

A: Recovery from an excessively depressed lower extreme, toward the midpoint.B: The continued swing past the midpoint, toward an upper extreme or high.C: The attainment of a high.D: The downward correction from the high back toward the midpoint.E: A continuation of the downward movement past the midpoint, toward the new low.F: The reaching of a low.G: Recovery from the low back toward the midpoint.Keep in mind that:<ul><li>Excessive optimism is dangerous.</li><li>Risk aversion is an essential ingredient for the market to be safe.</li></ul>

Cycle Phases

The output of an economy is the product of hours worked and output per hour. Thus the long term growth of the economy is determined by fundamental factors like birth rate and the rate of gain in productivity. Long term trends have given the economy and stock market a strong uptrend over several decades:<ul><li>Macro Environment</li><li>Corporate Growth</li><li>The Borrowing Mentality</li><li>Popularization of Investing</li><li>Investor Psychology</li></ul>

The Economics Of Cycles

Central bankers have dual responsibilities that are in opposition to each other:<ul><li>Limit Inflation: which requires restraining the growth of the economy.</li><li>Support Employment: which calls for stimulating economic growth.</li></ul>GovernmentsWhen governments want to stimulate their country’s economy, they can:<ul><li>Cut Taxes</li><li>Increase Government Spending</li><li>Distribute Stimulus Checks</li></ul>When governments want to slow their country’s economy, they can:<ul><li>Increase Taxes</li><li>Decrease Government Spending</li></ul>

The State Involvement: Banks and Government

The mood swings of the securities markets resemble the swing of a pendulum. They swing between the following:<ul><li>Between euphoria and depression</li><li>Between celebrating positive developments and obsessing over negatives</li><li>Between overpriced and under-priced</li><li>Between greed and fear</li><li>Between optimism and pessimism</li><li>Between risk tolerance and risk aversion</li><li>Between urgency to buy and panic to sell</li></ul>

Investor Psychology and Emotion

<ul><li>Investing is basically “bearing risk in pursuit of profit.”</li><li>The ability to understand, assess, and deal with risk is the mark of the superior investor and an essential requirement for investment success.</li><li>The way investors are collectively viewing risk, and behaving in regard to it, is of overwhelming importance in shaping the investment environment in which we find ourselves. </li><li>The state of the environment is key in determining how we should behave with regard to risk at that point. </li><li>The rational investor is diligent, sceptical, and appropriately risk-averse at all times.</li></ul>

The RIght Attitude Towards Risk

Superior investing doesn’t come from buying high-quality assets, but from buying when the deal is good, the price is low, the potential return is substantial, and the risk is limited. These conditions are much more the case when the credit markets are in the less euphoric, more stringent part of their cycle. <ul><li>Capital: all the money used to finance a business.</li><li>Credit: the portion of a company’s capital that is made up of debt rather than equity.</li></ul>

The Credit Cycle

If the market were a disciplined calculator of value-based exclusively on company fundamentals, the price of a security wouldn’t fluctuate much more than the issuer’s current earnings and the outlook for earnings in the future.

The Market Cycle

Three stages of a bull market:<ul><li>A few forward-looking people begin to believe things will get better.</li><li>Most investors realize improvement is taking place.</li><li>Everyone concludes things will get better forever.</li></ul>Three stages of a bear market:<ul><li>A few thoughtful investors recognize that, despite the prevailing bullishness, things won’t always be rosy.</li><li>Most investors realize things are deteriorating.</li><li>Everyone is convinced things can only get worse.</li></ul>

Up And Down

The investor’s goal is to position capital so as to benefit from future development. The Key to accomplishing this goal is:<ul><li>To know where the pendulum of psychology and the cycle in valuation stand in their swings.</li><li>To refuse to buy when too positive psychology and the willingness to assign too high valuations causes prices to soar to peak levels.</li><li>To buy when downcast psychology and the desertion of valuation standards cause panicky investors to create bargains by selling despite the low prices that result.</li></ul>

Coping With Market Cycles

There are three ingredients for success:<ul><li>Aggressiveness</li><li>Timing</li><li>Skill</li></ul>If you have enough aggressiveness at the right time, you don’t need that much skill. Good timing in investing can come from diligently assessing where we are in a cycle, and then doing the right thing as a result.

The Three Ingredients

There are six main components (or three pairings) to the formula for investment success:<ul><li>Pair 1: Cycle Positioning and Asset Selection</li><li>Pair 2: Aggressiveness and Defensiveness</li><li>Pair 3: Skill and Luck</li></ul>

The Three Main Pairings

We've collected the most popular hacks to help you reach your financial goals

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

How to Succeed at Investing

A NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER The legendary investor shows how to identify and master the cycles that govern the markets. We all know markets rise and fall, but when should you pull out, and when should you stay in? The answer is never black or white, but is best reached through a keen understanding of the reasons behind the rhythm of cycles. Confidence about where we are in a cycle comes when you learn the patterns of ups and downs that influence not just economics, markets, and companies, but also human psychology and the investing behaviors that result. If you study past cycles, understand their origins and remain alert for the next one, you will become keenly attuned to the investment environment as it changes. You’ll be aware and prepared while others get blindsided by unexpected events or fall victim to emotions like fear and greed. By following Marks’s insights—drawn in part from his iconic memos over the years to Oaktree’s clients—you can master these recurring patterns to have the opportunity to improve your results.

Discover the world of business and economics.

economics

Economics

A NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER The legendary investor shows how to identify and master the cycles that govern the markets. We all know markets rise and fall, but when should you pull out, and when should you stay in? The answer is never black or white, but is best reached through a keen understanding of the reasons behind the rhythm of cycles. Confidence about where we are in a cycle comes when you learn the patterns of ups and downs that influence not just economics, markets, and companies, but also human psychology and the investing behaviors that result. If you study past cycles, understand their origins and remain alert for the next one, you will become keenly attuned to the investment environment as it changes. You’ll be aware and prepared while others get blindsided by unexpected events or fall victim to emotions like fear and greed. By following Marks’s insights—drawn in part from his iconic memos over the years to Oaktree’s clients—you can master these recurring patterns to have the opportunity to improve your results.

Howard Marks (born Dennis Howard Marks) was a Welsh author, former teacher and drug smuggler who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases, supposed connections with groups such as the CIA, the IRA, MI6, and the Mafia, and his eventual conviction at the hands of the American Drug Enforcement Administration. At the height of his drug career, he was said to have controlled 10% of the world's hashish trade.Marks attended Balliol College, Oxford between 1964 and 1967 to study Natural Science, with a Physics (B.A., Oxon).

Howard Marks

Mastering The Market Cycle

Mastering the Market Cycle

When the world moved to remote work at the start of the pandemic, workers proved that they could adapt and do their jobs as well, if not better, than they could in the office. One survey of about a million US workers at Fortune 500 companies showed that productivity stayed stable or increased when employees started working from home. However, many companies still require a physical office space that can complement rather than offer an alternative to remote work.

Remote work is highly successful

An office is not necessary for productivity, but it does not mean that it's useless. The physical office space can still serve several functions. If remote work becomes the default, the office can be for forging relationships and introducing people. Many people find the office a place for socialisation. Others want to get away from the bedroom workspace they have been confined to for the last year. Some feel that they function better in a place that's strictly intended for work.

The purpose of the office

The office's role in employees lives is changing, and the layout of the place should change with it. Employees want a variety of spaces: They want spaces to collaborate. Booths and sit down areas to have a cup of coffee. Lounge spaces to sit and talk. Conference spaces. Spaces for introverts to be alone. Informal gathering spaces.

The end of the open office

Many companies are moving to a "hub and spoke" model, with multiple small offices available to employees and one central company headquarter. <ul><li>One reason is that companies still need some identity with a physical address and their name over the door.</li><li>We are still social creatures. The best spontaneous collaboration tends to happen when you bump into each other. You can only connect to some extent over Zoom or the phone.</li></ul>

Corporate headquarters are valuable

Remote work is working. So, why do we need a physical space?

remotework

Remote Work

What’s the purpose of the office – and do we still need it?

Equity has different meanings depending on the context. Shareholder's equity is the most common type of equity - it represents the amount of money that a company's shareholders will get if all of the assets were liquidated and all the debt was paid off.
Equity can be found on a company's balance sheet. Analysts use this data to assess the financial health of a company.

Understanding equity

Shareholders' Equity = Total Assets - Total Liabilities The information for this formula can be found on the company's balance sheet by using the following steps:<ol><li>Find the company's total assets for the period.</li><li>Find the total liabilities, listed separately on the balance sheet.</li><li>Subtract total liabilities from total assets to find the shareholder equity.</li></ol> A less common method to find the shareholder equity is the company's share capital and retained earnings less the value of treasury shares.

Formula and calculation for shareholder equity

<ul><li>Equity is used as capital raised by a company, which is used to buy assets, invest in projects, and fund operations.</li><li>Investors typically look for equity investments as it provides a greater opportunity to share in the profits and growth of a company.</li><li>Equity represents the value of an investor's stake in a company and is represented by their portion of the company's shares.</li><li>Owning stock in a company gives shareholders the potential for capital gains and dividends.</li></ul>

Understanding shareholder equity

<ul><li>Retained earnings. It is the percentage of net earnings not paid to shareholders as dividends. You can also think of retained earnings as savings as it is put aside for future use.</li><li>Treasury shares or stock is the stock a company has repurchased from existing shareholders. Companies can reissue treasury shares back to stockholders when companies decide to raise money.</li></ul>

The components of shareholder equity

We can think of equity as a degree of ownership in any asset after deducting all debts associated with that asset. Common variations on equity:<ul><li>A stock or other security representing an ownership interest in a company.</li><li>On a company's balance sheets, the funds contributed by the owners or shareholders plus retained earnings (or losses).</li><li>In margin trading, the value of securities in a margin account minus the amount the account holder borrowed from the brokerage.</li><li>In real estate, the property's current fair market value less the amount the owner still owes on the mortgage.</li></ul>

Other types of equity

Private equity is the evaluation of companies that are not publicly traded. Only "accredited" investors can access private equity, but regular investors can make use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). <ul><li>Private companies can find investors by selling off shares directly in private placements.</li><li>Private equity is often sold to funds and investors specialising in direct investments in private companies.</li><li>Private equity can also engage in leveraged buyouts (LBOs) of public companies - the company receives a loan from a private equity firm to fund the acquisition of another company.</li></ul>

Private equity

Usually, a new company with no revenue or earnings can't afford to borrow. It gets capital from friends, family, or individual "angel investors." <ul><li>Venture capitalists (VCs) come into play when the company is ready to bring its product or service to market. </li><li>VCs provide private equity financing in return for an early minority stake. They may take a seat on the board of directors for their portfolio companies.</li><li>VCs try to hit big early on and exit investments within five to seven years.</li></ul>

Venture capital funding

Home equity is the value of a home minus the mortgage debt owed. A homeowner can use home equity to get a home equity loan - otherwise known as a second mortgage. Brand equity. Assets may include tangible assets, like property, and intangible assets, like a company's brand identity. Brand equity measures the difference between the value of a brand and a generic version of a product, for example, Coke vs a store brand cola.

Home equity and brand equity

Equity typically refers to shareholders' equity, which represents the residual value to shareholders after debts and liabilities have been settled.

Equity

Travel visas allow the bearer to enter a foreign country for touristic and leisure purposes only and stay for a predetermined amount of time. These visas do not entitle the holder to work or engage in any business activities in the host country.

The Travel/Tourist Visa

A business visa allows the bearer to enter the host country and engage in business activities without joining that country’s labor market. For example, an individual may require a business visa if they are traveling to a country to do business with another company or if they are attending a business conference. The visitor typically must show that they are not receiving income from the country.

The Business Visa

Work visas are required for individuals who wish to take on employment or engage in business activities in the host country. There are several types of work visas that depend on the nature of the work and the length of stay. For example, working holiday visas allow individuals to temporarily take on employment while traveling through the country.

The Work Visa

A student visa is a type of nonimmigrant visa that allows the bearer to enroll at a postsecondary educational institution in the host country.High school foreign exchange students must typically obtain a visa for temporary residence.

The Student Visa

Working holiday visas allow the bearer to undertake temporary employment in a country through which they are traveling. Not every country offers a working holiday program. <a href="https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/417-">Australia</a> has the most popular such program.

The Working Holiday Visa

Refugee visas and asylum visas can be granted to individuals fleeing persecution, war, natural disasters and other situations in which their life is at risk.

The Refugee/Asylum Visa

Spousal visas allow partners to visit each other when the couple does not hail from the same country.

The Spousal Visa

Travelers may sometimes require transit visas in order to pass through a country that is not their destination country. Transit visas are typically required if you have a layover in a country of more than a few hours.

The Transit Visa

Travel visas can be separated into two categories: immigrant and nonimmigrant. Immigrant visas allow the bearer to reside permanently in the host country, whereas nonimmigrant visas allow the bearer entry into the host country on a temporary basis.

Immigrant Vs. Nonimmigrant Visas

<ul><li>Visas are necessary if you’d like to travel to a country that does not have a visa policy in place with your home country.</li><li>Many countries have visa policies and agreements that allow their citizens to travel freely between them without the need for a visa.</li><li>A country’s visa policy is a rule that states who may or may not enter the country. The policy may allow passport holders of one country to enter visa-free but not the passport holders of another country. Most visa policies are bilateral (two countries will allow visa-free travel to each other’s citizens).</li></ul>

Why Do I Need a Visa to Travel?

Countries have visa restrictions in order to check and control the flow of visitors in and out of the country and to prevent illegal immigration and other criminal activities. Forcing travelers to apply for a visa allows the authorities to vet potential visitors. For example, individuals may attempt to travel to a country with better economic opportunities in order to work illegally there.

Why Certain Countries Have Visa Restrictions

Everything you need to know about Visas - Discover how to use Passport Index, our methodology for ranking passports, the terminology and more! Click to Discover!

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Budgeting is simply balancing your expenses with your income. It's a plan for the coordination of resources and expenditures. When you budget your money, there’s a desired outcome. And being able to track your spending should ultimately move you in the right direction towards meeting your financial goals.

Budgeting = creating a plan to spend your money

<ol><li>Gather Some Financial Information: gather a detailed list of your income and expenses.</li><li>Select a Budgeting Method: figure out how you’ll budget your money to meet your most pressing financial goals.</li><li>Create Your Budget: tally up all your expenses and income to see where you stand and allocate expenses.</li><li>Execute Your Plan: you can use a notebook, pen and paper, a spreadsheet or an online software.</li><li>Reward Yourself: you can work a small percentage into your budget to treat yourself each month.</li></ol>

How to create a budget

This method suggests that you allocate 70 percent of your income to expenses, 20 percent to savings, and the remaining 10 percent to debt.
70:20:10 may work for someone with a healthy emergency fund and minimal debt.

The 70:20:10 budgeting method

Under this method, 50 percent goes to expenses, 30 percent goes to wants, and 20 percent goes to a combination of debt and savings.A person with a healthy amount of disposable income but loads of debt could probably benefit more from the 50:30:20 method.

The 50:30:20 budgeting method

The most common buckets are:<ul><li>Expenses, or your needs: housing, food, transportation, clothing, insurance, childcare,  etc.</li><li>Debt - monthly debt obligations: personal loan, student loan, auto loan, and credit card payments etc.</li><li>Savings, including funds for your emergency fund.</li><li>Consider automating your retirement contributions to ensure you stick to the plan.</li><li>Wants: don't deprive yourself.</li></ul>

Allocating expenses

Scheduling your payments  (online or through your financial institution’s bill pay feature) decreases the likelihood of blowing your budget. Despite the fact that funds will be sitting into your account until the date they are due to be withdrawn, you’ll know the money is off limits for casual spending.

Online Scheduling and Online Bill Payment

<ul><li>you don’t have to go through the trouble of making an additional transfer</li><li>it won’t be as tempting to spend money that’s sitting in a savings account that you don’t make regular transactions out of.</li></ul>

Benefits of automated savings

As a general rule of thumb, we're taught to avoid spending more than we earn. Easier said than done, especially if you don't have a concrete plan in place. That's where a budget comes in. But creating a budget that you will actually stick to can prove to be challenging.