March 8, 2018

Pros and Cons of Different Blockchain Consensus Protocols

Blockchain
featured

Selecting — and then implementing the right consensus protocol (or consensus algorithm) — is a key decision to make early in your blockchain...

Tyler Jenks
View Post
Thoughtful-Logging-Elixir-A-Phoenix-Story

Thoughtful Logging in Elixir: A Phoenix Story

Engineering

The choices you make at foundational points of your architecture can have massive implications down the road for your Elixir applications. By taking an informed approach to logging, you can set yourself up for success.

Daniel Spofford
Very-Blog-Insurance (1)

Are Blockchain and Smart Contracts the Future of Insurance?

Blockchain

Find out how blockchain and smart contracts are poised to usher the insurance industry into the 21st century.

Tyler Jenks
andrew-facebook-job-post

Very Innovative: Why I Turned Down a Job at Facebook

Insider

Not too long ago, I was offered a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity to leave Very to work at Facebook. But after weighing my options, I turned it down. Here’s why.

Andrew Frank
Very-Blog-ExtremeProgramming-1

Why Extreme Programming (XP) is a Perfect fit for Smart Contract Development

Blockchain

Extreme Programming (XP) and smart contracts are a match made in heaven. Find out why.

Bill Brock
bias-machine-learning3

Man is to Programmer as Woman is to Homemaker: Bias in Machine Learning

Data Science

A recent study reveals how undetected bias in training data can reinforce gender stereotypes to, “a disturbing degree.” In this post, we’ll discuss the pitfalls of assuming AI is inherently unbiased and the steps being taken to address such biases.

Emily Maxie
Very-Blog-BlockchainForChampagne

Blockchain for Champagne? The Future of Blockchain Supply Chains

Blockchain
IoT

Blockchain is disrupting the agricultural supply chain. It is providing transparency in the price of produce and ethical treatment of workers within the industry as well as helping track contamination quickly and effectively.

Tyler Jenks
Very-Blog-ProofOfConcept

7 Tips for a Successful Blockchain Proof of Concept

Blockchain

The most successful blockchain POCs not only have CEOs and CTOs working collaboratively, they also engage stakeholders from across the business.

Tyler Jenks
Very-Blog-ConsensusProtocols

Pros and Cons of Different Blockchain Consensus Protocols

Blockchain
featured

Blockchain consensus protocols allow a decentralized network to arrive at an agreement about the state of the blockchain. There are different ones for different types of blockchains and each has its pros and cons.

Tyler Jenks
smart-home-technology

Are Smart Homes Really Smart?

IoT

Powered by Internet of Things (IoT) technology, smart homes are becoming more common. But are so-called 'smart homes' truly smart? Though we've made major strides, the connected home still has room to improve.

Tyson Jones
ico-smart-contract2-1

How to Author an ICO Smart Contract: A High-Level Overview

Blockchain

Learn about the basics of authoring an ICO smart contract: creating an ERC20 token, calculating token distribution, and deployment on the Ethereum network.

Jason Wong
blockchain-explained-immutability-1

Blockchain Explained: How Does Immutability Work?

Blockchain

Blockchains are designed to be immutable. Once a block is written to a blockchain, realistically, it cannot change. But how does it work? We'll explain.

Brian Zambrano
Very-Blog-14SupplyChain

Top Blockchain Use Cases for Supply Chain Management

Blockchain

Blockchain technology can help providing traceability across the supply chain. Here are a few use cases for blockchain technology and how it benefits the supply chain.

Tyler Jenks
Very-Blog-IoTSecurityIssues

Could Blockchain Hold the Answer for IoT’s Security Issues?

Blockchain
IoT

As more devices are connected to the internet, the system becomes more insecure. Could blockchain hold an answer to fix IoT's security issues?

Tyler Jenks
Very-Blog-SmartContract

How do Ethereum Smart Contracts Work? It's Deceptively Simple

Blockchain

Smart contracts are computer programs that act only after specific conditions are met. Like a traditional contract, a smart contract defines the provisions and penalties around an agreement.

Bill Brock
Very-Blog-17ICOs-1

The 17 Craziest ICOs of 2017

Blockchain

2017 was a strange year for Cryptocurrency and ICOs in general. We’ve put together the weirdest Initial Coin Offerings of 2017.

Emily Maxie
0-3

Cross-Departmental Input is Crucial for your Blockchain Proof of Concept

Blockchain

Getting input from multiple different areas of your business is the key to a successful blockchain proof of concept. Find out why.

Ben Wald
Very-Blog-HowToGetOthersOnBoard (1).jpg

The Best CEOs Partner with CTOs for Blockchain POC Success

Blockchain

Your blockchain project isn’t just another tech initiative: it’s a new way of doing business. Here’s how to get your CTO on board.

Ben Wald
iot-car-trend

IoT Hits the Highway: 7 Trends Driving Us Toward Smart Cars

IoT

As IoT continues to advance, smart cars appear to be the new frontier. Here are seven tech trends that could reshape the in-car experience.

Dan Fish
0-1.jpg

Getting Down to Business: Hyperledger Fabric at Work

Blockchain

Hyperledger Fabric is a platform for distributed blockchain solutions. In this blog post, we explain the different use cases for Fabric in business.

Ben Wald
16687016354_ca450d18ec_b

Podcast: Could Blockchain Usher in Value-Based Healthcare?

Blockchain

In this episode of the Chain Reaction podcast, John Bass of Hashed Health joins us to talk about the future of healthcare and how blockchain fits.

Tyler Jenks
Very-Blog-HireVSOutsource.jpg

Blockchain Development: Hire or Outsource? It’s Complicated

Blockchain

Your blockchain project has been approved; now, you just need to build it. Learn whether to hire or outsource your blockchain development talent.

Ben Wald
Very-Blog-HyperledgerFabric.jpg

The Pros and Cons of Hyperledger Fabric

Blockchain

Hyperledger Fabric is a business blockchain framework, and like any emerging technology, it has pros and cons. Here’s what you need to know.

Bill Brock
forrester 2018 predictions.jpg

3 IoT Trends to Watch in 2018

IoT

A recent Forrester report predicts how the Internet of Things (IoT) will change the business landscape in 2018 and beyond.

Jesse Morris
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Experts Weigh In: 6 Industries Blockchain Will Disrupt in 2018

Blockchain

In 2017, we saw blockchain’s impact on industries like fintech and healthcare. What’s next? Here are 6 industries poised for blockchain disruption in 2018.

Ben Wald

Ethereum vs. Bitcoin: Why the Changing Landscape Matters

Blockchain

For a while, Bitcoin was all the buzz. Now, it’s sharing the spotlight with Ethereum. Read on to learn how they’re different and why it matters.

Ben Wald
accepting bitcoin payment2.jpg

Will Work for Bitcoin

Blockchain

In 2017, bitcoin saw a huge surge in popularity and value. So it seems fitting to close out the year by signing our first contract where we’ll be paid in bitcoin.

Ben Wald
59cd1f22f0b8bc000198acf3_wistem-starting.jpg

Global Women in STEM: Starting is the Hardest Part

At the 2017 Global Women in STEM conference, female leaders in tech shared their advice for turning inspiration into ideas into innovation.

Emily Maxie
5a286d1d6e6cbf0001968241_sec-ico-fraud.jpg

SEC Cracks Down on ICO Scams, Freezing Funds

Blockchain

ICO fever might soon slow down with news that the SEC’s special division dedicated to ICOs filed its first charges against a company and froze its assets.

Emily Maxie
5a1ed97fd480d7000183d571_Very-Blog-dApp.jpg

Should dApp Development be on Your Roadmap?

Engineering
Blockchain

We've put together the basics of dApps so you can make an informed decision for your firm on whether you should build a decentralized application.

Ben Wald
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Behind the Scenes: Designing a User Experience for IoT

Design

While there are unique user experience challenges of designing apps for the Internet of Things (IoT), this tried-and-true process delivers results.

Emily Maxie
5a146ab7428a500001e06aae_Very-Blog-BlockchainExplained.jpg

Blockchain Explained: This Technology Will Disrupt Your Business by 2025

Blockchain

Analysts agree that blockchain will affect most industries within the next ten years. This blog post explains how the changes might affect your business.

Ben Wald
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Video: Practical Ways Men Can Address Tech’s Gender Imbalance

In this Startup Week Chattanooga presentation, we talk about the significant opportunity men in leadership have to help close tech’s gender gap.

Emily Maxie
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Do Users Need that Feature? We Used Data to Find Out

Engineering
Data Science

By applying data analysis to the agile development process, we can validate (or invalidate) assumptions — and ultimately save our clients time and money.

Daniel Searles

Should You Consider an Initial Coin Offering to Fund Innovation?

Blockchain

ICO's can be an effective way to raise capital for your next venture, but they should be used with caution. Find out what you need to watch out for.

Emily Maxie

How to Bring Web Development Best Practices to IoT Development

Engineering
IoT

Internet-connected devices are everywhere, and many are poorly executed. We’re changing that by bringing web development best practices to IoT development.

Jeff McGehee

Podcast: Could Bitcoin and Blockchain Bring Stability to Currency?

Blockchain

In this podcast, we talk about instances when central authorities mismanage national currency and how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin could bring stability.

Tyler Jenks

Blockchain Explained: Which Kind of Blockchain Should You Use?

Engineering
Blockchain

Thinking about implementing your own blockchain solution? Here’s what you need to know about public, private and permissioned blockchains.

Ben Wald

What Are See | Do Maps, and Why Do They Matter?

Design
How We Work

A key part of our development process, See | Dos facilitate key conversations early on and keep developers, designers and product owners on the same page.

Steve Veltkamp

What’s Driving Blockchain Adoption in Healthcare?

Blockchain

Healthcare leaders are embracing blockchain — and for good reason: the technology is poised to solve some of the industry’s greatest data challenges.

Ben Wald
59ef5300fbda5b00014bf985_readycart_application_design.jpg

From Idea to Acquisition: How to Successfully Incubate a Technology Product

Very successfully completed the sale of ReadyCart — the first portfolio company we backed from inception to exit. Here’s what we learned.

Jesse Morris
59cd1e03d7219b0001b84ba6_wistem-idea-execution.jpg

Global Women in STEM: When Idea Meets Execution

At this summer’s Global Women in STEM conference, top female in tech discussed their own experiences as drivers of innovators.

Emily Maxie

Ethereum Smart Contracts: Learning Solidity by Example

Engineering
Blockchain

Building smart contracts with Ethereum can be tricky. Learn about some of the "gotchas" of working with Solidity, Ethereum, and the Truffle framework.

Bill Brock

Virtual Reality is About to Get Personal

IoT

Google’s VP of virtual reality talks about the future of this immersive technology and the cameras that could give you the power to film VR home movies.

Emily Maxie
59dcdc6704c150000195816c_designing with rythym.jpg

Designing with Rhythm, Composing with Rhythm

Design

Andrew Frank, a UX & Product Designer here at Very, sources creative inspiration by seeking out similarities between two different mediums.

Andrew Frank

Blockchain 101: What is a Distributed Ledger?

Engineering
Blockchain

Learn more about the benefits and limitations of blockchain distributed ledgers for highly regulated industries like finance, healthcare, and supply chain.

Ben Wald
59cd1c803681fd0001981558_9f14b20a-cc34-4c4f-8940-9524dbe1b744-original-1.jpg

Global Women in STEM: What Does Innovation Mean to You?

Innovation is the buzziest of all buzzwords. At the 2017 Global Women in STEM conference, female tech leaders discussed what innovation means to them.

Emily Maxie
59c2da89f1abff0001b033cb_ux-audit.jpg

Is it Time for a UX Audit?

Design

A User Experience (UX) Audit is a diagnostic tool that identifies problem areas in your product. Discover the three signs it might be time for an audit.

Emily Maxie

Blockchain 101: How Much Data Should Go on The Chain?

Engineering
Blockchain

By its very nature, blockchain protects the integrity and availability of data. But when it comes to confidentiality? It’s complicated.

Ben Wald
59c18d83bc4b750001628cef_flat ui design.jpg

Study Shows Users Struggle with Flat UIs—Now What?

Design

A recent study shows that if UX best practices aren’t followed, flat UI design can negatively impact user experiences. But is that true?

Emily Maxie

Blockchain 101: How to Explain Smart Contracts to Your Mom

Engineering
Blockchain

Smart contracts have the potential to transform the way we do business. But what exactly is a smart contract, and how does it work?

Ben Wald
59c1379a314bfc0001fdcb75_outsource-product-development.jpg

To Outsource or Not to Outsource? Maybe That’s The Wrong Question

When you take a strategic approach to outsourcing product development, you can reap results that aren't immediately possible with an in-house team alone.

Emily Maxie
59b1a7216d0ebd0001d0b160_behavior-driven development.png

The Pros and Cons of Behavior-Driven Development

Engineering

We sat down with a software engineer from New Relic to talk about her passion for Behavior-Driven Development (BDD).

Emily Maxie
59a46a93558b9e00015f0a0a_facial recognition privacy concerns.jpg

Could Facial Recognition Become a Privacy Threat?

Engineering

Facial recognition has the potential to make life easier and safer, but it could also invade our personal privacy — and we may not even know it’s happening.

Emily Maxie
599ef5cb7f3c620001ff2c7e_34204635424_46f0c0b8b4_b.jpg

Meet Rekognition: Image Analysis and Facial Recognition from Amazon

Engineering

Adding facial recognition to your software can improve customer experiences, and Amazon’s Rekognition service can help.

Emily Maxie

Ready or Not, Facial Recognition is Here to Stay

IoT

Facial recognition is creeping its way into daily life. Learn how different industries, from travel to retail, are innovating with facial recognition.

Emily Maxie

Top Challenges of Measuring Cultural Health on Remote Teams

Data Science

Working with a remote team presents unique challenges for measuring cultural health, burnout, and employees' leadership potential. But it’s not impossible.

Gabe Weaver
59a428f2d6046f00014811b4_Arch2O-C-Fab-Branch-Technology-03.jpg

Chattanooga Startup Wins International Competition to Build Mars Habitats

Chattanooga-based startup Branch Technology wins an international competition to create sustainable housing for deep space exploration.

Emily Maxie

Structuring Serverless Applications with Python

Engineering

With this approach, you can manage different deployments of your Serverless stack and facilitate quick iterations.

Brian Zambrano
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Elm in a React World

Engineering

Can Elm help us continue to deliver consistent, timely results while simultaneously satisfying developers’ desire to develop new skills and experiment?

Jacob Arellano

Measure Twice: Using Bayes' Rule to Boost AWS Rekognition's Confidence

Engineering
Data Science

We’re leveraging Bayesian inference to achieve more accurate estimations over multiple observations for facial recognition with AWS Rekognition.

Jeff McGehee
598476a6145b24000120ffb5_design-system2.jpg

Design Systems: A Necessary Evil or the Foundation of Great Design?

Design

We’re taking a closer look at design systems: the benefits, the limitations, and how great designers find a balance between consistency and creativity.

Emily Maxie
5984846891d39600015ecf83_powertofly2.jpg

This Startup is Changing How Tech Companies Recruit Women

PowerToFly combats tech’s gender imbalance by connecting women with companies that value diversity and inclusion.

Emily Maxie

Give Your Software a Competitive Edge with Data Science

Engineering
Data Science

To be monumentally successful, new software must solve the hardest problems on earth. That’s where data science comes in.

Emily Maxie
5981ed34e127e80001d86b4f_empathy-banner.jpg

User-Centric Design & Machine Learning

Design
Data Science

Is the process of creating an empathetic experience inherently human? Or can machines help us get there as well?

Andrew Frank
59808e502d65690001f2155a_join-tech-company.jpg

10 Crucial Things to Consider Before Joining a Tech Company

Not sure whether you should join a tech company or startup? Carefully consider these ten things before signing your offer letter.

Ryan Prosser
5978d638e029430001ec21e1_augment-development-roadmap.jpg

Consultants Should Augment Your Roadmap, Not Just Your Headcount

People tend to think of "team augmentation" as staffing up. But shouldn't consultants augment your roadmap, not just your headcount? We think so.

Bill Brock
5977c5c6725e5f000161babf_bored-developer-yawn.jpg

Are Your Top Devs Bored? Here’s How to Keep them Engaged

Keep your top software developers stimulated and engaged by investing in professional development and making room for innovation.

Emily Maxie
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Elixir for Pythonistas

Engineering

Can Elixir solve some of the problems with imperative languages like Python? Here’s what we’ve learned.

Brian Zambrano

Build Your Own Audio-Sensing Shusher for Remote Work

Engineering
IoT

I built an Arduino-based audio sensor that sends a keypress to mute your Mac mic via Shush — and you can, too.

Jeff McGehee
59677bdf96519609f017594d_how-to-retain-developers3.jpg

Are You Monitoring the Top Cause of Developer Turnover?

Discover the true cost of developer turnover, the number one reason engineers quit, and how to retain top talent before it's too late.

Emily Maxie
59652990a68d17787bee3e3f_rails-vs-phoenix.jpg

Framework Showdown: Rails vs Phoenix for a Chat App

Engineering

Today, we’re exploring the performance of the Rails and Phoenix web frameworks when put up against the same task: building a very simple chat application.

Jacob Arellano

How to Build an Alexa Skill from Scratch with lazysusan

Engineering
IoT

Learn to build an Alexa skill that’s simple enough you won’t need a ton of code, but complex enough to fully acquaint you with the lazysusan framework.

Sam McDavid

Alexa Skills: Getting Started with lazysusan

Engineering
IoT

Learn how to develop Alexa skills using the lazysusan framework, and deploy one of the example skills.

Sam McDavid
595e565cf7c3ec49698e58e0_tandus_header.jpg

Replatforming a Global Online Product Catalog in 3 Months

Engineering

Learn how a global company replatformed their online product catalog in three months using Ruby on Rails, AngularJS, MySQL, and HTML5.

Emily Maxie

Measuring Platform Success with Pirate Metrics

Engineering
How We Work

We regularly collect platform metrics to prioritize the development roadmap, determine whether the platform is getting traction, and improve engagement.

Emily Maxie
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WSJ CTO on the 12-Week Launch of Thrive Global Platform

Thrive Global, was created to end the stress epidemic. Founded by Arianna Huffington, the comprehensive platform tackles burnout — a widespread barrier to productivity and success. By delivering sustainable, science-based solutions, Thrive Global enhances wellbeing and performance, so that people can move from surviving to thriving.

Emily Maxie

The Atomic UX Design Process

Design
How We Work

This is part of our How We Work series of blog posts. Today, we’re talking about how we use atomic UX design.

Emily Maxie

Iterative Development

Engineering
How We Work

We use iterative development to break down large project into smaller chunks. Learn more about the processes and tools we use along the way.

Emily Maxie

Trial and Error: An Iterative Approach to Developing Alexa Skills

Engineering
IoT

Our iterative approach for building Alexa skills led us to a great result and a reusable framework for developing on the Alexa platform in the future.

Sam McDavid

Project Health Metrics

Engineering
How We Work

We track more than a dozen different metrics to measure the health of our development projects. Learn more about what we track and why.

Emily Maxie

Testing, Support, and Monitoring

Engineering
How We Work

Once your application is live on our infrastructure, we monitor it in real time to ensure it remains healthy, defect-free and highly available.

Emily Maxie

Validating a Product Concept

How We Work

A validation cycle will either help you affirm your concept, or it will save you hundreds of hours on a project that isn’t worth your time or capital.

Emily Maxie

The Benefits of Using Agile and Lean Methodologies

How We Work

Find out how we use agile and lean methodologies to quickly deliver platforms that solve worthwhile problems.

Emily Maxie
Release Planning

What is Release Planning?

Development
How We Work

Release planning is all about context. We gather information on every critical problem we’re solving, so that we can fill our riskiest knowledge gaps.

Bill Brock

Team Composition

Engineering
How We Work

We schedule teams full-time on projects and assign your team based on the experiences and skills that are most relevant to your project.

Emily Maxie

Our Pricing Philosophy

How We Work

This is part of our How We Work series of blog posts. Today, we’re talking about our pricing philosophy.

Ben Wald
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Goodbye, Spartan. Hello, Very.

If you’re here, then you’ve heard. Spartan is now Very. We’re excited to share what’s changed and what’s staying the same. Read on to learn more about our brand-new brand.

Emily Maxie

Make Possible™

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