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In this Tech Talk session, Alfredo Pérez Grovas, IoT Modules Product Manager for Silicon Labs, presented an overview of Silicon Labs' Wi-Fi Solutions, including the RS9116 from our newly acquired family – Redpine Signals. Click here to watch the complete webinar and register now for future Tech Talks. Here are some key points from Alfredo's session.
Redpine Signals is Now Part of Silicon Labs
Our recent acquisition of Redpine Signals added a valuable amount of technology and capability into our existing vault of expertise. The acquisition highlights the RS9116 family of chips, which comes from a line of three generations of wireless products from the previous RS9110 (Gen 1) and RS9113 (Gen 2).
Redpine Signals' brings broad expertise in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth solutions with these products using the key technologies of ultra-low system power, multi-protocol (802.11, BT/BLE 5), and multi-threaded processors. These high-performance solutions come with an embedded wireless and networking software, along with multiple security levels, edge intelligence, and ultra-small form factor. All of these features are ideal for multiple target markets such as smart homes, fitness/wearables, healthcare, and industrial.
Expanding the Silicon Labs Wi-Fi Product Family
Our current portfolio of Wi-Fi solutions consists of two categories: Transceiver SoCs & Modules and Full-Network Co-processor SoCs & Modules. The former comprises our WF200/WFM200S and RS9116 n-Link, while the latter is our RS9116 WiseConnect.
The WF200/WFM200S module operates on 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi along with higher-level network and security stacks running on the host processor, either MCU or MPU. The RS9116 n-Link operates on 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi, as well as BT and BLE 5. This module also runs wireless, network, and security stacks on the host processor (MCU or MPU). The RS9116 WiseConnect runs wireless, network, and security stacks on the RS9116 while the application runs on the host processor (MCU).
IoT Application Examples of the RS9116
What can the RS9116 do to enable your IoT product development? As mentioned, the RS9116 has all the features that could serve multiple markets.
In the world of smart homes, RS9116 uses Wi-Fi communication for local and cloud control of different devices like locks, cameras, thermostats, and others. During installation, BLE communication is used to provision smart home devices to a home's or site's Wi-Fi network. This requirement is made possible through the built-in coexistence manager to manage Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE coexistence. The RS9116 also features low current consumption in ultra-low power mode for battery-operated smart home devices, which is ideal for power efficiency and long battery life.
Another area of application for the RS9116 is wearable devices. This application also features ultra-low power consumption for extended battery life. Still, it is slightly different than a typical smart home device because of the simultaneous multi-protocol communication requirements as follows:
Jumpstart Your IoT Product Development Now
Learn how to develop and deploy more powerful, efficient, and secure IoT products with your own BG22 Thunderboard. Register for a free BG22 Virtual Workshop happening every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM CST.
Our colleague, Johan Pedersen, recently recorded a day in the life in his smart home, showing examples of the many amazing things you can do when smart products are interoperable across vendors. The video showcases automated smart home features related to lighting, heating, security, safety, monitoring, and entertainment based on a range of Z-Wave, Zigbee, and Wi-Fi wireless smart home products. Johan illustrates two of the most important considerations for consumers: ease of use and interoperability. Check out the video to see these features in action.
Join Johan on June 10, 2020, for the Smart Home: Work With Any Ecosystem webinar. Register here and learn how Silicon Lab's wireless solutions can simplify your IoT product design.
You can also learn more about how to make easy-to-use and interoperable smart home products at the Works With Smart Home virtual conference in September. Learn more and register for the event here.
The smart home is the new rising standard for a "home sweet home." With increasing connectivity of home appliances and devices, IoT technology has enabled the smart home ecosystem to expand based on consumer demand for interoperability. At CES 2020, Matt Johnson, our SVP & GM IoT Products, spoke in an interview with EETimes about the exciting future of the smart home and shared his predictions on industry growth over the next decade.
As Matt stated in the interview, one of the major challenges to the growth of the smart home market is interoperability. Developers are expected to move quickly across competing industry standards, while consumers demand smart home devices that work seamlessly with the ones they currently use.
Project Connected Home over IP and Z-Wave Alliance have recently announced plans to make smart home technology more compatible, enabling technology access for developers, better consumer experience and faster industry growth. We also recently launched EFRBG22, a secure Bluetooth 5.2 SoC delivering industry-leading energy efficiency that can extend battery life beyond five years, allowing for highly accurate motion tracking that can be used in a variety of home applications. These technologies help fulfill the needs of consumers and enable connected intelligence to function in a faster, safer and more cost-effective way.
As IoT expands the smart home market, consumer dreams of a smart, connected home are becoming a reality. Despite challenges in a fragmented market, issues in interoperability, and slow adoption, Silicon Labs helped jumpstart the movement of homes embracing connectivity. We are excited to host the "Works With" Smart Home Conference in Austin, Sept 9-11, bringing smart home designers and developers interested in creating products that work with the world's largest smart home ecosystems. To learn more and sign up, click here. Use code WWSH to receive a discount off registration.
To watch Matt's full interview with EETimes, click here.
The future of the IoT is open, seamless and secure.
We welcome the launch of the Connected Home over IP project and strongly support the working group dedicated to developing and promoting a new, open-source wireless protocol designed to increase compatibility among smart home products, with IP connectivity and IoT security being foundational design elements.
We are committed to advancing open wireless technologies and platforms for the IoT. We look forward to working with the Zigbee Alliance and fellow board members including IKEA, Legrand, NXP, Resideo, Samsung SmartThings, Schneider Electric, Signify (Philips Hue), Somfy and Wulian to drive the success of the Connected Home over IP project.
As a Zigbee Alliance board member, we will contribute to the project to create a new IP-based protocol enabling secure, reliable and seamless smart home connectivity. We encourage everyone in the smart home industry to get behind this much-needed project aimed to simplify development for IoT device manufacturers and increase ecosystem compatibility for consumers everywhere.
Earlier this year, we spoke with Ryan Kincaid, an Allegion global hardware architect, who focuses on connectivity and the security of embedded systems. Allegion is a long-standing and trusted brand in mechanical security, with a 100 + year history of building locks and entry systems for residential and commercial buildings. With more than 30 brands in 130 countries, Allegion has been specializing in security since long before electronics of any kind even existed.
True to its pioneering roots, Allegion sees tremendous opportunity in IoT to create even more value within its product portfolio. Over the past few years, the company has been working closely with Silicon Labs to add connectivity to a broad spectrum of smart home and commercial security products in its portfolio.
In the blog below, Ryan shares insight behind some of these new products and use cases for access control technology, including enabling features like granting delivery personnel access into homes without the need for the homeowner to be on-site.
Tell me a little bit about Allegion.
Many people are familiar with Allegion's brands without even knowing it. For example, if you look at your key chain, there's probably a key that says Schlage on it, which is one of our core U.S. brands. Schlage can also be found on exterior and interior locks in your house. When you walk through an entry way of a commercial building, people often push our Von Duprin exit devices to open the door (that's the bar running across the door) or use a credential reader to gain access. Many people first think of these brands as mechanical, but what is happening in the industry is a migration of electrifying mechanical devices. We are adding in connectivity, sensor technologies, and fairly high-end embedded security to make them intelligent.
Can you tell me about how Allegion is working with Silicon Labs?
We use Silicon Labs in a variety of different products, especially related to connectivity and our connected home solutions. We started using Silicon Labs' technology through the acquisition of BlueGiga and quickly saw the benefit of the support Silicon Labs provided. We have gone on to leverage products like the Silicon Labs Mighty Gecko SoC and others over time. For example, we recently worked with Silicon Labs to develop a Zigbee-certified smart home lock, a solution great for people who want in-home delivery. A homeowner can grant access to a third-party, such as Amazon, and allow that delivery service access on a limited basis to that person's door (which can also be paired up with a camera). When the delivery person arrives at the home, he or she can unlock the home and lock on their way out.
Another product we launched recently is a networked version of an exit device that allows remote monitoring and access control in commercial settings. This product utilizes the Blue Gecko SoC and is targeted specifically at the K-12 educational vertical. We call it a safe school application, as it enhances perimeter security by providing electronic override of mechanical solutions for an emergency facility lockdown. This product can be invaluable to school administrators as prior to this type of technology, a human would have to go around to every single access point and ensure it was securely locked.
What are some of the major product design challenges you typically run into?
Time to market is always a challenge. We have found Silicon Labs' offering of both SoC and pre-certified module (FCC certified modules) solutions especially valuable to us. The pre-certified modules accelerate our time to market because we can circumvent some of the compliance and certification processes. For example, the Zigbee product I mentioned earlier was not a new technology to the industry, but it was new for our product line, and being able to use the tools and certification support Silicon Labs provided really sped up our product delivery. One of our other largest challenges is decreasing our time to market while maintaining our high standards for safety and security.
How important is security and how do you see security evolving with IoT?
Security is priority number one – there is no question about that. For example, at schools, connected devices allow for fast and safe lockdowns. At home, you can get an alert when your child arrives home from school and enters the door, allow temporary access to a visitor, and verify that the door is locked before you turn out the lights.
Our reputation is built on security, so when it comes to adding electronics to mechanical solutions, our security mindset comes with us. We have added roles within the company that specifically focus on cybersecurity. When we look to products that we're using within our embedded system, we're constantly refreshing our security requirements around those pieces. This includes enabling security updates in the field. When we look for silicon or firmware partners, security is always the first thing we review.
One of the things we want consumers to be mindful of is the market is full of products touting home security, but some of these are companies don't necessarily have the history or track record that we do.
Where do you see IoT going in the next 5-8 years?
I think consumers are becoming more and more aware of security. They might not know all of the encryption standards and data privacy laws, but they're getting to the point where they are asking sophisticated security questions, and people developing IoT products need to meet these new demands. This will drive new security standards, data storage requirements and computing at the edge.
There will be an increase in consumers questioning a product's digital longevity. How long will this be supported? Will I continue to receive updates? Will the pricing model change? To be successful in the IoT market for the long run, manufacturers must have scalability and sustainability product plans in place before delivering each and every IoT device to market.
Finally, we will see a demand for a better user experience in IoT. Devices need to be easily commissioned and seamlessly work within the intended ecosystem. This could include sharing data with a smart devices or cloud services. Products constantly need to be checked for compatibility due to the rapid change in these technologies. Products genuinely need to address customer needs without becoming an annoyance.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with the CTO and co-founder of Notion, Ryan Margoles to talk about the release of their Gen 3 sensors and how the IoT will impact homeowners in ways that go beyond just convenience.
Tell us about the history of Notion. What was the impetus for starting the company and what were the immediate challenges?
The idea for Notion was literally sparked by a sounding alarm in the middle of the night. My wife and I had just adopted a puppy and our carbon monoxide alarm went off at 2am; it was a pretty jarring experience. We jumped out of bed and opened all the windows and exited the house. Fortunately, it was only the furnace fizzling out. The next day, I called my business partner and childhood friend, Brett, with the idea to make a Wi-Fi connected smoke/carbon monoxide alarm. We set out to learn more about the value proposition of a smart smoke alarm, and how we could make it valuable for customers. We learned quickly that people loved the use case, but were not used to buying smoke or CO2 alarms; they are usually already installed in the apartment or in the home you buy. The product evolved and coalesced into a concept of a single sensor that could do multiple things: listen for smoke/CO2 alarms, detect movement, doors and windows opening/closing, freezing temperature, and leak detection. The competition offered several single-function sensors: a door sensor, a temperature sensor or a leak sensor. In our opinion, this was a barrier to entry for people who aren't as tech savvy. We knew we had found the right idea to pursue.
What is your background?
I have a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Colorado. My background is in product development, manufacturing and big data. I spent most of my early career with Titleist and Callaway developing smart golf clubs.
When you set out to do this, size and battery power were obvious considerations. What were some other known design challenges?
There were three challenges on the onset: 1.) Battery usage: Battery power and replacing batteries every three months is tough for a customer to get used to; it's a hassle. Our Gen 1 kit had a coin-cell battery that was difficult to swap out. We learned over time that just two AAA alkaline batteries were important since they are readily available and easy to change out. 2.) Ingress protection: Devices that are placed outside, in really cold environments or used for water leaks need to limit the amount of water that gets into the devices. 3.) Simple user
experience: it was a challenge to design a simple user setup. One of the areas of opportunity was the pairing process. With most smart devices, you have to go through a pairing process. We identified that as a pain point for users so we developed our own protocol for pairing devices. Our goal is ease-of use. Every device is the same. It detects all five "senses" and device tasks are 100% configurable in the Notion smartphone app.
How did Silicon Labs become part of Notion?
First and foremost, the account management team at Silicon Labs is easy to work with. We were able to get the answers we needed to make important decisions and the team availed themselves to all-levels of the Notion organization, from executives to hardware engineers. Second, the Gecko platform allows us to configure specific protocols and free our team to focus on other things. Previously, the Notion team developed everything – from OTA update mechanisms to the security protocols. It was very labor intensive. Silicon Labs helped alleviate much of this burden. Third, the Silicon Labs team spent the time building rapport and working with us on a pricing model that worked for our start-up.
What's been the market's response to Notion?
Overwhelmingly positive. It's the best multi-functional sensor on the market with its simple 15-minutes-or-less set up, increased range, and long battery life. Our channel strategy includes not only B2C, but also B2B; we are partnered with several of the top insurance companies in the U.S. Similar to car sensors that help lower your insurance premiums for good driving, we've pursued a similar path for home ownership. Now a homeowner or renter can augment their monthly premium by installing Notion. Additionally, we're the first IoT company to have
a partnership with HomeAdvisor. So, if you have a water leak, we not only detect it, but we can connect you with an available plumber in your area within 30 seconds.
What do you see is the vision for the future of Notion, and the IoT in general?
We believe the services extension of IoT is changing what it means to have a smart home. Being a homeowner is hard and our mission is to help you take care of your home. We have a 10-year goal of making Notion a requirement to obtain property insurance -- that's how powerful we think our product and data is. We partnered with one of our insurance partners, Hippo, to be the first fully-integrated smart insurance product on the market. Every customer who buys Hippo insurance receives a Notion starter kit for free. Once the customer sets up their
Notion system, they get an exclusive discount on their premium. We're driving insurance to make a change while adding thoughtful services to the Notion brand to help homeowners take care of and secure their home.
There is a huge demand today for adding Wi-Fi connectivity to IoT applications because of the many advantages over other wireless protocols (Zigbee, Bluetooth, etc.) such as longer range, native IP connectivity, and high bandwidth. For millions of IoT applications, including industrial machines and sensors, Wi-Fi is often the best choice for connectivity because of its robust infrastructure and global reach- Wi-Fi exists almost everywhere in the world today.
Challenges for developers: The biggest challenge for developers has been the high-power consumption of Wi-Fi in IoT systems. Wi-Fi protocols were designed primarily to optimize bandwidth, range, and throughput, not power consumption. This makes it a poor choice for power-constrained applications that rely on battery power. Of the various cons of using standard Wi-Fi protocols, high power consumption is the most impactful (range limitations and busy networks are cons as well). Until today, developers have avoided adding Wi-Fi to their IoT applications as there hasn't been a viable option for adding Wi-Fi connectivity to battery operated devices that didn't require high power consumption.
These are the four key challenges when adding Wi-Fi connectivity:
Power consumption in Wi-Fi varies dramatically across various modes of operation and it's important to understand the different modes and optimize them to reduce overall power consumption. One strategy is to stay in the lowest power mode as much as possible and transmit/receive data quickly when needed.
RF performance: Unlike many wireless protocols, Wi-Fi power consumption is significantly impacted by RF performance and network conditions. This is a significant problem with the increasingly crowded Wi-Fi networks today. A busy network leads to many retries/retransmissions which consumes a high level of power. Developers must focus on reducing retransmissions and controlling link budgets to be successful.
Wi-Fi devices typically consume significant power in both Transmit (Tx) and Receive (Rx) modes. There are several ways to reduce power consumption and optimize Tx and Rx modes. First choose devices with high selectivity/out of band rejection. Also, choose devices with high Rx sensitivity, and if possible, choose uncrowded channels for device operation. This might mean using channels not used by chatty connections such as video streaming.
Applications: Power consumption is highly dependent on the application and use case. IoT applications typically fall into one of three categories:
Always on/connected-these devices are always on which allows users to access the device remotely at any time via cloud or mobile application. A Wi-Fi video camera is a good example of this use case. Latency is a critical factor in these applications and power consumption is dominated by the transmit power mode (the highest power consumption), as the device is transmitting data and it would be detrimental to be inactive or inaccessible.
Periodically connected - These devices are connected to a remote server or cloud platform and only need to transmit occasionally. A good example is a temperature or humidity sensor that sends data every few minutes and it can tolerate the small amount of time it takes to become active. Latency is not a major concern and the power consumption is dominated by receive and sleep currents. It stays in intermediate power levels so it's never completely awake or asleep so it wakes up faster.
Event-driven - An online shopping order button is a good example of event-driven Wi-Fi connectivity. It's almost always inactive/asleep, meaning there is no data transmission. It wakes up infrequently, and it takes longer to wake up from this mode. An event occurs that triggers wakeup such as when a user selects the order button. This mode is dominated by the lowest sleep current and is best when needing to use the least amount of power possible for an IoT application.
Design issues - Lowering Wi-Fi power consumption is also a design system issue and is a critical challenge for developers today. Power management and extended battery life are major factors when developing IoT applications. Although standard Wi-Fi protocols weren't designed initially for low power operations, there are many techniques to help significantly reduce power consumption. These techniques include optimizing Rx and Tx modes, optimizing power-saving modes (sleep modes, WMM, DTIM, shutdown/standby), choosing the right hardware, using built-in specifications, optimizing RF performance, and system level optimization. Developers must understand all the contributing factors to overall energy consumption in IoT devices.
They must also understand both system-level factors and deep application factors in order to achieve low energy consumption in their applications. Finding the right mix of power-saving Wi-Fi modes and selecting the right hardware are the keys to dramatically reducing power consumption. Leveraging hardware and software designed specifically for IoT devices and low power consumption can reduce long term costs, overcome development challenges, extend battery life, and potentially enhance the life of products and customer satisfaction.
We solve the power management issues for IoT developers by providing drop-in Wi-Fi solutions, including pre-programmed modules (WF200 and WGM160) that can cut power consumption in half. These solutions are designed proactively with low power IoT applications in mind and work in a wide range of applications from home automation to commercial, retail, security, and consumer health-care products. Pre-programmed modules provide a prototype quickly which helps developers get products to market faster.
To read the full whitepaper on this topic. click here:
Silicon Labs has an unusually broad perspective of the smart home market, being we provide both chipset and wireless solutions to a vast array of global smart home customers. But what makes us especially unique is that we support most all of the major smart home connectivity protocols, and even offer solutions to help customers create their own wireless protocols. Wireless connectivity is complicated, but it's getting remarkably easier for both designers and users as time goes by. And as it does, the smart home is getting much smarter.
The smart home market as we know it initially started in the early 2000s, and for many years, the question has always been – when is mass adoption going to happen? No one knows for sure. Yet we are confident adoption rates will increase substantially this coming year. According to Statista, there are already nearly 35 million smart homes in the U.S. in 2018, with growth expected toward 60 million homes by 2023. People have been using smart home thermostats, lighting, and security products for quite a few years now, but the smart speakers recently introduced have been an explosive driver for the smart home. More than 50 percent of smart speaker owners have gone on to buy other smart home products, and Gartner predicts that 75 percent of U.S. households will have smart speakers by 2020.
So what's coming up in 2019 that will be different for the smart home? Silicon Labs shares some predictions below.
Professionals take a backseat: One of the shortcomings of the smart home thus far has been the tendency for people to buy the application they want, but once they get the package home, the installation is too complicated and an outside professional is required to install the device. Thanks to new highly interoperable smart home platforms, such as the Silicon Labs Z-Wave SmartStart, the installation of products is becoming surprisingly easier. Ring is a good example of a new plug and play security smart home product that just needs to be plugged in, then the user sees the application on their phone. It's that easy.
AI and smart home unite: Wireless and mesh connectivity solutions have improved dramatically in range and power consumption in recent years, enabling low-costs sensors to be deployed across the home (and yard). No longer limited by short ranges and power constraints, ubiquitous devices are giving the smart home the ability to react intelligently to changing conditions. The smart home has already seen the first iterations of AI, otherwise known as context-aware intelligence, in consumer products, and more are on the way. A popular example is the smart thermostat that learns family preferences. New smart thermostats will sense how many people are in which rooms of the house and adjust accordingly. They will know what time of day energy prices drop and react for optimal economy.
Insurance industry adoption: More than ten years ago we saw smart home thermostat products disrupt the utility market, and we're going to see those kinds of dynamics happen again in other markets. Smart home insurance IoT products are something to watch closely this year. Context-aware smart homes are allowing the insurance industry to move its central business paradigm from reactive claim services in to proactive loss prevention. A draft in the home can be traced to a roof in need of costly repair. Moisture in the garage can distinguish between a simple worn valve or an expensive leak in the foundation. Water Hero, an IoT product that detects a water leak in the house before it escalates, is the first of many new insurance IoT products that will continue to hit the market in the coming year.
Homes get even smarter: Some of the early smart home consumer products centered around video monitoring, yet a more sophisticated sensing is materializing. New smart home products for Aging in Place are a great example. Keeping close watch on older and more fragile family members doesn't mean they need to be watched via obtrusive video cameras. Instead, data can be collected about elderly daily habits from invisible sensors in appliances, lights, rooms, medicine cabinets, etc. If the data shows unusual irregularities, family members can be notified.
Costs decrease, longevity increases: The beauty of a maturing technology market is as the technology advances, the costs come down, and this dynamic will be no different in 2019 for the smart home. Besides decreasing consumer costs, we'll also see major gains in battery and low power. A truly smart environment features embedded sensing throughout the entire space, including areas where direct electrical power is either impossible or impractical. Battery operated devices are a necessary mainstay of the smart home landscape. Due to their need for continual battery replacement, service providers and end users often limit the deployment of these devices, thus limiting the life cycle of the system. The recently released Silicon Labs Z-Wave 700 platform is so efficient that it can allow battery operated devices to provide ten years of service on a single coin cell battery. We will start seeing the benefits of this battery development in the coming year as applications roll out based on the technology.
We'd love to hear about what you're expecting from the smart home market this year.


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Closing the deal is just the beginning. Your favorite investors on "Shark Tank" check in with their investments on "Beyond The Tank" this fall on CNBC.
On Wednesday night's episode, watch as Mark Cuban meets with wine-entrepreneur Jayla Siciliano, founder of Bon Affair, as they face the challenge of catching the attention of distributors. When a partnership with a well-established winery comes into play, Siciliano hopes this opportunity will open doors to even bigger sales. Could this wine spritzer business eventually become a happy-hour empire? In the words of Cuban: "Great companies don't happen in a day."
Next, Daymond John takes a trip to Utah to visit Mission Belt founder Nate Holzapfel. As John gets a glimpse of this successful entrepreneur's new lifestyle, he's concerned Mission Belt is still too new to support the bells and whistles. With the right sales tactics and vision for the brand, John and Holzapfel tightly join forces to ensure things continue to run smoothly.
Stick around for the finale as Lori Greiner offers a rare second chance to Tigere Chiriga, founder of Floating Mug. It's certainly not the offer Tigere had in mind, but it might just be the golden ticket to getting his business off the ground.
Don't miss this episode of "Beyond the Tank" TONIGHT at 10P ET/PT

subset: commoncrawl


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Entrepreneurship · Fundraising
Myself and two cofounders have built an MVP and even brought in some revenue. It's not a ton of money, but with more capital and employees we really feel we can multiply our revenue figure quite a bit.
None of us come from finance backgrounds, but we're slowly working our way through our financial projections and want to be very careful with our valuation, because we've heard about how companies have been too aggressive and set themselves up for a down round in the future. We want to play this conservatively.
For a valuation, should we look at similar companies near us? How much weight should we give to our early revenue figures? What other factors are important to consider?
So far the most common valuation techniques I have come across are:
-The DCF (Discounted Cash Flow)
-TheFirst Chicago method
-Market &TransactionComparables
-Asset-Based Valuations such as theBook Valueor theLiquidation value
-Venture Capital Method: calculates valuation based on expected rates of return at exit.
-Berkus Method: attributes a range of dollar values to the progress startup entrepreneurs have made in their commercialization activities.
-Scorecard Valuation Method: adjusts the median pre-money valuation for seed/startup deals in a particular region and in the business vertical of the target based on seven characteristics of the company.
-Risk Factor Summation Method: compares 12 characteristics of the target company to what might be expected in a fundable seed/startup company.
I advise most startups to not place a valuation on their company. The only valuation that matters is the valuation of the lead investor in your series A round. I think it's better to wait until that investor values the company because that's the one that will matter. If you try to guess at it before then you're almost always either too high or too low. Convertible notes allow you to raise money without placing a valuation on the company... this way the company's valuation is set by the Series A investor, which as I said is the only valuation that matters.
Depends on why you want he valuation;is it for raising money-- or to go public- or just for your own amazement.If it for getting $ - call in a seasoned old hand business appraiser.
As I understand in ideal world you need to get money without need of valuation or to get fair valuation. I would suggest 2 general approaches. 1st is using convertible debt instead selling shares or options. This instrument is exactly used to avoid need of valuation in cases like yours too eraly. Second is to get funds from experienced reputable investor, which has their standards. Like Y Combinator " it will be investing a total of $120,000 into each startup for 7 percent in equity. It was previously investing an average of $17,000 for 7 percent, plus a safe that converted at the terms of the next money raised for another $80,000 ". "Safe" that mention here is also a financial instrument, you can find it's description by googling "safe vs convertible debt". But these exact terms are for seed stage. Plus you get experience, network and advice of investor. If you chose the proper one.
I love this question because it is so darn hard to answer! My dad used to say 'your worth whatever someone will pay for you!'. As cheeky as that sounds, it's hard to argue with... So, while you've done a masterful job of articulating the technical methods whereby you can value an entity, it is in fact more art than science.
Truth be told, people invest in people not companies. Ideas are 10 cents for 12. People who can execute are RARE - you wanna be one of them! Back to your question, any valuation/financial projection will be a fantasy - every pitch I have ever seen shows hockey stick growth. It's become a cliche.
I suggest that you just do the best you can. Even if you're not financially savvy, you can use your judgement to determine if the numbers make sense. If you're predicting a billion active users be month 18, you might want to rethink. But to tell an investor, I need half a mil to burn over the next X months with this use of funds and that will generate Y active users at Z positive cash, the answer will be clear. And hopefully compelling.
Then it will just come down to whether they LIKE you....
Hi Shakoya,
Congrats on your startup. I will try to answer to you based on my investment banking/M&A, private equity and entrepreneurial experience. I am myself currently engaged in a capital raising process for a luxury venture I launched a year ago.
I suspect if you are asking this question and you are not from a finance background, it is because you have been asked to come up with a valuation, most likely for a capital raising exercise.
First, investing in a business at an early stage is a risky thing to do and essentially it is about trusting the entrepreneurial team, often more than the idea. Be careful in protecting the idea specially if it can be replicated without you.
Second, assuming the valuation is to know how much of your company to give away to an external equity investor, your objective to negotiate the highest possible value so that you give away as little as possible.
Third, financial projections can be set to whatever you want and can back up. An investor will try to rationalise them and bring them down so he/she gets more out of his/her invested capital.
Fourth, valuing a business is never an easy task, and certainly not a science, and although you could try all the techniques, some are more indicated when you are a new venture with little cash. DCF gives you a theoretical intrinsic valuation but is highly dependant on your assumptions based on the discount rates and terminal value growth/exit multiple. Comps or comparable publicly traded company (market) multiples are irrelevant because a startup will never be comparable to a public company with years of existence. Prepaids or transaction multiple is relevant but might be difficult to find given your business probably has a unique selling proposition that distinguish it from others. Asset-based valuation is irrelevant for new business because it is a very conservative methodology that prevents from putting a value on the future: hopefully your business worths a lot more than the sum of it assets. The other methods are used by business angels/VC because it allows them to ask themselves questions about the risks/rewards of investing in you. They exist to bring your valuation down in a negotiation.
Fifth, do not mix valuation and pricing. Valuation is what your business is worth based on assumptions, including the purpose of the exercise. The price is the number someone will pay for it, given the information at hand and his/her personal will to invest.
Sixth, you can also value the company based on how much founders contributed to build it (cost of opportunity, salary not paid, deals brought to the table thanks to your network, cost of your education/training to be able to do this job, personal network...).
To put it in a nutshell, try the method that best works to your objectives and you can back up during negotiations.
Hope this helped. Good luck!
Hi Shakoya. Congrats on you MVP launch and sales. As the startup is in such and early stage I will do all of them and get an average (it is a good exercise and doesn't take that long). I will try to make more and more sales before I raise some money so you can have higher valuation and keep a bigger percentage of the company (also be careful of how much money you raise, do a burn rate/FCF projection). As an investor I will be more interested in the market potential and future projections based on your initial numbers (I will concentrate on that). Good luck!
My preference is not to value the company until it is absolutely necessary to do so. While it is a good ego-boosting, it has no real value at an early stage of a company. Even for early stage investment, more and more are using convertibles and similar instruments to avoid this meaningless valuation exercise.
The only time it makes sense is if you build your startup for a well define market, which can be well projected. This is more often happens with traditional type of business (making beds for local hospitals for instance) and not in the more recent companies we define as startups
Wow. How about something simple like, is there free will?
There is no rule. This is a negotiation. What will someone pay?
Valuation generally gets higher as you get to revenue and have reduced some of the risk. You are entering a sweet spot for raising money. The more clients and the more revenue, the better you will do.
Valuation generally begins with two things: the team and the idea. Some investors value the team more highly and vice versa.
Valuation depends on trends. Are you in an industry that is currently "in" such as AI?
Valuation depends on perceived growth. While no one will believe your business plan, they will have an idea of what kind of growth they expect and therefore how they should value your business.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
When I have raised money for startups, I have taken the following general approach;
Go to a financial source - banker or investment banker or VC - and see if you can get access to deals that have been done. Look at those that have characteristics closest to yours and see what their valuation parameters were.
Go to a VC that you know and have an informal chat. Ask them what they think the general parameters would be.
Actually make a presentation to a VC and see what they say. (Be careful. If they are interested, they will know it is a negotiation and may start on the low side. Having a bidding war among multiple potential investors is wonderful, but not to be expected.)
Interesting question with no one right answer - at least in the absence of a much closer look of your business.
I would venture to guess that asset-based methods, such as book value, would likely not be very relevant for most startups discussed in this forum. Book value is more relevant for mature "physical" businesses, simple patent plays and, generally, any business where good will, brand value and other intangibles are not core to the value of the business. Book value can establish a lower bound for your business, but likely a very low one (more on this further on).
Transaction comparables could be very effective as they essentially anchor the value of a business to that of another business whose value has recently been established on the back of a market transaction. This approach too has its limitations, however. No two business - even very similar ones - are alike and even small tweaks in underlying business parameters can result in significant differences in valuation. That said, I would keep this in the tool bag and give it a go, if comparables are available for your business.
DCF and VC multiples are essentially the same thing: you attempt to establish a present value of future cashflows (where cashflows can include exit/sale price) by discounting all future cashflow events to today by an appropriate discounting factor (i.e. multiplying with a number less than 1). Call that discounting factor the VCs ROI or cost of risk or market opportunity cost or whatever you like, it essentially serves the same purpose, to bring forward value to today appropriately adjusted for uncertainty. This too is a calculation that is worth doing in establishing a value for your business.
So you have DCF/ROI and market transactions as two things to try.
The more helpful exercise in my opinion is establishing value bounds, upper and lower, although the lower bound is the more important one, in this case: a value that you can confidently defend as a minimum or near-minimum for your business. You can establish lower bounds for both DCF and market transactions by stretching uncertain parameters in the valuation to defendable limits.
For example, for your lower bound value you may want to discount future sales to a point that you think is very likely deliverable, based on current performance and the performance of peer businesses. Or you can strip away or heavily discount some of the less robust streams of revenue you expect of the business.
If you establish a non-trivial (i.e. not stupidly low) lower bound for the value of your business you can at least say "my business is - almost certainly - worth at least this much" and build from there.
Hope this helps
The various methods of valuation that you suggest are all sound but most business brokers will tell you that you can buy most small, operating businesses for 3x next years earnings. If you are valuing the business to raise equity, then any private company's stock is based upon the price that the market will pay. That is why many small companies offer preferred when they can afford to pay a dividend or a royalty where appropriate. I don't favor valuations for private companies. Investors want either income or an exist strategy.


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She sat in her chair, looking out the window, waiting for the end. Thirty-seven years old, less than a hundred pounds, tired, depressed and dying. She wanted to stay at home, but her condition required a trip to the hospital, perhaps her last. Stone cold eyes greeted me, eyes that had given up the fight and were resigned to stop seeing the world as a place where life happened, and satisfaction waited for those willing to see it.
"Joanne, we have to go." I said.
A slight nod, a willingness to cooperate and nothing more. Joanne's mother stood to the side and let us package her daughter for delivery. It had been a long battle, and the wounds earned from fighting it were worn on both women's faces, heavy eyes, lips that hadn't seen a smile in far too long, matching expressions of disappointment, fear and anger.
Russian playwright Anton Chekov said, "Any idiot can face a crisis – it's this day-to-day living that wears you out." Chekov knew that it is not the stress of action that will bring a person down, it is the monotony of inaction.
An often-overlooked part of the equation of stress in EMS is the repetitive nature of our calling. Most of the patients we treat and transport – or simply transport (after assessing vital signs) – do not need emergency care. But they still need care, and it is completely up to the provider how well that care is given and received. It is not the people we are called to treat who wear us down; it is ourselves, often from the inability to see through the minutia of protocols, reports and procedures.
Every patient has the potential to affect a provider in ways that go far beyond the obvious. Traumatic situations can have traumatic consequences for the patient and provider. Much more desirable is the positive outcome and subsequent exhilaration for the provider, and satisfaction for the patient that it brings. The rollercoaster of life in EMS is what draws us to it, what we want and what we hope for. It is up to us to grasp it, and to understand that it always presents itself, sometimes in ways we never imagined.
"Are you afraid?" I asked Joanne, once I made sure she was comfortable and stable.
"Terrified," she replied.
Our eyes remained locked for more than what is considered normal, but it wasn't uncomfortable. There is a special kind of intimacy that can only be shared by strangers who share no baggage, no expectations, no regrets. There is no fear of disappointing loved ones, or burdening them with grief. Honesty hurts sometimes, and the closer the persons sharing it, the more it hurts.
"Thank you for asking," she said, and the tension that created her new look; the one formed by pain and worry, eased, just a little, revealing a hint of the person before the disease.
I stayed on the bench seat during transport, my knees on the edge of her stretcher; she closed her eyes and rested. It was a quick ride, a silent ride, but not a ride without significance. We are not in the business of transporting commodities; we transport people, all of them, every molecule, thought, experience, emotion and desire, and sometimes, their resignation. Her mother waited when we arrived, and I sensed a change in the energy between them.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm kidding myself, and that I imagine things that simply do not exist. Then there are those moments when I am absolutely positive that something can be drawn upon to make this difficult, heartbreaking journey that always, without fail, ends the same way for all of us, a little more bearable.
Any idiot can last a few years in EMS, it's those who allow themselves to luxury to feel the magic who survive.


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I didn't want to like Focusky, as it seemed to be just another version of PowerPoint and Prezi, which reminded me of the Emaze fail when I put a lot of work into a presentation that I had to remove from my classroom because students couldn't get it to work right. Focusky, what could you possibly offer? Animations. Not like Disney or Dreamworks animations, though. I had thought that I'd be doing some cool animations with talking characters and the like, but no. Focusky animations are what I call transitions, where text and graphics can be timed to enter the screen at different times and different methods (e.g., slide down from the top). If you're a PowerPoint guru, you're probably saying, "Hey, PowerPoint can do all that." Yep. But, PowerPoint doesn't have the "dip and roll" transition; in other words, as you move to the next slide, the presentation zooms out and then pans over to the next slide to zoom in on the content. If you're a Prezi guru, you're probably saying, "Hey, Prezi can do that." Yep. Focusky effectively merges many interesting qualities of PowerPoint and Prezi in order to create a more dynamic presentation.
Goal: Find another (free) option for presentations other than PowerPoint and Prezi
- There is a help document and tutorial videos
- There are several free templates to choose from; they seem unique, as compared to what's available for Prezi or Emaze, though limited for the free version
- The workspace looks much like Prezi, so if you're familiar with Prezi, then the same principles can be applied to Focusky, except that Focusky has an animation tool in its workspace
- Once saved to the public cloud for sharing, a transcript is automatically created.
- As you can see in the pricing comparison, there aren't many option for the free version.
- Although software is downloaded, templates are online…so you need an Internet connection to get started; it takes a minute or so to download the template and the fonts.
- The thumbnail for the template is small, and once it's loaded, I can't find a button to change the template so I just start a new project to get back to the choose a template page
- Making modifications to the template's text can through off the other slides in the presentation, as the slides are all in the same general area of the workspace. So if I add a paragraph of text, it may overlap on to the next slide. (It took some maneuvering and editing text to get the look right.)
- Editing the text in the template is temperamental…clicking, double-clicking, voicing commands, glaring at the computer screen, clicking again, all don't yield a response sometimes.
- The presentation "play" screen doesn't always respond as expected. You have to click the Play button, and then click another semi-hidden play button to see the presentation as a video. The arrow graphics don't always move the presentation ahead. I used the arrows on my keyboard, which were mostly effective.
Insider View: Like I've said in previous posts, it's much easier to create presentations when you draft the text in Word or PowerPoint first. This way you can focus on figuring out the tool rather than trying to think up what you want to say. Since some of the textboxes on the template can't be resized, be prepared to edit content to reduce the font size for longer passages. Also, you can change the transition speed for each slide/graphic by clicking the Options button at the top of the workspace; select Exhibition Setting, and then Custom next to the Default path duration option.
Final Thoughts: Not my favorite presentation tool due to the quirkiness of editing text in the template. The "animations" just means that text and graphics can "fly" on to the screen, wiggle, or bounce. Otherwise, it's like Prezi. (You can add audio, but I wasn't brave enough this time around to try that since that's where my Emaze presentation went wrong.)
Link: http://focusky.com/
This is my only sample (so far). It took maybe two hours to create, though the text was primarily written prior to starting with Focusky.


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IIIEE International Institute of Industrial and Environmental Economics
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- Home
- Online documents
- CRRU resources
- CRRU publications
- CRRU project websites
Excerpt from abstract:
United Way report contains new income data from Statistics Canada revealing decreasing incomes, growing poverty and a decline in the quality of life for many Torontonians. A consequence of many structural changes in the city has been an undermining of the health and livability of Toronto citizens. The impact of the changes in the economy and to the social safety net on Torontonians has also been damaging, and is the focus of this
CRRU's online documents database contains thousands of resources relevant to ECEC policy and practice in Canada and internationally. CRRU's website allows the user to quickly search or browse the database of documents.
Research, policy & practice materials include: scholarly research, policy studies and briefs, government and NGO reports. Child care in the news is an archive of news articles about ECEC in Canada and abroad.
Links to the full-text of materials are provided where publicly available; where access is restricted links are provided to abstracts, as well as purchase and subscription options.
The online document database is continually growing. New materials are added to the database each week and featured on the homepage as what's new online this week and child care in the news.
Online documents


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Hotel Service Charge on Land Portion?
Pair of Hikers replied to calteacher's topic in Holland America LineWe did a land/cruise tour in May. You are only charged for gratuities on the ship. However, you need to plan to tip your journey host, bus drivers, tour guides on excursions, etc. Tips for the baggage handlers are included in the cost of the trip. This is all outlined in several documents that HAL will provide to you about your travel. It includes suggested amounts for each individual you need to tip. Our journey host was extraordinary and we tipped her more than the recommended amount - we know several others did as well. Please remember in your planning that the tips are a huge part of their compensation, and that these individuals work hard and play a huge role in making your vacation fabulous. Hope this answers your question and you don't mind the extra advice.
Holland America Alaska Cruise Tour Questions!
Pair of Hikers replied to KikiKruiser's topic in Holland America LineWe had an early Tundra tour and had a great breakfast before we left at Karstens (ate there both Denali days). They have 2 choices of buffets - one hot and one cold. We grabbed an extra piece of fruit that we took to eat on the TWT and did not finish the snacks they gave us. Karstens was just across the road from our room. We ate dinner there one night too and thought it was terrific. We ate well during the entire trip. Did not purchase the meal plan. We tend to grab a bigger buffet breakfast and then usually skipped lunch or had a snack (brought snack pack fruit and nut with us from home) or fruit and were good until dinner. The days were busy!! We did eat both breakfast and lunch on the Alaska Railroad but a light dinner that evening before heading off to the Husky Homestead (which I recommend). SOOOO glad we did not buy the food plan. We had one expensive dinner in Anchorage but found the food to be pretty reasonable. Lots of choices everywhere we went.
We hiked Upper Dewey Lake on June 3. It was a steady climb - 3,000 vertical feet in 3 miles. I had read that we should plan for about 6 hours round trip but we did it in 5. It was a wonderful hike and my favorite of our Alaska hikes. It is a short walk to the trailhead from the ship where the trail system that includes the lower lakes and some other destinations begins, but if you have the whole day and energy head I'd say go for it! You have plenty of time. We are in our early 60's.
Westmark Hotel in Fairbanks......any reviews?
Pair of Hikers replied to KG2019's topic in AlaskaWe stayed at the Westmark on May 30th in room 632. It was a very nice clean, modern room with a kitchen area. No complaints about the room at all. I read the same bad reviews you did. Thought our room was great.
Excursion Recommendations
Pair of Hikers replied to goody2shoes3012's topic in AlaskaWe were in Skagway and Ketchican last week. We hiked Upper Dewey in Skagway. Loved it. Favorite hike in Alaska. It took us 5 hours roundtrip. In Ketchican, we took a cab (as others recommended) when we got off the boat to the trailhead of Deer Mountain. . Hiked and walked back into town. The bugs came out in Ketchican - first time we saw them in our 2 weeks! If I were choosing one to hike again it would be Upper Dewey. Hope this helps.
Wanted to let you know I just posted my report. Happy to answer any questions that I didn't cover. If I did this correctly it is posted both in Holland America and under Alaska 2019 trip reports.
2019 Trip Reports
Pair of Hikers replied to mac1_131's topic in AlaskaCruisetour Y4L Holland America May 27-June 8 12 Days, 8 on land, 4 on Nieuw Amsterdam Anchorage - Anchorage Museum, Flattop Mountain Hike, Tony Knowles Costal Trail Denali - Husky Homestead, Mt. Healy hike Fairbanks - Gold Dredge 8 Dawson City - Diamond Tooth Gerties, Klondike Spirit Whitehorse - Millenium Trail Skagway - Upper Dewey Falls hike Glacier Bay Ketchican - Deer Mountain hike Couple 60 and 63
Y4L – Alaska, Yukon, Double Denali May 27 – June 8, 2019 Nieuw Amsterdam Ship May 26 - Anchorage Arrived in Anchorage a day before our trip began. It was around 7:00 when we arrived and the Westmark is an easy cab ride from the airport. We checked in and headed across the street to the Glacier Brewhouse for a beer and a small bite before turning in for the evening. May 27 - Anchorage We woke up early as we were still on east coast time. We walked a few blocks to the Snow City Café as we read they had great breakfast food. Arrived ahead of the crowd and had a delicious breakfast served by a very pleasant waitress. We came back to our hotel and walked over to the visitor center. The combination of early season plus Memorial Day meant that there was not an early shuttle to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Instead, we walked a few blocks to the Anchorage Museum and waited for them to open. It was a great way to spend the morning. We learned about the native Alaskans at the Smithsonian exhibit – crafts, life stories, every day items, etc. The art gallery wing was also wonderful with some beautiful oils of Denali. In the afternoon we took the Flattop Mountain Shuttle from Downtown Bicycle Rental. Pete gave us a narrated tour of Anchorage as he drove us to the mountain. We had 3 hours to hike Flattop Mountain which is the most hiked trail in Alaska. Still some snow on parts of the trail and the last 20 feet at the steep summit. Wonderful views of the city and Chugach Mountains. Highly recommend even if you don't go all the way to the top. Not too crowded in late May but still lots of people and dogs. After our hike we returned to our hotel to meet our Journey Host Kaylyn. She gave us packets with information for the next day, had us take care of some paperwork and we were on our own until the next morning. We left the hotel and took a short walk along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail before dinner. Lots of bikes, walkers, skateboarders, families and leashed dogs. Pretty views and an easy way to get some exercise. Lots of bike rental shops in Anchorage if you prefer biking. A very nice meal at Orso which was across the street from the hotel. Same owners as Glacier Brewhouse. Recommend both. Had read some negative reviews about the hotel. A little old fashioned but the room was comfortable and clean. What more can you ask for? Tuesday May 28 - Anchorage to Denali Bags were out early and we met at 8:15 to transfer to the Alaska Railroad. Our trip to Denali was as pleasant as any 8 hour train trip could be. Comfortable seats, big windows, and the opportunity to move around. We had decided in advance that we would eat both breakfast and lunch on the train as it would give us an opportunity to leave our seats. Meal seating is in shifts in the bottom level and viewing and general travel in the top of the glass domed car. Both breakfast and lunch were quite good. The scenery in the beginning of the trip as we left Anchorage was interesting. In the middle hours there was not as much to see and the trip was starting to feel long BUT then we arrived at Hurricane Gulch and the views became more and more interesting and made the entire trip worthwhile. We were enchanted all the way to Denali. We were picked up at the Denali Train Depot and on the way to our hotel a moose decided to slowly cross the road in front of our bus and linger to munch grass at the side of the road. It was a prime picture taking opportunity and the perfect welcome to Denali. We checked in at our lodge and were out the door to grab a quick meal before heading out almost immediately to our shuttle to visit the Husky Homestead. As we got off the shuttle, we were handed two-week old puppies! Who on earth can resist such sweetness. We learned a lot about raising and training dogs, and preparing them to race. Jeff King was even more engaging then his staff and told us all about the Iditarod and his experiences with the dogs. It was a very interesting and fun evening. Denali was off to a great start! Wednesday May 29 - Denali TWT Wilderness Tour #9 with Glenn at approximately 8:30. Glenn was a wonderful engaging driver who shared lots of information about the park. We went to mile 53 at Toklat before turning around. Seven hours in the bus was plenty for us. We saw Denali from multiple locations and got some beautiful pictures. We also saw moose, bear, caribou and Dall sheep. As we started our tour, the driver realized the bus camera was not working, but it did not matter. The scenery in the park changes at every turn. It was just magnificent. After our tour we asked to be dropped off at the Visitors Center where we picked up the trail to Mt. Healy. We were worried about making the last shuttle back to our hotel but no need to have worried. We were up and down the mountain in about 2:40 which left us plenty of time to get back to our cabin. Great views. Nice hike. We had dinner (and breakfast both days) at Karstens on the property. Food was good and reasonably priced. Our room at Denali was M106. It was a two-story townhouse. We were on the first floor. We had a small bedroom and sitting area. Nice bathroom. Only issue, and one we could live with, was foot noise from upstairs and the whosh of the flush but honestly, location, cleanliness, décor was all good. I note this because I've noticed lots of complaints about hotels on land. Nothing to complain about. Would stay here again. Thursday May 30 - Denali to Fairbanks Woke up and said goodbye to Denali. It would have been nice to have an extra day for another hike or two. Boarded the bus for the 3 hour ride to Fairbanks. We did have a rest stop with a gift shop on the way. This was our first bus ride. Our driver not only transported us safely, he gave us information about the places we passed and about Alaska in general. Little did we know that every bus ride would provide learning opportunities to find out about where we were and where we would go. Arrived in Fairbanks at noon. Most of our group took their hour to eat lunch but we walked to the Fairbanks Visitor Center. To our surprise, it had a little museum like area that was extremely interesting and we spent 45 minutes there. We learned our planned walk at Creamer Fields was about 2 miles from our hotel and found information on how to travel there. We met up with the group and were off to Gold Dredge 8. It was a planned group excursion and was much more fun than we expected. First, we had a view of, and short talk about the Alaska pipeline. Then we got on a small train that took us to the area where we would pan for gold. But first, as we traveled by train, we learned about how gold was mined in Fairbanks. My bag of dirt yielded $24 of gold and my husband got $6 in gold flakes. Yes, we succumbed and bought a charm to put the gold flakes in as a memento of our visit. Too much shopping time at the mine for us, although many of our companions did a fair amount of shopping and seemed to enjoy the stop before we headed to our hotel. We checked into the Westmark Room 632 which was a very nice clean, modern room with a kitchen area. We were off to visit a local art gallery a few blocks from the hotel and then found a local distillery where we had a vodka cocktail before heading back to the hotel. We were feeling lazy so we had dinner at the Red Lantern restaurant at the hotel. It was just ok but no complaints as we were ready to turn in early. Friday May 31 – Fairbanks to Dawson City Had time for a nice breakfast before heading on our bus to the airport and on to Dawson City on an 11:00 a.m. flight. The airport in Dawson recently had its runway paved which was big news. Smooth flight and we were at our hotel early afternoon. We were on our own. There were some sprinkles and it was cloudy so we changed our plans to hike the Midnight Dome and instead walked the 9th Avenue trail which went around the city and continued around the water. There are a number of other trails in this area. An easy walk and fun way to stretch our legs. We went to the Visitors Center as well to get maps, schedules, and walked around town peering visiting some of the shops. Dinner at the Drunken Goat Taverna. Food was excellent. Laid back place. Highly recommend. After dinner we caught the show at Diamond Tooth Gerties. Your $15 season pass is good all year. They have 3 shows an evening with singing and dancing. Shows were excellent. There is also food and gambling. A number of our group left after the first show and went to The Downtown Hotel and became members of the Sour Toe Cocktail Club by drinking a shot with a preserved toe that touched their lips. A good time was had by all. Then the partying group was back to Gerties for the remaining 2 shows and last call. Saturday June 1 – Dawson City Woke up and it was still a light rain but we weren't going to let that get us down. We had breakfast at the hotel and were off to explore. We found out that the Robert Service cabin would not have a presentation that day as the town folk and visitors were invited to the Commissioner's Tea from 2:00 – 4:00. This is an annual event that we did attend. Late morning, we went to the Jack London cabin and were treated to an excellent hour-long presentation about Jack London that included his time in Alaska and Dawson City and how that time influenced his writing. Highly recommend. With the rain starting to come down harder, we went to the Dawson City Museum and learned more about the local gold rush and the city of Dawson before heading to tea. Our Klondike Spirit Cruise had been moved to 6:00 p.m. so we grabbed a delicious sandwich in the hotel pub before heading to the boat. The delayed start time for the boat worked in our favor as the skies cleared and we had beautiful weather for our ride. Once again, we learned more about Dawson City and the First Nation inhabitants of the Yukon so it was more than just a ride around the river. We found the Westmark in Dawson City to be charming. Rooms were clean and comfortable. Wifi only in the lobby and not in your room. We did not use our phones in the Yukon and I could live for 2 days without wifi. Sunday June 2 – Dawson City to Whitehorse This was a full day on the motor coach. We had a number of opportunities to stop and stretch our legs and see a few historic sites. Lunch was provided – the only land day this happened – in Minto. It was a simple and delicious lunch of soup, salad and homemade bread in a nice clean lodge. After lunch we were back on the bus to Whitehorse until our arrival at approximately 5:00 p.m. Our driver Trevor was amazing. No other word. For the entire trip he gave us Gold Rush History, and information about the glaciers and the valleys they formed. He told us about the white river ash from a long ago volcanic eruption and even recited some Robert Service poetry as he drove. The hours flew by. Scenery was beautiful. When we arrived in Whitehorse I told our Journey Host that it could be viewed in two ways. HAL could have you fly straight from Dawson to Whitehorse and get you to Skagway in a day. It took us 8 hours to travel the road but it made us better appreciate the journeys of the men (and women) that got themselves and their provisions over the Chilkoot Trail and then had to build a boat and ferry themselves down an unforgiving river to get to Dawson. I am glad I was able to experience that journey. The unspoiled landscape was pretty special too. After leaving our bags at the Westmark Whitehorse (the only hotel we felt was not satisfactory) we took a walk with some of our new friends on the Millenium Trail, a 5km paved trail that loops around the water in downtown Whitehorse. It was a very pleasant way to get some exercise before a fantastic dinner at Klondike Kate's. Restaurant was across the street from our hotel so could not have been more convenient. Clearly popular and crowded so we put our name in ahead of our walk and our table was ready when we returned. Food and atmosphere were fantastic. Highly recommend if you stop in Whitehorse. Monday June 3 – Whitehorse to Skagway Breakfast at the hotel and then we were back on the bus with Trevor who showed us Miles Canyon, Emerald Lake, Carcross Desert and Carcross as we journeyed to Fraser to board the Whitepass Rail that would take us to Skagway. All interesting stops that we were grateful to see along the way. Our train journey was interesting as we thought about those that had braved the mountains by foot (before the train was constructed) as they dreamt of the gold waiting for them in Dawson City. The mountains had some sad tales to tell, but it was a lovely way to return to Alaska with some magnificent views along the way. Once we arrived at the train station, we went to our hotel and grabbed an extra jacket before heading off to hike Upper Dewey Lake at around 2:00p.m. There were excursions offered by HAL and a lovely town to walk around, but we wanted to hike. We passed the Lower Dewey Lake trail in favor of the 6 mile roundtrip steady climb – vertical rise was 3000 feet in 3 miles – to Upper Dewey Lake. We were not disappointed. The lake was beautiful and the views as we headed back down were spectacular as well. It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. Trail information says roundtrip takes about 6 hours but we were able to do it in around 5. We were motivated to be down before it got to be too late! Dinner at the Skagway Brewing Company was adequate but I wish we had stuck with our plans to go to the Red Onion Saloon – a former brothel. We heard food was good and atmosphere was great. Our room in Skagway was clean and comfortable and right in the middle of everything. In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel and were able to shop before transferring to the ship. We liked the town but were ready to get on and stay on the boat by late morning. Hated to say goodbye to our Journey Host Kaylyn. She kept us organized, gave us tips on where to visit and eat. She went above and beyond every minute of every day and we are convinced that is one reason our trip was so wonderful. A Few Thoughts I felt compelled to comment on the hotels. With the exception of Whitehorse we had no complaints. They were all clean and the staff was helpful and cheerful wherever we were. So many negative comments on line that it made me wonder what to expect. If you are expecting the Westin downtown you may be disappointed, but the hotels were in character with their location. Perhaps if we had come off the ship we might have found the transition jarring but we would stay at any of the locations again. We chose to eat a number of meals – all but one breakfast and a few dinners on hotel property out of convenience. There were many choices in each location. We had a couple pricier dinners but found the food to be fairly priced (this is Alaska) and for the most part quite good. Our fellow travelers were all very nice and we got to know many of them on land and some even better on our sea days. Everyone was happy to be on the trip and the people we spent the most time with were also beyond impressed with our Journey Host. We all hated to say goodbye to her when we boarded the ship. Nieuw Amsterdam – June 4 to June 8 This was our first cruise. We had an opportunity to upgrade to a Signature Suite from a Veranda and glad we did. This put us in room 6072 in the middle of the ship. We had a larger bathroom and room to spread out. The veranda was a wonderful place to view the glaciers on our day in Glacier Bay. We ate at the Lido buffet for breakfast and lunch all days. It was easy to go at any time and there was a huge variety of food choices. I particularly liked the omelet station for breakfast. Easy to be healthy and easy to indulge for all meals. We had dinner at the Dining Room. We had open seating and for 3 of our 4 nights were seated with other people. Again, we found the food to be delicious with plenty of choices. One evening my husband asked for extra steak when he ordered and they were more than happy to oblige. We were there for a Gala Night and we dressed up and enjoyed a special dinner. Service was great. Entertainment on the boat was outstanding. We went to BB Kings every night, the Billboard pianists were fabulous, and we went to an afternoon performance at Lincoln Center Stage. Very talented musicians who worked hard to entertain the crowd. We did not see any of the stage shows in the evening. We were too busy enjoying the music! We also used the health club. Plenty of treadmills, bikes, ergs and machines. Some free weights too. It was not crowded and we were able to use the equipment we wanted. The treadmills were placed at the windows in the bow which my husband enjoyed. I liked working out without looking out to sea so something for everyone. Our third day on the boat we stopped at Ketchican. We planned to hike Deer Mountain at this stop and since the weather was good we stuck with our plan. We grabbed a cab when we came off the ship that took us to the trailhead. Glad we did. It was an uphill walk and the cab knew exactly where we were going. We walked back into town after the hike and had some time to poke into the shops before boarding the ship. By our last day we felt we knew our way around. There is a daily schedule of activities so always something going on if you were looking for something to do. A little sad to say goodbye but the four days on the ship were a great way to relax after the busier pace on land. It was an older crowd for the most part on land and on the ship. We had a couple on their honeymoon on the land tour and there were some young families on the ship. If you are looking for the big shows and non-stop entertainment this might not be your cruise/cruisetour but it was just perfect for us. Been back for 2 days and already thinking about going back to Alaska!
We came back from a Yukon Double Denali last night (May 27 - June 8) on the Nieuw Amsterdam. It was fantastic. We did the land portion first. Getting on the boat in Skagway also meant we got the day in Glacier Bay which the northbound folks do not. Happy to answer any questions you have, but a heads up that I will be posting a detailed trip report in the next couple of days as we were looking for that information in advance too.
Pair of Hikers started following 12 HOURS IN FAIRBANKS BEFORE FLIGHT HOME
Pair of Hikers replied to New Mexico 8's topic in AlaskaWe will be in Fairbanks soon (we leave in a week). We were looking for uniquely Alaskan things to see and would have loved to have a walk with the reindeer. Sure can't do that at home. Will not work out for us as they are booked the day we are there https://runningreindeer.com/ We will likely take a walk at Creamers Field Nature Trail in the evening. From Alaska.org "This path was constructed to provide a place for hikers to view the plantlife around interior Alaska. This is a unique trail that allows hikers to view things that would be impossible to hike without a trail. There are all types of wildlife and small plants. Waterboots are recommended in spring." Might be good to stretch your legs before the flight. The University of Alaska Museum of the North is supposed to be fantastic if you want to check that out. Hope this is helpful. We haven't been yet, but I have been enjoying the research and planning.
Signature Suites - Are they worth it?
Pair of Hikers replied to Viking75's topic in Holland America LineWe start on May 27 in Anchorage on an Alaska-Yukon land tour and meet our boat in Skagway. Offer came on Tuesday late afternoon. We booked directly through HAL and we received the email directly from them.
Signature Suites - Are they worth it?
Pair of Hikers replied to Viking75's topic in Holland America LineUpdate. Thanks to everyone for your help. I decided to call HAL back and say that if a port side Signature Suite opened up we would be interested. Well, one did open up between this morning and afternoon because the occupant of that suite upgraded to the Neptune! Counting the days......
Signature Suites - Are they worth it?
Pair of Hikers replied to Viking75's topic in Holland America LineThank you Hank for confirming my thinking. I was hoping that the signature suite would be available on the port side. I think that would be worth the upgrade.
Signature Suites - Are they worth it?
Pair of Hikers replied to Viking75's topic in Holland America LineHoping someone can answer this who has cruised to Alaska. We booked the last port side Verandah room originally. We can upgrade to a signature suite but it is on the starboard side. There is one Neptune on the port side but would cost us $678 for four nights. Not sure it's worth that. The signature suite is $378 so willing to do that but I'm not sure I want to be on the other side of the ship. Would welcome advice. Specifically, does side of ship matter in Glacier Bay??
Signature Suites - Are they worth it?
Pair of Hikers replied to Viking75's topic in Holland America LineWe have 2 land days and 2 at sea days. One of which is Glacier Bay. The bigger room/verandah might be nice for that. It's hard to judge the space when we have never been on a ship. The Neptune seems to have its own lounge for breakfast and hanging out during the day. After 8 days of running around, a larger private space and a bigger veranda might be nice. I will call and ask tomorrow as the office was closed when I made the call.


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Red Hawk Chalk Talk: Girls' Varsity Basketball
By Jack Loder and Jack Loder
December 14, 2016
For the first time in their history, the girls' varsity basketball team will be looking to defend their MCAL championship title. Returning with a core group of guards and shooters, the team looks to be a force in MCAL again this season. This year's team has a unique combination of established star...
Girls Varsity Basketball Beats Livingston
By Blake Killingsworth and Blake Killingsworth
December 6, 2015
The girls varsity basketball team maintained a comfortable lead throughout Friday night's home game on December 4 and defeated Livingston by a 26-point margin, winning 71-45. Tam shot the ball well and punished the opposition by forcing turnovers and converting on fast breaks. The leading scorer for ...
Girls' Basketball Preview
December 17, 2013
The girls' basketball team started the season on a positive note, going 3-0 with their most recent win being against Swette High School on December 6. This fast start is exciting for a team coming off of a season in which they went 13-15. Coach Michael Evans believes the squadwill be strong not only bec...


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