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TechCrunch: Success Story of the Leading Online Tech Publisher

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In this era, where the world is getting transformed into a global village, every single individual wishes to stay updated about all aspects of development, including the latest technologies, new trends in the scientific world, start-ups, new gadgets, in fact, about every news related to technology. Since it is contributing to most of our expansion, the technology seems to catch most of the attention from every community and nation.

TechCrunch is one online publisher that has created a firm base on the sphere of technology reporting on the latest trends of the Sci-Fi world. Well, undoubtedly it does more than just displaying news, and is a hotspot of knowledge for every tech lover.

TechCrunch is an America-based business, which was founded in June 2005 by Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. The company has its headquarters in the Bay Area, United States.

Michael Arrington

J. Michael Arrington was born on 13th March 1970, in California. He has a major in economics and is a former lawyer, graduated from Stanford Law School in 1995.

Michael arrington founder TechCruch
Image Source: thenextweb.com

Before founding TechCrunch, he was involved with many other endeavouring businesses. He was a part of RealNames that raised $100 million in funding as a startup. He was the co-founder of Achex, an online payment company. Zip. Ca, Pool.com, Razorgator, Edgeio and Folders are some of his biggest achievements, apart from TechCrunch. He also invested in Uber, Airbnb and Pinterest.

Michael Arrington had a huge contribution to the creation and growth of TechCrunch, even though, he is no longer the CEO of the company. Arrington is well known both, as a blogger and an entrepreneur. He has absolutely changed the idea of blogging for people who are passionate about it. According to him, ‘if you have to maintain a blog you need to update it every day, which makes it very tiresome. But if it is user-generated, it will make your blog even more informative as contribution will be much higher as compared to you alone.’

Michael Arrington believes in writing posts on stories that can easily go viral without putting so much hard work. Since blogging is what changed the fate of TechCrunch, Arrington can be considered as one of the most efficient tech bloggers in the entire world. Arrington’s passion and tenacity are what brings TechCrunch at the pinnacle of its power. He has even been selected as one of the most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.

The story and evolution of TechCrunch

It all started in 2005 when Arrington posted a very informative blog about the companies that were progressing expeditiously and gaining immense success. It turned out that his blogs were gaining popularity in no time and changed the entire outlook of business reporting.

The first blog of TechCrunch was posted on 11th June 2005, which eventually led to the establishment of one of the prominent site for start-ups and gadgets. Apparently, Arrington wasn’t too much involved in blogging as he was busy starting a new company, but a few months, he was totally engrossed in it and gave it a head start.

The future of the company turned its wheel in 2006 when Arrington was the first to post about the news of Youtube being Google’s new asset. Apart from this, the newsfeeds about the gadgets added to its gaining popularity.

In 2007, the company formed Crunchbase, a platform where anyone can conduct researches on start-up companies. It maintains a database which has information of start-ups, investors, total funding, acquisitions; money rose by acquisitions, upcoming events and featured stories about latest businesses. Initially, the company had more than 50,000 contributors which crossed 2 million in 2013. The companies or even a single individual registered and accessed the facilities of CrunchBase and submitted to the database.

In 2008, the company started The Crunchies, an award ceremony that gave away awards to the best start-ups, best mobile app, and in many other categories. They thoroughly analyzed the progress of the companies throughout the year, the funding they received, and thus awarded them annually. Apart from TechCrunch, the Crunchies was sponsored and hosted by blogs like GigaOm, VentureBeat and ReadWriteWeb. This helped the company grow even rapidly as it lured start-up companies from around the globe to see where they stand, study their competitors and not to mention the desire to win awards. In 2017, the company announced the discontinuity of Crunchies.

In 2010, the company was taken over by AOL which wield the sceptre from 2010-2017 followed by Verizon Media which is the current owner of the company.

In 2011, Arrington made his mind to resign from the position of the editor of the company as he faced disagreement with his decisions of starting Crunchfund (to invest in tech start-ups).

In 2015, the company declared that the Crunchbase is no longer a part of TechCrunch.

One of the most powerful tools of TechCrunch is the Startup Battlefield, a platform provided to the new start-ups at the annual tech conference, TechCrunch Disrupt hosted by the company. It allows all the new minds to sign in and share their innovative ideas with the investors, media and other parties to gain money and publicity. Now, who doesn’t want that? The exposure gained through it is priceless, and moreover, the winner receives prize money of $50,000.

Thus, TechCrunch is the ultimate destination for all those who aspire to be a successful businessman, learn more about technology and blogging or anything about entrepreneurship. They post the most compelling and inspiring stories of start-ups with utmost transparency and high quality. It can also be considered as a study guide (Extra Crunch) for those who want to learn more about start-ups.

BMW : One of the Oldest Aircraft Manufactures and the Leading Motorcars Giant of Today’s Time

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Humans have always been obsessed with speed. Ever since the emergence of automobiles, our top priority has been to build a machine, which is faster, and at the same time, reliable. One company that has gained the trust of the millions around the world is BMW.

Bavarian Motor Works or Bayerische Motoren Werke is a Germany based automobile manufacturing giant. Founded in the year 1916, by Franz Josef Popp, BMW has a total workforce of more than a hundred thousand employees. The company headquarters are located in Munich, Bavaria and, Germany. It is an international acclaimed manufacturing unit and the most reliable and trusted brand in the global market.

BMW headquarters
Image Source: bmwblog.com

The company is the twelfth largest motorcars producer company in the world. Awarded at several events, the motorcars manufacturer hold Guinness World Record for longest sustained drift by BMW M5 model. BMW produces cars in Germany, China, India, South Africa, UK and US. Today, it is the most desirable car brand besides Mercedes and Audi.

The Emergence of the Company

During the initial days, BMW started as an aircraft-manufacturing firm named Rapp Motorenwerke. By the end of 1918, the manufacturing unit of the firm was forced to cease the aircraft engine manufacturing, and later, in the year 1923, it switched to motorcycle production. The transmission was not that easy, however, it bought golden luck for the company. Soon, the firm started manufacturing and producing motorcycles on a commercial scale.

In 1930, the firm regained authorization to manufacture aircraft parts. But by the end of 1959, due to the cost constraints, the firm had to discontinue the aircraft production. The company then decided to switch to automobile manufacturing, which proved to be a vital changing phase in the future of the firm.

Transition as Automobile Manufacturer

Right after the switch, BMW bought Hans Glas in 1966. The first car released by the company was Dixi. The car’s design was based on Aston seven model. The Dixi had a top speed of 75mph, which was pretty fast in those times. In 1992, BMW acquired a big California based industrial studio, and later, annexed British Rover Group.

Rover brought bad omen for BMW, and as a result, the company decided to sell Rover to Phoenix Consortium. The company ever since then involved exponentially in car designing and manufacturing process. It has a customary blue and white logo derived from ancestral Rapp Motorenwerke. The company has estimated more than six assembly lines and four operating division mainly BMW Motorrad, Mini, BMW Motorsport and BMWi. In order to meet the requirement of the global market, the company has tripled its production units in recent years. At present, the company has a revenue of astounding $97.48 billion. The brand has established its name as one of the leading car manufacturers. The BMW cars are quite popular among celebrities as well.

Car Racing Industry and BMW

The BMW brand has dominated the Formula1 tournaments as well. The advanced engineering solution has not only evolved the cars for a better result but into a racing machine. Every year a significant number of BMW cars take part in competition around the world. BMW is not only deluged with success but clients and media attention. European golf events, PGA Championship, Football clubs and United States Olympic Committee are just a few of many clients that BMW looks after as a prominent sponsor.

Awards and Recognitions

According to several magazine and tableau, BMW is among the top 10 automobile manufacturing companies in the world. It earned 2012’s best buy award in engine and premium compact car category. In 2011, the company won The Red dot award for product designing. It was also awarded the Euro Car body award in 2017. Recently, BMW M5 has been voted the world’s best performance car of 2018.

Volkswagen: A Startling Story of Success in the History of Automotive Industry

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Who doesn’t want to have a fancy lavish car and ride it all around the city? Even a 5-year-old kid drools over the cover page of his favourite car magazine and dreams of having one of those someday. And one such company that has made people go crazy with its classic designs and impressive capabilities is none other than Volkswagen.

Volkswagen is a huge German based automobile industry founded on 28th May 1937 by the German Labour Front. The company has its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany and currently Dr Herbert Diess is the chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. Volkswagen is the German meaning for “people’s car”.

Volkswagen: A Walk Down to the Historic Lane

The Early Phase

During Hitler’s reign, especially in the 1930s, Hitler put forward ideas and scheme, so that every German could drive their own car. Under one of those schemes, the German Labour Front started making various prototypes of such cars (“KdF-Wagen”), and Volkswagen was one of them. The company was first established in the name of “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH” in 1937 and was renamed as “Volkswagenwerk GmbH” on 16th September 1938.

volkswagen
Image Source: thenypost

The vehicles that were produced in the plant, during early 1938, were designed by Ferdinand Porsche. In May 1938, a new plant was built in Wolfsburg, which shortly after manufacturing a handful of cars, started making military vehicles due to the war (Second World War). A lot of prisoners were forced to work at the plant during the war, which included prisoners even from concentration camps. This led to the filing of a lawsuit against the company in 1998 for compensation for the forced labours. So, in September 1998, a fund was built by Volkswagen AG to reimburse the compelled workers.

During the period of post-war, in June 1945, the charge of the company was handed over to the British Military Government, where Major Ivan Hirst took the responsibility of management. He was the prime person behind the existence of the company post-war, followed by mass production of Volkswagen Beetle. Not a single person expected the company to stand on its own, especially after the factory was bombed and captured by Americans.

In 1948 Heinrich Nordhoff was recruited to run the plant, and in 1949, Hirst left the company. After Type 1 (“Beetle” sedan), the production of Type 2 started in 8th March 1950. Soon, there was an increasing demand for “VW Bully” (The Volkswagen Bus), and in 1956 a separate manufacturing unit was built in Hanover for the production of the Transporter.

The Intermediate Phase

In 1961, the company introduced 4 new Type 3 models, and in 1969, Type 4 models were introduced. The latter came with much-modified technology, which included automatic transmission, electronic fuel injection, sturdier power plant and many more. On February 1972, Volkswagen broke the record of world car production, and the Beetle outweighed the popularity achieved by a model commonly known as “Tin Lizzy” by Ford. In 1973, Volkswagen Passat came into the market, followed by Volkswagen Scirocco, in 1974.

In 1974, the Volkswagen Golf was introduced, which set a legendary mark as a turning point of the future of Volkswagen. It was followed by Volkswagen Polo, in 1975, and since then, the company gave some serious competition in the automotive industry.

In June 1983, the company started producing the second generation of Volkswagen Golf, and it was the first time robots were placed in the manufacturing of vehicles. In the next decade, the world witnessed the second generation of Passat, Scirocco and Polo, which increased the production of the company on a very large scale.

In 1994, Concept One was launched, which had a retro theme and was a blend of Polo and Beetle. In 1999, the company hit another major success when they introduced Lupo 3L TDI in the market. This car consumed only 3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres, and hence, became the world’s most efficient car.

The Modern Phase

After Bernd Pischetsrieder became the CEO of Volkswagen Group, many new models were introduced. In 2002, the production of Touareg, a luxury car marked a totally different segment of the company in the market. In 2003, the fifth generation of golf was launched, and since then, a lot of modified version of existing models were produced with an excellent change in design engineering.

In 2018, Volkswagen announced that they would stop the production of Beetle by 2019, the car that brought dynamic changes to the fate of this company. The company said that it would like to grow to keep the same pace with modern technologies, and hence, would introduce electric cars in future.

In 2019, they also announced to launch a Jetta sub-brand in association with FAW Group Corporation. Currently, China is responsible for the company’s 40% sales and is the biggest market for Volkswagen.

Awards: A Few From the Ample

• Volkswagen was awarded European Car of the Year award thrice till date.

• It has been awarded five times in the United States Motor Trend Car of the Year award.

• The Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle was named as the fourth most influential car in the 20th century.

• It has been awarded four times with the World Car of the Year Award.

When companies rejected to take over the plant during the post-war period, the company rebuilt itself and surpassed all the efficient ones. Thus, from collapsing into the grounds to making all the way to the top, Volkswagen is indeed a story of real success the world has ever witnessed.

Clear Car Rental: An Offbeat Startup that Received Nationwide Recognition

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In this era of stress-laden life, we start working as a machine the moment we set off our foot from the bed. And while we hurry to reach office in time, the unreliable services of public transport are the real disappointment. In this scenario, online car booking seems like a silver lining and saves our day.

Clear Car Rental is one such online car booking platform that provides the best rental services across India. A vast range of services is offered by Clear Car Rental which includes one day trip, round trip, travelling to different cities, far-ranging packages etc.

sachin kate
Image Source: Facebook
Founder of Clear Car Rental

Sachin Kate, a 28-year-old Indian fellow, is the founder of Clear Car Rental Pvt. Ltd. He is from Maharashtra, who is currently expanding his business by providing services in more than 210 cities in India.

Early life

Born into an economically weak family, in a small village of Marathwada, achieving success was never really a piece of cake for Kate. There were no schools in his village that provided education after standard 4. But this could not kill his determination to chase his dreams. So, after completing the 4th standard, he moved out of his place to a nearby village to complete his high school education. But this wasn’t easy either. Since his parents were mere farmers, the financial crisis was a common thing in his family. He started selling newspapers to fund his own education, and when he was in standard 11, he bagged himself a job, in a computer institute. He worked there as an office boy, but he never missed a chance to learn and explore more. Seeing his great flair for computers, the owner upgraded him as an instructor the very next year.

Since his parents were mere farmers, the financial crisis was a common thing in his family. He started selling newspapers to fund his own education, and when he was in standard 11, he bagged himself a job, in a computer institute. He worked there as an office boy, but he never missed a chance to learn and explore more. Seeing his great flair for computers, the owner upgraded him as an instructor the very next year.

After passing out from high school, he shifted to Aurangabad to pursue his higher studies. Since he needed to sponsor his own education, he found himself a part-time job in a travel agency. This is the time when the idea of establishing his own business clicked his mind. While working with the travel agency, he became quite susceptible to the ideas and strategies of how the business worked. This was the stepping stone towards his success.

Career

Initially, Kate began by creating a few travel websites by means of the technical knowledge he gained during the course of his high school. Then he, eventually, delved deeper into the colossal domain of travelling and learned more about it. After thorough research and analysis, he realized that travel by road wasn’t developed enough in India, though the tourism industry was rapidly expanding and flourishing. And, if this mode of transportation was enhanced, it would gain more customers, since it would be cheaper than transportation by air. Seeing this as a golden opportunity to bring a bigger change in the field of tourism, he made his mind to establish an online car rental service company. Thus, in 2011, he founded Clear Car Rental Service with a team of four members. This is when he crossed the threshold of his path and aimed for reaching its pinnacle.

With time passing by, the company expanded, and by 2013, the team had more than 100 people working in different sectors, like creating travel packages, online marketing, business development and other fields. It took no time for the company to carve a niche in the sphere of Indian travel and tourism, serving customers in more than 200 cities. Today, the company owns around 14000 cabs that are ready to serve their customers with the utmost care and comfort. Though the company provides services in all major cities, including the metropolis, it is focusing more on small towns to create more convenience for common people. The company has also launched a beta version of their online car booking system to enhance the user experience and make it easier to use.

Kate understands very well that in a developing country like India, every corner of it must get access to transportation to help it grow faster. His strategic mind and sheer determination to create something of his own led him to where he is today, thus curving his own future.

Belonging to a poor family like his, nobody expects of having such exposure and gain fame in the real world, due to lack of inspiration, financial and moral support. But Kate here sets a perfect example, breaking the orthodoxy of the society and proves that if you have the knowledge, and you are ready to work hard, you can achieve your dreams. And the most awe-inspiring fact about Kate’s success is that he didn’t borrow any money from his friends or family, or asked any banks for investments.

The future of the company

Though the company has set a remarkable bar in the business of rental service, the team wishes to provide even better services and launch products that will create wonders both in the car rental and tourism industry.

Garmin : The Global Leader & Supplier of Innovative GPS Technology Across Distinct Markets

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GPS is a very common term used while discussing technology, isn’t it? Well, it will also be wrong to mention only technology because you literally ogle at your phone and keep tracking your food through GPS until the delivery boy reaches your doorsteps. This is not the only usage of GPS navigation, but it has been widely used in the major fields, such as marine engineering, automotive industry, aircraft industry, and in many other domains too.

The two legendary personas who have created an entire empire of finest GPS navigating devices are none other than Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao.

Gary Burrell and Min Kao founded Garmin in 1989 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Currently, it has its headquarters is located in the United States.

garmin
Image Source: bizjournals.com

Gary Burrell

Born in 1937, Gary Burrell is a successful American businessman. He did his engineering (Electrical) from Wichita State University, and initially, worked for companies like Lowrance Electronics and King Radio Corporation. Along with Min Kao as a co-founder, he founded Garmin in 1989. Apart from being a businessman, Burrell is also a philanthropist who donated to the Indian Creek Community Church in Olathe. Burrell is married and has three children.

Min H. Kao

Min H. Kao was born in Taiwan, in 1949. He is an electrical engineer by education, a businessman by profession, and a philanthropist by passion. He completed his education from National Taiwan University and the University of Tennessee. He received a doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee. Before becoming the co-founder of Garmin, he worked with organisations, like NASA and the United States Army. He is known for making significant donations in colleges for new facilities and labs. Kao is married to Fan Kao. The two have a son and a daughter.

The story behind the success of Garmin’s technology

When the minds of these two brilliant engineers met, they built their territory from dust, which in this journey of 30 years has marked its excellence. Now, Garmin produces wide-ranging GPS navigation products which started only from a simple idea of making GPS more popular among people.

The first time when this idea clicked in their minds, they were working on a highly classified project for the US Defense. They wanted to take initiatives to grow their idea and implement it in the real world, but it seemed like their co-employees weren’t on the same page. They also didn’t get enough funding from R&D, and hence, they decided to start their own company. They wanted the extensive use of GPS in every field and started working on designs that would be helpful for industries like automobile, marine and aviation. They also thought of implementing GPS technology in fitness and received a huge positive response from customers.

From 1989-2000

In1993, Garmin launched the world’s first portable GPS navigation device for aviation, named as GPS 95. In 1998, the company introduced the world’s first GPS incorporated cell phone, and in 2000, the US government made GPS data accessible to the common public, which helped in increasing accuracy of GPS navigation. Garmin’s GPS technology has also been used in wars.

From 2001-2010

In 2001, Garmin released the world’s first portable GPS device which responded to audio and was known as StreetPilot III. In 2003, the company introduced the world’s first wrist GPS trainer. Just put in on your wrist like a watch, and it is all ready to track your distance and speed. The gadget was named Forerunner 201, which also provided an eye-catchy item for professional runners and fitness freaks. In August 2003, Garmin expanded its business and made a deal with UPS Aviation Technologies for its GPS units and cockpit systems. Hence, the company started making products for both private and commercial aircraft.

In 2004, Burrell retired from his position. In 2006, Garmin opened its first retail store in Chicago. In 2007, Clifton A. Pemble was appointed in the place of the president and chief operating officer.

From 2011-present day

In 2011, Kao was elected to National Academy of Engineering, and in the next year, the company received the 2012 Innovation Award for consumer products from The Economist magazine. In 2013, Garmin became the supplier of Mercedes-Benz for the in-dash navigation system, and in 2014, the company released an open platform for third-party apps.

In 2015, it launched another awe-inspiring gadget for the sports lovers, the Forerunner 225. It was Garmin’s first wristwatch that tracked heart rate while running. In 2016, Garmin unveiled Vivomove, a smartwatch with classic analogue designs, which opened a new path for its high popularity.

In 2017, the company was named manufacturer of the year by National Marine Electronics Association and won 8 Product of Excellent awards. In 2018, the company introduced its first professional dive watch.

The success, the mission and the future

From mere conversations over an idea to make it come true, Garmin celebrates 30 years of success. Today, the company has more than 9000 workers in 60 worldwide locations. The key to its success is that the company creates a product from scratch, starting from its designing, manufacturing to its marketing, which gives them the entire control over the product and freedom to experiment.

Garmin’s mission is to make more such superiors products of better quality and designs. The company believe in enhancing customer experiences and work in an environment built with honesty and integrity.

Kahoot!: A Platform, Where You Learn While You Play

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How many of you really enjoyed the last lecture you attended, or you literally dozed off and lost track of time? I guess most of the answers won’t be in assertive. Well, that is true. Every one of us gets tired of listening to a monotonous speech for several hours, which also make us lose our interest to learn something new. At times to really grow our curiosity and to really nurture the young minds, we should find innovative ways to learn. We should also discover more ways to teach that crosses the boundaries of the four walls of our classroom.

The learning platform Kahoot has already made it possible. Kahoot is a game-based learning app, which allows you to learn new things through many intellectual games. You can create your own games, and especially, if you are a teacher you can make your students learn by playing over this platform. It makes students put their minds together, which also help improve their communication skills and will help them get better overall. Now, before we learn more about how this app works let us delve deeper into its history.

Kahoot Founders
Image Source: medium.com

The history behind the success of Kahoot!

The five great minds that were mainly behind the development of this application are Johan Brand, Jamie Brooker, Morten Versvik, Prof. Alf Inge Wang and Âsmund Furuseth, a Norwegian entrepreneur. The entire idea of transforming the tiresome methods of teaching to eye-catchy fun games came from Prof. Alf Inge Wang, who was from the Department of Computer Science at the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology.

At first, multiple tests were carried out on the prototypes of the app, and the first one tested successfully was named Lecture Quiz 1.0, which was developed in 2006. The first experiment was carried out with 20 students in a classroom, where they concluded that Lecture Quiz is easy to use and entertaining. This way, the regularity of the students in the class was started to increase. Since then, four new versions of Lecture Quiz were developed, and as new updates were implemented to each one of them.

The prototype of Lecture Quiz 2.0 was much user-friendly, which implied in an increased number of students using it. On the other hand, the latest version of Kahoot, i.e. Lecture Quiz 3.0, has got a much better user-interface, helping the students in better understanding as well as help in increasing the motivation and enthusiasm to learn. This prototype was tested both inside and outside the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and received appreciation for its features.

The app was first launched in private beta in March 2013, which later was publicly released the same year in the month of September. Since then, a lot of experiments have been carried out among different groups of students, to see how it affects the majority. One of the experiments revealed that the students put more effort and concentration when it comes to learning through games than giving just a dull pen-paper test. Though a few students reported that this application is very time consuming, but overall, Kahoot became a grand success. Many such experiments were carried out to check whether the students lose motivation after a particular point or not, whether it is having a negative impact on their concentration but every outcome of these experiments was clearly in favour of Kahoot, and hence, today it has reached the apex.

The entire idea of launching this app proved advantageous to both students and teachers because it became less laborious for the teachers. This time, the students would actually put their brain together to win the learning games on Kahoot, which ultimately, meant learning new topics. The audio effects, later added to the platform, made the app even more attractive and alluring.

Where Kahoot! stands today

Johan Brand, the co-founder and the CEO of Kahoot, played a major role in converting this project to massive success. Kahoot started growing very rapidly, especially, among the young students and teachers. It, especially, captured the attention of U.S. K12 classrooms. By May 2017, the company showed statistics of 50 million active users, and currently, Kahoot! is worth $300million.

Thus, from checking the prototypes of this application among a handful of students to currently having more than 70 billion active users in 200+ countries, narrates the grand success story of Kahoot. With the help of this very platform, people are only a few clicks away from learning in a better way. Also, the idea of learning anytime, anywhere, has helped Kahoot grow at a faster pace.

In a nutshell, this application helps you learn a topic, play a Kahoot, practice and get through with it. You can also try helping out your peers, by creating your own Kahoot and sharing the link. Since the app is free, the number of users seems to increase exponentially. These small tactics on how to approach the users in a much better way have provoked the growth of Kahoot to many extents.