​Overview:
​In the modern digital landscape, data is king. Organizations of all sizes rely on data-driven insights to make informed decisions and drive growth. ClickHouse and PostHog are two powerful tools that can revolutionize your data analytics pipeline, allowing you to extract valuable insights from your data and optimize your business strategies. In this blog post, we'll dive into what ClickHouse and PostHog are, how they work together, and the benefits they offer for your data analytics endeavors.

Understanding ClickHouse:
ClickHouse is a high-performance, open-source columnar database management system specifically designed for real-time analytical processing. Developed by Yandex, ClickHouse is built to handle massive amounts of data while delivering lightning-fast query performance. It excels at processing complex analytical queries on large datasets, making it an ideal choice for businesses seeking rapid insights.

Key Features of ClickHouse:

1. Columnar Storage: ClickHouse stores data in a columnar format, which optimizes compression and improves query performance. This means that only the necessary columns are read during a query, reducing the overall data retrieval time.
2. Parallel Processing: ClickHouse employs parallel processing to distribute queries across multiple cores, maximizing hardware utilization and speeding up query execution.
3. Real-time Analytics: ClickHouse can handle real-time data streams, making it suitable for applications that require up-to-the-minute insights.
4. Scalability: ClickHouse's architecture is designed to scale horizontally, allowing you to add more servers to your cluster as your data volume grows.

Understanding PostHog:
PostHog is an open-source product analytics platform that helps businesses track user interactions on their websites or applications. With features like event tracking, user session analysis, funnels, and cohort analysis, PostHog provides valuable insights into user behavior, enabling data-driven decision-making to enhance user experiences and drive conversions.
Key Features of PostHog:

1. Event Tracking: PostHog enables you to define and track custom events based on user actions, helping you understand how users engage with your platform.
2. Funnels: Funnels allow you to visualize the user journey, identifying drop-off points and optimizing the conversion process.
3. Cohort Analysis: PostHog lets you group users into cohorts based on shared attributes, enabling you to analyze their behavior and make targeted improvements.
4. User Session Recordings: With session recordings, you can replay user interactions to gain deeper insights into how users navigate your website or app.

Integration Benefits:
Integrating ClickHouse and PostHog offers a seamless data analytics pipeline that combines powerful data storage and real-time analysis capabilities. Here's how these two tools complement each other:

1. Real-time Data Ingestion: ClickHouse's ability to handle real-time data streams pairs perfectly with PostHog's event tracking. You can capture user actions in real time, store them in ClickHouse, and analyze them using PostHog.
2. Scalability: Both ClickHouse and PostHog are designed to scale horizontally. As your user base grows and generates more data, you can effortlessly expand your infrastructure to accommodate the increased load.
3. Deep Insights: ClickHouse's fast query performance allows PostHog to provide instant insights into user behavior, enabling you to make quick decisions to improve user experiences.
4. Custom Analytics: With ClickHouse's flexibility and PostHog's custom event tracking, you can create tailored analytics solutions to address specific business needs.

Conclusion:
In a data-driven world, harnessing the power of analytics is crucial for business success. ClickHouse and PostHog, when integrated effectively, provide a robust foundation for capturing, storing, and analyzing data to extract meaningful insights. By leveraging ClickHouse's high-performance data storage capabilities and PostHog's user-centric analytics features, you can make informed decisions that drive growth, enhance user experiences, and stay ahead of the competition. So, supercharge your analytics with ClickHouse and PostHog today and unlock the true potential of your data.

In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, businesses and individuals are constantly seeking alternative financing solutions to meet their diverse funding needs. Traditional bank loans and credit facilities are no longer the only options available, as innovative instruments like Medium-Term Notes (MTNs) and derivatives have gained popularity. This article aims to shed light on the potential of MTNs and derivatives financing, highlighting their key features and the attractive interest rates they offer, ranging from 4% to 7%.
         1. Understanding Medium-Term Notes (MTNs):
Medium-Term Notes are debt instruments with a maturity period typically ranging from one to ten years. These notes are issued by corporations, banks, and governments to raise capital from investors. Unlike traditional bonds, MTNs offer more flexibility in terms of maturity, interest rate, and currency options, making them an attractive choice for both issuers and investors.
MTNs can be structured as fixed-rate notes, floating-rate notes, or even hybrid instruments, providing different interest rate arrangements to suit various risk appetites and market conditions. The interest rates on MTNs are often competitive and can range between 4% and 7%, depending on factors such as the creditworthiness of the issuer, market conditions, and the duration of the note.
        2. Exploring Derivatives Financing:
Derivatives, such as interest rate swaps, options, and futures, have gained prominence as financial tools that enable businesses and investors to manage risk exposure and enhance returns. In the context of alternative financing, derivatives can be utilized to structure innovative funding solutions while benefiting from the attractive interest rates available in the market.
One popular approach is to combine derivatives with MTNs to create synthetic notes that offer unique interest rate profiles. For example, an issuer can enter into an interest rate swap agreement with a counterparty, effectively converting a fixed-rate MTN into a floating-rate note or vice versa. This allows the issuer to match their financing needs with the desired interest rate exposure, offering flexibility and potentially reducing borrowing costs.
         3. Advantages of Alternative Financing: 
Diversification of Funding Sources: Alternative financing options like MTNs and derivatives provide businesses with an opportunity to diversify their funding sources beyond traditional bank loans. This diversification can enhance financial resilience and reduce reliance on a single funding channel.
3.2 Competitive Interest Rates: One of the most significant advantages of alternative financing is the potential for accessing funds at attractive interest rates. With MTNs and derivatives, borrowers can negotiate interest rates within the 4% to 7% range, depending on market conditions and their creditworthiness. Such rates may be more favorable compared to conventional loans, especially for borrowers with strong credit profiles.
3.3 Customized Solutions: Alternative financing allows for greater customization to meet specific funding requirements. Issuers can tailor the terms, maturity, and interest rate arrangements to align with their unique needs, enhancing flexibility and optimizing their capital structure.
          4. Considerations and Risks:
​While alternative financing options like MTNs and derivatives offer several benefits, it's essential to consider potential risks and associated complexities. Some key considerations include:
4.1 Market Volatility: Interest rates and derivative prices are subject to market fluctuations. It's crucial for borrowers to carefully assess market conditions and potential risks before entering into these financing arrangements.
4.2 Counterparty Risk: Engaging in derivative transactions involves counterparties, and there may be risks associated with their financial stability and performance. Thorough due diligence and selecting reputable counterparties are vital to mitigate these risks effectively.
4.3 Regulatory Environment: The use of derivatives and MTNs may be subject to regulatory oversight and compliance requirements. Understanding the regulatory landscape and seeking professional advice is crucial to ensure compliance and mitigate legal risks.
             Conclusion:
As the financial landscape continues to evolve, alternative financing options like Medium-Term Notes (MTNs) and derivatives provide businesses and individuals with attractive interest rates and flexible funding solutions. With interest rates ranging from 4% to 7%, these instruments offer an opportunity to diversify funding sources, customize funding arrangements, and potentially reduce borrowing costs. However, it's essential to carefully consider the associated risks and complexities before engaging in these financing methods. Seeking professional advice and conducting thorough due diligence are critical steps to leverage the potential of alternative financing effectively.

​Options trading is a complex and dynamic field that requires a deep understanding of market volatility. Accurate modeling of volatility plays a crucial role in pricing options and managing risk effectively. Among the various volatility models available, this blog post aims to explore and compare five prominent models: Yang-Zhang, Rogers-Satchell, Parkinson, Hodge-Stompkins, and Garmann-Klass. By examining their unique features, strengths, and limitations, traders can make informed decisions about which model suits their trading strategies and risk management goals.

Yang-Zhang Model:
The Yang-Zhang model is widely used in options trading due to its simplicity and ability to capture both implied and historical volatility. It employs a hybrid approach that combines the advantages of the GARCH (Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity) model and the realized volatility approach. This model has gained popularity for its effectiveness in capturing the volatility clustering phenomenon observed in financial markets.

Rogers-Satchell Model:
The Rogers-Satchell model is a stochastic volatility model that focuses on estimating the volatility of underlying assets. It assumes that volatility follows a mean-reverting process, which allows for better pricing accuracy in options. This model is particularly useful in situations where the volatility of the underlying asset exhibits persistent trends.

Parkinson Model:
The Parkinson model is a popular historical volatility estimator that considers the range of high and low prices over a specified period. It is based on the assumption that the highest and lowest prices observed within a given time frame provide a reasonable estimate of volatility. The Parkinson model is commonly used in options trading, especially for assets that experience high levels of intraday price fluctuations.

Hodge-Stompkins Model:
The Hodge-Stompkins model is a specialized volatility model designed for options on futures contracts. It takes into account the unique characteristics of futures contracts, such as expiration dates and continuous trading. This model incorporates information from both historical and implied volatility to provide traders with a comprehensive view of market expectations.

Garmann-Klass Model:
The Garmann-Klass model is a popular choice for options traders who rely on historical volatility to forecast future price movements. It uses the high, low, and closing prices of the underlying asset to estimate volatility accurately. This model has the advantage of simplicity and ease of implementation, making it suitable for traders who prefer straightforward volatility estimators.

Comparison of Models:
To assess the differences between these volatility models, several factors should be considered:

a. Mathematical Complexity:
Some models, such as the Yang-Zhang model, involve more intricate mathematical calculations, requiring a higher level of computational resources. In contrast, models like the Garmann-Klass model are simpler and more computationally efficient.

b. Sensitivity to Market Conditions:
Each model has its own sensitivity to different market conditions. For example, the Rogers-Satchell model performs well in trending markets, while the Hodge-Stompkins model caters specifically to futures contracts.

c. Volatility Smoothing:
Models may differ in the degree of volatility smoothing they apply to historical or realized volatility data. Some models, like the Parkinson model, place greater emphasis on recent price movements, while others, such as the Garmann-Klass model, take a more balanced approach.

d. Input Data Requirements:
Different models have varying requirements in terms of input data. Some may require more extensive historical data, while others may rely on implied volatility estimates derived from option prices.

Conclusion:
Choosing the right volatility model for options trading is crucial for accurate pricing and risk management. Each of the models discussed - Yang-Zhang, Rogers-Satchell, Parkinson, Hodge-Stompkins, and Garmann-Klass - has its own strengths and limitations

While the labor markets continue to be volatile due to the fact that banking and technology has been laying people off, many individuals, as well as small businesses, may be curious as to all of the programs out there for entrepreneurship in regard to technology cloud services.

Luckily for you, we have listed out some of the partners, with the application links, as well as the business benefits.

1) https://foundershub.startups.microsoft.com/ - Microsoft Azure has been gaining market share, and as of February 2023, Microsoft owns 22% of the total market share. This application if approved, can provide you and your firm up to $150,000 worth of credits for up to three years!

2) https://aws.amazon.com/activate/founders/ - Amazon Web Services was early to market their services, and currently holds  33% of the market share. While the perks aren't as big as Microsoft Azure, it is notable to note that up to $100,000 worth of AWS credits are available to a startup to get your business off the ground

3)https://cloud.google.com/startup - Google cloud currently holds 9% of the market share. Similar to Amazon, the perks aren't as large as Microsoft, but they are still quite generous with $100,000 of free credits for founders.

​

This month's post covers an exciting topic that has been talked about quite often: OpenAI. However, many people may not be aware of a useful tool called GitHub Copilot. In this post, we will highlight the top reasons why one might want to use GitHub Copilot, whether it's to increase productivity in a team setting or to accelerate learning how to code as an individual.
"
There are several compelling reasons to use GitHub Copilot:

1. It is relatively affordable, at only $100 per year. This price point is significantly lower than what the price of OpenAI's chatgpt is expected to be.
2. GitHub Copilot integrates seamlessly with GitHub, allowing you to easily store and access all of your code in one place.
3. With GitHub Copilot, you can simply type out what you want to achieve and the tool will generate the code for you, saving you time and effort.
4. By utilizing GitHub Copilot, you can streamline your workflow and save time in the development process.
5. Companies can potentially reduce their costs by hiring fewer developers, as GitHub Copilot can help to automate certain tasks."

You can find it at https://github.com/features/copilot

​

1) We visited NYC, Silicon Valley, and spoke with different personas in regard to the economic outlook. These individuals had a high net worth and have been around multiple economic cycles.

2) Interestingly enough, one can see that with the rising interest rates, the S&P 500, as well as real estate may have a 20-25% pull-back in the next 2 years.

3) While we all wait for the market to correct, there is an interesting piece of software called https://www.mashvisor.com/ that can find real estate deals when we hit  the bottom of the market.

4) As companies begin to conduct hiring freezes, it's still important to notate that the M1 money supply went up five fold - so cash is sitting out there

​5) Use your time wisely and time this market!

​Legal Disclaimer - We preface these posts in which any investment commentary is not an  endorsement to buy or sell a security, and does not represent our customers opinion. This is just an educational post.

Google Colabatory allows individuals and corporations to install the latest technology via virtualization. Here are the top five reasons individuals, schools, and corporations should leverage Google Colab.

1) Google Colab gives everybody the ability to learn expensive technologies such as apache spark and apache flink, which transforms interpretive programming languages into the JVM, and is horizontally scalable.

2) Without Google Colab an individual would require a large sum of money to setup a cloud server, and best of all, it's free!

3) In the classroom, many students struggle installing IDE's, but love Jupyter notebooks - this product can help the students learn quicker without having to constantly manually install libraries.

4) You can stay on top of the latest technologies because the servers are virtualized, and would cost you no money at all, whereas before it was cost prohibitive.

5) By staying on top of the latest technological trends, one can boost his or her earnings in the classroom as professor, engage students more often, or for those executives in corporate you can better retain your talent and gain a competitive edge.

Everyday prices such as food, housing, and gas have gone up quite substantially in 2022. Food in The United States has gone up about 10% compared to 2021, but some constituents are reporting takeout food pricing increasing by 30%. Similarly, housing has gone up an additional 10% in 2022 largely in part that The United States needs to produce 1.5 million homes per year, and has been unable to do so for over a decade, even in a normal economy. Add in supply chain issues, and raw materials taking an additional six months to ship, one could argue it's a recipe for house prices to be sticky in nature. Additionally, many individuals and corporations refinanced in 2020 to a 2.5% interest rate, and with interest rates rising, it leaves very little motivation for individuals to move out of existing real estate. Since new purchasers cannot afford new housing, the demand for rentals will increase. Additionally, the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates, which increases HELOC borrowing costs on landlords, who pass those cost down to consumers. Additionally, the price of oil went negative in 2020, and is currently at unsustainable levels in the long-term. This triple-entente is not good for consumers to spend, on top of corporations tightening the purse strings of a looming recession. One case study many individuals forgot about is when Europe embraced the Euro. When Europe embraced the Euro, many countries such as the Netherlands had their old currency price, but a Euro in front of it with the new currency, which was much higher in value. Real estate will continue to go up, food prices will be sticky, and gas will be back down to normal prices in the next two years. This means that employers will have to pay higher wages in order to attract talent, and many countries not experiencing high food prices, may exhibit a larger immigration influx. Just remember whenever prices are out of whack, like they were with Bitcoin in 2021, they eventually go back down to reality, due to reversion of the mean principle. On the other hand, housing and food prices tend to be sticky (outside of the 2008 crises). It is notable to consider the M1 money supply has not gone down, and increased by 500% from 2020. These prices will be offset by firms cutting spending, consumers cutting spending, and the prices will revert back to the mean at a more acceptable level with the political elections being a catalyst to more sustainable pricing for all.

More often than not, our firm receives a fair number of asks in regards to capital raising, as well as capital introductions. Prior to any firm receiving capital, the founder should be aware that if they are seeking capital from venture capital that he or she needs to understand:

​1) Does the venture capitalist even invest in the area that the company is in? I.e. do not go to a venture capital that does deep tech artificial intelligence investing when your firm is a regulatory agency.

2) Understand at which stage the venture capitalist invests? I.e. SEED, Series A? Do not go into a Series A investor asking for Seed.

3) Understand much capital does the venture capitalists fund have? I.e. $100 million? $10 million?

4) Understand from question #3 how much of that capital has already been deployed? I.e. $10 million/$100 million? This shows if this venture capitalist is just kicking the tires, and not serious.

5) From question #4 also ask them how quickly do they deploy capital? I.e. be prepared to offer them something generous in return or look at it from there perspective in what they would actually invest in.

While these questions are not the exhaustive list, it's also important to notate that many venture capitalists lose money 9/10 times, and there are alternative measures of funding. If you'd like to find out more, please schedule a free consultation with us.