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Pencil partners with Shopify & Meta to bring AI-generated ads to ecommerce merchants

Pencil

Creative AI company Pencil has partnered with the No. 1 ecommerce platform for businesses Shopify to provide their merchants with the latest innovation in online advertising for ecommerce, AI-generated ads. Rather than spending hours in video editing software or engaging expensive professional agencies, Shopify merchants can now generate original video ads to pitch their businesses in just a few clicks. Furthermore, AI-generated ads trained using 1st-party data from advertisers’ Meta ad accounts via the Meta Marketing API have been shown to consistently double return on ad spend for brands and halve customer acquisition costs. Shopify merchants using Pencil’s AI-generated ads will be able to discover new audiences on Meta’s platforms and grow their businesses faster. Pencil’s AI-generated ads work because they prioritize both creativity and data. When a merchant connects their Shopify store, Pencil analyzes their brand and product information and generates a wide variety of ad ideas to pitch their products. When a merchant then connects their Meta advertising data, Pencil compares the newly generated ideas to what’s worked well in the past. Those ideas similar to past winners are highlighted to the merchant. In this way Pencil helps merchants learn what works while continuously exploring fresh new creative ideas that might resonate with audiences. Rob Carliner, Co-founder/COO of Angela Caglia Skincare commented: “Pencil is by far the best way to create winning ads at scale by combining editing software with AI learning algorithms to effectively eliminate guesswork of making winning ad creatives… as you’re no longer dependent on agencies, Pencil gives you all the tools you need to level the playing field. The interface is easy, the results are impressive. Lots of companies claim to have built a better mousetrap, Pencil has actually done it!” Pencil analyzed over 100 ecommerce campaigns that used AI-generated ads and found the best ads delivered an average return on ad spend (ROAS) 2x that of other ads the brands were running. One brand’s AI-generated ad campaign delivered 7x higher ROAS. Will Hanschell, CEO and co-founder of Pencil commented: “We’re beyond excited to make our creative AI software available to the almost 2,000,000 merchants on Shopify. This direct integration makes creating content for business owners and marketers as simple as clicking a button. When up to 70% of stores’ revenues come from ads, winning with ads is incredibly important. Pencil puts the creative and analytical power of a professional agency into the hands of anyone looking to start and scale a business online.” This partnership announcement comes hot on the heels of Pencil joining Meta’s Business Partners, a program that connects businesses to an ecosystem of advertising specialists. More than 200 million businesses worldwide use Meta’s apps to connect with customers and grow, and over 10 million of them run advertising campaigns each month. Pencil leverages proprietary technology to generate video, derive insights and make predictions, as well as integrating the OpenAI API to generate ad copy. The OpenAI API provides access to GPT-3, one of the world’s most powerful language models. Pencil is among the companies approved to use it commercially. This approval requires strict criteria in AI safety and ethics. About Pencil Pencil is a Creative AI company on a mission to generate unexpected ideas that get results. Pencil generates ads that learn to perform, delivering the return on ad spend that helps brands scale their businesses. Pencil’s AI-generated ads are a new way of making ads that algorithmically optimise for creative novelty, brand relevance and return on advertising spend. It always starts from a human brief and it always involves total human editorial control. Pencil’s Creative AI platform generates ads in minutes and has been shown to double returns for brands. Pencil was founded in 2018 with a team from Google, Meta and Uber and is backed by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, Wavemaker Partners, Singapore Innovate and Entrepreneur First. For further information visit: https://www.trypencil.com About Shopify Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform to start, run, and grow a business. Shopify offers online retailers a suite of services that includes payments, marketing, shipping, and customer engagement tools to simplify the process of running an online store for small merchants. For more information visit: https://www.shopify.com About Meta Business Partners Meta Business Partners are companies Meta has vetted for their expertise. They have the experience to help grow advertisers’ business – from running ads, to selling products, to engaging with customers. For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/business/marketing-partners Contact Details Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.trypencil.com/

April 29, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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New Strategic Partnership Between Cardinal Sports Capital & HPL Digital Sport Creates Accelerator Program

HPL Digital Sport

Cardinal Sports Capital (CSC), a Toronto-based advisory and investment firm focused on the sports gaming and media/tech/data convergence space and HPL Digital Sport (HPLDS), a specialty group within New York-based Hot Paper Lantern, helping sports betting, fantasy sports and sports technology companies create greater brand relevance, announced the creation of a strategic partnership to form an Accelerator Program. CSC is planning to invest between $75-100 million through the Accelerator Program. The Accelerator Program unites the strengths and capabilities of both CSC and HPLDS to help companies in the sports betting, igaming, sports technology and fantasy sports categories navigate through a host of challenges to see their business models grow quicker and become more successful. The Accelerator Program will tap dozens of key investors within the firms’ networks to fund target companies at various emerging growth stage levels. Other specific services include: Helping to shape and create business strategies for marketplace success Relationship building and introductions to targeted customers, vendors, partners, advisors, counsel and others to make key inroads A guiding hand and a focus on capital raises through a large collective investor network Advertising, partnership development, positioning, marketing, public relations, influencer engagement, investor relations and other brand building and customer acquisition solutions The vision behind the Accelerator Program is to help streamline a company’s access to essential tools needed for entrepreneurs to obtain capital, network in the right channels, effectively articulate their value proposition and get their products and services into the hands of the right audiences. WagerWire, a proprietary sports betting futures marketplace, is the first company to participate in the Accelerator Program. “We are excited to leverage the combined skills of CSC and HPLDS to help jumpstart our company. The synergies between the two organizations align extremely well and, as a client, has made combined strategy calls, investor conversations, brand positioning initiatives, public relations goals, as well as overall workflow a seamless experience. These two groups work hand-in-hand, which minimizes the complexity of having a few disconnected agencies help control different parts of our business,” said Zach Doctor, co-founder and CEO at WagerWire. “While the attention surrounding the North American sports gaming market is high, market conditions have clearly become more challenging. We see that it’s harder for even the best companies to navigate the complexities of the capital markets, investment needs, all while positioning themselves the right way with investors, potential strategic partners and customers,” said Scott Secord, partner at Cardinal Sports Capital. “We’ve partnered with HPLDS before on a number of mutual clients and feel our end-to-end services, now offered through the Accelerator Program. really complement what these early growth stage companies need.” CSC also has a strategic partnership with Canaccord Genuity, a global investment banking and financial services company. CSC’s portfolio companies include low6, Quarter4, ThriveFantasy and WagerWire. HPLDS and CSC have previously collaborated on advisory and marketing communications efforts with Quarter4 and ThriveFantasy, as well as other clients. “Many passionate and driven entrepreneurs come to us wanting to market their offerings to build mindshare and new users. But, a lack of investment dollars and a misunderstanding of what the investment community cares about, often creates real challenges to conducting business as they had hoped,” said Ed Moed, CEO of HPL Digital Sport. “This partnership with CSC will allow us to tap our wide-scale network of investors to allow these worthy companies the opportunity to close on their early rounds of investments, and leverage our experience and guidance as advisors to build, market, sell and conduct business as they had planned to.” A number of HPL Digital Sport current and former clients include Sportradar, Monkey Knife Fight, BettorEdge, SharpLink Gaming, Champion Gaming, NBC Sports Edge and Rush Street Interactive. For more information on the Accelerator Program please email: Ed Moed at emoed@hotpaperlantern.com and John Libro at jlibro@cardinalsportscapital.com. About Cardinal Sports Capital: Founded in 2021, Cardinal Sports Capital focuses on market sectors that include sports gaming, and the media/tech/data convergence space. The firm aims to bring a different dynamic to the commercial sports and gaming marketplace through a combination of financial investment, marketing services, and industry connectivity. About HPL Digital Sport: Hot Paper Lantern Digital Sport is a specialty group within Hot Paper Lantern (HPL) that works with sports betting, fantasy and sports technology brands to build greater brand relevance and acquire new audiences. The group’s unique value proposition is how it leverages years of deep expertise in this category with the way it integrates specific services such as: strategic branding, customer research/analytics, performance marketing, public relations and social media strategy, experiential and high level creative design to generate results. Contact Details Michael Adorno +1 212-931-6143 madorno@hotpaperlantern.com Company Website https://www.hpldigitalsport.com/

April 28, 2022 09:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Aiding and Abetting Sandwich Trades, Front Running and MEV is anti-ESG

Telos Foundation

With ESG in the forefront, where is the social responsibility in networks that not only pollute our environment, but also aid and abet the ongoing theft that’s soon to surpass a billion dollars? Maybe it is not yet fully understood by the masses, but front running / MEV is quite literally organized theft, and it is running rampant on almost every blockchain network. Crypto enthusiasts need to understand that trader / miner bots are predatorily stealing money from DeFi and NFT traders daily. This theft is no different than your personal stockbroker using the knowledge of your pending trades only to further themselves and at your expense. These practices are not only unethical, but they are also illegal in any other modern day exchange environment. So why the blind eye and why the free pass? The same goes with the glutinous energy consumption. Why would any responsible entity or individual continue to support these super low standards? There is a massive lack of social responsibility. Especially considering that these networks are all easily replaceable by far superior technologies. Metaphorically, why does the world continue to nurture the coal fired engine and bank robbers when socially responsible zero-point energy exists? These are some of the questions that the Telos team is working through and effectively delivering on with its ESG compliant tEVM. The world’s fastest carbon neutral EVM! Telos Blockchain continues to work on solidifying its path in becoming the benchmark standard for credible neutrality and ESG compliance in crypto. For those new to ESG, the acronym stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. It’s a criterion which is popular in the world of business and investing. It defines three broad categories of interest for what is termed socially responsible for investors. “E” - As part of this ESG commitment, Telos recently became the first and only carbon neutral ( Net Zero ) EVM. This newest accomplishment makes the Telos EVM the most environmentally (the “E” in ESG) conscious Ethereum Virtual Machine. “S” - Telos’ socially (the “S” in ESG) responsible Ethereum Virtual Machine is the only EVM that puts an end to the front running theft that is unethically targeting hundreds of millions of DeFi traders. “G” - DeFi on Telos is 100% free of Sandwich trades, Front Running and MEV (miner extracted value) because of its fair governance (the “G” in ESG). Telos insulates all trades with a first in first out governed protocol. Therefore, there is never any reordering of the mempool, making it impossible to game the system. From a socially diversified work team gracefully working together from all corners of the globe to decarbonization and biochar to the fairest smart contract powered governance system, Telos as a Layer 1 is pushing the ESG envelope to new standards in crypto. The tEVM’s ecosystem is closing on 6 months of strategic growth since its launch. On the DeFi side, it has already launched multiple Dex/AMMs, Price Oracles, Farming dApps, multi-Chain bridges, Lending dApps and everything else that a vibrant DeFi ecosystem requires to level up its TVL and end user occupancy. Telos’ TVL is currently where the top marketcap chains were not too long ago, but with far superior governance, no front running, credible neutrality, true decentralization, and an ESG compliant EVM that is several multiples faster. In utopian fashion, Telos’ ecosystem is now ready to scale its occupants and its TVL simultaneously. About Telos Live since 2018, Telos Blockchain (ticker: TLOS) is a third-generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts. Telos provides full EVM/Solidity support with fixed low-cost gas fees and no front running. Uniquely, Telos also offers a path to fee-less transactions via its robust native C++ smart contract support. Even while operating as a Net Zero Blockchain, the chain still sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produces blocks in 0.5 second intervals (on a first-in-first-out basis, eliminating front running on the network) and securely validates transactions via a credibly neutral and globally decentralized block producer network. The Telos Blockchain has the throughput needed to facilitate and scale the thriving Metaverse / Web 3.0 better than any other blockchain. Its performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, credible decentralization, and end-user fairness. Telos, harnesses its power by utilizing tight C++ on the frontend and a custom WASM runtime environment on the backend. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

April 27, 2022 10:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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World’s Fastest EVM Completes its First Hackathon

Telos Foundation

Telos Blockchain (ticker: TLOS), home to the world’s fastest, most inexpensive, energy efficient ( Net Zero ), non-congested, credibly neutral, truly decentralized and non-aiding and abetting ( No front running / MEV ) tEVM, is thrilled to announce the winners of the Telos Spark hackathon 2022! The entire team is ecstatic by the number of entries received for the first Telos Spark Hackathon. There were 156 entries and 26 published projects; The team is proud and truly inspired by the traction of this initiative. So many great projects that the team allocated another 20k TLOS to add two more finalists. The judging of these projects ended up being an incredibly challenging task for the team due to all the quality entries. Especially because they were all promising and unique. The most prevalent common denominator that all these great projects had in common was the dedication by each individual team. “These last couple of weeks have blown away all our expectations. Many quality projects are now growing deep roots within the tEVM, and they are loving it and we them. Lots of synergy here and lots of gravity to the speed, low fixed costs and credible neutrality of the tEVM. Telos is not just a hackathon chain. It is a perfect place to build high-performance, scalable and real-world-ready applications!” Justin Giudici, CEO of the Telos Foundation Please congratulate the Telos Spark Winners! ( Watch Video Here ) 1st place: Kluest - 100,000 TLOS 2nd place: Telos Spark Bridge - 50,000 TLOS 3rd place: Chedda - 10,000 TLOS 4th place: Refund - 10,000 TLOS 5th place: Telos.Build - 10,000 TLOS 6th place: VideoWiki - 10,000 TLOS 7th place: Shojiru. - 10,000 TLOS Take a moment and watch the initial video submitted by our first-place winner; From the entire Telos Team, Congratulations! A big thank you to ALL participants of the Hackathon, and please continue to build on Telos! There will be many more hackathons coming. Please continue to follow us on social media. Some inner thoughts: "The dedication, quality, and performance of the Kluest team lead the way. We are excited to see a hackathon project close to a genuine product and could be launched on Telos EVM very soon!" Kersten Wirth, Program Manager & Speaker of the Jury, Telos Core Development "Seeing these applications built in such a short time is exciting. I am always thrilled to see executed transactions on testnet and mainnet in our block explorers as proof that the teams created something that works!" Jesse Schulman, Lead Architect and TCO, Telos Core Development "We have been overwhelmed by the quality of applicants to the Spark Hackathon. The engagement process with applicant teams has been an inspiration, demonstrating the continued strong growth profile in our dApp ecosystem. We can't wait to have these projects built on Telos!" AJ Dinger - Head of Business Development, Telos Foundation "The proof that Telos EVM is ready to accept virtually any project and development and allows teams to build real solutions in such a short time frame is impressive. We are proud that our work enables the Ethereum communities to migrate and deploy on tEVM in a breeze." Douglas Horn,, Strategy and Vision, Telos Core Development On behalf of the entire Team, we want to also thank our friends at Taikai ( https://taikai.network ) for their outstanding support and incredible platform - built on Telos. Some take away notes from the dApps: The majority of these teams have built a dAPP on Telos for the first time. All were excited about easy deployment, fanatic technical support, super-fast transactions, overall performance, and extraordinary low cost. The Seven Telos Spark Finalists KluestApp – (Real World #Metaverse) Allows users to create, play, share & monetize interactive experiences using proven cutting-edge augmented reality & geolocation technologies. https://kluest.com/ Telos Spark Bridge - It is a seamless solution for users to access various dApps to effortlessly bridge their tokens between #Telos native and tEVM at a fraction of the cost and effort. https://spark-bridge.tswaps.com/ Chedda - A lending protocol with isolated lending pools and VE token mechanics allows the token holders to direct token emissions to lending pools. https://telos-hackathon.chedda.store/lend Refund - An expense management system for DAOs. The app tracks and files expenses such as fuel, travel, and meals. Refund makes it easier to track and reimburse all the expenses in your DAO. https://github.com/aleksandargolubovic/TelosSparkHackathon Telos Build - A fundraising platform exclusively for the Telos EVM. https://telos.build/about VideoWiki - Turn your Event Audience into #NFT Fan Clubs. Conduct audience drops for your townhalls, launch parties, and AMAs. https://video.wiki/ Shojiru - A proof-of-concept of a native Telos yield optimizer. A yield optimizer with improved tokenomics to provide a further yield to farmers. https://shojiru.netlify.app/ About Telos Live since 2018, Telos Blockchain (ticker: Tlos) is a third-generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts. Telos provides full EVM/Solidity support with fixed low-cost gas fees and no front running. Uniquely, Telos also offers a path to fee-less transactions via its robust native C++ smart contract support. Even while operating as a Net Zero Blockchain, the chain still sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produces blocks in 0.5 second intervals (on a first-in-first-out basis, eliminating front running on the network) and securely validates transactions via a credibly neutral and globally decentralized block producer network. The Telos Blockchain has the throughput needed to facilitate and scale the thriving Metaverse / Web 3.0 better than any other blockchain. Its performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, credible decentralization, and end-user fairness. Telos, harnesses its power by utilizing tight C++ on the frontend and a custom WASM runtime environment on the backend. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

April 22, 2022 04:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Telos Neutralizes its Past and Present Carbon Footprint - Net Zero

Telos Foundation

Telos Blockchain (ticker: TLOS) is thrilled to announce to the billion plus global citizens that proudly celebrate and embrace Earth Day that they now have a carbon-neutral smart contract option. Telos with the consulting aid of Plannet Zero, part of RedShaw Advisors Ltd, a leading carbon risk management and procurement firm, have committed to purchasing sequestration projects that will negate the emissions of the blockchain’s entire history. The offsetting is being performed in the form of biochar, which sequesters carbon (removes it from the atmosphere permanently), versus buying emission avoidance credits. Going Net Zero is the sweet spot that the Telos core developers have been striving to tap into for some time now. Up until now Telos’ energy consumption has been scaled down via decarbonization to bring the energy consumption down to less than 0.000002 kWh per transaction. This was monumental when compared to Bitcoins’ 2,258.49 kWh per transaction, Ethereum’s 238.22 kWh per transaction or even Visa’s ~0.00148 kWh per transaction where Telos is still a massive ~740x less. This was a great stride, and the team is very proud of this achievement, but it was still short of the goal of becoming environmentally invisible. Plannet Zero worked with Telos to calculate their carbon footprint by conducting an analysis to quantify the Telos blockchain’s energy consumption over the life of the chain. This analysis dated back to the first block ever generated, late 2018. Now, Telos is continuing to work closely with Plannet Zero to validate Telos’ emissions profile and carbon reduction purchases. Telos has also already allocated the funds needed to continue sequestering the equivalent release of carbon by the blockchain into the future. The commitment made was to first neutralize the carbon footprint of the past and then to continue neutralizing the carbon footprint as needed. As a result, Telos will now be a Net Zero Layer 1 blockchain that is still ludicrously fast, inexpensive, not congested, credibly neutral, decentralized, easy to deploy on and free of any front running / MEV. “dApps now running on the tEVM will be running carbon neutral smart contracts by default. The same neutrality umbrellas over all the end users minting and trading NFTs or coins on the Telos Blockchain. There is something bigger than all of us to be said about this achievement!” AJ Dinger, Telos Head of Business Development In addition to offsetting the blockchain’s carbon footprint, Telos in conjunction with Plannet Zero, is in the final stages of meeting all carbon neutral requirements for Scope 1, Scope 2 and operational scope 3 emissions for every aspect of Telos, including Telos Foundation and Telos Core Development staff. The carbon offset will be all encompassing and will be in full compliance with BSI PAS 2060 and will be verified by BSI. About Telos Live since 2018, Telos Blockchain (ticker: Tlos) is a third-generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts. Telos provides full EVM/Solidity support with fixed low-cost gas fees and no front running. Uniquely, Telos also offers a path to fee-less transactions via its robust native C++ smart contract support. Even while operating as a Net Zero Blockchain, the chain still sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produces blocks in 0.5 second intervals (on a first-in-first-out basis, eliminating front running on the network) and securely validates transactions via a credibly neutral and globally decentralized block producer network. The Telos Blockchain has the throughput needed to facilitate and scale the thriving Metaverse / Web 3.0 better than any other blockchain. Its performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, credible decentralization, and end-user fairness. Telos, harnesses its power by utilizing tight C++ on the frontend and a custom WASM runtime environment on the backend. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

April 22, 2022 09:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Telos' Decentralization Rivals that of Bitcoin and Ethereum

Telos Foundation

Telos Blockchain (ticker: TLOS), the world’s most robust and decentralized ESG compliant layer 1 platform and home to the world's fastest, highest capacity EVM (tEVM), derives credible neutrality and decentralization from at least 42 equally distinct validating nodes compared to the much smaller number of major mining pools securing Bitcoin and Ethereum. After a thorough competitive analysis comparing Telos’ decentralization to the decentralization of many of the other top Layer 1 chains, the Foundation has confirmed its assumptions. Based on validator equality and crucial factors regarding architecture and finances, the team confirmed that Telos is indeed one of the leading chains regarding credible neutrality and decentralization. As mining pools lack equality, massive node counts become irrelevant: As depicted in the pie charts above, Telos, via its governance, has maintained an equitable distribution amongst all its active validators and Bitcoin and Ethereum have not. Instead, the mining pools of both Bitcoin and Ethereum have now become centralized. The hypothesis is that over the years the well-funded pools have overtaken the little ones. Despite the substantial number of nodes, to be a credibly neutral peer-to-peer network, the network must also sustain even splits in validator power / responsibilities. Without this equality, the insulating strengths of decentralized peer-to-peer networking becomes significantly degraded. A decentralized network made up of equitable validators adds a powerful layer of insulation against multiple scenarios. For example, a multi-government coalition could potentially implement disruptive regulations or restrictions on blockchain. If only a handful of validators / mining pools need to be targeted, it becomes much easier for those governments to impose their will and degrade the insulation that a peer-to-peer network is supposed to provide. In fact, an event far smaller than this could instantly interrupt some chains from operating as they intended. However, the problem is not just limited to government interference. It is also the potential of a coalition amongst the validator majority that threatens the decentralization and stability of a chain. Despite having many nodes, it appears that for Bitcoin it would take only ~5 large mining pools to form a majority, only ~4 for Ethereum and 22 for Telos (as depicted in the pie charts above). Aside from this significant (4x to 5x) difference, it is also worth noting that the community fairly votes the Telos validators into active slots vs Bitcoin / Ethereum in which the mining pool’s principles are anonymous and can simply buy their way into a majority position. Hence, the centralization and lack of credible neutrality that has now formed. Credible neutrality cannot exist in an environment in which control and influence is exerted by small groups of well-funded people. This move towards validator centralization also leads to neutrality questions that are impossible to answer. For example, are the validator majorities' ambitions in line with what is best for the chain or themselves? To put the potential gravity of this into perspective one needs to understand that the principal/s of a majority sized mining pool can easily be a crime syndicate, and no one would know about it due to the anonymity. In fact, all the major mining pools can hypothetically be owned by crime syndicates, and no one would ever know. In contrast to this, with chain-governed validator equality and ongoing fair community voting, these credibility and neutrality questions are simply non-existing issues. In fact, all these chain degrading scenarios are exactly what the Telos architecture and governance have insulated against. As a chain’s validator network becomes unequal in size; the more it will move towards centralization, the more its neutrality will become biased and the more these chain breakdown scenarios may become a reality. Insider allocation cost blockchain’s their credible neutrality: Being that Telos was a 100% bootstrap project (95% of the coins airdropped to the community, 5% were used as equal pay to the almost 150 contributors, no insider handouts, and no ICO), the team already knew that its insider allocation was at the same level as Bitcoin’s beginnings, zero. Telos is the only L1 chain besides Bitcoin to have ever reached this stage of maturity while still maintaining zero insider allocation. All the other L1 chains are believed to be centralized and unable to become credibly neutral public infrastructure due to their insider allocation (click here to see). With this being noted, these chains will most likely never be utilized by governments as a legal tender and dApps depending on this infrastructure will never be 100% insulated by the full power of credible neutrality and decentralization. Telos Decentralization: Since its inception, the validators of the Telos Blockchain are both equally sized and regionally / globally diversified. Plus, no ungoverned wallet is known to hold more than 2% of the chain. From chain architecture to finances, decentralization and neutrality are of the highest priority for the chain. Over the last 4 years, Telos has grown into a truly utopian blockchain option for both private and public infrastructure. It is ludicrously fast, very inexpensive, extremely energy efficient, credibly neutral, non-congested, super easy to deploy on and the only chain that fully insulates the public from the front running / MEV that is plaguing Ethereum. Decentralization Highlights: Telos is the only third generation layer 1 blockchain to have never done an ICO [initial coin offering] and this non-action alone insulates the chain greatly regarding insider collusion and the SEC security law suits. Telos, at its inception, electively chose to stay a bootstrap project and rise in the same fashion as Bitcoin. All other third generation layer 1 chains (including Ethereum) have done ICOs and will more than likely be forced to file with the SEC as securities. The former and current SEC Chairman have both expressed that every ICO [initial coin offering] they have seen are indeed securities, that they have jurisdiction, and that federal securities laws apply. The validating architecture of other networks might be structured via peer-to-peer architecture, but they are not credibly decentralized due to the distribution of monetary / voting / validating power. Again, insider allocation is non-existent and as you can see above in the pie charts depicting validator decentralization, Telos Validators are proportionally equal. Telos governance has the fairest voting system in existence, called Telos Decide. It is tamper-proof and secured by the Tlos coins that investors own. A coin holder can vote on behalf of the coins they hold and rely on outcomes that do not require any further human involvement. No other Layer 1 offers this level of automated community fairness. Especially because the Telos governance documents may be dynamically amended by the votes of the coin holders in a process that is entirely controlled by on-chain smart contracts. Governments, investors, dApp creators, and end users need not forget that the fundamental features which bring the most value to blockchain are credible neutrality and decentralization. With credible neutrality and decentralization the following attributes are all significantly enhanced: Utility Redundancy Security / Trust Individual Financial Independence dApp Sovereignty Fair Voting Legal Tender The actions and inactions of Telos are driven by the belief that the public and private sectors require credibly neutral blockchain infrastructure in a third-generation capable format. Credible neutrality, ludicrously fast speeds, energy efficiency, and super low-cost transactions make Telos the perfect crypto currency for the global internet and for the people. About Telos Live since 2018, Telos Blockchain (ticker: Tlos) is a third-generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts. Telos provides full EVM/Solidity support with fixed low-cost gas fees and no front running. Uniquely, Telos also offers a path to fee-less transactions via its robust native C++ smart contract support. Utilizing less than 0.000002 kWh per transaction, the chain can sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produce blocks in 0.5 second intervals on a first-in-first-out basis (eliminating front running on the network) and securely validate transactions via a credibly neutral and globally decentralized block producer network. The Telos Blockchain has the throughput needed to facilitate and scale the thriving Metaverse / Web 3.0 better than any other blockchain. Its performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, credible decentralization, and end-user fairness. Telos, harnesses its power by utilizing tight C++ on the frontend and a custom WASM runtime environment on the backend. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

April 20, 2022 10:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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38-Year Printing Business Avante Print Center Converts to International Minute Press Franchise in Mesa, Arizona

Minuteman Press International Inc

For nearly 38 years, Carl Denti and his family operated their independent print shop Avante Print Center. In Feb. 2022, Carl sold the business to new owners Devin and John Weiss through Minuteman Press International’s conversion program, which connects sellers with qualified buyers. Carl says, “It was time for me to join my wife Patricia in retirement and I think the transition to International Minute Press has gone very well. I needed to like the people who bought the business and Devin and John are great. My daughter Renee has stayed on working in the business and we also have employees with 25 years of tenure, so it was important for us to be comfortable with everything.” Devin and John have rebranded as International Minute Press in Mesa, AZ, and are operating out of the same location at 218 West Hampton Avenue, Unit 13 that was home to Avante Print Center. Devin says, “We believe owning a business gives us a real sense of pride. By purchasing this established business, we strive to honor our clients, our community, and our staff with continued personalized service and outstanding support.” History of the Business On March 27 th, 1984, Carl Denti and his wife Patricia opened Avante Print Center in Mesa. Carl shares, “I had owned a previous business in Kansas City that I sold. We moved to Arizona and at that time I decided to invest in another business. I told my accountant I didn’t want anything in credit collections (which I did for 15 years) and I didn’t want to own a food-related business. One of the things he came up with was printing.” He adds, “Patricia was very influential in having us go into the printing industry as well. She previously had worked for Hallmark in Kansas City doing calligraphy, and she wanted something we could do together. In our first full year in business together, we made a 39.8% profit.” While printing proved to be a viable business for Carl and Patricia, he also appreciated the freedom it afforded him to pursue other passions. Carl says, “From 1992 – 2021, I also served as the pastor of a church in Arizona, which I never really considered to be work plus it didn’t really pay the bills. Printing was an easy business to market and sell, and I felt it had easier customer acquisition than other industries.” Over the years, Avante Print Center became a second-generation family business. Carl explains, “Patricia and I worked together in the business until she retired a few years ago, and my daughter Renee also worked with us and is still working in the business today even after it was sold.” Growing the Business For the 37-plus years he was in business, Carl operated on four key principles. He says, “No matter what business you own, for me the principles never change. We built Avante Print Center following these principles: Customer service was the apex. We decided that no one would out-service us. When we said we were going to do something, we did it. My goal was to get at least 98% (if not 100%) of all jobs out on time and done right. My definition of quality is that the job has to be accepted by the customer, that they will be happy with it and order it again, and that they will tell someone about the work that we did and refer our business. You have to be able to go after the market and you have to sell. One of the problems people run into when starting a business is that their goal is to simply unlock their doors. Instead, your goal needs to be to make a profit, which takes a lot more than turning the key and turning on lights. Know your numbers and live by your numbers. It’s as simple as that.” Selling the Business While Carl was thinking of retiring at some point, he actually wasn’t actively pursuing a sale of his printing business. He explains, “I did not have the business listed for sale but I’ve known Jack Panzer (Minuteman Press International Regional Vice President) for approximately eight years. When I received a letter and flyer in the mail that Jack could help sell my business, I thought that was very smart of Minuteman Press International do reach out. Jack was very laid back whenever we spoke, and he was always open and honest along with being knowledgeable about the industry.” At the beginning of 2021, the timing was right. Carl shares, “In January 2021, Jack approached me with a qualified buyer that he thought could be a fit for my shop. I told him what it would cost if someone wants to buy our business. I also consulted with my daughter Renee, who decided she didn’t want to take over the business. We started the sales process in March 2021 and it was finished by Feb. 2022.” As for the transition to the new owners, Carl says, “I think the transition has gone very well. I needed to like the people who bought the business and Devin and John Weiss are great. Renee has stayed on working in the business and we also have employees with 25 years of tenure, so it was important for us to be comfortable with everything.” “Jack Panzer is a terrific guy from top to bottom. He’s very transparent and open as is the team at Minuteman Press International. I don’t think there’s a better way to sell your business and here’s why: 1. You’re not paying any commission; 2. You’re working with a well-established 45-year company in Minuteman Press International; and 3. Your buyer is going to have a much better chance of succeeding with the support they are getting. If they succeed, then your employees will be taken care of… and that really means a lot to us.” -Carl Denti, Retiring Owner, Avante Print Center (now International Minute Press, Mesa, AZ Meet the New Owners Devin and John Weiss are no strangers to owning a business. Devin says, “ John and I have owned several diverse businesses but most recently I owned a dance studio for 25 years. When John and I met approximately 10 years ago, we started a business together shortly after, that we continue to operate.” When the opportunity came to buy an established business while also receiving additional support, Devin says, “Honestly, it was a no brainer. We had planned to open an International Minute Press in the area in 2020, just before the pandemic hit. A year and a half later, our Regional VP Jack Panzer, reached out with this opportunity to buy Avante Print Center and convert it to International Minute Press. It was such a great opportunity that we couldn’t pass it up!” When asked why they chose franchising, Devin answers, “We have looked at other businesses and franchises, and were completely impressed with Minuteman Press International by comparison. The amount of hands-on guidance and support are second-to-none. In the past, we have always done businesses independently, and having the support of this franchise in particular was a great draw.” “Jack Panzer and his team were with us every step of the way; they made the sale as easy as it could be. Since buying the business, the support has been great. From the training to the in-store training with the local field staff, it has superseded our expectations in every way. Their patience and knowledge gave us the confidence we needed to enter a new industry for us.” -Devin Weiss, Owner, International Minute Press, Mesa, AZ (formerly Avante Print Center) Entering the Printing Industry Now that Devin and John are operating their business, they are excited to hit the ground running and continue the legacy that Carl and family started. Devin says, “We believe owning a business gives you a sense of pride. By purchasing an established business, we strive to honor our clients, our community, and our staff with continued outstanding service and support.” As a full-service printing and marketing services provider, Devin and John are excited to help other local businesses and organizations with virtually everything they need to operate and promote themselves. Devin says, “Wide format printing is especially exciting right now. There is such a wide variety of custom printed products that we can provide to our clients – we haven’t found anything we can’t do yet in-house or with the help of our franchisor and vendors.” As she reflects on owning a business vs. having a job, one word comes to mind for Devin: “Freedom!” She elaborates, While you have to put in many hours as the owner of a business, they are on your own schedule and with your own priorities. You decide what your life entails every day, and we wouldn’t trade that for the world! We love to travel and the freedom makes that possible.” Advice for Others Devin shares this advice for others who are looking to buy a business right now: “Do your due diligence. A positive attitude is a must. Survey other business owners about their experiences, both good and bad. There is a lot of preparation that goes into buying a business, and having a successful franchise to guide you is a great option. Ultimately, no matter how prepared you are, it is a learning experience!” International Minute Press is located at 218 West Hampton Avenue, Unit 13; Mesa, AZ 85210. For more information, call 480-969-4888 or visit https://minuteman.com/us/locations/az/mesa21. Learn more about #1 rated Minuteman Press International franchise opportunities at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com. To find out how to sell your printing business through Minuteman Press International, visit https://bit.ly/minutemanpressconversions. Contact Details Minuteman Press International Chris Biscuiti +1 631-249-1370 cbiscuiti@mpihq.com Company Website https://minutemanpressfranchise.com

April 19, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Telos, Crypto’s Fastest DeFi Ecosystem Continues To Scale

Telos Foundation

Telos is thrilled to announce that it is implementing the DIA price oracle in support of its ambitious tEVM powered DeFi strategy. Crypto price oracles are fundamental to DeFi projects and DIA (Decentralized Information Asset) is an excellent cross-chain, end-to-end, data and oracle platform for Web 3.0 / DeFi. The tEVM is the fastest, highest capacity, most inexpensive, energy efficient, credibly neutral, and decentralized EVM to date. The addition of a quality cross-chain price oracle is a fundamental addition to Telos’ rapidly growing DeFi ecosystem. “Partnering with DIA allows Telos to fulfil its potential in supporting DeFi projects like Omnidex, Zappy, Bardi and others. We are working on a meaningful liquidity support program and offer the Ignite grant program for DeFi start-ups. Come and build your DeFi projects on Telos.” AJ Dinger, Telos Head of Business Development Blockchain oracles provide chains with a bridge connecting data from on-chain and off-chain platforms. Oracles are specifically necessary in providing DeFi applications with information from the outside world in an exact and reliable manner. These data streams, include data like cryptocurrency price feeds or lending rate feeds and they directly / indirectly play a significant role in expanding the full potential of smart contracts. An oracle provides a tool to query, retrieve, verify, and provide a blockchain with necessary off-chain-data. To be technically specific, it is a behind the scenes communication tool vs a source of information. Prior to oracles being widely available, blockchain ledgers were not able to communicate to the outside world and this ceiling not only made for a poor user experience, but it also limited the overall adoption. Oracle price feeds report live on-chain cryptocurrency price changes. Crypto assets cannot be accurately cross-chain traded without price Oracles. In DeFi, it’s common that a smart contract receives input from price Oracles, which then trigger actions in respect of lending or staking contracts. DIA’s data is directly sourced from a broad array of on-chain and off-chain sources at individual trading levels. This allows DIA feeds to be fully customized with regards to the mix of sources and methodologies, resulting in tailor-made, high resilience feeds, setting a new paradigm for oracles. “We are thrilled to enter the Telos ecosystem by integrating our open-source and transparent data and oracle infrastructure with Telos’ new EVM layer 1 blockchain. Developers will be able to natively access DIA’s broad set of data feeds for 6k+ crypto assets and 20k+ traditional assets via highly customizable and transparent oracles. We are overly excited to start collaborating with Telos native dApps to help them build the best products in an exact and reliable manner” Paul Claudius, DIA’s Head of Business Development Transparency and customizability are essential pillars for DIA. Developers can build unique price feed oracles with DIA, customizing the specific computational methodologies used as well as the data sources that make up a feed. This approach is designed to adapt to any custom needs a project might have, but also to provide users with the maximum transparency of how their data feeds are constructed, while being able to serve any asset price feed. About Telos Live since 2018, Telos Blockchain (ticker: Tlos) is a third-generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts. Telos provides full EVM/Solidity support with fixed low-cost gas fees and no front running. Uniquely, Telos also offers a path to fee-less transactions via its robust native C++ smart contract support. Utilizing less than 0.000002 kWh per transaction, the chain can sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produce blocks in 0.5 second intervals on a first-in-first-out basis (eliminating front running on the network) and securely validate transactions via a credibly neutral and globally decentralized block producer network. The Telos Blockchain has the throughput needed to facilitate and scale the thriving Metaverse / Web 3.0 better than any other blockchain. Its performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, credible decentralization, and end-user fairness. Telos harnesses its power by utilizing tight C++ on the frontend and a custom WASM runtime environment on the backend. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

April 12, 2022 03:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Minuteman Press Franchise in Welshpool, Perth, Western Australia Celebrates 17 Years, Shares Growth Strategies

Minuteman Press International Inc

Rod Hambley has owned his Minuteman Press printing franchise in Welshpool since March of 2005. In May of 2021, Rod purchased 15-year independent print shop Images on Paper. Following the acquisition, Rod merged staff from both businesses and has been producing more in-house orders with the equipment that was added. The result has been doubling and even tripling monthly sales in the months following the acquisition. This includes a record sales month for his 17-year business, Rod says, “We’ve clearly had sustained business growth since the acquisition. Sales for both new and existing clients are in line with past turnover for both.” Welcome to Minuteman Press in Welshpool Prior to buying Minuteman Press in Welshpool, Rod worked in the banking industry. He shares, “I was in banking for 25 years and worked as Branch Manager for several banks. I found Minuteman Press at a franchise show and in gaining a rapport with the Regional Vice President, I saw this as a viable option I could venture to when finished at the bank.” Under Rod’s leadership and following the acquisition of Images on Paper, Minuteman Press in Welshpool has continued to grow its core business. Rod says, “Our core business is always in high demand. We offer our clients high quality printing from our wide format machine which produces posters, signage, and stickers of all shapes and sizes. Our digital machine prints booklets, flyers, business cards, and much more. We also still run an offset machine for NCR Books, envelopes, and spot colour work that are all still in demand.” “It is important for local businesses to market and promote themselves. We are able to design and produce the items they need for those purposes and they also need printing of workbooks, forms, and plenty of other items for their operations as well.” -Rod Hambley, owner, Minuteman Press, Welshpool Acquiring Images on Paper As for how the acquisition of Images on Paper came about, it was a combination of Rod being proactive in looking at local acquisition targets in his area as well as the local Minuteman Press outreach campaign initiated by Regional Vice President Glenn Coyle. Rod says, “We have had our eye on this business in the area for a number of years among others. I have done smaller acquisitions over the years that were successful as I still have some clients from those. I saw Images on Paper as a good prospect where the owner might be looking to retire, and Glenn Coyle also identified them through an acquisition campaign.” Glenn Coyle says, “I reached out to Images on Paper and set up a confidential meeting with the owner Harry and his wife Robyn. We chatted for a while and after we got to know each other and I learned about their business, we all moved forward with a plan for Rod to acquire the business if all went well so Harry and Robyn could sell the business and retire.” Glenn adds, “Once I looked over the paperwork they provided, I met with Harry and Robyn again and told them my plan to introduce their business to Rod. They were happy for me to do this. After Rod met with Harry and Robyn, things went well, and they ultimately came to an agreement on price, terms, equipment, staff, and changeover date.” Rod shares, “The benefit to the seller was to save on brokerage costs, and the benefit to me was the increased sales as well as merging staff and added equipment for in-house jobs.” Advice for Others When asked what advice he would give to others looking to own a business, Rod answers, “Be prepared to work hard and find good staff. Also, you should ensure that you have steady cash flow and enough for a rainy day or two.” Minuteman Press in Welshpool is located at U2 119 Welshpool Rd., Welshpool, WA 6106. For more information, visit their website: https://www.welshpool.minutemanpress.com.au. Learn more about Minuteman Press franchise opportunities in Australia at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com.au. Contact Details Minuteman Press International Chris Biscuiti +1 631-249-1370 cbiscuiti@mpihq.com Company Website https://minutemanpressfranchise.com

April 11, 2022 10:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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