Toptal Blog

Companies, like castles, need a line of defense to repel the invaders’ advances. Economic moats, taking a cue from their watery namesakes, are long-term and sustainable competitive advantages that protect others from seizing market share. But on the flipside, are they actually just lazy, passive strategies that shun innovation?

Data visualization is a coherent way to visually communicate quantitative content. Depending on its attributes, data may be represented in different ways, such as line graphs and scatter plots.

C++ developers strive to build robust multithreaded applications, but multithreading was never an easy thing to do.

In this article, Toptal Freelance Qt Developer Andrei Smirnov talks about several scenarios exploring concurrent programming with the Qt framework.

One of the most important and challenging aspects of forecasting is handling the uncertainty inherent in examining the future. Every CEO, CFO, board member, investor, or investment committee member brings their own experience and approach to financial projections and uncertainty, influenced by different incentives. Oftentimes, comparing actual outcomes against projections underscores the need to explicitly recognize uncertainty.

Monte Carlo simulations are an extremely effective tool for handling risks and probabilities, used for everything from constructing DCF valuations, valuing call options in M&A, and discussing risks with lenders to seeking financing and guiding the allocation of VC funding for startups. This article provides a step-by-step tutorial on using Monte Carlo simulations in practice.

Shopify merchants have achieved over $40 billion in sales, but with poorly executed UX design being one of the biggest contributors to abandoned checkouts, it’s clear that superior UX can boost this statistic even further.

In the current low interest rate environment, investors have been increasingly moving towards alternative asset classes, particularly private equity which continues to attract the lion’s share of investor capital. But could a relatively unknown, niche new asset class hold the key for outsized market performance?

In this article, Toptal Finance Expert Toby Clarence-Smith uncovers the world of search fund investing, reviewing some of the key aspects of the asset class from the investor standpoint as well as running through the main benefits of putting money to work in this space.

The modern, cross-platform programming language Haxe is well-known in some circles, yet many developers have never heard of it. Since it first appeared in 2005, it’s been battle-tested by its loyal—if rather quiet—following.

In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Kevin Bloch explores the Haxe ecosystem and how to transpile some sample code.

UX designers often need to persuade executives on the ROI of a UX initiative. In this example scenario, the UX team presented the projected ROI of a UX redesign to make a convincing case.

Despite its age, HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) remains a widely used standard in adaptive bitrate video and a de-facto Apple alternative to MPEG-DASH.

In this tutorial, Toptal Java Developer Tomo Krajina explains what makes HLS tick and demonstrates how to create an HLS player in Android.

UX design attempts to deliver the right solution, in the right way, at the right time and delight people when they use a product. This comprehensive UX guide walks through the various methods, tools, and techniques that make up the process.

The development of cross-platform mobile applications has always been a source of many challenges. Although tools like Apache Cordova and Haxe do solve some of the associated issues, they are still not the ideal solution in many cases. React Native changes that by providing the power of React.js for mobile platforms and a promise of consistent developer experience across multiple platforms.

The microservices architectural pattern is an architectural style that is growing in popularity, given its flexibility and resilience.

In this article, Toptal Freelance Python Developer Guilherme Caminha will focus on building a proof of concept microservices application in Python using Nameko, a microservices framework.

The extent of investing in real estate for most individuals is in the bricks and mortar of their own house. For braver investors, there are a range of other options, the most notable being private real estate offerings. Similar to PE and VC funds, these structures can allow for tailored investments in skilled management teams undertaking complex projects.

The internet is a primary source of information, entertainment, and communication. Yet, for people with disabilities, there are barriers that make it inaccessible, as many websites don’t consider their needs.

Qmake is a build system tool shipped with Qt library that simplifies the build process across different platforms.

In this guide, Freelance Qt Developer Andrei Smirnov describes the most useful qmake features and provides real-world examples for each of them.

Travel gives a fresh perspective, inspires creativity, and improves our empathy for people around the world. By making the globe your office, you can benefit from new insights and become a better designer.

While preprocessors like Sass and Less have made CSS development easier, there is still a lot to be desired in this modern age of web development.

In this article, Toptal Freelance JavaScript Developer Jeremy Davis explores styled-components—the niftiest CSS-in-JS library.

In the last Super Bowl when the New England Patriots faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles, Americans bet a staggering $4.76 billion on the game. 97% of that figure was done so illegally. However, this will likely change by the time the next Super Bowl rolls around. In a hotly anticipated move on May 14, 2018, the US Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, paving the way for states to legalize sports betting.

This article covers the foundations of sports betting, including its $150 billion market size, implementation timeline, and revenue distribution. It will also examine the implications of its legalization, including increased sports engagement and popularity, ethical concerns, fresh opportunities, and its impact on fantasy sports and eSports.

Want to become a phenomenal designer? Take a multidisciplinary design approach and study the methods of other design disciplines.

Every month, we bring you riveting design news and inspiring content focused on design innovation. Here are five hand-picked pieces of design news.

With venture funding having grown more than 120% in the US in the last five years, startup founders and investors alike have grown increasingly comfortable with low margin business models. But the successes of the Amazons and Facebooks of this world often mask failure in a slew of other sectors, where the “build it and they will come” model doesn’t always work.

In this article, Toptal Finance Expert Toby Clarence-Smith brings attention back to the importance of studying a business’ long-term sustainability prospects, with a particular focus on unit economics, one of the building blocks of profitability and breakeven analysis for startups.