Toptal Blog

The Toptal Blog is the top hub for developers, designers, management consultants, executives, and entrepreneurs, featuring key technology updates, tutorials, freelancer resources, and management insights.

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Toptal core team members share their experience, expertise, and perspectives on the Toptal Edge Blog

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An Angular 5 Tutorial: Step by Step Guide to Your First Angular 5 App

Angular 5 is a new version of the Angular framework developed by Google. Angular 5 comes with improvements including optimized builds and faster compile times, but in this Angular 5 tutorial, we are going to build a notes app from scratch. If you’ve been waiting to learn Angular 5, this tutorial is for you.

40-minute readContinue Reading
Sergey Moiseev

Sergey Moiseev

Sergey is a full-stack software engineer with experience developing complex web projects. He has extensive skills as an analyst.

Blockchain, IoT, and the Future of Transportation: Understanding the Motoro Coin

Open-source, IoT, and Ethereum smart contracts work together with a new utility coin to make transportation more accessible and reduce vehicle waste. In this article, Toptal Freelance Ethereum Developer Michał Mikolajczyk explains the motivations and methodology behind his startup’s latest initiative.

16-minute readContinue Reading
Michal Mikolajczyk

Michal Mikolajczyk

Founder/CEO of a blockchain IoT startup and community leader for Toptal Warsaw, Michal has a wide range of full-stack experience.

Principles of Organizational Design and Optimization: Lessons From The Great Recession

In 2006, Ford Motor Company’s losses came in at a staggering $12.7 billion; but four years later, profits had rebounded to $6.6 billion. At around the same time, Carlos Brito’s “one firm, one culture” optimization policy delivered $2.3 billion in synergies, exceeding pre-merger projections for Anheuser-Busch’s combination with InBev by 50%.

Both Ford and AB InBev’s CEOs achieved these results by adeptly applying the principles of organizational optimization—concepts explored by Toptal Finance Restructuring Expert, Christopher Hearing, in this article.

13-minute readContinue Reading
Chris Hearing

Chris Hearing

Chris is a management consultant who has held senior finance roles at public and private companies in the marketing, consumer products, and live entertainment spaces. The former CFO of the Time Life division of Time Inc., and former vice chair of Franklin Madison insurance, Chris has decades of experience in business planning, organizational restructuring, and external fundraising.

The Comprehensive Guide to Information Architecture

As a standard part of the UX process, designers create information architecture when building products. Learn about information architecture—how designers and product managers build an IA using design principles, as well as IA tools and best practices.

8-minute readContinue Reading
James Pikover

James Pikover

James has written about consumer tech and video games for over 6 years including VentureBeat, IGN, and Gizmodo.

Designing a VUI – Voice User Interface

Discover why conversational UIs and voice apps are surging in popularity and learn how to design voice user interfaces (VUIs) for both mobile and smart home speakers.

10-minute readContinue Reading
Frederik Goossens

Frederik Goossens

Frederik is a certified UX designer and product owner. He is a creative thinker experienced with user research and business analysis.

ICOs, Exotics, and Platforms: An Insider’s Perspective on the Future of Venture Capital

2017 saw a number of issues arise in the VC industry and it may be approaching a watershed regarding its relevance.

This article looks into the root causes of the industry’s problems and why they have come to light. VCs can go through a pivot of their own to retain a seat at the table, with big data, exotic funds and platforms offering a path forward.

17-minute readContinue Reading
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Toptal Talent Network Experts

Mixed-integer Programming: A Guide to Computational Decision-making

Mixed-integer programming is one of the many ways you can automate and enhance your decision-making processes.

In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Shanglun Wang explores the power of operations research by walking through a hypothetical problem and shows how mixed-integer programming can be used to solve it.

9-minute readContinue Reading
Shanglun Wang

Shanglun Wang

Sean is a passionate polyglot: A full-stack wizard, sys admin, and data scientist. He’s also developed market intelligence software.

Will Spotify's Non-IPO Pave the Way for Tech Companies?

This year, Spotify will move its headquarters from Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood downtown to the Financial District. Beyond its physical presence, Spotify will also make its mark at NYSE when it goes public via direct listing, an unusual choice. What is expected to be the largest tech public debut of 2018 has set Wall Street and the music industry abuzz, with everyone eager to see how this unconventional approach will play out.

This article covers everything you need to know: a brief overview of the typical IPO process, how the direct listing will function, why Spotify chose to buck tradition, potential motivations behind the decision, and its potential implications.

11-minute readContinue Reading
Melissa Lin

Melissa Lin

Melissa has worked in ECM, tech startups, and management consulting, advising Fortune 500 companies across multiple sectors.

Creativity Exercises to Boost Your Designs

Here are a few exercises that can help get your creative juices flowing, whether you’re trying to get started on a new project or find yourself stuck in a creative rut.

7-minute readContinue Reading
Bree Chapin

Bree Chapin

Bree’s a passionate designer and problem-solver with 10+ years experience in product and UXUI design for web and native mobile applications.

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