Denon DJ MCX8000 Review

No computer needed! Built-in Engine software! Full-colour screens! Transition between DJs with ease! DENON DJ MCX8000 (comes with full version)! Controls lights, visuals, and even pyrotechnics!

Blimey! A “me-too” DJ controller this definitely isn’t, and it feels that way when you unbox it too. It comes in a wide, deep, shallow box, and unpacked it’s a relatively thin but spread-out metal-built beast that instantly screams “quality”.

Bigger than the Traktor Kontrol S8, lighter than the Numark NS7III, smaller than the Pioneer DJ DDJ-RZ, and thinner than the Pioneer DJ XDJ-RX (its closest cousin out there in DJ land currently), the Denon DJ MCX8000 has a look of its own, while definitely sharing a lot of the pro-feel of some of the controllers I’ve just listed. Frankly, barring maybe the Numark NS7III, it feels the best built of the lot.

The unit is three things: First, a DJ controller with built-in screens for Serato DJ (four channels, top end features including DVS); second, a standalone USB DJ controller (ie no laptop required) that works with files analysed in Denon DJ’s Engine software, and even with normal music files on a USB stick; and third a full standalone mixer with four channels, two fully featured mic inputs, and a good range of outputs.

Therefore, setting it up really depends upon how you want to play with it. If you want to use USB drives in one or both of its two USB slots, you introduce a USB stick with Engine-analysed music on it (or just a pile of files if you really want), and once you’ve plugged in your speakers, power, and your headphones, you’re off.

If you want to use it with Serato DJ software, you plug in your laptop and launch the program, and again, you’re ready. If you want to add external turntables or CDJs, either for spinning actual vinyl / CDs directly or using them with timecode for Serato DVS, you’ll plug those into the back too.

7 Steps for Establishing the Right Business Model

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing.

Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different. That’s why investors acknowledge that two co-founders are often better than one -- with one focusing on the technical solution, and the other focusing on defining and building the business model. These two jobs need to be done in parallel.

5 Valuable Concepts I Learned Working for a Multibillion-Dollar Firm

Plenty of entrepreneurs start a business so they can be their own bosses, but there’s something to be said about learning from world-class people. By working for an industry-leading company, you get to see firsthand what makes it so successful.

Before I started my own business, I spent time as an investor at Bain Capital. During my years evaluating investment opportunities, I observed how successful leaders interacted with employees, pursued new opportunities, contemplated customer satisfaction and responded to challenges.
I didn’t realize until later how valuable these experiences would be to my own future endeavors, but these lessons have stuck with me for years:

5 Must-Haves for a Successful Logo

Before you start designing a business card or picking colors for the letterhead of your new business, you need a logo. Featuring your company name, embellished with a little color and perhaps a few graphic touches, your logo is the most important design element because it's the basis for all your other materials: stationery, packaging, promotional materials and signage.
Through the use of color and graphics, your logo should reflect the overall image you want your company to convey. It should give people a feel for what your company's all about.