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Brands like Lego and Squishmallow are especially popular on TikTok.
'Kidults' age 12 and above are comprising a growing sector of the toy industry, according to NPD Group.
NPD Group's Juli Lennett told Insider the growth is largely due to the pandemic and social media.
"Now many of them are hooked," Lennett said of kidults who purchased toys early in the pandemic.
Turns out toys aren't just for kids after all.
The toy sector is experiencing a rise in teenage and adult consumers, who are purchasing nostalgic board game, craft set, collectible figurines, and plush stuffed animals. This growing cohort of consumers over age 12 has been dubbed "kidults" and now accounts for 25% of toy sales, bringing in an estimated $9 billion a year, according to the NPD Group.
Juli Lennett, NPD Group's toy industry advisor, told Insider that while older demographics always have been interested in toys, there's been an "explosion of the adult market" in recent years, a trend she attributes largely to "the pandemic combined with social media."
"The adult consumer was looking for something to soothe their anxiety and stave off boredom — an adult pacifier, if you will — during these difficult nearly three years," Lennett said. "And, because they had stopped doing other entertainment activities outside the home at the height of the pandemic, they had the extra money to spend. Now many of them are hooked."
Among kidults, Lennett said the most popular toy categories are building sets, plush items, action figures, collectibles, trading card games, and sports trading cards. Top brands include Lego, Squishmallow, Funko Pop!, Marvel, DC, Pokémon, and major sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, and NHL.
On social media, platforms like TikTok are playing an increasingly significant role in attracting Gen Z and millennial consumers to everything from Lego floral sets to use as decor for their homes and Squishmallows to adorn college dorm rooms.
"Social media brings together like-minded adults and makes them feel a sense of community for the toys that they enjoy playing with and collecting," Lennett told Insider. "Social media should continue to be a great place for adults to connect on toys."
Spotting an opportunity to capitalize, many brands have started doubling down in catering to adult customers. Lego, for example, now has an expansive adult product line featured on its website under the "Adults Welcome" section, which launched in January 2021.
At the time, Lego CEO Tormod Askildsen told Brick Fanatics that sales of Lego products for adults had increased four-fold. Today, Lego now sells 100 adult Lego sets, according to the Associated Press, including a replica of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night and a functional roller coaster.
"The wonderful thing about LEGO bricks is that they can be enjoyed by anyone of almost any age," Lego says on its website, in response to a FAQ about whether it's "normal" for adults to play with Legos. "We make LEGO sets specifically for adults with more detail, challenging building techniques, and cool ways to display."
Other brands, like American Girl, have seen an influx of Gen Z and millennial consumers purchasing dolls and visiting its cafes, where they share their experiences on social media. As a result, American Girl cafes recently began selling alcohol and expanding its menu for a mature palette.
"It's Disneyland for literary girls and gays," influencer Harry Hill told the New York Times in February, referring to the American Girl Place.
Looking ahead, Lennett said she anticipates toy brands will continue to attempt to retain older consumers.
"If the manufacturers can keep kidults interested with new, innovative toys that appeal to this age group, they will continue to buy toys. Some will be successful and others won't," she said.
Retail Toys Holiday | 2022-12-24T12:15:09Z | www.businessinsider.com | 'Kidults' Dominate the Toy Industry Thanks to Social Media, Pandemic | https://www.businessinsider.com/kidults-dominate-toy-industry-thanks-to-social-media-pandemic-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/kidults-dominate-toy-industry-thanks-to-social-media-pandemic-2022-12 |
Elon Musk quietly ordered the removal of a Twitter suicide prevention feature, sources told Reuters.
But Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, said a replacement should go live next week.
Elon Musk quietly ordered the removal of Twitter's suicide prevention feature in recent days, Reuters reported, but the company said it will soon be replaced.
Ella Irwin, Twitter's head of trust and safety, has since told Reuters in an email that "we have been fixing and revamping our prompts. They were just temporarily removed while we do that. We expect to have them back up next week."
AIDS United, a non-profit, told Reuters that its website received about 70 referrals a day through the feature. Since its removal, it said that number had fallen to just 14.
Weekend BI UK News Twitter Tech | 2022-12-24T13:46:31Z | www.businessinsider.com | Elon Musk Ordered Removal of Twitter Suicide Prevention Feature: Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ordered-removal-of-twitter-suicide-prevention-feature-report-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ordered-removal-of-twitter-suicide-prevention-feature-report-2022-12 |
Elon Musk's chaotic reign at Twitter proved a huge boost to smaller rivals.
Usage of several Twitter alternatives has surged in recent months.
With tricky user interfaces, security issues, and uneven beta launches, success could be fleeting.
Never before have there been so many possible alternatives to Twitter, even if none seem to be anywhere close to a real replacement for the platform.
Long before Elon Musk came along, Twitter users bemoaned the service yet remained addicted to it. A potent mix of news, opinion, comedy, cringe and unpredictable drama has kept it a fixture for a decade-plus. And it is easy to use, the hallmark of American-born social media companies. Whatever the benefits of a decentralized network like Mastodon, easy to use it is not.
"There is a usability hurdle," said David Carr, senior insights manager at SimilarWeb, who has been tracking Mastodon's trajectory. "You have to choose a server and really, people don't like to make decisions. It's more like, 'Just tell me what to do.'"
Still, Mastodon and other new potential Twitter rivals have grown, particularly since Musk officially took control of Twitter at the end of October, data gathered by Insider shows. Daily usage of Mastodon, Hive Social, and Counter Social are all up dramatically over the last two months. Meanwhile, at least half a dozen other Twitter-like platforms have recently been launched in beta or are set to be early next year, including Post.News, Spoutible, Mozilla.Social and Bluesky, founded by none other than Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey.
If ever there was a time for a text-based platform to threaten the hold Twitter has over its user base, it's now. Investors are looking to back new social media companies, as not only Twitter, but Instagram and Facebook, have lost some of their edge. These emerging services probably won't be acquired, with antitrust authorities limiting Big Tech M&A, so they have a chance to grow on their own.
Most importantly, people seem ready and willing to try something new. With refinement and good features, any of these platforms could feasibly be the next Twitter. Or they could fizzle out, and instead be the next Clubhouse. There are already signs of trouble for several of these new offerings: Downloads have plunged recently, suggesting interest may already be waning.
See below for a complete look at some of the new platforms so far available for use and their performance since Musk took over Twitter.
Mastodon's emphasis on decentralization only appeals to the most tech-savvy.
Mastodon was founded in 2016 in Germany by Eugen Rochko, so the only truly new part of the platform is the attention it's getting as a Twitter alternative. It is a text-based social platform, or "microblogging" site, home to independent servers, or "instances." New users have to find a server to join and be admitted to, along with a few other steps before being able to post and use the platform.
In early November, the hashtag TwitterMigration was trending on Mastodon for several days as Twitter users set up accounts amid Musk's chaotic takeover. After the billionaire enacted his first round of Mass layoffs, former Twitter employees even set up their own server on Mastodon, Macaw.Social.
For just the month of November, Mastodon's web traffic jumped 1,000% year-over-year on just 200 of its more popular servers, according to SimilarWeb data. The platform has about 1,000 servers set up, but some host only one user. Downloads of its iOS app are up more than 4,000% since Oct. 24, with daily active users up 6,000% to more than 1 million, according to Apptopia data. However, downloads have started to drop off over the last month, falling by 52%. Daily users have held steady though, at 1.4 million, a major increase from its usage prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, which typically hovered around 20,000 daily users.
Hive was first launched in 2019 by Raluca Pop, now 24 years old. Unlike Mastodon, Hive is a centralized platform and its user interface is more straightforward and similar to the set-up process of Twitter or Instagram, in that all it takes to get an account and start posting is some basic information. The app is easiest to describe as a cross between Twitter and Instagram, with a focus on images and text and similar features like re-posting, comments and likes, with the addition of easy to add music and color themes.
Like Mastodon, the service has seen huge growth since Musk took over Twitter. Downloads of the iOS app have grown 290,000% to 1.5 million since Oct. 24, with daily users up 660,000% to 321,000, according to Apptopia data. A major user security issue revealed at the end of November is at least partly to blame for Hive's 88% drop in downloads over the last month. Yet, it has maintained more than 500,000 daily users.
A look at a homepage of Counter Social, a new Twitter alternative
Counter Social launched in 2020, started by the pseudonymous self-identified "hacktivist" The Jester. The platform is not trying to be all things to all people – it blocks entire countries from access, like Russia, China and Iran. It has a more unique interface that defaults to a dashboard showing a few columns of posts similar in look to TweetDeck. It refreshes constantly, offering a more kinetic feel than other social platforms, and there is a $4.99 per month upgrade available that unlocks a number of features, including live streams of network news, emergency radio traffic, and ephemeral file sharing and voice calls and various additional privacy features.
The platform has received less public and media attention than Mastodon or Hive, but that doesn't mean it hasn't also grown in the wake of Musk's Twitter takeover. It's reached 110,000 downloads of its iOS app, an increase of 4,500% since the end of October, with daily users up 2,500% to about 18,000, according to Apptopia. Monthly usage is still up by 44%, although, like Mastodon and Hive, downloads have dropped off in the last month, falling by 83%.
Post.News (beta)
Post launched only in November, earlier than planned because as founder and former Waze CEO Noam Bardin wanted to capitalize on the moment created by Musk of people actively looking for alternatives to Twitter. It may have worked. Still in Beta, Post now has more than 300,000 active users and more than 600,000 people on a waitlist to join, according to Bardin. It has also received an undisclosed amount of funding from VC fund Andreessen Horowitz and Scott Galloway, the NYU professor and media personality.
Bluesky (expected to launch in 2023)
Born in 2019 as a research project at Twitter still under Jack Dorsey, Bluesky is now being built wholly independent of the platform he founded. Dorsey has shared little detail about Bluesky, beyond it being designed as a decentralized social network protocol. In October, not long before Musk took control of Twitter, Bluesky began to allow signups for a waitlist, saying its beta will "launch soon."
Spoutible (expected to launch in 2023)
Spoutible comes out of Bot Sentinel, a tool created by Christopher Bouzy, that identifies, tracks and flags Twitter bots or accounts that are engaging in targeted or coordinated online attacks and disinformation campaigns. Announced at the start of December, Spoutible is being described as a new social platform that will allow users to "spout off" while avoiding harassment and other such issues. A beta version of the platform is expected in late January.
Mozilla.Social (expected to launch in 2023)
The latest Twitter alternative to be announced comes from Mozilla, the organization that runs the Firefox browser. Mozilla said just this week it is planning to launch its own publicly accessible instance in the "Fediverse." A portmanteau of federation and universe, the Fediverse is essentially a group of independent but interconnected servers that interact and offer their own software packages. Mastodon is also part of the Fediverse, for example. "An open, decentralized, and global social service that puts the needs of people first is not only possible, but it's absolutely necessary," Mozilla said. Mozilla.Social is expected in early 2023.
Do you work for a social media company or are you someone else with insight to share? Contact Kali Hays at khays@insider.com, on secure messaging app Signal at 949-280-0267, or through Twitter DM at @hayskali. Reach out using a non-work device.
Elon Musk Twitter Mastodon | 2022-12-24T13:46:37Z | www.businessinsider.com | Rivals to Elon Musk's Twitter See Downloads Plunge. Who Will Survive? | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-rivals-downloads-plunge-mastadon-hive-social-bluesky-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-rivals-downloads-plunge-mastadon-hive-social-bluesky-2022-12 |
Experts predict customers will demand more value options on menus in 2023.
Chicken sandwich offerings will likely grow as chicken prices drop.
Fast food chains are cashing in on nostalgic foods and character to draw in old and new customers.
2022 was a year of implementing new technology in fast food and emphasizing drive-thru and mobile ordering. Those aren't going away, but there are other trends on the horizon. Here's what you should look out for in 2023.
1. Fast food menus will emphasize value
Value is always part of what attracts consumers to fast food, but it becomes even more important in an atmosphere of inflation and rising prices. In a recession, consumers are likely to tighten their belts further, CEO and president of Kalinowski Equity Associates Mark Kalinowski told Insider. "People want to feel like they're getting a good value."
Fast food chains likely will introduce menu items "to provide the value customers want," he told Insider. Kalinowski pointed to Taco Bell as a chain with a history of menu items popular with customers while giving the chain high margins.
He "wouldn't be surprised" if Taco Bell brought back $2 menu items in early 2023.
2. Variations on chicken sandwiches
Fried chicken sandwiches and new variations on the chicken sandwich will be one of the biggest trends in the new year, according to a survey of more than 500 industry experts conducted by the National Restaurant Association.
Chicken breast prices in the US are down 70% from their peak in June, The Wall Street Journal reported, while thighs and wings are also down, meaning they now offer much more attractive margins for chains.
Major QSR chains already are signaling plans to embrace chicken sandwiches again. On November 15, Popeyes released its new Blackened Chicken Sandwich. The chain is explicitly promoting the new sandwich as "reigniting the chicken sandwich wars," which started with the 2019 release of the Popeyes spicy chicken sandwich. Burger King and Wendy's also are promoting new chicken sandwiches.
Nostalgic brands and menu items will be big in 2023, according to Yelp's predictions from data scientists and trend experts.
Some chains already had success channeling adults' nostalgia this year, like McDonald's sold out adult Happy Meal boxes, and Taco Bell bringing back the enchirito. Nostalgic characters and menu offerings are appealing to restaurants for two reasons, because they can appeal to adults who already remember the original promotions, and introduce them to a new generation of consumers, Kalinowski previously told Insider.
NOW WATCH: Popeyes' famous chicken sandwich is now back 'for good' — so we compared it to 5 other fast-food fried-chicken sandwiches
Retail Business Visual Features Fast Food | 2022-12-24T16:45:05Z | www.businessinsider.com | Fast Food Trends 2023: Chicken Sandwiches, Nostalgia, Value Menus | https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-trends-2023-chicken-sandwiches-nostalgia-value-menus-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-trends-2023-chicken-sandwiches-nostalgia-value-menus-2022-12 |
An trainee goes through a drill at boot camp.
Trainees have three minutes to locate and "rescue" a mannequin representing an injured airman from inside a hostile village.
New recruits aspiring to join the military all have to go through boot camps.
This rigorous training prepares soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines for their time in the service.
Here are some surprising facts about the different branches' boot camps.
Across the many branches of the US military, there is one constant for new recruits: a weeks-long period of basic training — "boot camp" — to prepare for the job.
At each boot camp, recruits have to learn different skills like swimming or climbing and practice the tasks they'll need during their service, from assembling a pistol to driving a tank.
But that period of time varies with each branch of service. Navy recruits, for example, endure a 10-week-long program, while Marine Corps recruits face 13 weeks of grueling basic training.
Insider has gone inside basic training at different boot camps as part of its "Boot Camp" video series exploring what life is like for recruits.
Insider Correspondant Graham Flanagan shared the most surprising things we didn't expect to find at boot camp:
Army: Not everyone who joins the Army and works with heavy guns and weaponry has previously fired a weapon.
US Army Tankers training in Fort Benning, Georgia.
Screengrab/Insider
Source: Insider/What Army Tankers Go Through In Boot Camp
Navy: Not every recruit knows how to swim or is even comfortable with being in the water. You don't need to know how to swim before joining the Navy.
Navy recruits swim inside a pool during basic training.
Source: Insider/What Navy Recruits Go Through In Boot Camp
Navy: Recruits work on their marksmanship during basic training, learning how to safely fire a pistol — as well as assemble and disassemble the weapon.
Navy recruits fire pistols during basic training.
Source: Insider/What It Takes To Survive Coast Guard Boot Camp
Coast Guard: New recruits endure lots of yelling and intensity, including when they sit down for lunch. Before they can eat, recruits are stopped by company commanders and must answer questions about the Coast Guard.
A Coast Guard recruit is yelled at during lunch.
Marine Corps: Not everyone who shows up for training is built like a superhuman, or is in top athletic shape.
Recruits at Marine Corps basic training.
Source: Insider/What New Marine Corps Recruits Go Through In Boot Camp
Features Military Boot Camp | 2022-12-24T16:45:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | 6 Most Surprising Things About US Military Boot Camps | https://www.businessinsider.com/surprising-things-boot-camp-us-miliary-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/surprising-things-boot-camp-us-miliary-2022-12 |
Kimbal Musk said Twitter's mute button is "underused."
Elon Musk's brother said there's a "lack of appreciation" for Twitter's "awesome" mute button.
Kimbal Musk spoke about his love of the feature in a Twitter Space on Friday with Lex Fridman.
They discussed ways of improving Twitter and Kimbal Musk said the mute button was "underused."
Speaking in a Twitter Space organized by podcast host Lex Fridman on Friday, Kimbal Musk discussed "How to improve Twitter" and talked about some of the changes his brother implemented since taking over the company on October 27.
"There's a lack of appreciation for the mute button on Twitter," he said. "If you really want to clean up your feed, be one of those guys that don't want to enjoy that particular piece of drama, muting is just awesome.
"That feature is just underused on Twitter and I think my brother has plans to incorporate it into just the algorithm as well."
Kimbal Musk, who's a year younger than his 51-year-old brother, owns The Kitchen Restaurant Group that operates sites in Colorado, Chicago, and Indianapolis. The company's LinkedIn page says dining at its restaurants is like "a celebration at a best friend's house."
During the Twitter Space, Kimbal Musk also said he loved the "entertaining side of Twitter," and wished there was more of it. He added that debate on political topics, such as former President Donald Trump's tax returns, "bores me to tears," but when "it gets entertaining I'm in love with Twitter."
Kimbal Musk concluded: "Man, how do we get more of that?"
Elon Musk Kimbal Musk Elon Musk brother | 2022-12-25T09:33:44Z | www.businessinsider.com | Elon Musk's Brother Says Twitter 'Awesome' Mute Button Is 'Underused' | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-brother-lack-appreciation-twitters-awesome-mute-button-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-brother-lack-appreciation-twitters-awesome-mute-button-2022-12 |
Title inflation is hurting employees and companies
Title inflation has been on the rise for two years, enticing workers with meaningless labels.
It's a Band-Aid-sized fix for large sores plaguing employees, like pay disparity.
Here's how boosted titles are damaging employees, job seekers, and companies.
The war for talent as well as economic uncertainty have prompted many firms in the past two years to attract and retain workers with hefty — but meaningless — titles like "head of innovation" or "senior vice president." What's more, these titles often come without added responsibilities, promotions, or pay raises.
While the fancy labels have lured in or helped retain many employees, they've been detrimental to the workers and companies, Shawn Cole, the president and a cofounder of the executive-search firm Cowen Partners, said. In many instances, title inflation is a Band-Aid-sized fix for large sores plaguing employees, like pay disparity and feelings of being undervalued, and have led to problematic organizational charts, Cole added.
Luckily, Cole said, "we've seen a significant cooling" of title inflation within the past few months because companies no longer feel that they have to rely on it to compete. "That's beneficial for both parties because it brings us all back to reality," Cole added.
Insider spoke with Cole and John Winner, the founder of the sales and consulting startup Kizen, to understand how the boosted titles hurt employees, job seekers, and companies.
Companies are using title inflation to attract and retain talent
The past three years have been tough for the workforce — with a confusing mix of record job openings and high-profile layoffs. But workers are becoming more and more cognizant of what they're looking for in a new role. And employers are becoming more inclined to give them what they want, Winner said.
"Companies are really doubling down on investing in talent and career paths earlier on for people" to identify and retain employees who are excited about what they're building, he said. Oftentimes, that comes in the form of title promotions to indicate growth.
But when a title is inflated "without any other changes in responsibility, or adding more responsibilities and not paying the person more, that's hurtful for employees," Winner said.
And when companies offer new titles without added duties or increased salaries, it can hurt a job seeker's chance at financial growth because of the guise of professional growth, Cole said.
It's also confusing companies
This trend isn't harming just employees but also companies, Cole said.
"They may have invented titles that don't really fit within the org chart, and now, theoretically, they're stuck with them," he said. "If they want to do a title reset or a reorg, that becomes problematic."
They've also created roles that work only in a specific setting, as opposed to ones that are transferable across departments or companies, he added.
Sometimes, in an effort to boost a single employee, the tactic has damaged company morale, Winner said.
"If it's not consistent across departments, people will start questioning the title structure as a whole," Winner added.
Employees should be wary of inflated titles
It can be enticing to opt for a seemingly higher title, but job seekers should be aware of the way inflated titles come across on applications, Cole said.
For example, it puts interviewers in an uncomfortable position because they have to verify whether the "director" role listed meant they actually directed anything or figure out what their inflated title equaled in another workplace, he added.
"Some folks just aren't going to get interviews because a hiring manager's going to see a title and they won't take the time to look at their job responsibilities," Cole said, "or be thoughtful about how big their company was to try to understand how it translates."
Instead of falling for glamorous names, job seekers should focus on building their résumés to reflect transferable skills without being entirely dependent on the title, Cole said. While it can feel validating to get a title bump, there are better ways to determine whether a company appreciates your role, including benefits, flexibility, and salary.
"Both parties are fooling themselves if their only way to make employees feel appreciated is by making up fake titles," he said.
Small Business Corporate America job seekers | 2022-12-25T11:01:17Z | www.businessinsider.com | How Title Inflation Is Hurting Employees and Companies | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-title-inflation-hurt-employees-careers-companies-morale-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-title-inflation-hurt-employees-careers-companies-morale-2022-12 |
Busloads of migrants were dropped outside Vice President Kamala Harris' residence on Saturday.
Republican governors previously sent migrants to Democratic cities to protest Biden's immigration policy.
Several busloads of migrants were dropped off outside Vice President Kamala Harris' home in Washington D.C. on Saturday evening in freezing temperatures, according to multiple reports.
The migrants were brought to the Naval Observatory, where Harris lives, from Texas, according to local ABC affiliate news network WJLA's 7News.
A video shared by 7News D.C. reporter Christian Flores on Twitter showed a group of people entering a bus. "The third and final bus of migrants of the night of migrants buses up to D.C. from Texas arriving, with Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network taking them to a church," read the tweet.
—Christian Flores (@CFloresNews) December 25, 2022
"This is a welcome effort that we've been doing since the first bus arrived," Amy Fischer, an organizer with the network, told 7News. "D.C. just continues to show up as a welcoming city that is always ready and willing to open their arms to welcome people, whether it's Christmas Eve, whether it's 9 degrees outside or 90 degrees outside."
While it is not clear who sent the buses, several Republican governors, including Texas governor Greg Abbott, have previously sent migrants to Democratic cities like Washington D.C. and New York to protest President Joe Biden's immigration policies.
In September, Abbott said that his state had sent two buses of migrants to the vice president's home in Washington.
"It really does show the cruelty behind Gov. Abbott and his insistence on continuing to bus people here without care about people arriving late at night on Christmas Eve when the weather is so cold. People are getting off the buses, they don't have coats, they don't have clothes for this kind of weather, and they're freezing," she said.
Kamala Harris Migrant Texas | 2022-12-25T12:36:43Z | www.businessinsider.com | Migrants Dropped Outside Kamala Harris' Home on Christmas Eve: Reports | https://www.businessinsider.com/migrants-dropped-kamala-harris-naval-observatory-christmas-eve-reports-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/migrants-dropped-kamala-harris-naval-observatory-christmas-eve-reports-2022-12 |
Morgan McFall-Johnsen and Paola Rosa-Aquino
The James Webb Space Telescope drifts away from the rocket's last stage on December 25, 2021. This is the last time a camera will capture Webb up close.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launched one year ago and quickly revolutionized space imagery.
Webb's images reveal planets, galaxies, nebulas, and pillars of newborn stars in infrared light.
See the universe through the lens of the world's most powerful space telescope in these 20 images.
From day one of observing the universe, the James Webb Space Telescope has been snapping gorgeous pictures of deep space.
The star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, which Webb captured in infrared.
The telescope uses infrared light, allowing it to peer past clouds of dust and gas in deep space.
On September 6, NASA released an image of the Tarantula Nebula taken with Webb's infrared instruments.
Webb is about 100 times more powerful than NASA's previous landmark space observatory, Hubble.
The Cartwheel Galaxy, which is around 500 million light years from Earth, imaged by Webb.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI and Webb ERO Production Team
That's why Webb can peer deeper into space — and further back in time — than any prior telescope. Its first deep-field image (shown here) reveals some of the earliest galaxies in the universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope's first deep field infrared image, released on July 11, 2022.
By gathering infrared light, Webb is able to cut through cosmic dust and see far into the past, to the first 400 million years after the Big Bang.
Color image of CEERS-93316, a galaxy researchers believe emerged only 235 million years after the Big Bang.
CEERS/UOE/SOPHIE JEWELL/CLARA POLLOCK
Webb shed new light on the iconic Pillars of Creation — giant clouds of gas and dust that constantly birth new stars. In near-infrared light, thousands of stars burst through, including newborn red stars.
The Pillars of Creation, imaged in Webb's near-infrared-light view.
In mid-infrared, the dust itself takes center stage.
Webb's mid-infrared view of the Pillars of Creation.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
By combining the data from those two images, NASA rendered a completely new, ethereal portrait of the pillars.
A combination image of the Pillars of Creation from two cameras aboard Webb, in mid-infrared and near-infrared.
SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI)
In July, Webb captured the Southern Ring Nebula, an enormous cloud of dust and gas 2,000 light-years away from Earth.
The Southern Ring Nebula, which Webb captured in near-infrared light.
Tendrils of star-forming regions connect the cores of these two merging galaxies and make them much brighter in infrared.
A merging pair of galaxies that Webb captured.
Webb has also pivoted to focus on our solar system, blowing astronomers away with this eerie infrared portrait of Jupiter.
Webb's NIRCam composite image of Jupiter.
NASA, ESA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt
The telescope also captured the faint rings circling Jupiter and auroras glowing at its poles.
A wide-field view of Jupiter that Webb captured.
NASA, ESA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Ricardo Hueso (UPV/EHU) and Judy Schmidt
Jupiter's moon Europa shined brilliantly in Webb's infrared. Scientists think Europa has a saltwater ocean, deep below its thick ice crust, which could harbor alien life.
Jupiter and its moon Europa, left, as seen through the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam instrument.
Webb even spotted Neptune's rings, which are a rare sight.
The Neptune system, which Webb imaged.
It's the best view of the planet's dusty rings since NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Neptune in 1989.
On the left, an image of Neptune's rings that Voyager 2 captured in in 1989. On the right, Neptune's rings that Webb imaged in infrared.
NASA/JPL/ESA/STScI
The new image also shows seven of Neptune's 14 known moons. The bright blue feature that looks like a star is actually Neptune's largest moon, Triton.
Zooming in on Neptune shows Webb captured its rings. Neptune has 14 known satellites, and seven of them are visible in this image.
The infrared telescope also took images of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. It's the only moon in our solar system that has a dense atmosphere — four times denser than Earth's.
Evolution of clouds on Titan over 30 hours between November 4 and November 6, 2022, as seen by Webb's near-infrared camera on the left.
NASA, ESA, CSA, Webb Titan GTO Team/Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Webb captured NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft successfully slamming into the asteroid Dimorphos, as part of the first-ever planetary defense test.
This image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera instrument shows Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet in the double-asteroid system of Didymos, about 4 hours after NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test made impact.
NASA, ESA, CSA, Cristina Thomas (Northern Arizona University), Ian Wong (NASA-GSFC) IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
In just over five months of scientific operations, Webb has captured several beautiful shots of the cosmos.
An entwined pair of interacting galaxies, around 270 million light-years from Earth, imaged by Webb.
ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus & A. Evans; Acknowledgement: R. Colombari
Scientists stress it's just the beginning for NASA's most powerful telescope.
Stephan's Quintet is shown here taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA James Webb Space Telescope Galaxies | 2022-12-25T12:36:49Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Best Images NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Took in Year One | https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-best-images-from-first-year-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-best-images-from-first-year-2022-12 |
This year, especially, Americans have been eager to experience life in Europe. They have looked to buy properties not only in Portugal, but in France, Italy, and Greece — thanks to the rise of remote work and a relatively strong dollar.
Porto, Portugal, where Cordova and her family moved.
Another view of beautiful Porto.
artem evdokimov/Shutterstock
Real Estate Portugal Moving | 2022-12-25T17:10:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | Moving to Portugal Saved a Family $5,000/month but Had Surprising Costs | https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-to-portugal-saved-money-but-had-surprising-costs-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-to-portugal-saved-money-but-had-surprising-costs-2022-12 |
Ben Brimelow and Jake Epstein
"During Christmas Day our fellows and the Saxons fixed up a table between the two trenches and they spent a happy time together, and exchanged souvenirs and presented one another with little keepsakes," one British soldier wrote.
Though truces were implemented in some combat areas, they were not upheld everywhere along the Western Front, and fighting did occur in some places during the holidays, according to London's Imperial War Museum.
NOW WATCH: How a black cop infiltrated the KKK — the true story behind Spike Lee's 'BlacKkKlansman'
Military and Defence Christmas world war 1 | 2022-12-25T18:41:51Z | www.businessinsider.com | The True Story of WWI Stopping for Enemy Armies to Celebrate Christmas | https://www.businessinsider.com/christmas-truce-1914-world-war-i-2017-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/christmas-truce-1914-world-war-i-2017-12 |
Twitter logo displayed on a cellphone with Elon Musk and the Twitter bird in the background.
Twitter is fighting a lawsuit by a group of employees whose layoffs take effect in the new year.
The employees, part of mass layoffs since Elon Musk took over, want more than a month's severance.
Twitter's lawyers argue that many employees received the legally required notice before layoffs.
Twitter is asking a California federal court to throw out a proposed class action suit by a group of employees suing over "mass layoffs" at the social media platform since Elon Musk took over.
On Friday, Twitter asked the court to either transfer the allegations to Delaware — where disputes over Twitter's acquisition by Musk are to take place under the terms of the deal — or to dismiss potential class allegations in the suit.
Twitter has argued that the employees who brought the lawsuit themselves have different circumstances, and that they haven't properly stated what broad claims a large potential class of Twitter employees would have.
One of the employees in the group which filed the suit was already laid off, while the others' official end dates at Twitter are in January and February 2023, according to an updated version of the employees' complaint filed earlier this month.
Twitter's lawyers argued that the employees had made "vague, imprecise" claims about a collective group of Twitter employees' they're hoping to represent, and asked the court to dismiss their effort to bring claims covering such a large base of employees.
"Plaintiffs do not even attempt to define a class, making only passing reference to 'thousands of other Twitter employees,' or 'other similarly situated Twitter employees,'" Twitter argued in a court filing on Dec. 23.
An attorney for the employees, Shannon Liss-Riordan, told Insider Sunday night that she and the employees she represents are "confident in our claims."
"We will do everything necessary to protect the rights of Twitter employees," Liss-Riordan said.
"We call on Elon Musk to show some holiday spirit and honor the law and promises made to Twitter employees," she added. "If not, we are ready to take him on in 2023."
Twitter's attorneys did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Sunday night.
The lawsuit was filed by a group of Twitter employees who are arguing that the layoffs happened so unexpectedly, and offered so little severance, that it went against assurances they'd been given by the company's previous leadership before Musk's purchase became official.
The employees claimed they'd expected, for instance, that they could keep working remotely for a year after the takeover, but Musk instructed employees to return to the office. They alleged also that many of them are being offered just one month's severance pay, instead of two months or more, as they said Twitter had typically done before Musk's takeover.
Twitter's lawyers told the court that the employees who brought the lawsuit have varying issues, and should be dealt with differently. Only one of them, for instance, has already been pushed out — Emmanuel Cornet, who alleged he was laid off on Nov. 1 without any notice.
The other employees, who are only officially being let go over the next two months, have received the requisite 60 days notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, a federal law that asks large companies to properly alert staff to mass layoffs, Twitter has told the court.
Twitter has also argued that some of the employees in this group are bound by arbitration and that that's where their claims should play out.
Elon Musk Twitter lawsuit | 2022-12-26T02:09:40Z | www.businessinsider.com | Twitter Wants Employees' 'Mass Layoffs' Claims Thrown Out | https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-wants-employees-mass-layoffs-claims-thrown-out-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-wants-employees-mass-layoffs-claims-thrown-out-2022-12 |
Traveling to Antarctica
Tourism to Antarctica is booming post-pandemic, with an expected 100,000 people visiting this season.
I voyaged to the continent on Intrepid Travel’s expedition cruise ship and it was a life-changing experience.
Here’s what to expect on the one-in-a-lifetime adventure, from facing the Drake Passage to riding zodiacs.
When I first decided I wanted to go to Antarctica, I had no idea where to start.
I knew a few things, like the fact I'd need to travel by ship and leave out of South America, but I was pretty naive to factors like costs and how to pack.
The Ushuaia sign in Argentina.
But, after a wild adventure across the infamous Drake Passage and plenty of amazing experiences on my seventh continent, I've learned where I went right, and where I went wrong.
A mountain in Antarctica.
Here are the 9 things I think everyone should know before leaving on Intrepid Travel's nearly two-week "Best of Antarctica" voyage.
The Ocean Endeavour in port in Ushuaia, Argentina.
1: Yes, it will cost you an arm and a leg to get to Antarctica. But, you can get a cheaper rate if you're willing to share a cabin with a stranger.
The Ocean Endeavour.
Because the white desert is so isolated, it takes a lot of time, fuel, and manpower to get there, forcing companies to charge a pretty penny for the once-in-a-lifetime trips.
Leaving Ushuaia.
For my nine-day cruise, I paid $5,700 for a triple interior cabin, which came with single beds, one shower, and two random female roommates.
I was in the "quad-room" but it was sold as a triple, and my roommate were lovely and drama-free. And, please excuse the mess, it was a hectic embarkation day.
My rate was purchased as a Black Friday sale in November 2019, though I was slapped with a $456 "fuel surcharge" in August 2022 due to rising prices.
The possible fee is in Intrepid’s contract, and it is now included in the posted rates for future Intrepid Antarctic cruises.
Rising fuel costs, as well as surging demand, are pushing rates up, with the most expensive cabins — singles and suites — going for $10,000 to $18,000 during Intrepid's 2023/2024 season.
My friend had a room with two twin beds and two berths that folded down, meaning four people could sleep in the cabin. She had no roommates though.
These rooms are private and can be booked by a solo traveler, though rooms with double beds will require an additional single supplement charge.
Ocean Endeavour's owner's suite.
According to Intrepid, its twin, triple, and quad rooms are shared, though its Ocean Endeavour only puts three people in its four-person cabin. However, contact the company if you're unsure about your rooming selection.
The layout of the three other triple rooms only had three beds but had two showers. It was a little more narrow than mine, and the closets were smaller.
The base rate I paid for the tour included three meals a day, a hotel stay for the night before embarkation, expedition guides, and all the Antarctic sightseeing. But, it wasn't my only expense.
I also had to pay about $1,000 total for roundtrip flights from the US to Ushuaia via Buenos Aires…
…as well as $300 for camping and $150 for snowshoeing. The latter I had to sign up for on the boat, though neither excursion went due to poor weather at the landing sites
The expedition guides showed us how to use the day paddle, snowshoeing, and camping equipment. I had to sign up for camping in advance as spots are limited.
The boat has WiFi, but its unavailable more times than not, and it costs $20 for 30 minutes, $50 for 90 minutes, or $100 for 200 minutes. I bought 90 minutes for emergencies.
Penguins on Antarctica.
Souvenirs from the boat's onboard shop, as well as alcohol from the bar, were also an additional cost. However, Intrepid allowed us to bring wine and beer for free.
There was no bottle fee in the dining room for wine either.
2: You will leave out of southern cities in South America, and getting there isn't always easy.
My cruise departed out of Ushuaia, Argentina, which is the world's southern-most city. Some ships leave from other places, like Punta Arenas, Chile, but I will focus on my experience getting in and out of Ushuaia.
I was booked on flights on Aerolineas Argentinas from Miami to Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, and back the same way. But, the airline changed my return flight from Buenos Aires, not only amending the time, but also the arrival airport.
Inside Aerolineas Argentinas' Boeing 737. A few other carriers like Flybondi and JetSmart also operate the route.
Instead of flying into the international airport and easily connecting to my Miami-bound flight, I was re-booked onto a flight to the domestic airport, which is about 45 minutes away by car — and my connection was shortened to just two and a half hours.
BA sign in Buenos Aires.
It was a stressful journey home, to say the least, but Aerolineas put me on standby for an earlier flight from Ushuaia to help me out.
My boarding pass for the earlier flight.
Although I got lucky, I would not fly out the same day as disembarkation if I were to do it again. Instead, I would fly out the next morning, giving me more time between flights, as my return to Miami left at 11:30 p.m.
My Aerolineas Argentinas plane in Miami.
3: You don't need to bring a lot of clothes, but don't forget things like binoculars, hand warmers, sunscreen, and ChapStick.
When checking in at the hotel in Ushuaia, I saw people with several large suitcases and carry-ons, as well as backpacks and camera bags. And that was all for just one or two people.
Our luggage was already in our rooms before we boarded the ship.
What I learned is that you can survive with one checked bag, or even just a carry-on and a personal item — which is the route I took.
My 35L Cotopaxi carry on backpack (below) and 20L person item (above). I also only brought a carry-on because of my tight connection in Buenos Aires on the way home.
The reason I say to pack light, assuming Antarctica is your only stop on this trip and you don't require extra items for personal reasons, is three-fold.
I understand camera bags can take up a lot of space, so bringing a checked bag is sometimes unavoidable. But, hopefully these tips help you determine what you can leave at home, and give you more packing space!
One — heavy jackets and muck boots are included in Intrepid's tour price, and the same goes for most other operators, so you can leave those at home.
The parkas and boots can be stored in assigned lockers in the ship's mud room on deck 4, which is where everyone got ready before going out on the zodiacs.
The windproof and waterproof parkas are typically a bright color and will keep you warm off the ship. Intrepid allowed us to keep our Kathmandu puffer, but the parka and boots were for rental only and provided after embarkation.
The branded Kathmandu jacket was black with a 600 synthetic fill.
Two — the ship is hot, so you will not need to wear layers on the boat, and only closed-toed shoes are allowed.
The Compass Club stretched the side of deck 6 and is where people spent time reading or socializing.
I suggest rotating T-shirts, leggings, and jeans, and only bringing one pair of good tennis shoes. You won't need heels, hiking boots, or sandals, unless, of course, you're spending extra time in another destination before or after Antarctica.
People sitting inside the Nautilus Lounge on embarkation day.
Three — laundry onboard the Ocean Endeavour was $39 for a full load of clothes, and some companies offer the service for free.
A laundry bag was left on the side table by my bed with information on the service. For layering, I suggest synthetic or merino wool layers — not cotton.
Moreover, Intrepid's tour is in Antarctica for up to four days, so you only need a few layer pieces — especially if they are merino wool, which is anti-odor and can be worn several times before washing.
I packed 7 tops, 5 bottoms, wool socks, gloves, a beanie, a buff, ski goggles, and a medicine kit in my carry-on. My personal item held toiletries, electronics, my water bottle, and a small purse. If I went back, I would leave my sweatshirt and jeans at home.
The one thing I regret not bringing is a pair of binoculars as it would've made the sometimes distant wildlife much easier to see. But I'm glad I brought my SPF 40 chapstick and hand warmers, the latter I actually preferred for my boots.
A chinstrap penguin on a small iceberg.
4: The Drake Passage is no joke, so do not forget seasickness medicine.
Videos on social media over the past few weeks have painted a worrisome picture of the rough sea between South America and Antarctica. And, they aren't too far off.
On my trip, 30+ mile per hour gale-force winds and some 15-foot waves rocked the boat back and forth, making it difficult to walk, causing food to fall off tables, and knocking some passengers out of their beds at night.
The journey through the Drake lasted about two days each way, and the movement made a lot of people seasick. Fortunately, I avoided the nausea thanks to the Scopolamine patches prescribed by my doctor.
The Scopolamine patch goes behind your ear. My doctor instructed me to only use half of the patch, which I put on about three hours before setting sail. It works for three days before needing to switch it out.
I didn't experience any side effects from the patch, like blurry vision, though some did. So, I recommend bringing an additional anti-nausea medicine, like Dramamine, but don't use them together.
5: This is an expedition, so don't expect to drink mojitos by the pool or see Broadway performances in a giant theater.
Most spaces had minimal seating or decor because everything would slide or fall when sailing through the Drake Passage.
The Ocean Endeavour is a robust polar ship built for cruises to the Arctic and Antarctic, so it comes with the essentials, like cabins, lounges, and a dining room.
It also has an onboard spa, a gym, a pool, and a hot tub, but that's about as far as the luxuries go. And, as you can imagine, the pool was never open, and the jacuzzi was only available half the time.
There is no casino, no steakhouse or sushi bar, and you can forget about a dance club. But, that doesn't mean you won't feel at home in your tiny Antarctic community.
We enjoyed a champagne toast on the last night of the voyage.
The small, 200-person ship made it easy to meet other travelers and socialize. Many people played games in the lounges, while others spent time reading or streaming pre-downloaded movies and TV shows.
Playing cards in the lounge between zodiac rides.
Moreover, the tour guides prepared daily science presentations, which covered everything from polar birds and seals to tectonic plates and the history of Antarctic expeditions.
A Southern Ocean bird.
Courtesy of H.D. Hunt
Fortunately, I ended up meeting nine other travelers on my first day — some solo and a few in pairs — and we spend the entire trip together. So, don't be worried about going alone as there will be others wanting to make new friends.
6: You will get wet on the zodiac boats, and it can be a bumpy ride.
Sitting on the zodiac.
Once cruise ships arrive in Antarctica, they can't actually dock at any landing site. Instead, a fleet of rubber zodiac boats is used to ferry passengers to and from shore.
The boats carry up to 10 people and are operated by expedition guides. Guests will either go to land and walk on the continent, or spend time zipping around just looking at the glaciers, icebergs, and wildlife.
A shot of a zodiac and an iceberg taken by my friend from our zodiac.
When in the zodiacs, the weather can change dramatically and rough waves can make the ride a little nerve-wracking. The photos below were taken about 25 minutes apart.
The photo on the left shows sunny skies and we could see the mountains around us. The photo on the right is blizzard conditions with clouds blocking the scenery.
Considering you can have sunny skies one minute and blizzard conditions the next, you need to be prepared to get wet. Intrepid required us to bring waterproof pants — I went with REI — and those that didn't could buy some onboard.
Two of my friends cuddled for warmth as we made our way back to the ship. If you think you'll be cold, then don't hesitate to wear an extra layer. You can always take it off.
While the zodiac is really fun, unfortunately, there have been a few deaths this season due to people falling off.
Getting off the zodiac during bad weather.
Source: Travel Weekly
With that said, it is extremely important to use care when getting on and off the zodiacs — don't be afraid to take assistance from your guides — and only stand when given permission.
On of my Antarctic buds, Ashley, standing on the zodiac after being given permission by our guide. I'm next to her waving.
7: There are strict rules to follow when stepping on Antarctica.
Our first Antarctica landing.
According to the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators, which encourages responsible travel to the continent, 100 people from a single vessel can be on each landing at one time.
This means our 200-person boat broke up landings into groups. If you make it to shore, be aware that you cannot let anything touch the ice, except for your boots and walking sticks.
We saw a whale while cruising around Antarctica on a zodiac.
This is to prevent the spread of the avian flu that has been impacting some bird populations, and IAATO worries it could reach the Antarctic penguin populations.
All guests were instructed to sterilize their boots and trekking poles before leaving the ship. Moreover, we were told to have our cameras out and ready before getting off the zodiac.
After the first day on the zodiac, I left my backpack behind and only brought my trekking pole and my iPhone for photos.
8: Things will likely not go to plan, so expect itineraries to change and be flexible.
The Ocean Endeavour with a chinstrap penguin.
While Intrepid planned to spend four days in Antarctica, our trip was cut short to just two and a half days due to a monster storm.
The captain explained the reasoning and while we were all disappointed, we understood the urgency of getting back to Argentina safely.
The map of sites we'd landed in Antarctica, and some we hoped to go to but were unable.
What I learned is to be ready for plans to change, whether that means not getting to camp, not doing a specific shore landing, or being forced to go home early.
One zodiac cruise destination was a 1915 shipwreck. The ship is called the Guvernøren and intentionally beached itself at Foyn Harbour after catching fire.
For example, Intrepid told us we'd be landing at a site with a scientific research station, but ice prevented us from going to shore, so we spent hours on the zodiacs instead.
Views of the research station.
However, this actually provided the best view of whales, seals, and icebergs, so I didn't mind. I decided early that I'd just go with the flow and enjoy my time on my seventh continent.
A close up shot my friend got of a seal during one of our zodiac rides.
9: Going to Antarctica is not 100% environmentally friendly, though Intrepid tries.
View of the Ocean Endeavour from the zodiac.
According to a study from NC State University, tourism to Antarctica could stress out and distract penguins on Barrientos Island — one of the most heavily visited areas on the continent.
Co-author Yu-Fai Leung said the penguins may already be adapted to humans since people have been visiting the area since 2005, but IAATO still needs to "balance tourism demand with conservation needs."
Me standing more than the required distance away from the penguins. Intrepid gave us strict parameters for where we could walk on shore.
In addition to potentially harming wildlife, cruise ships are inherently bad for Earth's oceans. However, Intrepid says it does carbon offset, uses biodegradable cleaning products, and collects sustainability-related scientific data on every voyage.
Intrepid runs a citizen science program on its Antarctic voyages to collect data for environmental programs that study things like whales, seals, and phytoplankton.
Moreover, it did not offer a lot of fish onboard because it could not find a sustainable provider. Though, it still had some fish for those with certain dietary needs.
A sample menu from the first a-la-carte meal. A grilled branzino fillet was always available.
While I try to be environmentally conscious in my day-to-day life, I was also aware of the impact of going to Antarctica and planned accordingly, like reading IAATO's recommendations and listening to my guides.
At the end of the day, I don't regret going to Antarctica, and each person can make that decision for themselves.
It was truly a life-changing experience thanks to the knowledgeable guides and the amazing people I met onboard.
A selfie on the zodiac with one of our guides, Andrew.
And don't skip the polar plunge, if you can. You're attached to a rope and given a shot of vodka afterward to warm you up — it was quite a thrill!
Me taking the polar plunge into Deception Island, which is actually a crater and active volcano.
Features Business Visual Features Cruises | 2022-12-26T11:17:36Z | www.businessinsider.com | 9 Things Everyone Should Know Before Going to Antarctica; Review | https://www.businessinsider.com/9-things-everyone-should-know-before-going-to-antarctica-review-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/9-things-everyone-should-know-before-going-to-antarctica-review-2022-12 |
Bonds look increasingly attractive as equities plummet and recession risks grow. Here's how to invest in fixed income to maximize returns, according to TD Securities' Head of Global Rates Strategy.
"Fixed income starts to look attractive if recession risks are growing," said TD Securities' Priya Misra.
richcano/Getty Images
As equities plunge and recessionary fears grow, bond yields look increasingly enticing.
Priya Misra continues to believe the 10-year US Treasury remains an excellent store of value.
She also recommends offseting front-end bonds with high-yielding mortgage-backed securities.
Over the past few years, assets like energy stocks, cryptocurrencies, and real estate have clamored for their turn in the spotlight. Now it's time for another passing of the torch — but this time to the bond market.
During the years of easy money leading up to 2022, bond yields struggled to entice investors, with the 10-year US Treasury yield rarely climbing above 2.5% in the last decade. But as the equity market continues to get pummeled by rising interest rates and falling earnings margins — with no end in sight — bonds have suddenly begun to look much more appealing.
"Fixed income starts to look attractive if recession risks are growing," said Priya Misra, head of global rates strategy at TD Securities, in a recent interview with Insider. "Through the course of the next year, we are more positive and constructive on fixed income."
Timing is everything when it comes to the bond market, since it's important to lock in higher interest rates before the Federal Reserve begins cutting them again. As for how high the central bank will hike interest rates this time around, Misra is more on the hawkish side, predicting a terminal rate of around 5.5% due to stickier inflation.
Misra also believes that the stock versus bond dichotomy will continue to grow in 2023. "In general, we are negative on equities as an asset class, at least at the start of the year," she added.
Try a barbell strategy to optimize returns
Misra believes that investors are best served by adopting a barbell strategy, buying both the front and back end of the yield curve.
After years of yielding almost zero, front-end bonds and cash are now earning their keep by helping investors mitigate opportunity costs. "You have dry powder; you can invest it when different markets price in recessions," Misra explained. "I think having liquidity is key so that you're not forced to sell in a state where the markets are not super liquid and nobody wants the asset; you'll end up selling at worse levels."
To offset these more liquid assets, Misra recommended investors look to pick up yield, such as with mortgage-backed securities, which she said look attractive at their current spreads. There's also no credit risk to these types of assets, since they're guaranteed by government-backed agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Inflation-linked bonds also stole headlines this year, and Misra said that they'll continue to be a good buy going forward, especially since she believes inflation will remain at around 3% by the end of 2023. But Misra definitely prefers longer-end bonds for their stability in the face of an economic slowdown, and continues to believe that the 10-year US Treasury will be the best store of value for investors over the next decade.
"Over time as inflation comes down and the Fed eases, I would say the 10-year's better than the very front end because I think duration risk is attractive when the economy slows down," she explained. However, Misra believes that the current 10-year Treasury yield of around 3.7% feels a little too low, especially since she forecasts rates climbing slightly higher in the near future.
On the other hand, Misra isn't particularly a fan of investment-grade or high-yield corporate bonds in the backdrop of falling earnings. "Investors may want to demand more spread for buying corporate bonds in an environment where growth is slowing and it's not clear which corporate can handle the rise in interest rates easier," she explained. While investment-grade bonds have less default risk, Misra believes investors may find it hard to pick and choose winning sectors within a high-interest-rate economy.
Investing bond investing | 2022-12-26T11:17:42Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Invest in Fixed Income to Maximize Returns: TD Securities Head | https://www.businessinsider.com/bond-yields-recession-investing-2023-strategy-fixed-income-td-securities-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/bond-yields-recession-investing-2023-strategy-fixed-income-td-securities-2022-12 |
The former CEO of Alameda Research pleaded guilty to seven counts on December 19.
Caroline Ellison told a judge she's "truly sorry" for her role in defrauding FTX customers.
The former CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research pleaded guilty to seven counts on December 19.
The charges included wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Caroline Ellison apologized for her role in defrauding customers and investors of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, telling a judge she "knew it was wrong," according to a transcript of her plea hearing seen by The New York Times.
The former CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto-trading firm Alameda Research told US District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan federal court "I am truly sorry for what I did. I knew that it was wrong," the newspaper reported.
The 28-year-old was released on a $250,000 bond after pleading guilty to seven counts on December 19 in the FTX case. The charges include wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, according to her plea agreement. The court unsealed the transcript of her plea hearing on December 22.
Ellison told the judge she went along with the decision of her ex-boyfriend Bankman-Fried and others to conceal the close relationship between FTX and Alameda, according to the transcript seen by The Times. She also said she agreed with the decision to divert billions in customer deposits at FTX to pay off loans of Alameda.
"I understood that if Alameda's FTX accounts had significant negative balances in any particular currency, it meant that Alameda was borrowing funds that FTX's customers had deposited on the exchange," according to a transcript of the hearing reported by Bloomberg.
She also admitted to FTX executives receiving billions in hidden loans from Alameda, Reuters reported.
A lawyer for Ellison didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider.
Bankman-Fried, 30, faces eight criminal charges stemming from a scheme authorities believe he orchestrated by misappropriating billions in customer deposits to fuel trading at Alameda, pay off loans, buy real estate, lend money to FTX executives, and make millions in campaign contributions.
He was extradited last week from the Bahamas, where FTX was based, after being arrested on December 12. Pictures showed him "chilling" in the American Airlines lounge at JFK Airport before heading to his parents' home in California on December 22.
Caroline Ellison Alameda research FTX Exchange | 2022-12-26T11:17:54Z | www.businessinsider.com | Caroline Ellison Said She's 'Truly Sorry' for Defrauding FTX Customers | https://www.businessinsider.com/caroline-ellison-said-shes-truly-sorry-for-defrauding-ftx-customers-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/caroline-ellison-said-shes-truly-sorry-for-defrauding-ftx-customers-2022-12 |
How 7 content creators built brands beyond fan merchandise and launched successful businesses
Content creators are turning their online brands into lucrative businesses.
graphic: Insider; photos: courtesy of Kaur, Kenny, Yoo, and Kerrigan
Many content creators have used their success to launch brands, turning followers into customers.
Some created products based on their content, while others launched funding initiatives.
Seven creators share their advice for making the leap to entrepreneurship.
Liah Yoo started filming YouTube videos in 2012 with no intention of becoming an entrepreneur. Instead, she aimed to share her love for the beauty industry and her acne journey with followers while balancing a job in the corporate world.
"I was interacting with millions of different people as a content creator," Yoo, who lived in South Korea at the time, said. "I had the ability to connect with my potential consumer on a daily basis."
Three years later, she took her content creation side hustle full-time, building intimate relationships with her followers in ways corporate companies or large businesses can't because of their size, she said. Those connections allowed her to discover a void in the beauty market and, in 2017, she launched the cruelty-free vegan brand KraveBeauty. Her business booked eight figures in sales in 2021, documents verified by Insider show, and Yoo continues her content creation to fuel her success, she said.
Yoo is one of many creators who have used their achievements to launch brands in recent years, turning loyal followers into loyal customers. Some created products while others launched funding initiatives.
Creating "pushed me naturally into the direction" of launching a brand, Yoo said. While it's a natural progression for some, not all creator brands are successful. For instance, Arielle Charnas' Something Navy, a clothing brand that evolved from her fashion blog, is struggling, and Tati Westbrook closed her beauty brand in 2021 after two years, Insider previously reported.
To understand how to successfully make the leap, Insider spoke with Yoo and six additional creators who've built brands beyond fan merchandise. Here's their advice on leveraging an online profile to find and launch new business opportunities.
Case Kenny
Case Kenny turned his social-media platform into a podcast and a wellness brand.
courtesy of Kenny
Name: Case Kenny
Business venture: Kenny is the founder of the New Mindset, Who Dis brand, which includes a podcast, mindfulness journals, and a candle collection. Kenny also partnered with the card company What Do You Meme for a card game on mindfulness called "Better Than Yesterday." His businesses under the umbrella company 216 Ventures.
Success metrics: Kenny's company brought in more than $3.2 million in sales in 2021, documents verified by Insider show.
Platforms: Instagram, TikTok, Spotify
A post shared by Case Kenny (@case.kenny)
Advice on creating an ecosystem:
Known for posting inspirational and motivational quotes on social media, Kenny said he found success by building multiple branches of his mindfulness brand. He's expanded from his initial model of posting social quotes into an online presence, podcast, and products. Each of these branches goes hand in hand, he said.
"It's essential that you create an ecosystem where everything is connected," Kenny said. "Test a subject matter on one channel and if it does well, you test it some more. Then if it does really well, you build a product and you sell it."
One aspect of the ecosystem will lead followers to the next, he added.
Dede Raad
Dede Raad is a content creator and investor who founded the fashion-and-travel blog Dress Up Buttercup.
courtesy of Raad
Name: Dede Raad
Business venture: In 2015, Raad launched Dress Up Buttercup, a fashion-and-travel blog. In November 2022, she expanded her brand to include Build Up Buttercup, a "Shark Tank"-like pitch competition that helps other entrepreneurs launch their own businesses.
Success metrics: Dress Up Buttercup generated seven figures in revenue in 2021, documents verified by Insider show. In 2022, through Build Up Buttercup, Raad invested in two new businesses, where she's now an equity owner.
Platforms: Instagram, TikTok
A post shared by Dede Raad (@dressupbuttercup)
Advice on finding business opportunities that fit:
As a blogger and content creator who'd found success in the digital space, Raad was eager to experiment with another business avenue. However, as a mom with a full-time content-creation job, she knew launching a new product wasn't the right fit. Instead, she decided on investing.
"Find the niche that you're passionate about so you won't get burned out," she said. "People can see right through you if you're not taking it seriously."
She shared Build Up Buttercup, a four-episode pitch competition, on her social-media platforms in November 2022.
"My community is the reason why I do what I do," Raad said. In an effort to help her followers and fellow entrepreneurs find success, she both invested in their brands and connected them with other investors through the series. "We're all in it together to support these small businesses and see what good ideas are out there," she said.
Erim Kaur
Erim Kaur, the founder of ByErim.
courtesy of Kaur
Name: Erim Kaur
Business venture: ByErim, a hair-care brand selling oils, shampoo, and other hair tools that Kaur launched in 2019.
Success metrics: ByErim brought in more than $700,000 in net sales in 2021 and has sold more than $3 million worth of products in the company's lifetime.
Platforms: Instagram, TikTok, Youtube
A post shared by ByErim (@byerim)
Advice on turning rejection into redirection:
Kaur had a difficult time getting manufacturers to work with her in the initial phases of her business development, she said. Some didn't take her seriously because of her age and thought she was incapable of running a product-based company without supervision, Kaur said. Others required too many orders for her to afford, she said. But those rejections were crucial parts of her journey.
"One manufacturer said to me, 'You need to work backward. Where do you want to be, what's your goal with the business? Start there,'" Kaur said.
After that conversation, Kaur determined her long-term goals, properly registered the company, obtained all the necessary certifications, and completed lab testing on her products. Those steps were vital in the future success of her brand, she said.
Katie Sands turned her online presence into an on-air career.
courtesy of Sands
Name: Katie Sands
Business venture: Sands grew her social presence by posting pictures of her personal style and costumes from her theatre performances. She expanded that into freelance on-air opportunities, including a full-time role with Cheddar News.
Success metrics: Sands brought in five figures for a 12-segment contract as a freelance broadcaster covering style trends in June 2022, which Insider verified with documentation.
A post shared by Katie Sands Bochner (@itskatiesands)
Advice on constantly pitching yourself for new opportunities:
You have to hustle in the TV industry, Sands said.
"I'm still constantly pitching myself to different producers," she said. Sands suggested finding producers of the shows you like on LinkedIn and sending them your reel, ideas you have for segments, and reasons you'd be the best for the role.
It's through constantly pitching herself that Sands landed a contract role in July with Cheddar News. She joined the team as a summer correspondent to cover pop culture, fashion, and what was trending on social platforms.
Then, based on the success of the show, the network brought her on as a full-time anchor.
"I'm learning so much that I didn't know before about the market and finance," Sands said. "It just goes to show that, if you are really open to new opportunities and to learning a new skill, social media can help you open the door for anything."
Liah Yoo
Liah Yoo is the founder of KraveBeauty.
courtesy of Yoo
Name: Liah Yoo
Business venture: KraveBeauty, a skincare brand founded in 2017.
Success metrics: KraveBeauty hit eight figures in 2021 sales, documents verified by Insider show.
Platforms: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok
A post shared by KraveBeauty (@kravebeauty)
Advice on determining your next product:
As a content creator, Yoo said to use your everyday interactions with followers to determine what's missing in the market.
"A lot of the time, early-stage startups and entrepreneurs who don't have the content-creation experience spend the longest time finding that product-market fit," Yoo said. "For content creators, we've already done all the market research: We know what the viewers want, what their lifestyle is, and what their pain points are."
What's more, content creators understand what kind of messaging resonates with consumers. That knowledge shouldn't get lost once you build a brand, Yoo said. That genuine connection and trust will keep followers coming back as paying customers.
Serena Kerrigan launched her card game "LFD" in 2020.
courtesy of Kerrigan
Name: Serena Kerrigan
Business venture: Kerrigan launched her card game, "Let's Fucking Date," in September 2020.
Success metrics: The card game booked six figures in sales in both 2021 and 2022, and has surpassed $1 million in total sales since launch, according to documents shared with Insider. Kerrigan also launched a line with the earring company Studs in November and multiple items sold out, Kerrigan's team told Insider.
A post shared by SERENA FUCKING KERRIGAN (@serenakerrigan)
Advice on fostering a community:
Kerrigan said her growth can be attributed to her close relationships with her followers.
"I create very little distance between me and my followers," she said, adding that reposting customer testimonials in her Instagram stories, replying to comments, holding meet-and-greets, and chatting in her Geneva account — a social-media platform for group chats — helps foster those relationships.
Kerrigan believes communication is a two-way street and that content creators need to remember this when they're asking followers to spend their money.
"If you don't care about your community, then how are they going to care enough about you to buy a product?" Kerrigan said. "There are a million card games, but people feel gravitated to buy my game because of me and the brand."
Seth Fowler
Seth Fowler, left, and Osman Cueto, the cofounders of Apthcry.
courtesy of Fowler
Name: Seth Fowler
Business venture: Seth Fowler cofounded Apthcry, a sock company, with Osman Cueto in July 2020.
Success metrics: The brand sold more than $700,000 in socks from January to November 2022, documents show, and Fowler expects to hit $1 million in sales by the end of 2022.
A post shared by Seth Fowler (@realsethfowler)
Advice on keeping online content interesting for customers:
Fowler started his career as a sneaker commentator online, where he'd discuss new releases and his own collection. That naturally transitioned into a sock brand when he decided to launch a product, but he still maintains his influencing career, he said.
"The biggest thing I've realized is that, unfortunately, in any niche that's dependent on a product, there's going to be ebbs and flows in the popularity," Fowler said.
To address those inevitable challenges, he's finding ways to keep sneakers interesting — like designing and testing new video and promotional strategies on YouTube and TikTok. For example, he's focusing on YouTube Shorts more than long-form content, where he initially grew his following.
"A regular video will do 60,000 to 100,000 views, but a short will get 4 million in a week," he said. "That's been a big part of the current strategy."
Fowler suggested consistently putting out content to increase your following, even if social media alone isn't paying the bills right away.
Features Social Media Marketing Influencer | 2022-12-26T11:18:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Build a Business From Content Creation on Social Media | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-build-business-from-content-creation-million-dollar-revenue-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-build-business-from-content-creation-million-dollar-revenue-2022-12 |
A pair of Nike Air Jordan 1 lows
Nike's still sitting on more than $9 billion in inventory.
In the most recent quarter, Nike finally posted a sales gain in China.
New Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden could reinvigorate the rivalry with Nike.
In the 1980s, early Nike executive Bob Woodell described ballooning inventory as "a cancer that was going to eat us alive."
While Nike executives no longer speak with the candor of the founding cast, the basic concept hasn't changed: Inventory can be deadly for sportswear companies.
It's also one of the big questions for Nike heading into 2023. Insider spoke with Wall Street analysts about what to expect from the company next calendar year. Top of mind with stock pickers: Nike needs to shed inventory and get sales growing more in China. Analysts are also wondering how much competition Nike will face from Adidas under its new CEO Bjørn Gulden.
"Inventory levels are going to be key"
In December, Nike reported a 43% jump in inventory, three months after it reported a 44% increase and said it would cut prices to clear out stockrooms. Nike now has more than $9.3 billion in footwear and apparel on its balance sheet.
On a December call with analysts, Nike executives downplayed the severity of the inventory bloat, noting strong demand for Nike products and residual impact of the supply chain snarls that dinged most retailers in recent years.
"Inventory levels are going to be key (in 2023)," Brian Yarbrough, an Edward Jones senior research analyst, told Insider. "Any time you're very promotional like you are right now, then the issue becomes: Can you go back to full price?"
"It's all about China"
China's also a primary concern for Nike. The country's size, rapid growth, and digital-savvy consumers make it a critical, high-margin market for sportswear brands trying to grow sales.
But Nike's China sales in the fiscal year that ended May 31 decreased 9% to $7.5 billion. The country accounted for 17% of Nike's sales, but 28% of its income before taxes.
"It's all about China," Poonam Goyal, senior e-commerce and athleisure analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, told Insider. "China is a growth engine for a lot of these athletic brands, not just Nike. Where is the next leg of growth going to come from? It's going to come from China. If we don't start to see a recovery there soon, it's going to prolong their growth profile."
Before the December earnings report, Simeon Siegel, managing director for equity research at BMO Capital Markets, told Insider Nike appeared to be turning a corner in China.
He called it correctly.
For the quarter that ended November 30, Nike reported a 6% sales increase in China, not including currency charges. On the analyst call, CEO John Donahoe said the company is finding success making "localized product" for the market.
"We believe that China remains a growth market with significant potential to unlock," he said. "Our team has just done a phenomenal job over the last 10 weeks, but also over the last several years."
Reinvigorating a rivalry?
Analysts also think new Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden, who previously worked as CEO of Puma, could reinvigorate the rivalry with Nike.
Nike and Adidas have been rivals for decades, but in recent years Nike's put a significant amount of daylight between itself and its closest rival. In its most recent fiscal year, Nike had $46.7 billion in sales. Adidas reported $21.2 billion in 2021 sales.
But Gulden could put a new charge in the decades-long feud. At Puma, he gave the brand a boost by growing its relevance with celebrities, including J. Cole, Jay-Z, Kylie Jenner, Nipsey Hussle, Rihanna, and Selena Gomez. He also got shoes on the feet of high-profile athletes, including Brazilian soccer star Neymar and NBA player Kyle Kuzma.
He could give Adidas a similar one-two punch.
"How will that tension shape up the competition landscape? At Puma he didn't have the funding to go big," Goyal said. "But at Adidas he has a much bigger pocket. It'll be an interesting year."
Retail Sportswear Sneakers | 2022-12-26T11:18:43Z | www.businessinsider.com | Nike Analysts Warn of Inventory, China, and Adidas Concerns | https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-analysts-warn-inventory-china-adidas-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-analysts-warn-inventory-china-adidas-2022-12 |
Asking about pay in a job interview makes you less likely to get hired
You have leverage only once the company decides it wants to hire you.
Research has found managers are less likely to hire people who ask about pay in job interviews.
Asking about pay can make managers think you care more about the rewards than the actual job.
The upshot for job seekers: Be patient. You have leverage only once the company wants to hire you.
No job candidate wants to come across as greedy, selfish, or lazy during an interview. But research suggests that that's exactly how hiring managers will perceive you if you ask about pay and perks.
Therein lies the job hunter's paradox: You need to earn a living and you want to have a life outside work, but acknowledging that out loud to a prospective employer is a professional no-no.
"It's off-putting to interviewers," Anthony Nyberg, a professor at the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business, told Insider. "It allows them to think you care more about the rewards than the actual job."
The upshot for job seekers is that patience and restraint are key. Remember: You have leverage only once the company decides it wants to hire you.
Nyberg likens it to dating: "Wait till they've fallen in love with you before you start talking about how many children you want to have."
Managers want employees who are 'intrinsically motivated'
Research by Rellie Derfler-Rozin of the University of Maryland and Marko Pitesa of Singapore Management University has found managers are less likely to hire candidates who ask about pay and perks during job interviews. Derfler-Rozin and Pitesa also found that managers rate candidates who ask questions related to the job higher than applicants who also ask about compensation or benefits.
The researchers chalked this up to something called "motivation purity bias" — meaning managers only want to hire people who are intrinsically motivated by the job itself. Of course, this notion is a charade, as few workers can afford not to care about the external rewards of a job like, you know, pay as well as other benefits like flexibility and time off.
Nyberg said that workers who ask about vacation policies are seen in an especially poor light. "It sounds like you're walking in the door saying, 'I don't want to work,'" he said.
There are broad implications for managers who might be missing out on talented candidates merely because they inquire about pay. In particular, managers could overlook job seekers from lower economic backgrounds, who are more likely to need money, and women, who are more likely to be concerned with flexible schedules, childcare, and family-leave policies.
Pay-transparency laws could alleviate some of this tension. Already New York, Nevada, Colorado, and Connecticut have laws that require organizations advertise a pay range up front. California has a similar law set to take effect next year.
And yet reporting by Bloomberg suggests these laws are ineffective. Some employers post artificially low pay bands both to keep wages from rising and also to keep existing employees from discovering they're underpaid, Bloomberg found.
Patience can lead to money
For job seekers, the implications are clear: You need to do as much due diligence as you can on your own about what the job and the company pay.
Erin Andersen, a career-transition coach in New York City, recommends resources like Salary.com and Payscale, which provide salary ranges for job titles and location, complete with a breakdown based on your education, years of experience, and so on. "There's a lot of information out there," she said.
It's wise to wait to ask your would-be boss about pay until you're the leading candidate. From a strategic perspective, you want the employer to be fully invested in you as a contender for the role.
Then, you need to bide your time until you get an offer. "There's very little risk to waiting until the employer brings it up," Nyberg said. "People are afraid they're going to invest all this time in what they think is a $90,000 job and find out it's a $25,000 job, but that really doesn't happen."
Pay Pay Check Pay Transparency | 2022-12-26T11:18:49Z | www.businessinsider.com | Asking About Pay in a Job Interview Makes You Less Likely to Get Hired | https://www.businessinsider.com/ok-to-ask-about-pay-salary-job-interview-hiring-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ok-to-ask-about-pay-salary-job-interview-hiring-2022-12 |
Today's mortgage and refinance rates: December 26, 2022 | Rates down from last month
Mortgage rates have dropped in recent weeks and remain low today. As inflation continues to slow, mortgage rates should keep inching down, as well.
As rates drop throughout the next couple of years, homebuyers should have an easier time finding affordability in the housing market. When rates go down, home shoppers' buying power increases. When home prices are high, low mortgage rates can give people's budgets a much-needed boost. | 2022-12-26T11:18:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Today's Mortgage, Refinance Rates: Dec. 26, 2022 | Rates Down From Last Month | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-monday-december-26-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-monday-december-26-2022-12 |
Meet the 10 most important execs who left Shopify in 2022 — and the 4 who joined
2022 brought a lot of big changes to Shopify's leadership team.
Shopify lost a number of key executives in 2022.
But it also brought in a new CFO, COO, and chief human resources officer.
These were Shopify's biggest hires and departures this year.
Shopify's roller coaster of a year left the company adjusting to a new normal of tightened e-commerce spending.
It also made some major personnel changes, welcoming a new CFO, chief human resources officer, chief revenue officer, and more.
Several high-ranking executives overseeing critical functions left the company in 2022, including vice presidents leading engineering, communications, and growth teams. Longtime COO Toby Shannan also left Shopify after more than a decade at the company; he was replaced by Kaz Nejatian, who was promoted from vice president of product at Shopify.
Here were Shopify's biggest hires and departures in 2022:
Departure: Solmaz Shahalizadeh, vice president and head of data science and engineering
Solmaz Shahalizadeh led all of Shopify's data and machine-learning initiatives. She held various data-science roles at Shopify for more than eight years. Shahalizadeh left the company in March to focus on angel investing with Backbone Angels, an investment collective of female Shopify employees, some current and some former.
Departure: Jon Wexler, vice president of creator program
John Phillips/Getty Images for BoF VOICES
Jon Wexler, who led Shopify's efforts in creator and influencer marketing, departed the e-commerce company to join sportswear manufacturer and retailer Fanatics in March. During his one-and-a-half years at Shopify, he worked on the launch of Yeezy Gap and other celebrity-led projects. Before he came to Shopify, he was the general manager of Yeezy and spent over a decade at Adidas.
Departure: Ian Black, vice president and managing director for revenue
Vice president Ian Black departed Shopify in April. At the time of his departure, he was the head of Shopify's Canadian business. He also previously served as Shopify's head of retail, responsible for setting Shopify's business strategy beyond e-commerce.
Hire: Tia Silas, chief human resources officer
Shopify hired Tia Silas as chief talent officer in April and updated her title to chief human resources officer. She was previously the executive vice president of human resources at Wells Fargo and also held leadership roles at IBM and Pitney Bowes. Silas joined Shopify in the midst of a major overhaul of its compensation structure and has since announced plans to bring similar changes to how the company evaluates its employees' performance.
Departure: Monica Lachance, director of global support
Monica Lachance departed Shopify in May after nearly three years leading its global support organization. Shopify's support division is responsible for troubleshooting issues for Shopify's roughly two million merchants.
Departure: Amy Hufft, vice president of global brand and communications
Amy Hufft led Shopify's marketing across merchant, consumer, corporate, and investor audiences for four years. She was responsible for establishing Shopify's first brand campaigns and for building its global communications efforts. She departed Shopify in June, joining Zoom as head of brand and communications.
Departure: Cathy Polinsky, vice president of engineering for merchant services
Cathy Polinsky led engineering for Shopify's merchant-services division, which includes products like shipping, taxes, retail point-of-sale, marketplace, and international cross-border sales. She departed in July to become the CTO of data-privacy firm DataGrail. Before joining Shopify, she was the chief technology officer at Stitch Fix and held several management roles at Salesforce and Yahoo.
Departure: Colin Bodell, vice president of engineering for Shopify Plus
Business Wire / AP Images
Colin Bodell left Shopify in August to become CTO of Bazaarvoice, a startup specializing in user-generated content for retailers and brands. He spent nearly three years at Shopify leading engineering teams scaling Shopify Plus, the software used by the company's enterprise-level merchants.
Hire: Bobby Morrison, chief revenue officer
In August Bobby Morrison joined Shopify as chief revenue officer — a new role for Shopify, reporting to the COO. He was previously the chief sales officer at Intuit. Before that, he was a vice president at Microsoft, where he was responsible for growing revenue for its small, medium, and corporate segments.
Hire: Erin Pelton, vice president of communications and public affairs
Erin Pelton joined Shopify's communications leadership team in August. She previously worked in the Biden administration as a special assistant to the president and chief of staff at the Domestic Policy Council.
Departure: Amy Shapero, CFO
Shopify announced in September that CFO Amy Shapero would be departing the company after its October earnings call. Shapero had been in the role since 2018 and oversaw Shopify's financials in a period of intense growth for the e-commerce company, especially during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. She was succeeded by former Morgan Stanley banker Jeff Hoffmeister.
Departure: Morgan Brown, vice president of growth
Pavlo Gonchar/Getty Images
Morgan Brown departed Shopify in September after two years as a vice president in its growth division. He joined Instagram as a senior director of product management. He had spent three years in product management at Facebook before working at Shopify.
Hire: Jeff Hoffmeister, CFO
Longtime Morgan Stanley investment banker Jeff Hoffmeister stepped into the CFO role in October. Hoffmeister spent more than 20 years in the tech-investment-banking group at Morgan Stanley. He helped lead Shopify's 2015 IPO in addition to transactions and public debuts for many other tech companies.
Departure: Toby Shannan, COO
COO Toby Shannan retired from his role at Shopify in the fall, after more than a decade at the company. Shopify announced that Shannan would serve as a special advisor through the end of the year, then join the company's board in 2023. He was replaced by Kaz Nejatian, who was previously a vice president of product at Shopify.
Did we miss anyone? Contact this reporter at mstone@insider.com or on Signal at (646) 889-2143.
Features Shopify | 2022-12-26T11:19:01Z | www.businessinsider.com | Shopify Power Players: Who Left and Who Was Hired in 2022 | https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-power-players-who-left-who-was-hired-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-power-players-who-left-who-was-hired-2022-12 |
Michael S. Schwartz/Mikhail Metzel/Getty Images; Courtesy Apple TV; Evan Vucci/AP; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/Insider
Software engineer Brian Feldman created an archive of topics that trended on Twitter this year.
The project revealed themes of global political unrest alongside memes and pop culture trends.
Descriptions of trends showed developers "wrestling" with curating an automated world, he said.
When writer and software engineer Brian Feldman created an archive of topics that trended on Twitter this year, he set out to capture a snapshot of his experience while using the social media platform — and instead found broad themes that revealed global political unrest, pop culture fads, and a company wrestling with how to best explain why people were talking about it at all.
Initially inspired to catalog Twitter's attempts to describe trending current events, Feldman took screenshots of trending topics each time he logged on to the platform, focusing on those that had a staff-created written description about why the topic was trending.
"I didn't want to try and present some sort of objective tabulation of it because there was no way I was ever going to get there," Feldman told Insider. "I would much rather sort of embrace that. Like, this was my experience checking in on Twitter. And maybe you have a similar experience, maybe you have a different one. But, you can only really sort of see that when someone presents something like this."
The list of 457 different trending topics each highlighted a moment that Twitter showed Feldman users commenting en masse about a singular topic. Included among the recorded phrases were "Goth Clowns," a trending misreading of the words "cloth gowns" seen written on a sign, "Seek the Lord," after Christian users posted prayers referencing Isaiah 55:6, and "Red Lobster," following radio show host Jesse Kelly awarding Rep. Lauren Boebert a Red Lobster gift card for being the "hottest woman in Congress."
"I think generally, when these trends appeared, and when they appeared with a written description, they were either people are like, really happy about something, or something has sparked discussion," Feldman said, noting that most descriptions on Twitter that he observed over the course of the project seemed to avoid using negative language to point out why topics were trending.
"RIP Chester," an entry from July 25 reads, with a description elaborating: "Chester Bennington is being remembered after a clip featuring the late singer interacting with a person with a disability during a performance goes viral"
On August 30, a screenshot shows "Jen Psaki" trended with a description that read: "Joe Rogan comments on former White House press secretary Jen saki (sic) during the latest episode of his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast."
From "Adidas" to "Ted Lasso," the trending topics revealed pop culture fads and memes that moved Twitter users to conversation — and often argument — about their preferences and opinions.
"People like an opportunity to share even like their most mundane and strongly held opinions," Feldman said. "So like, there's one where people were weighing in on what the best ginger ale was."
Political themes were especially prevalent, with topics including "America's Hitler," "Ministry of Truth" and "Dobbs" trending, highlighting tension in US politics with conversations about Donald Trump, theBiden administration's attempt at controlling misinformation on Twitter, and the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, respectively.
Internationally, trends like "Cold War," "Russian Warship," and "Taiwan" also demonstrated how political unrest is being felt around the globe.
Often, political conversations on the platform centralized around media personality who had said something controversial, Feldman noted, adding that the ones that were presented to him were most often conservative, despite not posting about his political views on Twitter.
"The sheer number of conservative media figures or politicians that have sort of captured the attention of the platform was sort of surprising to see in aggregate," Feldman, a former writer for The Washington Post, said. "As someone who used to work in media and still has colleagues who work in there or friends who talk about this stuff, it's easy to get numb to like mentions of Ben Shapiro, or Mitch McConnell, or whoever — but it was interesting to see that like, Twitter just sort of puts their names in front of everyone's face. Constantly."
Ben Shapiro, Madison Cawthorn, Lauren Boebert, and Donald Trump were among the most frequent names, Feldman said, often appearing around conversations about Trump's legal troubles or cultural arguments about issues like gun control, "traditional masculinity," and the infrastructure spending package.
Feldman said that, of particular interest, were the staff-generated descriptions on these topics, which revealed how Twitter employees "wrestled" with curating the automatically created lists. The language used in the descriptions was often met with a sort of forced neutrality, Feldman said, where employees attempted to explain without bias why a particular topic was trending.
"I think that sort of interaction between automated systems and people having to wrestle with them and curate them and get them to be more useful than they might be in a fully automated world is interesting," Feldman said. "Obviously, it's something that we struggle with constantly and probably will forever now."
Twitter has come under recent fire over its content moderation practices since Elon Musk purchased the social company for $44 billion in October, including criticism over rising hate speech, an exodus of influential users and advertisers, and threats of international sanctions. Musk has indicated the platform previously censored conservative perspectives, while experts warn his current approach to content moderation is amplifying right-wing extremism and encouraging domestic terrorists.
Twitter Trending Politics | 2022-12-26T11:19:13Z | www.businessinsider.com | Twitter's Hot Topics From 2022 Featured Memes Alongside Global Political Unrest | https://www.businessinsider.com/twitters-topics-this-year-featured-memes-alongside-global-political-unrest-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/twitters-topics-this-year-featured-memes-alongside-global-political-unrest-2022-12 |
Russia said that it shot down a Ukrainian drone near Engels airbase in Russia's Saratov region.
Falling debris from the downed drone killed three Russian military personnel, authorities said.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the drone's presence in the region.
Three military personnel in Russia were killed by debris falling from a downed Ukrainian drone on Monday, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
The drone, which was shot down near the Engels military airbase in Russia's Saratov region, hit and fatally wounded the staff members, a statement from the Defence Ministry, published by Russian news agencies, said.
The Engels airbase is known to house Russian strategic bombers which have been used to strike targets in Ukraine with missiles throughout the war.
"On December 26, at about 01:35 Moscow time, a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region," the Russian Defence Ministry said, per TASS.
"As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian servicemen of the technical staff who were at the airfield were fatally wounded," the ministry said, adding that aviation equipment was not damaged.
The statement came after videos circulated on social media purportedly showing explosions at the airfield.
Saratov governor Roman Busargin said on his Telegram channel that law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident and told local residents that there was no threat to them.
Although Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the drone, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat told national television Monday that incidents like this are the "consequences of Russian aggression," ABC News reported.
"If the Russians thought that the war would not affect them in the deep rear, they were deeply mistaken," he said, according to the outlet.
Ukraine has also not taken responsibility for other recent drone attacks on Russian airbases.
On December 5, drone strikes hit Engels and the Dyagilevo air base, which if confirmed to be by Ukraine would have marked it's deepest attack in Russian territory so far in the war.
Russia Ukraine Drone | 2022-12-26T13:19:33Z | www.businessinsider.com | 3 Dead After Russia Shot Down a Ukrainian Drone Near an Airbase | https://www.businessinsider.com/3-dead-russia-shot-down-ukrainian-drone-air-base-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/3-dead-russia-shot-down-ukrainian-drone-air-base-2022-12 |
Activists hold cancel student debt signs as they gather to rally in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 25, 2022.
Biden announced up to $20,000 in student-debt relief at the end of August.
Since then, two lawsuits have blocked the plan, and its fate rests with the Supreme Court.
Here are 10 borrowers' stories on what they have experienced since Biden's August announcement.
Student-loan borrowers have had quite the year in 2022 — and millions are confused about what it means for their finances in 2023.
In August, a moment millions of federal borrowers had been waiting years for finally arrived when President Joe Biden announced $20,000 in student-debt cancellation for Pell Grant recipients making under $125,000 a year, and $10,000 in relief for other federal borrowers under the same income cap.
While the amount wasn't as expansive as many might have been hoping for — some Democratic lawmakers were pushing the president to cancel $50,000 in student debt — it still marked a significant step toward providing long-awaited relief to millions of Americans.
"For too many people, student loan debt has hindered their ability to achieve their dreams—including buying a home, starting a business, or providing for their family," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said after the loan forgiveness was announced. "Getting an education should set us free; not strap us down!"
But the relief quickly ran into hurdles. Since the loan forgiveness had an income cap, the Education Department was unable to automatically cancel the debt and needed until October to make an online application available for borrowers. Conservative groups used that time to file lawsuits to block the relief, and Biden's administration responding by further narrowing the eligibility for the relief to exclude some borrowers with privately-held loans to avoid litigation.
Still, just weeks after the application opened in early October, a ruling from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals paused the process, barring the department from processing any new applications, and another ruling from a Texas judge later ruled the relief is illegal.
Right before Thanksgiving, Biden extended the student-loan payment pause through June 30 or whenever the lawsuits are resolved — whichever comes first — meaning the fate of the relief ultimately rests with the Supreme Court, who will begin hearing arguments on February 28. Until then, borrowers' financial futures hang in the balance.
2 people whose entire student-debt loads will be wiped out due to Biden's announcement talk about what's next for their futures: 'I get to not worry about losing my home'
Jaymie Horak.
Courtesy of Jaymie Horak
Jamie Horak and Aidan Smith — two student-loan borrowers — were rejoicing just days after Biden made his debt relief announcement.
Prior to the relief, Horak had about $20,000 in student debt and worried about paying down their mortgage when payments resume. But as a Pell Grant recipient, when Horak learned they would get their entire student debt balance wiped out, they were ecstatic.
"When I saw the whole amount, the entire balance, I was elated, relieved, and I felt like, wow, it's kind of the first time I've ever felt directly impacted by something like a political order or passing of something," Horak said.
Smith — another Pell Grant recipient — learned his entire $7,000 remaining balance would be forgiven as well, and not only was he excited for himself, but for millions of others whose lives "are going to transform."
Meet a professor who qualifies for Biden's student-loan forgiveness but still has years of repayment to go and feels 'disheartened' the relief wasn't bigger: 'There's this looming sense of hopelessness'
Nick Garcia, 42, with his wife and three children.
For Nick Garcia, 42, Biden's student-debt relief was bittersweet.
While $10,000 in debt cancellation would certainly make a dent in his $39,000 balance, the college professor recognized that he was still looking ahead at years of repayment and was disappointment Biden didn't seize the opportunity to go even bigger with the relief.
"I feel disheartened because it shows that more can be done at the executive level," Garcia said. "Although I'm glad to see action from Biden that will improve the lives of millions, I don't know that it rises to the moment. It just doesn't resolve our debt crisis."
The student-loan payment pause, on the other hand, was instrumental for Garcia and his family, as it allowed them to save hundreds of dollars a month they put toward house repairs and paying down personal debts.
Still, with Biden framing this loan forgiveness as "one-time" relief, Garcia is concerned that "it sends a message that the fight is over."
Meet a government worker who regrets refinancing her student debt because she didn't know it would block her from federal loan forgiveness: 'I never would have done that'
To qualify for Biden's student-loan forgiveness, a borrower must have federal student loans. That shut Tanya Burnett, 57, out of the relief.
As a government worker, Burnett started her paperwork in 2016 to qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after ten years of qualifying payments.
But when she submitted that paperwork, she was given the option to refinance her student loans with a monthly payment $200 less than what she had previously been paying — from $800 to $600 — which meant taking her federal loans to a private lender.
That seemed like a pretty good deal to her at the time, so she made that switch, but she was never told upfront that doing so would mean losing her federal benefits, like debt relief.
"I thought that lower monthly payment was great," Burnett said. "But if I had known this would totally have taken me out of the federal, and there's no connection at all regarding forgiveness, I never would have done that. It wasn't worth it."
Hours-long hold times with their student-loan company are keeping public servants in a 'limbo period' wondering if they'll get the debt relief they qualify for
Student-loan companies have struggled to adjust to Biden's new policies, and some borrowers have experienced the consequences.
Not only was student-loan company MOHELA tasked with implementing the debt relief, but it was also responsible for overseeing all borrowers enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
Reforms to the program, like allowing past payments to count toward forgiveness progress, expired on October 31, and Nathan — a PSLF borrower — wanted MOHELA to confirm his payments were qualifying. It ended up being a lengthy ordeal.
"The first time I tried to call was a 144 minute estimated wait time," Nathan, 29, said. "The second time I called was a 149 minute wait. And then most recently, I tried to call and it was 50 minutes. And each of these times I didn't have time to wait. I thought it would be a quicker call. And one time I stayed on the call for nearly three hours."
Kate, another PSLF borrower, said it became "virtually impossible" to get ahold of MOHELA to confirm her paperwork went through. The inability to reach the company has kept her and Nathan's finances uncertain as debt relief loomed.
Kristopher Cabreira was "ecstatic" when Biden announced up to $20,000 in debt relief. But a decision the Education Department made on September 29 threw him for a loop.
Cabreira's student loans are federal loans managed by private banks within the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. While borrowers with those loans initially had the option to consolidate their debt into the direct federal loan program, the September guidance stated that past that date, FFEL borrowers cannot consolidate, and therefore, will not be eligible for Biden's one-time student-debt relief.
Biden's administration made this decision in an attempt to avoid a lawsuit filed by six Republican-led states who argued the debt relief would hurt the banks who would've stood to profit from the FFEL program.
But for Cabreira, and the 770,000 other impacted borrowers, it was a gut punch.
"All of a sudden, it got yanked away," Cabreira said. "That could've been $10,000 I didn't have to pay, and now that's gone."
Students from George Washington University wear their graduation gowns outside of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 18, 2022
Stefani Reynolds / AFP)
After two courts decided Biden's student-debt relief plan would be put on pause, Guilherme Lopes, a 31-year-old first generation student, felt defeated.
As a nonprofit worker on a five-figure salary, Lopes was looking forward to $10,000 in relief to help him progress on his repayment quicker and help his family out financially — especially because he said that after immigrating from Brazil to the US, he did not have the knowledge he needed to navigate the financial student-aid system, which is partly why his debt surged.
But the lawsuits that blocked the relief didn't reflect "the American dream that we were promised coming over," Lopes said.
"It's more of the unknown, the uncertainty, it just feels like a really sick game," he continued. "Are we going to get a pause? Are our payments coming back? It's just all unnerving."
Lopes said he has faith the debt relief will ultimately prevail, but he's upset millions of Americans have been put in this position.
Student-loan borrowers and the Too Much Talent Band thank President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for extending the student loan pause and now demand that they cancel student debt at a gathering outside The White House on January 13, 2022.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We, The 45 Million
Matthew, a 28-year-old Republican, would see his entire student-debt balance wiped out under Biden's plan. That doesn't mean he agrees with the policy.
Since Biden announced the loan forgiveness, Matthew said he was skeptical it would ever come to fruition, and he wasn't surprised once the lawsuits started to mount.
"My generation, the millennial, Gen Z generation, are facing a significant problem with student-loan debt," he said. "I feel as though that the administration, through their strongest intent and their sincerest desires, were trying to help that generation with this policy. However, I personally believe it's the wrong policy and was, quite frankly, an illegal policy."
He, along with other conservative lawmakers, share the belief that canceling student debt is unfair to high earners and people who researched how their educations would pay off, and he said he's worried for the people who were banking on forgiveness and already spent the money as the relief remains held up in court.
Meet an adjunct professor with $230,000 in student debt who worries payments will restart without Biden's loan forgiveness: 'It will be an excuse to say they'd done all they can'
Timothy Babulski, a 44-year-old adjunct professor, knows $10,000 in relief would hardly make a difference to his $230,000 balance.
But he hopes millions of other federal borrowers can experience some relief before they are thrown back into repayment.
Through recently announced reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, Babulski is hoping to get more payments counted toward his forgiveness progress once they are implemented. But his concern right now is that if Biden's debt relief ultimately gets struck down, the White House won't pursue any alternative routes to get promised relief to millions. | 2022-12-26T13:20:10Z | www.businessinsider.com | 10 Student-Loan Borrowers Explained Uncertainty of Debt Relief | https://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-student-loan-borrowers-doing-biden-announced-debt-relief-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-student-loan-borrowers-doing-biden-announced-debt-relief-2022-12 |
26 AI experts who left Google to start new companies in 2022 as machine learning ushers in a new era of lifelike AI
Adept AI team.
Adept AI
A wave of new startups former Google AI experts have launched hit the scene in 2022.
They've collectively raised hundreds of millions of dollars and are build next-generation AI tools.
Here are 26 former Google employees who left in roughly the last year, identified by Insider.
Buzzy new AI tools like DALL-E 2 and the recently-released ChatGPT are making it clear that the AI field is evolving at a blistering pace — and it only seems to be accelerating.
OpenAI, the company behind DALL-E 2 and ChatGPT, is among several companies producing such tools, including Facebook, Google, Hugging Face, and Stability AI. The companies build these tools on the principle of large-language models, and much of the progress that made them possible goes back to a breakthrough paper Google AI researchers released in 2017. Titled "Attention Is All You Need," the paper outlined a technique called Transformers that went on to become the go-to methodology for powering modern AI tools.
It shouldn't come as any surprise, then, that Google is the source of a vast pool of talent that specializes in machine learning. The writers of the Transformers paper in particular have gone on to launch their own startups that are pushing the bounds of machine learning. Others have landed at OpenAI, but a good portion coalesced around emerging AI startups.
Former Google employees founded Adept AI this year, for example, and went on to raise $65 million from investors like Addition and Greylock. The startup is focused on building a kind of task-completion bot based on the same underlying technology as text-generation tools. Its CEO, CTO, and chief scientist all came over from Google.
There's also Inflection AI, a much more secretive company in the large-language-model space, which raised $225 million in May and counts Mustafa Suleyman among its founders. Suleyman was a founding member of the AI lab DeepMind and went on to become Google's vice president of AI products and policy in 2020, six years after Google acquired DeepMind. At least four other Google AI employees joined Inflection AI this year.
Character.ai is another startup the author of a seminal paper in AI founded. Its product gives users a way to talk to bots that have been trained to respond as famous figures, such as Socrates.
Insider identified 26 former Google AI researchers and employees who left the tech giant for machine-learning startups in roughly the past year:
David Luan: Formerly of Google Brain, Luan was a tech lead for Google's large-language-model efforts. Luan is now the CEO of Adept AI.
Anmol Gulati: A former senior researcher at Google Brain, Gulati conducted research focused on speech recognition. Gulati is now a member of the founding team of Adept AI.
Ashish Vaswani: One of the writers of the seminal paper on Transformers, which is one of the most widely-adopted modern AI techniques. Vaswani is now the chief scientist of Adept AI.
Erich Elsen: A former researcher at DeepMind, Elsen is now a member of the founding team of Adept AI.
Niki Parmar: One of the writers of the Transformers paper and a former Google Brain researcher. Parmar is now the chief technology officer at Adept AI.
Kelsey Szot: A former lead-product manager for distributed training and large-model production. Szot is now a member of the founding team of Adept AI.
Noam Shazeer: One of the writers of the Transformers paper and a principle software engineer at Google. Shazeer is now the CEO of Character.AI.
Irwan Bello: A former research scientist on the Google Brain team, Bello is now a member of the founding team of Character.ai.
Prajit Ramachandran: A former research scientist at Google Brain, Ramachandran is now a founding researcher of Character.AI.
Romal Thoppilan: One of the authors of the LaMDA paper — Google's chat bot — Thoppilan is now a founding researcher at Character.ai.
Daniel De Freitas: One of the authors of the LaMDA paper, De Freitas is now the president of Character.AI.
Eric Jang: A former senior research scientist at Google, Jang is now VP of AI at Halodi Robotics.
Mustafa Suleyman: A former cofounder of DeepMind, Suleyman is now the CEO and a cofounder of Inflection AI.
Karen Simonyan: A former principle-research scientist at DeepMind, Simonyan is now a cofounder and the chief scientist at Inflection AI.
Rewon Child: Formerly a researcher at Google Brain, Child is now a member of the technical staff at Inflection AI.
Maarten Bosma: A former research engineer at Google Brain that worked on its large-language model PaLM, Bosma is now a member of the technical staff of Inflection AI.
Joe Fenton: A former senior product manager at Google working on LaMDA, Fenton is now a member of the founding team of Inflection AI.
Tatiana Shpeisman: A former senior engineering manager at Google who worked on CPU and GPU compilers, Shpeisman is now the compiler-engineering director at Modular.
Martin Schmid: A former senior research scientist at DeepMind and a co-author of DeepStack and Player of Games — an AI built for competitive games like poker — Schmid is now the CEO and a cofounder of EquiLibre Technologies.
Matej Moravcik: A former researcher at DeepMind and a co-author of DeepStack, Moravcik is now the CSO and a cofounder of EquiLibre Technologies.
Rudolf Kadlec: A former senior research developer at DeepMind and a co-author of Player of Games. Kadlec isthe CTO and a cofounder of EquiLibre Technologies.
Jack Rae: A former senior staff research scientist at DeepMind, Rae is now a member of the technical staff at OpenAI.
Maithra Raghu: A former senior research scientist at Google, Raghu is now a cofounder and the CEO of Samaya AI.
Alex Hanna: A former senior research scientist for ethical AI at Google, Hanna is now the director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute.
Barret Zoph: A former staff research scientist at Google Brain, Zoph is now member of technical staff at OpenAI.
Sara Hooker: A former research scientist at Google Brain, Hooker is now leading Cohere For AI, a nonprofit machine-learning research lab.
AI Transformers Machine Learning | 2022-12-26T15:12:32Z | www.businessinsider.com | 26 Google AI Experts Who Left for Startups in 2022 | https://www.businessinsider.com/26-ai-machine-learning-experts-left-google-for-startups-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/26-ai-machine-learning-experts-left-google-for-startups-2022-12 |
Proptech is losing money left and right, but Fifth Wall's Brendan Wallace is ready to spend $866 million as the sector enters its 'proving ground'
Fifth Wall's Brendan Wallace.
Lev Gorn for Fifth Wall
Proptech has had a rough year, with investment down 40% from 2021.
Proptech's largest venture fund, though, has another $866 million to invest.
Fifth Wall's Brendan Wallace says today's rough markets are a "proving ground" for the industry.
Rising interest rates and their knock-on effects have put proptech startups into a deep freeze. After a record 2021, investments were slashed by nearly 40% this year, and champions of the sector are feeling the pain of plummeting valuations.
But some of the sector's biggest boosters insist there are opportunities among the chaos, and their investors are listening.
Fifth Wall, already the largest real-estate-tech venture firm, last week finalized a fresh a $866 million proptech investment fund, setting, yet again, a record for the sector that grew out of the increased use of technology to improve real-estate transactions, management, and investment. Earlier this year, it announced a $500 million climate fund and a $147 European proptech fund.
That it could raise money at all could be seen as a feat amid some high-profile train wrecks in the sector. Soaring mortgage rates and cooling home prices have slammed iBuyers and their algorithms, and lenders who believed a year ago that high-tech models would win them market share are now struggling to keep the lights on.
For Brendan Wallace, a cofounder of Fifth Wall who was previously a member of Blackstone's leveraged-buyout team, the new fund raise speaks for itself. Money flowed in from traditional real-estate companies and more diversified players like sovereign wealth funds, such as New Zealand's Superannuation Fund, representing what he said was a nod to the sector's long-term promise.
"I think of our fund as a great validation of the reality that proptech is no longer niche," Wallace told Insider.
Investors stuck with their capital commitments over the past year despite the hammer coming down in real estate, Wallace said. The investors, he said, won't turn their backs on technology because they see it as a necessity and a "tool to get through the hard times."
Proptech's challenges have been laid apparent on the public market, with Fifth Wall portfolio companies like Hippo, Doma, and Opendoor all down over 90% since they went public in 2021. There are also fewer paths to go public, as the blank-check-company model that takes companies public with fewer disclosures via a merger has dried up. After successfully bringing SmartRent public via its own blank-check company in 2021, Fifth Wall canceled its second blank-check company in March of this year. The forward-thinking landlord RXR followed suit earlier this month.
Despite a black eye for proptech this year, "technology is not something you really cut," Wallace said. "It's actually really seen as an offensive tool," he continued, "not a defensive tool."
Proptech still makes up a minuscule percentage of the overall real-estate industry, said Wallace, who estimated the number at less than 1%. It's so far been fueled by big real-estate firms such as the real-estate services and brokerage giant CBRE and the single-family landlord Invitation Homes, which are willing to look beyond today's wrenching markets and make bets — albeit relatively small ones — on the future.
"The market is pretty clear on where we will be in three to four years," Sandor Valner, a cofounder of the specialized investment bank Proptech Bankers, told Insider earlier this month. Valner said firms were investing with the hope that proptech's smaller companies could come out on top and solve a wide range of issues such as the entire commercial-real-estate transaction process, instead of just offering a product.
Wallace expects to see consolidation in the industry as he looks to deploy funds, with weaker players seeking lifelines, or private-equity companies seizing opportunities to create larger platforms.
For example, Knock, a property-management-software company, was purchased in September by the apartment-software company RealPage, a wholly owned subsidiary of the private-equity firm Thoma Bravo.
Meanwhile, the portfolio companies VTS and Procore are aggressive with acquisitions. In October 2021, VTS picked up the workspace-experience application Lane despite the increased uncertainty over commercial leasing. Procore, which raised $634.5 million in a public offering in May 2021, is an investor in the new Fifth Wall fund.
Some pain in the market should come as no surprise given the massive "pendulum swing" in sentiment from last year to this year, Wallace said. There's much less of an obvious path to go public as real-estate-tech stocks have suffered deeply, he said, predicting there'd most likely be a "flight to quality" as investors and entrepreneurs turn more cautious.
Successful companies will use today's markets as a "proving ground," he said, adding that Fifth Wall remained unshaken in its vision of how technology would be embraced in the real-estate industry.
"That doesn't mean we are blind to, or naive to, capital-market cycles like the one we're living through," he said. "While we need to be somewhat sensitized to them, I would say we are undeterred in our conviction that the technology industry is colliding with the physical world, and that enormous amounts of value are going to be created there."
PropTech Real Estate fifth wall | 2022-12-26T15:12:50Z | www.businessinsider.com | Fifth Wall Is Ready to Invest in Proptech As Sector Hits the Skids | https://www.businessinsider.com/fifth-wall-ready-invest-proptech-sector-hits-skids-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/fifth-wall-ready-invest-proptech-sector-hits-skids-2022-12 |
Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
Bob Iger returned to Disney as CEO in November, ending Bob Chapek's rocky tenure.
The change comes as Disney contends with mounting financial challenges and likely layoffs in 2023.
Here's everything you need to know about what led to Chapek's ouster and what comes next.
In one of the most dramatic reversals in corporate history, the Walt Disney Co. board reinstated Bob Iger as CEO in November, ousting his predecessor Bob Chapek.
The return of Iger, who had previously served as CEO for 15 years before Chapek took over, set off a flood of Wall Street investor notes focused on the challenges facing Iger — analysts and Hollywood industry observers also scrutinized Chapek's rocky tenure and his selection as CEO.
Here's a rundown of what led to the change at the top of one of America's most beloved companies and the challenges that lie ahead for Iger in what was announced to be a two-year tenure, from finding a new successor to fixing Disney's streaming business and repairing the company's relationships with Hollywood.
What went wrong under Chapek and how Iger's return happened
Iger's return cut short the tenure of his protege Bob Chapek, who had spent less than three years in the role. Insider reported that Disney executives had complained to the company's board about Chapek's leadership.
Chapek's fumbles were wide-ranging. Disney had just reported a $1.5 billion loss in its streaming business on a November 8 earnings call. Earlier in the year, the company faced backlash from customers over price increases at its theme parks. Separately, employees walked out in protest over Disney's reluctance to take a strong stance against Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law.
Chapek had also alienated creative execs and Hollywood by taking content budgets away from creative execs at Disney and by releasing movies on streaming at the same time as in theaters during the pandemic; the move resulted in a high-profile legal spat with Scarlett Johansson and her reps.
The company also faced pressure from activist investors like Daniel Loeb to cut costs and make big strategy changes.
It didn't help that Chapek, while he was considered an effective operator, was also seen as less charismatic and communicative than his popular predecessor. Wall Street faulted him for waiting until after the 3Q earnings call to announce that layoffs were planned, for example.
More on Chapek's tenure and Iger's shocking return:
Inside Bob Iger's return to Disney: A senior executive's outreach to the former chief followed months of complaints to the board about CEO Bob Chapek
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger battled the company's board over succession, insiders say, and was unhappy about the transition of power to Bob Chapek
Disney has a new CEO: Bob Chapek. Wall Street breaks down the former parks boss' strengths and weaknesses.
What went wrong at Disney: Insiders reveal weeks of 'internal strife and outrage' over CEO's messaging on Florida 'Don't Say Gay' bill
Why Iger's top priority will be a solid succession plan
Iger's return reassured employees who were familiar with the Disney vet but also drew criticism, considering his previous remit as CEO included finding and grooming his replacement. So the pressure's on for him to carry through on that task before his two-year contract is up (though the board could always extend his contract again, considering it already did so four times before).
During Chapek's first year as CEO, Iger remained as executive chairman of the company, and there were tensions between the two executives. The Wall Street Journal reported that Iger undermined Chapek's leadership.
While many in Hollywood cheered Iger's reinstatement, the move also quickly drew criticism from some on Wall Street over Disney's succession planning and questions about whether the company even has execs who could be groomed to succeed him in two years.
More on succession at Disney:
Disney succession plan is a top priority for returning CEO Bob Iger: 'People would struggle to write down three names' at the company who could step up
6 key Disney executives working with Bob Iger to remake former CEO Bob Chapek's business structure
Hollywood insiders say there's growing tension at Disney as CEO Bob Chapek chafes at Bob Iger's 'long goodbye'
Disney insiders reveal why Bob Chapek fired TV chief Peter Rice and what it means for CEO succession plans
How Iger can strengthen Disney's streaming business and control costs
Iger returns to a streaming landscape that's more competitive since he left, with new entrants like Netflix's ad-supported tier fighting for viewers' share of wallet. Disney, which in December launched its own ad-supported Disney+ offering, has enjoyed strong streaming growth, but Wall Street cares more about profitability now.
Iger previously scored wins for Disney with acquisitions of Lucasfilm, Pixar, and other companies but told Disney staffers at a November meeting not to expect more big acquisitions. He also said a hiring freeze announced by Chapek would remain in effect.
Stepping up to lead the company amid a tough economic environment, Iger will have to address not only steep losses in Disney's streaming business but also big decisions like whether to seek full ownership of Hulu, now part-owned by Comcast; how to manage content distribution across Hulu and Disney+; and whether to keep or sell ESPN.
Read more about Disney's streaming business and M&A plans:
Disney insiders are cheering the return of Bob Iger. But they know he can't save them from layoffs.
Hulu insiders are confused and frustrated about their future as Disney and Comcast battle it out for control of the streamer
Bob Iger's return to Disney could dramatically change what a Hulu deal looks like, Comcast insiders say
Disney and Netflix are battling to sell ads on their cheaper versions, but Disney's pricing and seasoned sales teams are winning with brands
The biggest media targets and buyers in 2023, as speculation swirls around Disney's next move under CEO Bob Iger and how Warner Bros. Discovery can shed debt
How a sluggish box office and talent demands will create new challenges for Iger
Iger wasted no time in making changes, ousting Kareem Daniel — the exec who led distribution under Chapek's unpopular business restructure — and announcing plans to give Disney creative executives more power.
But he also has to deal with a box office business that's been scarred by the pandemic and mollify Hollywood talent still miffed by some of Chapek's moves. Recent animation releases have flopped, and there's been a slowdown in Star Wars releases.
Long considered one of Hollywood's most successful CEOs, Iger will need to marshal all of his business acumen, cultural savvy, and management skills to usher Disney through a challenging economic landscape and transition the company to a strong new leader.
Read more about what Disney, Hollywood, and Iger expect from Iger:
Disney CEO Bob Iger will overhaul predecessor Bob Chapek's business structure — here's why company insiders hated it and what they hope will change
Disney is in an animation slump after 'Strange World' and 'Lightyear' flopped. Bob Iger may have the magic touch to turn it around.
Walt Disney Co. Bob Iger Bob Chapek | 2022-12-26T15:12:57Z | www.businessinsider.com | Inside Disney Drama As CEO Bob Iger Returns, Replacing Bob Chapek | https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-disney-drama-ceo-bob-iger-returns-replaces-chapek-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-disney-drama-ceo-bob-iger-returns-replaces-chapek-2022-12 |
Georgy Dobrovolsky (center), Viktor Patsayev (left), and Vladislav Volkov (right) in the cabin of the Soyuz spacecraft.
Russians watch a few-days-delayed broadcasting of the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969.
Ullstein Bild/AP
The interior of Salyut 1 space station with the hatchway leading to the Soyuz 11 spacecraft.
Dobrovolsky, Volkov, and Patsaev inside Soyuz 11.
Crowds march through Red Square in Moscow to mourn the death of the three cosmonauts.
Classic Format original reporting Cosmonauts | 2022-12-26T15:13:03Z | www.businessinsider.com | Only 3 People Have Died in Space. This Is Their Story. | https://www.businessinsider.com/people-who-died-in-space-astronauts-cosmonauts-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/people-who-died-in-space-astronauts-cosmonauts-2022-12 |
Members of the US government are reportedly mulling whether to call for TikTok's US unit to be sold.
Ongoing "security concerns" about TikTok are behind the thinking, the Wall Street Journal reported.
TikTok is working to "address all reasonable national security concerns," a representative told Insider.
Some US government officials are reportedly considering calling for TikTok's US unit to be sold in order to allay issues they've already been working for years to address with the ByteDance-owned social media app.
Security officials who are part of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. have been considering such a plan, the Wall Street Journal reported. A representative for TikTok told Insider in a statement on Monday that the company has been cooperating with the US government "for over two years to address all reasonable national security concerns about TikTok in the U.S."
"We believe those concerns can be fully resolved, and CFIUS is currently considering a comprehensive solution that addresses key concerns around corporate governance, content recommendation and moderation, and data security and access," said Brooke Oberwetter, a representative for TikTok.
"We have made substantial progress on implementing that solution over the past year, and look forward to completing that work to put these concerns to rest," Oberwetter said.
Regardless, some US officials believe that concerns about data security and potential propaganda directed at US users of the app would be better addressed by a possible sale of TikTok's US unit, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the talks.
A representative for CFIUS could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.
China-based ByteDance said earlier this month that its own internal review showed that its employees accessed data belonging to two journalists in the US, among others in the country, the New York Times reported.
Congress has also pushed the issue, with the US Senate voting earlier this month to stop US government employees from having the app on government-issued phones.
CFIUS TikTok Bytedance | 2022-12-26T22:05:49Z | www.businessinsider.com | Some Officials Want to Ask ByteDance to Sell TikTok's US Unit – Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/some-officials-want-ask-bytedance-sell-tiktoks-us-unit-report-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/some-officials-want-ask-bytedance-sell-tiktoks-us-unit-report-2022-12 |
Finding out what a job really pays is harder than ever.
Aslan Alphan/Getty Images
Salary-transparency laws are increasingly common, but finding out what a job really pays is hard.
Experts advise doing as much homework as you can on your own, and then being patient.
The power dynamic shifts in your favor once the hiring manager decides you're the leading candidate.
A growing number of cities and states have pay-transparency laws on the books, but finding out what a job really pays is not always straightforward.
New York, Nevada, Colorado, and Connecticut already have laws that require organizations to advertise a pay range for open positions up-front. California's law will take effect next year. Yet Bloomberg reporting suggests that these laws are ineffective. Some organizations post artificially low pay bands both to keep wages from rising and to avoid existing employees discovering they're underpaid, according to Bloomberg.
"It's sometimes hard to get a number," Linda VanDeventer, the VP of the compensation and career-strategies practice at Segal, a consulting firm focused on HR and employee benefits, told Insider. "There's a wide range of pay out there for a given position and it depends on a combination of the organization's compensation philosophy, the type of job itself, and supply and demand of labor in the market."
So, how can jobseekers uncover what organizations pay? The key, experts said, is to do as much homework as you possibly can about the company's pay and benefits, then be patient with the process as you await an official job offer. After all, the power dynamic shifts considerably once the hiring manager has decided that you're the leading candidate.
Talk to the recruiter
Headhunters and recruiters often screen job candidates by phone before a first official interview, and most share a pay range to make sure that the applicant and employer are on the same page. Company HR reps often provide the same service, so applicants should be prepared.
If the subject doesn't come up during the conversation, ask the rep directly, Erin Andersen, a career-transition coach in New York City, said. The HR rep might demur and say something like, "That's not information that we disclose," but you can at least try to get a ballpark figure.
Andersen suggested saying: "I want to ensure the salary for this position is aligned with my experience and qualifications. Could you please share the salary range offered for this position?"
Do your homework online and through networking
Due diligence is also critical. Resources like Salary.com and Payscale, which provide salary ranges for job titles and locations, complete with a breakdown based on your degrees, years of experience, and so on, are helpful.
Erin Andersen is a career-transition coach in New York City.
Erin Andersen
Andersen advised conducting informational interviews with employees at the company. Scour your network to identify people with whom you have a connection — a school or former colleague in common, for instance. Then, explain that you're interviewing at the company and want to talk.
Be subtle. "Don't message someone and say, 'What's the vacation policy as this company?'" she said. "Instead, ask about their career and get them to open up. When you get around to questions about the company culture and benefits, their perspective will be very clear."
Take what they say about pay with a grain of salt, however. "There's a huge gap between what companies are offering new talent versus what they're paying employees who've been there a while," Andersen said.
According to LaborIQ, a compensation-data provider, salaries for new hires are 7% higher, on average, than the median pay for people already employed in similar positions. The discrepancy is in the double digits for many in-demand jobs across the tech and finance sectors.
Bide your time until you get an offer
Finally, be patient. And whatever you do, don't ask your would-be boss about money until it's clear that the company wants to hire you.
Research shows that hiring managers are less likely to hire candidates who ask about salary and perks during job interviews. The researchers theorize that managers only want to employ people who are motivated by the job itself. Of course, very few workers can afford not to care about things like pay.
But the lesson still holds, Anthony Nyberg, a professor at the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business, told Insider. After all, there's plenty of time for negotiating later. "You want to hold off asking about pay until the company is invested in you as a potential employee," he said.
That usually doesn't happen until your third or fourth interview. "The first one? They're looking for reasons to weed you out."
Pay Salary Transparency salary transparency law | 2022-12-27T10:33:49Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Find Out What a Job Really Pays Even If There Are Salary Ranges | https://www.businessinsider.com/find-out-what-a-job-really-pays-salary-transparency-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/find-out-what-a-job-really-pays-salary-transparency-2022-12 |
Kids with 'bubble boy' disease could finally get access to a life-saving gene therapy, as a study starts back up at UCLA
Paola Andrea Fernández de Soto Abdul-Rahim holds her son, Jakob Kamil Guziak, inside their Edmonton house.
Kyler Zeleny
UCLA researchers are restarting a study to give a gene therapy to kids with an ultra-rare disease.
While the one-time therapy is safe and effective, the drug industry has been uninterested.
The treatment is complex and costly, and the number of patients with SCID is tiny, limiting profits.
Researchers are now restarting a clinical trial to treat children with a severe immune disorder, giving hope to patients with a disease that drug companies have largely abandoned.
Donald Kohn, a longtime UCLA professor and researcher, is leading development of the one-time gene-therapy treatment.
His team, along with other researchers, published results last year after treating 50 patients who have a type of severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID, called ADA-SCID. All 50 kids were still alive at least two years after treatment, and over 95% required no additional treatment.
Despite the success, a tiny biotech company gave up on Kohn's therapy, returning the license to him earlier this year after failing to apply for regulatory approval. The result is that at least 28 children with SCID are now on a waitlist hoping to access the treatment.
Without gene therapy, doctors treat kids with SCID using enzyme-replacement therapies, if they are ineligible for bone-marrow transplants. Despite the availability of enzyme therapy, roughly one in five children with ADA-SCID dies before turning 20.
'Buying time'
Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration gave its OK for Kohn to restart his study, Kohn told Insider. David Jensen, an independent journalist for The California Stem Cell Report, first reported on the news.
In an email to Insider, Kohn said he expects to be able to treat between three and six patients with his current funding. Kohn hopes UCLA's institutional-review board will sign off on his research plans in January, allowing him to start enrolling patients. He hopes to treat the first patient by March and an additional patient every two to three months.
In July, Insider chronicled the experience of a family with a child on the waiting list, along with the history of how the industry has failed to make these treatments accessible.
"Right now, we are buying time," Paola Andrea Fernández de Soto Abdul-Rahim, the mother of a child with ADA-SCID, told Insider in May. "We cannot wait forever."
Insider followed up with her to discuss the news that Kohn is restarting his study. She said that she doesn't know when doctors can treat her son, but hopes he can get the opportunity some time in 2023.
An uncertain future for rare-disease treatments
Despite the positive update, much remains unclear about the future of Kohn's treatment and gene therapies for rare diseases overall. Drug companies have shown little interest in the treatments because the complexity of the treatments and tiny number of eligible patients limit potential profits.
Kohn said UCLA and University College London, which control the intellectual property for this therapy, are talking with several commercial-stage gene-therapy companies about licensing the therapy out.
Drug companies have deprioritized or shelved gene-therapy programs to treat a range of rare diseases, including Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, MPS, Batten disease, chronic granulomatous disease, Rett syndrome, and Fabry disease. One expert previously dubbed this deprioritization and shelving "the Great Abandonment" in a conversation with Insider.
Some researchers have started discussing nonprofit models that could make these therapies accessible, but much of that work remains in the early stages. Kohn added that his team plans to have discussions to see if they can make this therapy available in a non-commercial, academic setting as well. | 2022-12-27T10:34:13Z | www.businessinsider.com | SCID Gene Therapy Trial Restarts at UCLA: Potential 'Bubble Boy' Cure | https://www.businessinsider.com/scid-gene-therapy-trial-restarts-ucla-potential-bubble-boy-cure-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/scid-gene-therapy-trial-restarts-ucla-potential-bubble-boy-cure-2022-12 |
Inside a Bombardier Global 7500 demonstration aircraft.
Mark Wahlberg's Bombardier Global Express jet.
A Bombardier CRJ-200 airliner.
Yuri Smityuk/TASS/Getty
VIP Completions refurbished Bombardier Challenger 605.
VIP Completions
Bombardier's 100th Global 7500 was delivered to VistaJet in March 2022.
The jet is expected to enter service in 2025.
The interior of a G700 aircraft, one of the newest in Gulfstream Aerospace's lineup, is on display at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention and exhibition in Orlando, Florida, U.S. October 17, 2022.
Gregg Newton/Reuters
The entertainment area's convertible couch.
The Gulfstream (pictured) has similar seats that convert into beds.
The dining area of the G700.
Courtesy of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
VistaJet Global 7500.
The aft lavatory of a VistaJet Bombardier Global 7500.
Dining inside the Bombardier Global 7500.
The VIP bedroom in the Bombardier 7500. | 2022-12-27T10:34:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | See Inside the $75 Million Bombardier Global 7500 Private Jet | https://www.businessinsider.com/see-inside-the-75-million-bombardier-global-7500-private-jet-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/see-inside-the-75-million-bombardier-global-7500-private-jet-2022-12 |
Elon Musk says Twitter users will be able to switch off new Twitter view counts.
Elon Musk says Twitter users will be able to switch off new view counts.
View counts appear next to retweets and likes on tweets.
They rolled out on December 22 and immediately generated complaints from users.
Elon Musk says Twitter users will be able to switch off new view counts, days after the social-media platform introduced the feature.
Responding to a user complaining about the new feature's "messy" look, Musk said on December 24 that Twitter planned to "tidy up the esthetics" and "add a setting to turn it off."
Musk originally announced Twitter had started rolling out the new feature on December 22. Similar to a count already in place for video, the new view counts display the number of times a tweet has been seen alongside the number of likes, comments, and retweets.
Some Twitter users have been complaining about the new feature, with one describing it as "useless" and "distracting."
The feature originally got support from Jack Dorsey, Twitter's cofounder and former CEO. In early December, Dorsey called the planned feature a "much better metric."
Twitter did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the view count feature made outside working hours.
Musk has overseen the introduction of several new Twitter features since he purchased the platform in late October, including Twitter's new paid subscription model. Rollouts haven't always gone smoothly.
Twitter Blue hit a roadblock in November when the platform was flooded with users impersonating public figures and brands almost immediately after it launched. The company was forced to pause the subscription service and find another way to mark out official accounts. | 2022-12-27T12:35:32Z | www.businessinsider.com | Elon Musk Says Twitter Will Allow Users to Turn Off View Counts | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-turn-off-view-count-feature-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-turn-off-view-count-feature-2022-12 |
Edward Norton's Miles Bron (left) has drawn comparisons with Elon Musk online.
"Glass Onion" director Rian Johnson joked that Netflix might have funded the Twitter takeover.
The film's fictional billionaire, Miles Bron, has drawn comparisons with Elon Musk.
Johnson said this wasn't intentional, saying the character reflected general tech billionaire foibles.
Rian Johnson, director of the new "Knives Out" murder mystery "Glass Onion", joked that Netflix's marketing department may have helped fund Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, after the movie's fictional billionaire drew comparisons online with the real-life tycoon.
In an interview with Wired published Friday, Johnson said the character of Miles Bron — portrayed by Edward Norton — in "Glass Onion" had bizarre similarities to Musk that he hadn't intended when writing the film.
"It's so weird. It's very bizarre. I hope there isn't some secret marketing department at Netflix that's funding this Twitter takeover," Johnson said.
"Glass Onion", the sequel to Johnson's 2019 Agatha Christie homage "Knives Out", was developed and shot in 2021 and written before then. Johnson told Wired that Norton's character was originally based on an amalgamation of tech billionaire personalities.
But he acknowledged the events of the last year — namely Musk's $44 billion takeover of Twitter — meant the film looked more like a direct portrait of the billionaire. Asked if he would ever write a sequel about the downfall of Twitter, Johnson responded: "Didn't I just do that?"
"Glass Onion" tracks a group of friends hosted by Bron on his private Greek island, where he intends to host a murder mystery party. He is initially portrayed as a genius figure who funds his friends' operations and plans to create sustainable energy from hydrogen taken from "abundant seawater."
But as the film progresses Norton's character is slowly revealed to be an idiotic, narcissistic figure by Daniel Craig's detective Benoit Blanc.
Bron's pumping of untested technology; the fact he's the face of a company he didn't really conceive; and his frequent slip-ups have drawn unflattering comparisons with Elon Musk. Musk has repeatedly promised full self-driving cars prematurely; settled a lawsuit over his role in Tesla's founding; and spread misinformation about the pandemic.
Tesla's sinking share price, blunders at Twitter, and a broader rout in tech stocks contributed to wiping $132 billion off Musk's net worth this year as Tesla's share price plunged, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk has also been criticized for his chaotic leadership at Twitter, which has involved botched product rollouts and warnings from European regulators.
Johnson added in his Wired interview: "There's a lot of general stuff about that sort of species of tech billionaire that went directly into it. But obviously, it has almost a weird relevance in exactly the current moment. A friend of mine said, "Man, that feels like it was written this afternoon." And that's just sort of a horrible, horrible accident, you know?"
Weekend BI UK News Elon Musk Knives Out | 2022-12-27T12:35:38Z | www.businessinsider.com | 'Glass Onion' Maker Rian Johnson Jokes Netflix Funded Twitter Takeover | https://www.businessinsider.com/glass-onion-maker-rian-johnson-compares-elon-musk-miles-brun-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/glass-onion-maker-rian-johnson-compares-elon-musk-miles-brun-2022-12 |
The 8 most important execs who left Google in 2022 — and the 8 who joined
Google saw some notable new hires and departures in 2022.
That included a new senior executive role reporting to Sundar Pichai.
Insider listed the 8 biggest joiners and leavers.
It was an uneven year for Google, which slowed hiring in the second half of 2022 amid fears of an incoming recession.
But the revolving door at Alphabet HQ continued nonetheless, with the year seeing some notable hires and exits from the search giant. That includes the appointment of a new role in CEO Sundar Pichai's leadership team and some notable exits in the company's cloud division. Google also snatched up some new talent for its efforts in artificial intelligence.
Here are Google's biggest hires and exits of 2022.
Hire: James Manyika - Senior vice president, technology and society
Google Senior Vice President James Minyaka
A former partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Manyika joined Google in February as senior vice president of technology and society. The newly-created role reports directly to CEO Sundar Pichai and focuses on the economic and societal impacts of technology.
The timing of the new role underlines how much has changed at Alphabet, which faces increased scrutiny over its technology, particularly in artificial intelligence, and is staring down multiple antitrust lawsuits.
Departure: Robert Kyncl - Chief business officer, YouTube
Robert Kyncl
Arguably one of Alphabet's biggest exits of 2022, YouTube's chief business officer stepped down after 12 years at the company. Kyncl successfully helped YouTube forge key relationships with media partners and key creators, and — less successfully — make moves into original content.
Mary Ellen Coe, a 10-year Google veteran who previously worked on the company's business partner program, was named Kyncl's successor. Kyncl will become CEO of Warner Music Group in January.
Hire: Bakul Patel - Senior Director, Global Digital Health Strategy & Regulator
Google's strategy in healthcare has been somewhat messy in the past couple of years, but it's a space the company certainly wants to be in. Earlier this year Google hired former Food and Drug Administration digital health chief Bakul Patel to work on its health strategy. The hire came shortly after Google lost its former advisor, Robert Califf, who returned to the FDA late last year.
In a LinkedIn post announcing the news in May, Patel said he would be "helping build a unified digital health and regulatory strategy" at Alphabet. That will likely include work on Verily, the company's life sciences unit that sits among a constellation of Google's other bets.
Departure: Neha Parikh - CEO, Waze
Neha Parikh, CEO of Waze
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google planned to merge teams working on its two mapping products, Google Maps and Waze. The move was one many people saw as inevitable after the departure of former Waze CEO Noam Bardin.
As part of the restructuring, Waze CEO Neha Parikh announced she would depart the company, however, she intends to remain at Google for a few months to help oversee the Waze unit's transition.
Departure: Allan Thygesen - President, Americas and Global Partners
In September, DocuSign named Google veteran Allan Thygesen as its new CEO, succeeding Dan Springer.
Thygesen, who was with Google since 2010, most recently ran the company's advertising sales business in North and South America.
Hire: Arnold Goldberg - VP/general manager, Payments
The exterior of a Google store photographed on June 09, 2022 in Berlin, Germany.
The PayPal-Google pipeline is alive and well: Before Google's payments lead Bill Ready departed the company this year, another former PayPal exec, Arnold Goldberg, was hired to help run the division.
Goldberg has his work cut out for him. Google's payments team saw a mass exodus of talent last year, Insider previously reported, and killed plans for a digital bank account service with partner Citigroup. Now the unit is seeing something of a reset as it attempts to catch Apple in the digital payments space. Before his departure, Ready told Bloomberg that Google wants to be "a connective tissue" in the finance industry, not a bank.
Departure: Gayathri Rajan - VP/GM, Google Maps
DriveWealth
After 16 years at Google, Gayathri Rajan departed this year to join digital finance company DriveWealth.
Rajan founded the team behind Google Maps Platform, which allows businesses and developers to integrate Google's mapping technology into their products. Before that, she worked on payments, Android, and monetizing Google Maps.
Hire: Shailesh Prakash - VP/GM, Google News
Michael Seto/Business Insider
Shailesh Prakash, who spent over a decade helping transform the Washington Post's digital platform, moved to Google in November to help run its News unit.
It's a big get for Google: Prakash has been praised by Jeff Bezos for his leadership skills and was even viewed by some at the Washington Post as a CEO in waiting, Insider previously reported.
Departure: Bill Ready - President of commerce, payments and Next Billion Users
Bill Ready, Google's president of commerce, payments and NBU
After 12 years running the company he founded, Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann stepped down in June and handed the reins to former PayPal and Google exec Bill Ready.
At Google, Ready led the payments and commerce division through a rocky period as the company tried to establish its financial strategy and catch Apple's growing lead.
Hire: Srinivasan Venkatachary - VP, engineering
The Google logo seen at the entrance to Google Cloud campus in Seattle.
Toby Scott/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
In 2018, Apple purchased a machine learning startup named Laserlike co-founded by Srinivasan Venkatachary and two other former Google engineers. The acquisition was a way for Apple to bolster its search technology, including Siri.
But earlier this year, Venkatachary and his two Laserlike co-founders — Steven Baker and Anand Shukla — returned to Google, The Information reported. They now report to James Manyika, although the scope of their work is not clear.
Departure: Robert Enslin - President of global customer operations
Robert Enslin, Google Cloud’s new President of Global Customer Operations
Rob Enslin, Google Cloud's global sales lead, departed the company in May this year, marking one of the most notable executive exits from the org.
A former executive at SAP, Enslin joined Google Cloud in 2019 shortly after CEO Thomas Kurian took the reins. He helped Kurian bring across other SAP executives, which some insiders say has dramatically changed the unit's culture, Insider reported.
Following Enslin's departure, Google shuffled some of its teams around, streamlining its sales and customer success organization, Protocol reported.
Hire: Ian Goodfellow - Research scientist, DeepMind
Ian Goodfellow, an Apple executive who led machine learning, departed the Cupertino company earlier this year over its strict return-to-office policies — and joined Google. Specifically, Goodfellow joined DeepMind, Google's AI division, where he's now an individual contributor.
It's a boomerang hire for Google: Goodfellow previously worked as a senior researcher at the search giant, where he made a name as the pioneer of generative adversarial networks (GANs).
Departure: Jeremy Doig - VP, engineering
You may not have heard of Jeremy Doig, but his work on video compression for YouTube and Chrome has contributed to two of Google's most popular products.
In March, Variety reported that Disney had hired the 18-year Google veteran to be the chief technology officer of its streaming platform. In a statement at the time, Doig said he was moving to Disney at a "crucial moment" in the entertainment industry.
Hire: Karen Dahut - CEO, Google Public Sector
In June, Google announced it had formed a new subsidiary that focuses on selling the company's cloud products to the US government. A few weeks later it appointed Karen Dahut, a former sector president at tech consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, to run the unit.
Dahut's job won't be easy — the federal government is a competitive space for cloud computing — but multicloud deals will give Google a way to split contracts with rival firms. The company recently secured a Pentagon contract along with Microsoft and Amazon worth $9 billion.
The new Google unit, and Dahut's appointment, signal that Google sees a bigger opportunity in the public sector for its cloud business, which has become a top priority for the company.
Departure: Frank Bien - CEO, Looker
Looker CEO Frank Bien (left) and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian (right)
In 2020, Google acquired data analytics platform Looker for $2.6 billion, marking the first major deal under the leadership of Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian.
Looker CEO and president Frank Bien stayed on until February of this year, Insider reported, and reported directly to Kurian. Shortly after Bein left, Google laid off dozens of support staff who were working on Looker.
Hire: Scott Foster - VP, Real estate and workplace services
Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.
After more than 16 years, Google's head of real estate David Radcliffe has passed the baton to Scott Foster, who joins from the Royal Bank of Canada. Radcliffe had intended to retire earlier but was swayed to stay on longer and help the company navigate the myriad of logistical challenges brought about by the pandemic.
The challenges aren't over yet: Google is trying to balance remote and in-office working, while also expanding its real estate.
Features Google Alphabet | 2022-12-27T12:35:44Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Biggest Hires and Departures at Google in 2022 | https://www.businessinsider.com/google-power-players-execs-hires-departures-2022-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/google-power-players-execs-hires-departures-2022-2022-12 |
Today's mortgage and refinance rates: December 27, 2022 | Mortgage market expected to normalize by 2024
Average 30-year fixed mortgage rates dropped around a full percentage point over the past few weeks, and they remain low today.
Decades-high rates have significantly impacted homebuying demand this year, but things should start to normalize over the next couple of years. In its latest forecast, Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group expects the mortgage and housing markets to rebound by 2024 as rates trend down and homebuyer interest in getting a mortgage recovers. | 2022-12-27T12:36:02Z | www.businessinsider.com | Today's Mortgage, Refinance Rates: Dec. 27, 2022 | Mortgage Market Expected to Normalize by 2024 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-tuesday-december-27-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-tuesday-december-27-2022-12 |
Check out the pitch deck that the beauty and skincare brand InnBeauty Project used to raise $12 million in new funding
Alisa Metzger and Jen Shane, the founders of InnBeauty Project.
InnBeauty Project is a startup that seeks to make affordable, sustainable skin and beauty products.
Its founders, Alisa Metzger and Jen Shane, teamed up after working in the beauty industry together.
The company has expanded into Sephora stores and just raised $12 million in new funding.
InnBeauty Project's founders, Alisa Metzger and Jen Shane, first met working together at the skincare brand Tula in 2017. And they quickly identified an up-and-coming trend in the beauty industry: a focus on wellness and simple ingredients.
"Beauty and skincare were talking about what they weren't including in their formulas, and how clean they were," Metzger said.
But most of the brands that focused on simple chemical formulas and ingredients — such as the cult-beauty brand Drunk Elephant, which sold to Shiseido in 2019 for $845 million — were at too high a price point for most customers, Metzger and Shane said. Prices for Drunk Elephant, for instance, range from $14 for a mini size to $134 for individual creams and serums.
"These skincare brands are amazing, but the average economic salary in the US is 45,000 a year, so they were pretty much unaffordable to the average consumer," Metzger said.
So, Metzger and Shane set out to find a way to make skincare products at a more affordable price point. Between their combined experiences of working for several top beauty and skincare companies like Rituals, Tatcha, and Tarte Cosmetics, they decided to leave Tula in 2019 and work on InnBeauty Project full time.
And despite the tougher fundraising market in 2022, Metzger and Shane stayed persistent through "a lot of nos," Shane said. The startup landed a $12 million Series A round on December 13, led by Alliance Consumer Growth with participation from the existing investors Beechwood Capital and the growth equity fund Strand Equity.
Using their combined network in the industry, Metzger and Shane hired cosmetic chemists to help them build their skincare product formulas from scratch, they said. That approach is different from those of some other brands, like the $2.2 billion The Ordinary, that focus on singular ingredients.
"We look at a formulation like a successful cocktail, and we don't expect them to have to mix all these products together to achieve a result," Shane said.
And by calling on their network to help them find employees and develop products, they stayed below a luxury price point. Today, InnBeauty's products fall in a price range of $15 to $48. The startup attracted a cult following from social-media influencers like Christina Najjar, also known as Tinx, who promoted the products to her over 1.5 million followers.
Since then, InnBeauty Project also raised a $4.5 million seed round in 2021 led by Beechwood Capital, whose investors helped them get in touch with the cosmetics retail giant Sephora for an in-store launch.
The two hope to continue launching in more in-store and online retailers and expand their product offering in the new year, they told Insider.
Check out the 14-slide pitch deck that InnBeauty Project used to raise $12 million in Series A funding:
Shared with permission. | 2022-12-27T12:36:08Z | www.businessinsider.com | Check Out the Pitch Deck InnBeauty Project Used to Raise $12 Million | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-innbeauty-project-12million-seriesa-clean-beauty-skincare-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-innbeauty-project-12million-seriesa-clean-beauty-skincare-2022-12 |
Activist Sami Bourma at a Southern Towers tenants' meeting in July 2022.
Alex Nicoll/Insider, Tyler Le/Insider
In Alexandria, Virginia, $31 billion landlord CIM Group bought a massive apartment complex in 2020.
Tenants, fed up with eviction threats and neglect, pressured the company through its investors.
CIM is meeting demands of tenant leaders after a long, drawn out battle.
Sami Bourma was girding for the battle of his lifetime.
It was a July evening in 2021, and three to four dozen of Bourma's neighbors had assembled in a courtyard of their home at Southern Towers, a 60-year-old complex of five apartment buildings in Northern Virginia on the outskirts of Washington, DC. The group was organizing against CIM Group, the landlord they said had upended their lives.
"This is our time to fight back," Bourma, a Saudi-born immigrant whose parents were from Sudan, told the crowd. "Corporations don't come here to help us. They come here to take an opportunity to invest their money, make a couple of dollars out of hardworking people, and then leave."
CIM, a $31.3 billion Los Angeles-based real-estate owner-operator run by a pair of former Israeli paratroopers and Richard Ressler, a veteran of the junk-bond pioneer Drexel Burnham Lambert, bought Southern Towers in August 2020. It was one of the largest apartment deals of the year, and in keeping with one of the hottest trends in real estate: big investors buying multifamily properties for their rent potential at a time of faster inflation.
CIM had a vision to meet the needs of the greater Washington community with the Towers joining a range of office, hotel, and apartment assets owned by the firm in the area, a representative said.
But instead of improvements and upgrades, tenants received eviction notices during a nationwide ban on evictions — and mold, pest, and other maintenance issues went unresolved. The tenants, many of them African immigrants who have grown to love the community, were worried by their new landlord's agenda. They wondered whether CIM wanted them gone, in favor of the 25,000 Amazon employees who would soon work at the company's planned second headquarters just 5 miles away.
"They want us to get tired so we quit and move, but we love this area," Bourma told Insider in December.
So Bourma and his neighbors forged alliances they hoped could prevent their landlords from brushing them aside. First, they made political appeals, joining Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe's failed 2021 gubernatorial campaign, and engaged in public protests in front of the Towers, to little effect.
The Sherwood at Southern Towers in Alexandria, Virginia.
Then they saw a fresh strategy: Follow the money.
African Communities Together, an immigrant advocacy group working with the tenants, began sending letters to pension funds that have billions of dollars tied up in CIM projects. At pension board meetings, Bourma spread the word about landlord neglect and tenant hardships.
"Public pensions are a critical funding source for private institutional investors," and hold tremendous influence over the money managers, said David Webber, a Boston University law professor who focuses on shareholder activism.
The tactic has started to pay dividends. In July, residents of Southern Towers had their first private meeting with CIM and an observer from the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System pension fund, which had invested with CIM and — according to a PSERS representative — is responsive to "citizens' concerns."
Two more meetings led to some concessions from CIM, including a temporary rent cap and a timeline for repairs to broken elevators and playground equipment. Tenants say these are half measures, but also signs of progress.
Insider spoke with 10 Southern Towers tenants. Some are identified in full, while others asked that their last names be withheld for fear of professional consequences. Insider also spoke with two former CIM property managers and two witnesses to discussions between CIM and investors at a professional conference, with each asking for anonymity to avoid the possibility of retribution. Their identities are known to Insider.
The tenants have a long road ahead of them, with many of their demands outstanding. But capturing the attention of the company has been a major feat in a state with relatively weak rent laws. Landlords have no obligation to bargain with tenant associations anywhere in the country except for San Francisco.
"For a landlord with billions of dollars, making them come to the table is a win," Bourma said in December. "To have them sit with us to hear our complaints, that's a win."
Tenants across the US are feeling increasing pressure, as rents hit all-time highs just as inflation added to the cost of everyday items.
Meanwhile, multifamily investment hit a record high of $335 billion invested in 2021, according to CBRE. Big-money investors are pumping billions into the sector, leaving many renters to find that their new landlord is a Wall Street giant practiced in extracting as much income as possible from its investments.
That has put tenants and landlords on a collision course. The battle between the Southern Towers tenants and CIM could presage what's to come across America.
Hidden gems in Alexandria's gold rush
Southern Towers' five 16-story buildings in Alexandria, Virginia, about 10 miles from the US Capitol, are a haven for the working class. They comprise their own census tract, and as of 2020, three-quarters of tenants were people of color. More than 60% are immigrants, most from Africa.
CIM — a major player in the Northern Virginia area with 5,500 apartment units — wants to keep Southern Towers as "quality workforce housing" in an area saturated with luxury housing, according to the company representative. It's part of CIM's strategy of enhancing communities with properties from affordable housing to data centers, the person added.
Southern Towers was already in a bad way. Tenants had been demanding a rent freeze from their previous landlord Bell Partners. When CIM snapped up the properties, it did so at a discount because of unpaid rent. The investor planned to make a "significant investment" into the "deteriorated" properties when it struck the deal, according to the representative.
The deal was financed with the help of a 10-year, $346 million loan with a 2.2% interest rate from Freddie Mac. The Korean Teachers' Credit Union, which also participated in the deal, put the total size of the deal at $700 million: $506 million to acquire the Towers, with almost $200 million earmarked to redevelop the property.
The terms of the deal were favorable, with borrowing costs near record lows. The same couldn't be said for the condition of the property.
"They bought a lemon," a former property manager said of the situation faced by CIM at Southern Towers. "They didn't realize it wasn't just a lemon. It was a rotten lemon."
The former manager used to visit a family member in the Towers during the 1990s. Little had improved, and most things seemed worse, with leaks, moldy rooms, and "infestations" of roaches and mice so large that they looked like inflatables, the manager said.
"When I walked into some of those apartments, it was almost like a death scene in a scary movie," the former manager said. "It's like someone would come out of the closet and kill you."
Black mold on a heating/cooling unit in the Sherwood at Southern Towers.
Insider visited Southern Towers in July and witnessed borderline living conditions, including what appeared to be dark mold around heating units of five apartments. In one, the 6-year-old autistic son of Laila, a woman from Morocco who was then pregnant with another child, was sick for much of the past winter, the mother said.
The CIM representative told Insider in October that an environmental assessment done at the time of the purchase found no campus-wide mold issue.
Tenants, especially immigrants who weren't native English speakers, complained that CIM didn't take their complaints seriously. One property manager told Laila that if she didn't like the conditions in her apartment, she could move to a more expensive apartment, or leave, she said.
Evictions pile up
Many tenants faced difficulties in paying rent early in the coronavirus pandemic because their service-industry jobs were disrupted or they felt forced to quit. Bourma, who was a cafeteria chef, was laid off in March 2020.
Sami Bourma and Roslyn Gadley, two tenant leaders at the Southern Towers.
The US government scrambled to mitigate the economic pain. By March 2020, the regulated housing enterprises Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae adopted a range of anti-eviction policies. By June 2020, Virginia had launched its Rent Relief Program, which would pay landlords back for unpaid rent.
But CIM forged ahead with eviction measures, filing proceedings across 255 households in its first six months of ownership, or more than 10% of all households, according to an Insider evaluation of a study commissioned by African Communities Together, the activist group helping the tenants.
Many of these households had multiple proceedings filed against them, bringing the total number of measures filed to 541. According to the study, the Towers represented 21% of the filings in Alexandria during the period, even though Southern Towers was just 6% of the city's rental stock.
CIM did not dispute the eviction-related activity but noted that the Towers had actual eviction rates of just 0.43% and 0.78% in 2021 and 2020, compared with the city's 2021 rate of 1.62%.
Still, even though CIM was barred from actually kicking anyone out for not paying rent, the eviction notices still had a significant impact on the community, according to tenant leaders and the two former property managers. Many tenants, perhaps unaware of their rights or terrified of going to court, left the Towers after receiving a notice, they said.
"There's a lot of immigrants in this community, and if you tell them they have to go to court, they get scared," Bourma said.
Turn to investors
CIM has been hired by pension funds to invest billions in real estate. ACT sent some of these funds a letter earlier this year, asking them to intervene and make sure that CIM not "displace immigrant residents" and that it provide "livable conditions."
Bourma started to speak out at pension-fund meetings, including at a PSERS public forum in June. PSERS wasn't a direct investor into Southern Towers but had given the group $250 million for an infrastructure fund earlier in 2022. He explained why the tenants were fighting.
"They're pushing us out of our city — they're pushing us out of the place we've built for years," Bourma said, according to an excerpted recording of the meeting, provided by ACT.
The pressure appeared to pay off. By July, the tenants and ACT had won a seat at the table with CIM executives. There, they demanded a pause in evictions, better maintenance, and a more compassionate attitude from the building staff.
Disagreements ensued. At the first meeting, CIM said it had filed evictions only to help tenants apply for Virginia's Rent Relief Program. Tenants blasted the explanation because eviction filings weren't required for them to collect state rent relief. Their credit was unnecessarily tarnished, they said.
The back and forth continued over two more meetings, culminating with some concessions from CIM: a short-term cap on rent increases, more money for pest removal and lobby staff, frequent efforts to gather feedback from tenants, and repairs for leaky windows and roofs that may have caused some mold growth.
Still, Bourma kept up with the pressure. Sometimes, the tension has boiled over in public forums.
In September, Bourma joined a panel about ethical housing investment at a gathering of the Council of Institutional Investors, where CIM investors would be in attendance. He described the issues he said he and other tenants had faced in an appeal to the conscience of investors who he hoped were factoring social and governance issues into their investments.
For Jerry Thomas, a managing director of CIM's on-site property team who showed up unexpectedly, it was time to set the record straight, as he saw it. After distributing three-page flyers with CIM's position, Thomas disputed Bourma's characterizations in a tone so aggressive that it jarred some audience members, according to two who attended and were not affiliated with CIM or the tenants.
A CIM representative dismissed Thomas' behavior as unsurprising given what the person called the "unfair characterizations" of his staff and their work.
"We're not going to leave"
The Southern Towers tenants aren't the only ones following the money. Minnesota tenants of HavenBrook Homes, which is ultimately owned by the investment firm Pretium — asked the Minnesota State Board of Investment in 2021 to review its relationship with Landmark Partners, a private-equity real-estate firm that has worked with Pretium, because of poor living conditions and high fees. Similar scenes have played out in California as well.
The tenants' actions come at a time of growing tension between renters and landlords with close Wall Street connections. In Cincinnati, the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority stepped in to buy properties to stop them from falling into the hands of out-of-town investors. In November, Southern Towers resident Roslyn Gadley joined a group of dozens of tenants from across the country organized by advocacy group People's Action to push the White House to pass a pro-tenant executive order that would boost federal oversight of institutional landlords, with the help of progressive Congresspeople like Elizabeth Warren and Cori Bush. And tenant movements from New York State to Orange County, Florida, have helped pass rent control and tenant rights laws.
Bourma told Insider in December that he had seen some improvement since the tenant meetings. His air-conditioning unit, and those of a few other tenant leaders, have been cleaned of mold.
The broken back door entrance to the Sherwood at Southern Towers.
CIM, most likely eager to put the issue behind it, says it worked "individually" with its renters over "specific issues." It cited a high level of recent lease renewals and a building survey as signs of contentment, though responses to the survey totaled just 117, a fraction of a complex with 2,300 units.
But Bourma and the tenants are far from satisfied. He said less-vocal tenants continued to have issues, and a back door to one of the buildings remains broken since Insider's visit. This, he said, means the fight will drag on.
"We're not going to leave," Bourma said. "We're going to continue to put pressure on. You can make your money, but we need a peaceful place to live." | 2022-12-27T12:36:20Z | www.businessinsider.com | Fed-up Tenants Are Targeting $31 Billion Landlord CIM Through Its Investors | https://www.businessinsider.com/southern-towers-apartment-tenants-battle-investor-landlord-2022-11 | https://www.businessinsider.com/southern-towers-apartment-tenants-battle-investor-landlord-2022-11 |
Welcome back. Dan DeFrancesco checking in from NYC. For those who celebrated Christmas, hope you avoided getting coal.
Seeing as this week should be a quiet one, we decided to take a trip down memory lane. We're highlighting profiles we've done of some of the most powerful people on Wall Street.
They are, as you will see, largely white males — a telling reminder of who still wields the power throughout most of Wall Street.
But before we get into it, I'd also like flag our most recent class of Wall Street's rising stars. While these folks might not be quite at the level of the people profiled below, they might get there soon.
P.S. — Which powerful people would you like to see covered in 2023? Drop me a line at ddefrancesco@insider.com.
Lucky-photographer/Shutterstock
1. From a potential heir to the Goldman throne to blazing his own path. Gregg Lemkau was considered a future CEO candidate at Goldman Sachs before he shocked Wall Street by leaving for Michael Dell's investment firm in 2020. In less than two years, he helped orchestrate a merger with billionaire advisory BDT, which positions him at the top of a hybrid investment bank catering to the world's wealthiest people. Oh, and he's got a great head of hair. More on Lemkau's big bet on himself.
2. Jonathan D. Schiller helped build Boies Schiller Flexner into the powerhouse law fim it is today, but he also played a key role in the exodus of partners the firm has endured. Insiders pointed to Schiller's temperamental management style, an unfair comp system, and preferential treatment towards his own son. Read more here.
3. Don't bet against Julian Salisbury. Soft-spoken types can sometimes get bulldozed on Wall Street, where so-called alphas often reign supreme. But Goldman Sach's Salisbury, a Brit who came out of the unheralded middle office, has proven you don't need to be the loudest in the room to be successful.
4. Meet the team behind what was one of the most profitable trading strategies on the Street. Index-rebalance trading isn't the sexiest topic, but during the pandemic it helped hedge funds reap billions in returns. And no one did it better than Millennium's Glen Scheinberg and his team. Here's an inside look at how they did it.
5. Musk's money man. Jared Birchall is one of Elon Musk's top deputies, having run his family office for the past six years. But while Musk entrusts a lot to Birchall, the two men could not be more different. Inside the life of the straight-laced, low-key banker handling Musk's money.
6. Brad Karp weighs his next step. The chairman of the powerful law firm Paul Weiss won big-name clients like Citibank, the NFL, and Apollo. But the man whose client relationships generate some $500 million in fees a year for the firm isn't sure how much longer he wants to stay in the game. More on Karp's future here.
7. Bringing Big Tech to Wall Street. Plenty of banks talk about transforming their firm into a technology company, but few have pursued that strategy as aggressively as Goldman Sachs. Marco Argenti, a former AWS exec and the bank's chief information officer, is the mastermind behind it all. Inside his strategy for turning Goldman into the Amazon of Wall Street.
8. Tough times for the leader of a top investment team at Morgan Stanley. Dennis Lynch could do no wrong running Counterpoint Global, which posted triple-digit gains in 2020 and was described as the "crown jewel" of Morgan Stanley Investment Management. But the 28-year Morgan Stanley vet has faced much harder sledding this year, and insiders have started questioning the culture on his team. More on the troubles for Morgan Stanley's rock star portfolio manager.
9. The lawyer repping everyone from Jay-Z to Elon Musk. Alex Spiro is no stranger to the spotlight. The Quinn Emanuel partner has defended a plethora of high-profile clients, playing a key role in Musk's fight to break out of his Twitter deal and most recently serving as counsel for Megan Thee Stallion. Here's more on how Spiro rose to power.
10. What it takes to get to the top of one of the most competitive PE firms on the Street. Aaron Sobel, Reed Rayman, and Robert Kalsow-Ramos all were named partners at Apollo Global Management before they turned 40. Here's how they rose to the top of an investing firm known for being an intense workplace. | 2022-12-27T12:36:56Z | www.businessinsider.com | Wall Street's Most Powerful Dealmakers, Traders, and Lawyers | https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-powerful-people-bankers-traders-lawyers-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-powerful-people-bankers-traders-lawyers-2022-12 |
Welcome back, readers! For those of you who celebrated Christmas, I hope you had a restful weekend with loved ones — and minimal holiday stress. I'm your host, Jordan Parker Erb.
For the rest of the week, in addition to the day's top stories, I'll be highlighting some of the year's biggest investigations, features, and more from Insider's tech reporters. Today, we're taking a look back on everything from employee angst at Amazon to Thomas Kurian's three-year reign at Google Cloud.
1. Which Twitter alternatives have staying power — and which is the next Clubhouse? Despite surging after Elon Musk's takeover, there are already signs of trouble for Twitter alternatives like Mastodon and Hive Social: Downloads have plunged recently, suggesting interest may already be waning. See which Twitter alternatives could make it out alive.
2. America's inflation woes may be ending. Amazon's product prices grew at a slower pace than US inflation this year, and the company's economists believe its prices will increase at a slower pace going forward. Here's what that could mean.
3. An Insider reporter who's tested 19 different electric cars explains why he wouldn't buy one — yet. After driving everything from mainstream SUVs to burly pickup trucks and six-figure luxury cars, Tim Levin is all-in on EVs. But the cost and inconvenient charging, among other things, are holding him back. Here's why he won't buy one right now.
4. A DoorDash delivery driver had her car stolen with her infant twins inside. The children were eventually found, but the frightening incident revealed the complicated reality of juggling gig work and childcare. Read the full story here.
5. Looking for a side-hustle in the new year? We outlined 10 ways to make money — by selling your body to science. From selling your blood plasma to lying in bed for two months straight, here's how your body can make you money.
The top Big Tech stories of 2022:
6. Earlier this year, Amazon employees' angst over low pay reached crisis levels. Amazon employees, including senior staff, aggressively pushed for better compensation, disenchanted with what they perceived as below-market pay — a perception that led to higher attrition across senior ranks. Read the full story here.
7. In May, we had a first look at the tech industry's historic slump. Following an extraordinary pandemic-era boom, things got ugly for the tech industry. Interest rates rose, the supply chain was riddled with hiccups, and inflation was rampant — leading us into a once-in-a-generation down-cycle.
8. Facebook was one of the first companies to feel the pain. In May, the company announced a hiring freeze that lasted months, saying that reduced hiring targets would "affect almost every team in the company." Read more about the beginning of the industry-wide downturn.
9. Inside Thomas Kurian's three-year reign at Google Cloud. Kurian was hired to make the unit a promising revenue source for Alphabet. But insiders told us that its culture is more like Oracle's or SAP's — and distinct from the rest of Google's. We gave readers an inside look at Kurian's Google Cloud.
10. Gopuff workers told us that hiring Amazon execs "destroyed" its operations. Gopuff hired more than two dozen Amazon veterans at various levels of the company to run its operations. Sources described the result as a failed experiment applying Amazon strategies to a smaller company. More on the Amazonification of Gopuff. | 2022-12-27T12:37:02Z | www.businessinsider.com | Which Twitter Alternatives Will Survive? | https://www.businessinsider.com/which-twitter-alternatives-will-survive-mastodon-hivesocial-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/which-twitter-alternatives-will-survive-mastodon-hivesocial-2022-12 |
Cloe Fields and Christian Zelada plummeted down a canyon in Angeles National Forest.
Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; David McNew/Getty Images
Cloe Fields and Christian Zelada's car came off the road and plunged 300 feet into a canyon.
Fields' iPhone 14 automatically notified emergency services about the accident, local law enforcement said.
Crash-detection is a new feature on the iPhone 14 and some Apple Watch models.
The new iPhone crash-detection feature aided a California couple's rescue by automatically contacting emergency services after their car plunged down a canyon in Los Angeles County.
Cloe Fields and Christian Zelada told The Washington Post that during a trip in mid-December, their Hyundai slipped on gravel at the edge of a road in Angeles National Forest and fell 300 feet down a canyon.
Fields and Zelada told The Post they climbed out the passenger door to find they had no cellphone service. However, when Zelada found Fields' smashed but still-functioning iPhone 14 near the crash site, he discovered it had already sent an emergency message to the authorities, per The Post.
—clö (@cloeleahfields) December 16, 2022
Apple introduced the crash-detection feature to the iPhone 14 and some Apple Watch models. If owners don't respond to an on-screen crash alert within 20 seconds, the device automatically messages the emergency services.
Montrose Search and Rescue said that the Crescenta Valley Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department received a call from Apple's emergency satellite service at 1:55 p.m. on the day of Fields and Zelada's accident. The couple were then able to provide further information about the accident by communicating by text via a relay center, ultimately leading to a helicopter dispatch, Montrose Search and Rescue said.
Fields said on Twitter that she was "thankful to still be here," adding: "Thank god for my phone obsession."
California Apple iPhone | 2022-12-27T14:28:38Z | www.businessinsider.com | iPhone 14 Called for Help After Couple Fell Down Canyon in Car | https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-car-crash-detection-california-los-angeles-county-canyon-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-car-crash-detection-california-los-angeles-county-canyon-2022-12 |
From Amazon to The Trade Desk, experts predict these companies will be the most active acquirers of advertising businesses next year
Industry experts predicted the companies most likely to go shopping for adtech, martech, and ad consultancies in 2023.
The tough macroeconomic environment could set 2023 up to be a buyer's market for adtech and martech.
There's a strong interest from acquirers in hot trends like commerce media and data consultancy.
Experts predicted the companies most likely to be acquirers of advertising businesses in 2023.
Many industry observers expect advertising industry M&A deal volume and value to be down next year due to volatile macroeconomic conditions.
But those conditions could also make 2023 a buyers' market for companies looking for bargains, or those with enough cash to beat their competitors to useful assets like artificial data capabilities, commerce expertise, or streaming TV ad serving tech.
Experts across the advertising industry — from consultants, to agency executives, analysts, investors, and adtech leaders — named the companies likely to be active in the advertising M&A market in 2023 and why.
1. Agency networks like WPP, Omnicom, and Dentsu will be on the hunt for commerce expertise and consultancy
Advertising agency holding companies have always been highly acquisitive and Rob Webster, who sold his consultancy firm Canton Marketing Solutions to marketing company Goodway Group earlier this year, predicts other agency networks will want similar companies with expertise in areas like programmatic tech and martech.
He added that agencies will also want to recoup talent lost through layoffs, pay freezes, and attrition.
Experts said agencies would also look to make strategic acquisitions in the ecommerce and retail media space, much like Publicis Groupe's moves to acquire the ecommerce software platforms Profitero and CitrusAd, in 2022 and 2021 respectively.
2. Apple could make an under-the-radar adtech acquisition for its sleeping giant advertising business
Industry insiders predict Apple has big plans for its $5 billion-and-growing advertising business next year. It's going to sell and serve TV ads for the first time, in its broadcasts of MLS soccer matches on Apple TV. Sources say it's also in the early stages of building a demand-side platform.
Ciarán O'Kane, chief strategy officer of marketing insights company WireCorp, previously told Insider he predicts Apple could be on the lookout for an ad server, or other buy-side technology to plug its video and CTV inventory into. Other industry insiders concurred.
"If there is a strategic, technological and commercial fit, it makes much more sense for Apple to buy rather than build," said Paul Coggins, CEO of the mobile adtech firm Adludio.
3. Business software companies like Citrix, SAP, Optimizely, Adyen and Square might want to make bigger moves in the martech space
Business software companies have been encroaching on the marketing technology space — such as Intuit's purchase of Mailchimp and Twilio, which acquired Segment.
Willem Blom, global SVP of growth at Carlyle Group-owned digital marketing network DEPT, thinks there will be similar deals in 2023. Companies like Citrix or Square could look to cross-sell martech services to their existing clients — which can monetize customer data.
4. Cloud companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Snowflake will want clean room tech
Interest and investment in data clean room tech has grown in recent years due to new privacy regulations around the world and the impending death of the third-party cookie.
Data clean rooms allow advertisers and publishers to share data with each other in privacy-focused environments. A car company could, for instance, find contractors who shop at a home improvement store and send them ads about pickup trucks.
Tech giants like Amazon, Snowflake, and Google have also recently launched their own versions of data clean rooms. Experts predict that they — or another cloud company like Microsoft — could look to acquire a startup like InfoSum or Habu to bolster their offerings.
"I think it's going to be a really big year for clean rooms," said Robert Webster, vice president of strategy at the Goodway Group's Control v Exposed consultancy. "It's a bit of a landgrab for someone like Snowflake, Microsoft, or Amazon."
Microsoft has laid out big ambitions to grow its advertising division into a $20 billion business, through properties like Bing search, Xbox, MSN, and its recent acquisition of the adtech platform Xandr.
"2023 could be the year where they continue to build on this, and potentially pick up some bargains along the way," said Oli Feldwick, head of innovation at advertising and media agency at The&Partnership.
5. Private equity firms like Advent, Blackstone, Bridgepoint, Carlyle Group, CVC, Shamrock, Vista are likely to remain active acquirers
Private-equity accounted for 43% of acquisitions across the tech, digital, media, and marketing sectors in the first three quarters of the year, according to M&A advisory firm Ciesco. The trend will likely continue, as the global private equity industry has close to $2 trillion in undeployed cash reserves, according to Preqin Pro.
Notable transactions in 2022 included a $16 billion deal among a consortium of private equity firms to take measurement company Nielsen private and Bridgepoint taking a majority stake in UK adtech company MiQ at a valuation near $1 billion.
With that private equity backing, those companies have signaled they will hunt for acquisitions themselves.
6. Retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Carrefour, Tesco, Ebay, and Costco will want to bulk out their retail media propositions
Retail media — ads placed on retailers' own websites and apps — came of age in 2022. Similarly, a raft of companies from Netflix to Lyft to Marriott launched ad businesses for the first time.
Romain Job, chief strategy officer of adtech firm Equative said such companies will be on the lookout for technology to help them to differentiate their data assets from one another.
Similar recent acquisitions have included Mastercard purchasing Dynamic Yield and Ahold Delhaize taking a minority stake in Adhese.
7. The Trade Desk might finally make a splashy adtech acquisiton
With almost $1 billion in cash on hand, as of September 30, experts predicted that 2023 could be the year The Trade Desk makes a splashy acquisition.
Some industry insiders believe that could come in the form of fellow publicly traded adtech company Criteo, which has pivoted its business to lean heavily into the hot retail media sector.
"At $1.5 billion to $2 billion, it would be an easy target for The Trade Desk that could provide highly accretive midterm synergies as it continues to push hard in this space," said Ruben Schreuers, chief strategy officer of marketing consultancy firm Ebiquity.
But The Trade Desk has historically been known as "more of a build company, not a buy company," said Ionut Ciobotaru, co-CEO of the adtech platform Verve Group. He predicted that any acquisition The Trade Desk makes in 2023 is more likely to be small, like when it bought the 20-person identity graph company Adbrain in 2017.
m&a Predictions | 2022-12-27T14:28:44Z | www.businessinsider.com | Experts Say These Companies Will Acquire Adtech and Martech in 2023 | https://www.businessinsider.com/experts-companies-acquire-adtech-martech-next-year-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/experts-companies-acquire-adtech-martech-next-year-2022-12 |
11 healthtech founders who raised funding in 2022 reveal the crucial things they did to create successful pitch decks
Ja_inter/Getty Images
A VC downturn is upon us, but healthtech founders will still have opportunities to raise capital.
Healthcare founders at Salvo Health, Parallel Learning, and other startups raised money in 2022.
11 healthtech founders told Insider their best pieces of pitch-deck advice.
Following years of high-flying growth, the venture-capital industry pumped the brakes this year. A tidal wave of layoffs hit once-flourishing tech startups and forced them to slash spending on beloved passion projects.
But despite a similar downturn in digital health — investing in this sector fell by 72% in the second quarter of 2022 compared to its peak in the second quarter of 2021, according to the research firm CB Insights — there are still opportunities for healthtech startups to get funding.
"Our healthcare system fails consumers," Amanda Eilian and Lisa Blau, founding partners of healthcare-focused VC firm Able, told Insider in an email. "We need to invest in consumer-first experiences within the healthcare system that will ultimately lead to better outcomes."
Caregiving, holistic healthcare, omnichannel distribution, and data collection are other areas within healthtech where startups are primed to shine and raise money, they said.
But to capitalize in a down economy, healthtech founders need to create stellar pitch decks — and what better way to put one together than to take advice from founders who successfully raised capital in 2022?
Insider spoke with 11 healthcare founders who collectively raised more than $146 million from investors in 2022. From pediatric-mental healthcare, to medical security, to consumer sex-tech, these founders managed to come out ahead in a tough fundraising environment and dwindling deal volume thanks to stellar pitch decks.
Responses have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Check out the top piece of pitch deck advice from 11 founders who successfully raised capital in 2022, listed alphabetically by startup name:
Cabinet Health raised $17 million from Global Impact Fund, Natureza, and Unreasonable Capital with its goal to bring low- and no-waste medication to more consumers.
Achal Patel, left, and Russell Gong, the cofounders of Cabinet Health.
"Investors, of course, need to see your business projections, customer data, where you sit in the competitive landscape and everything else that comes along with seeking investment, but my No. 1 piece of advice is to bring authentic self to your business and mission.
In our case, Russ and I had a unique combination of life and professional experience to set us up as the founders of this company. Literally growing up in the medical-supply chain, I have always felt committed to enriching an ethical, high-quality, and more-sustainable supply chain. Russ' background is in sustainable products and he has a wealth of international experience from serving in the US Army.
In every pitch, we make sure our investors — future entrusted partners — acknowledge that Russ and I were born to build this business and won't stop till the mission is accomplished. Without our backgrounds, we would not have been able to build the Cabinet business, so showcasing why you as a founder are uniquely equipped to lead and scale your business is of the utmost importance." — Achal Patel, cofounder of Cabinet Health
Check out Cabinet Health's full pitch deck here.
The sexual-wellness startup Dame raised a $7 million Series A as investors become more gung-ho about funding sex tech.
Alexandra Fine, the CEO and a cofounder of Dame.
Dame co-founder and CEO Alexandra Fine
"In addition to a pitch deck, you also want a data deck, which is a way to take a deeper dive into the data and stories.
Investors want to see the deck right at the beginning, but you have to include just the right amount of info in order to keep the conversation interesting but also entice them with the fact that you have more to share. Don't ever go over the whole deck; pull up the slides that correspond with whatever the question is." — Alexandra Fine, Dame CEO and cofounder
Check out Dame's full pitch deck here.
Handspring Health raised $6.2 million in seed funding aiming to expand virtual and in-person mental-healthcare access for kids.
Sahil Choudhry, the CEO of Handspring Health.
Handspring Health
"Keep your slides simple. We tracked how much time investors spent on the deck, and the average was about two to three seconds per slide.
Make sure you get your point across quickly. While it's nice to have an hour, a lot of meetings will have to be under 30 minutes. Make sure you have a 20-minute version and a 40-minute version of the story." — Sahil Choudhry, Handspring Health CEO
Check out Handspring Health's full pitch deck here.
The pediatric-mental-health startup Hopscotch raised an $8 million seed round from Greycroft, Inspired Capital, New York Ventures, Remarkable Ventures, Watershed Capital, and Cold Start.
Marla Beyer, the CEO and a cofounder of Hopscotch.
"On my fundraising 'ask' slide, I included specific and quantifiable goals that I was aiming to hit with this funding and highlighted how I intended to use these resources. High-level buckets are fine.
This is important because it demonstrates to investors that you understand the milestones you intend to hit are on par with what will be expected in your next round; showcases that you have an understanding of the amount of funding that will be necessary for you to hit those defined milestones; and have a clear understanding of how you intend to allocate resources you're setting out to hit.
Any investor that is seriously interested and is leaning in wants to ensure that you're raising the amount of capital needed in order to take you to the next stage and that you're clear in your thinking in terms of what additional team members and resources you'll need to help you get there." — Marla Beyer, CEO of Hopscotch
Check out Hopscotch's full pitch deck here.
The Lanby raised $2.7 million to revolutionize primary care with an all-inclusive members club.
Chloe Harrouche, the CEO and a cofounder of The Lanby.
"Give yourself a chance to refine your deck as you go through the fundraising process. Take the investor feedback you receive early on as an opportunity to address concerns directly in your deck before they come up in your next round of pitches.
This is why you'll often hear founders delay reaching out to their first-choice funds until they've had a chance to test and refine their pitch with others." — Chloe Harrouche, cofounder and CEO of The Lanby
Check out The Lanby's full pitch deck here.
Healthcare-cybersecurity startup MedCrypt raised a $25 million Series B that Intuitive Ventures and Johnson & Johnson Innovation led.
The MedCrypt team, including a cofounder and the CEO Mike Kijewski, center front.
MedCrypt
"From a broad perspective, there are a few tactics we've used that helped us be successful.
The first is that we really took the time and space to explain the problem and our solution. Healthcare cybersecurity is a very technical problem, and this has to be understood before the solution and the why will land. Secondly, we used real examples through news-story headlines and social proof to validate the problem. And lastly, we kept it simple — no heavy jargon or technical terms.
It was the long-term relationships that we had been fostering that allowed us to be successful. If we had to rely on sending pitch decks out to funds that weren't previously aware of us, I think things would have turned out very differently." —Mike Kijewski, MedCrypt CEO and cofounder
Check out The Medcrypt's full pitch deck here.
The surrogacy startup Nodal raised $4.7 million from Amplo, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Interplay Venture Capital as well as a slew of healthtech startup founders
Brian Levine, the founder of Nodal.
"My one rule about the deck is that it should be less than 10 slides. That's really important. If you can't sum up the problem in 10 slides, everything beyond that is just fluff, so have the shortest, most succinct deck possible.'" — Brian Levine, Nodal founder
Check out Nodal's full pitch deck here.
The disability-edtech startup Parallel Learning raised a $20 million Series A from Tiger Global.
Diana Heldfond, the CEO and founder of Parallel.
Parallel Learning
"The best decks provide a clear narrative — this is your opportunity to tell a concise story with compelling data. We followed a problem-market, opportunity-solution format. On slides three and four, we presented the existing problem within education and health and clearly outlined how it impacts students and educators.
We then elaborated on the solution we provide across slides five to nine, with traction and validation to back us up, for a succinct narrative that highlights parts of the business investors find most important. I was advised to keep the deck short, sweet, and clear, which went a long way as I was quickly able to show the traction we've made in this space rather than tell it." — Diana Heldfond, CEO and Founder of Parallel Learning
Check out Parallel Learning's full pitch deck here.
Petfolk, a One Medical for pet care, raised $40 million from VCs and a string of celebrity investors including Miranda Lambert and Danica Patrick.
Michael and Audrey Wystrach, the co-CEOs of Petfolk.
Petfolk
"Hands down, the No. 1 slide investors were excited about was the team page. The people on that page instantly set Petfolk apart and stopped investors in their tracks. Our team has a unique blend of over 100 years of experience in veterinary medicine, scaling technology companies, and building $1 billion-plus businesses. This is also the page that I am most proud of and excited about." — Audrey Wystrach, Petfolk co-CEO
Check out Petfolk's full pitch deck here.
Founded by three executives already well-known in Silicon Valley, chronic-gut-health startup Salvo Health raised $10.5 million in "super giant" seed funding.
Jason Finger, Jeff Glueck, and Avi Dorfman, the cofounders of Salvo Health.
Salvo Health
"We led with the track record of our three cofounders having launched or led three unicorn companies in our investor pitch, but also the total addressable market of a wildly underserved 60 million sufferers from chronic gut disorders and billions spent already in the gastrointestinal area that is ripe for digital transformation." — Jeff Glueck, cofounder of Salvo Health
Check out Salvo Health's full pitch deck here.
Shimmer, which brings ADHD coaching to adults, raised $1.2 million in a party round including Y Combinator, Honeystone Ventures, Koa Labs, Gaingels, and CVS Health transformation vice president Megan Hall.
Christal Wang, the CEO and a cofounder of Shimmer.
"We used descriptive insights instead of section labels to title each slide. Your two goals are to be clear and compelling, in that order. It doesn't matter how compelling your business is if they don't understand it. Don't make the investor guess what your point is — tell them straight up. Use statements like '...massive underserved market of $19 billion in US alone' instead of 'market size.' Ditch the 'problem,' 'solution,' and 'value proposition,' labels, or at least stick them on the bottom in small font as a tracker.
We also started with my personal story and my experience of the problem. Lead with the problem you're trying to solve, not your solution. As an early-stage — especially pre-seed and seed — company, the exact make-up of your product will likely shift as you find better ways to solve the problem. Showing that you have an in-depth knowledge of the problem and allowing them to feel it will show investors that you're in it for the long haul because you care, and you have a spirit of iterating to find product market fit." — Christal Wang, Shimmer cofounder and CEO
Check out Shimmer's full pitch deck here.
Features Healthtech | 2022-12-27T14:28:50Z | www.businessinsider.com | 11 Healthtech Founder Share Their Best Pieces of Pitch Deck-Advice | https://www.businessinsider.com/healthtech-founders-share-pitch-deck-advice-investors-funding-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/healthtech-founders-share-pitch-deck-advice-investors-funding-2022-12 |
'The music stopped': 6 founders tell how they survived this year's bursting VC funding bubble, customers unwilling to spend, and a graveyard of fallen startup peers
In 2022, many startup founders watched their industries shift from "red-hot" to "on fire" — and not in a good way.
This year's economic caution marked a huge contrast to 2021's exuberance and record VC funding.
Insider spoke with six startup founders about how they navigated the abrupt shift.
Customers have been cautious about spending, but some have found ways to support struggling peers.
Alessandra Henderson was browsing through her inbox as usual in early May when she saw the invitations: not one, not two, but three separate emails from investors holding sessions on how to navigate a difficult economy.
Though Henderson, the cofounder and CEO of the menopausal-health company Elektra Health, had noticed increasing chatter about economic concern, at her company, it was largely business as usual. So the flurry of warnings of "R.I.P. Good Times" in her inbox felt jarring.
"It's like the music stopped," she said. "When you're a founder, that impacts your psyche."
After an era of record venture capital funding and new unicorns minted by the dozen each week, this year brought a harsh reality to startups. Companies such as Klarna, Snyk and Oda have raised funding at marked-down valuations, while Stripe and Instacart have preemptively slashed the value of their shares. Countless tech startups, including Airtable, Ro, Cerebral, Plaid, and Kraken, have laid off thousands of employees.
Insider spoke with six founders about how they've handled the abrupt switch from market exuberance to economic caution. Several of them have built startups within once-hot industries that have faced a cooldown in investor sentiment, which have put some potential partners and customers at risk of failure. But at the same time, they said, they've sought to pounce on new opportunities created by the economic downturn.
Elektra Health's cofounders, CEO Alessandra Henderson and COO Jannine Versi.
Shifting landscapes, changing priorities
After a year of record venture capital funding, the abrupt shift in investor sentiment hit hard in 2022, founders told Insider. Those who launched their companies during unusually flush times said they were acutely aware that their future fundraising journeys might not be so smooth. As a result, in some cases, they've tweaked their roadmap to growth.
"The dramatic change in the funding environment is really the thing which has surprised me most," said Owen Rapaport, the cofounder and CEO of the crypto compliance startup Argus. "It's such an obvious thing, because everybody was saying, 'This is not normal. This will change.' But when you're in a bubble, you almost don't recognize that you're in a bubble."
Amanda D'Ambra launched her startup, Arise, which provides treatment for eating disorders, in March. In just one month, she and her cofounder, Joan Zhang, had raised a $4 million seed round, spurred by investors' appetite for digital-health startups in new niches.
Looking back, she told Insider, it was fortuitous timing. If she'd waited just a month later, it would've been more challenging, she said: "That was when we started to see that the landscape was shifting."
As a result, D'Ambra has been especially wary of burning through cash, and she's held back on expanding Arise's headcount, which is currently at 15.
By contrast, the seismic shift came for Rapaport much later in the year, after the cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed. Earlier bankruptcies in the crypto industry hadn't totally dampened interest in the space — in fact, they'd only brought more attention to the importance of compliance, benefitting Argus.
But now, many prospective customers were hesitant to purchase any new services, even if they would ultimately prove beneficial. That prompted Rapaport to work on tightening up the company's sales pitch. A month ago, Argus brought on its first dedicated sales rep — earlier than it otherwise would have, he said.
Laura Spiekerman, the cofounder and chief revenue officer of Alloy.
Fighting the flames as industry peers go up in smoke
As Rapaport has witnessed, high-profile failures and blunders, from FTX to Fast to Cerebral, have cast once-hot industry segments in a much harsher light. That's been a heavy burden to bear, founders told Insider, even if their own businesses are thriving.
Challenges in fintech have had a direct impact on Alloy, which provides compliance and anti-fraud services to banks and fintech companies. As economic conditions have grown more uncertain, fraud has grown more frequent and complex, said Laura Spiekerman, Alloy's cofounder and chief revenue officer, which has only "added fuel to the fire" for fintech startups already facing funding challenges, regulatory issues, and other existential threats.
Alloy has sought to streamline and augment its fraud detection and analysis tools to help its customers address more complex threats, she said. At the same time, she and her cofounders have also been trying to shore up their own war chest. In September, Alloy announced a $52 million Series C extension round at a $1.55 billion valuation.
"The world was already a little bit on fire," Spiekerman said. "We knew anything was a possibility if we waited."
Donnel Baird, the founder and CEO of the climate-tech company BlocPower, has similarly grappled with existential threats within his industry. Despite renewed attention to climate tech in the past year — Union Square Ventures, for instance, recently announced a $200 million fund dedicated to the space — Baird said several of his peers have actually struggled to find funding.
Baird has experienced some of those difficulties firsthand. BlocPower provides a combination of hardware, software, and financial services for making buildings energy-efficient. For investors looking for a "prototypical Silicon Valley founder with a software solution," other models, such as his, may seem more daunting to fund. But whereas BlocPower, founded in 2013, has established itself, other seed-stage companies may not have the opportunity to do so in this climate, he said.
In Baird's view, that's ultimately a bad thing. So he has sought to partner with other climate-tech founders. For instance, BlocPower is working with the startups Dollaride and Hevo Power to provide climate-friendly cab services and infrastructure in Brooklyn.
"If we don't have a climate-tech ecosystem in our industry," he said, "then BlocPower won't work."
Donnel Baird, the CEO of BlocPower.
Dina Averuk/Insider
How to thrive when your customers are in cost-cutting mode
Not all industries are feeling the pinch, of course. Artificial intelligence startups are the latest beneficiary of VC hype, buoyed by breakthrough software tools such as DALL-E and ChatGPT. For Rodrigo Liang, the cofounder and CEO of SambaNova Systems, which makes systems for companies to run advanced AI models, it's been a long time coming.
"At a commercial level, this year, we definitely saw a spike in interest," he told Insider. "Somebody's getting funded, somebody's producing this new thing, new capabilities are showing, and these are models that line up perfectly with our infrastructure, with our platform, with our technology."
SambaNova has raised more than $1 billion in funding, including a $676 million Series D round in April 2021 that valued the company at $5 billion. So, Liang said, the company is confident in its cash reserves. But at the same time, he knows many of its customers are keen to cut costs. So SambaNova has prioritized developing products that make it easier for customers to get its AI capabilities up and running and thereby increase productivity.
Liang's company, however, has had to adapt to customer needs changing more quickly than usual as economic uncertainty mounts. Some companies, for instance, have pushed back longer-term, large-scale AI projects in favor of those with more immediate impact. Others that have undergone hiring freezes may lack the staffing for certain projects. From the start, Liang said, SambaNova has emphasized nimbleness among its employees, which has helped them adjust to a more hectic year.
"There's been a little more changing of plans this year," he said, "but for us, it's fairly normal operating mode for us to understand that customers have changing priorities."
Rodrigo Liang, the cofounder and CEO of SambaNova Systems.
Finding a support system when times get rough
As founders navigate changing business conditions, one responsibility remains constant, they say: taking care of their own mental health so they can effectively lead their startups. That's easier said than done in an unsure economic environment.
"I've spoken with a handful of our investors who said that the number of founders who have cried to them in the last several months has been really disproportionately higher than any time before," Henderson said.
One of the biggest challenges founders face, several told Insider, is having an outlet to unleash their fears and frustrations, since they're often tasked with putting on a brave face for the company's sake. Some founders have prioritized assembling a group of supporters to lean on in difficult moments and setting aside time outside of work.
Both Henderson and Baird, for instance, work with a therapist and a coach. Henderson carves out time for massages, hanging out with friends, and even occasional dance parties with her toddler daughter, while Baird has taken up swimming and committed to reading to his two children at bedtime — "more Zoom meetings be damned."
D'Ambra, who has personal experience navigating the eating disorders that Arise addresses, similarly sets aside time for mental health. She and Zhang, her cofounder, have regular "accountability" check-ins devoted strictly to personal well-being, she said, to ensure they're not sacrificing their health for the sake of the company.
Rapaport, meanwhile, found a support system through the renowned accelerator Y Combinator, which he participated in last summer. While the alumni network is great for getting quick advice and referrals on an array of business matters, it's also a great place to talk through the personal aspects of startup life, he said.
"They very much know what it feels like to build a business and to face challenges with team and customers and product," Rapaport said. "That has just been a really consistent support and, honestly, inspiration for me over the past 12 months." | 2022-12-27T14:29:08Z | www.businessinsider.com | Startup Founders Tell How They Survived Economic Whiplash in 2022 | https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-founders-surviving-vc-economy-funding-slowdown-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-founders-surviving-vc-economy-funding-slowdown-2022-12 |
Meet 3 remote workers who negotiated for better pay, workplace flexibility, or the right to quiet quit — and won
Many workers say that they would quit their current jobs if they lost remote flexibility.
Remote work has become increasingly popular, and make-or-break for many Americans when choosing jobs.
Workers are using their current bargaining power to ask for better pay, flexibility, and work-life balance.
Insider talked to three remote workers about how they did so.
"The Great Resignation" has become a catch-all term for the exodus of Americans from the workforce during the pandemic. But underneath that umbrella term, several forces are at play.
Workers aren't just quitting, they're bargained for historic raises, better benefits, and better work-life balance. Many are "job hopping," thinking of the Great Resignation as a "Great Reshuffle," and others are quiet quitting.
Over the last few years, much of the workforce has been recovered, but a labor shortage has persisted — and will likely never be solved.
That means workers are holding onto their bargaining power, even amid a likely 2023 recession.
As worker preferences clashed with employer demands , desire for remote work options has been an important feature in many Great Resignation stories, due to accompanying flexibility, fear of COVID-19 exposure, and a lack of childcare options.
It's become a deciding factor for many job hunters. Two-thirds of the global workforce (64%) said they have or would consider looking for a new job if their employer wanted them to return to the office full-time, according to an April ADP survey of 32,000 people.
Aside from higher pay or "better career opportunities," a flexible working arrangement — which includes the option to work remotely — was the highest motivator to find a new job, according to a McKinsey survey from this summer. According to a different report by Adobe last year, 51% of 5,500 enterprise employees interviewed — workers at companies with more than 1,000 employees — preferred complete flexibility in scheduling, while only 16% said their ideal work week would involve no flexibility at all, with a "start and end work according to a set work schedule."
A lot of workers are opting for the safety and and ease of remote work, with many highlighting the way it can make work feel less time consuming while still being productive. It's especially in sync with the Gen Z mentality, with many younger workers reimagining how work fits into their lives, instead of the other way around.
Insider previously spoke with three remote employees about how they got more out of their jobs: better pay, more free time, and only doing work that they're paid for. They shared their stories and offered advice to those in similar positions.
A millennial hopped to three different jobs in two years, securing a 39% pay raise and remote work
Lesley Labarba is a human resources director at healthcare company Chopra Global
Lesley Labarba
28-year-old Lesley Labarba currently works remotely as a human resources director at the healthcare company Chopra Global. She loves her job, but it was an uphill battle to get there, she told Insider.
At the beginning of the pandemic, she worked at a company that she chose not to specify, but which has been disclosed to Insider. Not only did she not get a raise or a better position, but she had to work in person for much of 2020, she said.
"It was never going to be fully remote, they made that pretty clear," she said of the smaller agency. "They had a COVID year where they had outstanding sales… but my bonus was significantly less."
She realized that she wanted more out of her job: more fulfilling responsibilities, better pay, and also the option to work from home. She bet on herself, she said, quitting jobs then starting at new positions until she found what she wanted.
"If your employees can't actually leave at noon on a Friday because of the amount of work they have, then what's the point of that policy?" she said. "Even the idea of going in just once a week started to make me miserable."
Read more: Meet a millennial who took advantage of the Great Resignation to get a 39% pay raise and remote work
One millennial opted for remote work over a better-paying job
Almost half of American workers say they would take up to a 5% pay cut to continue to work remotely at least part-time post-pandemic, according to the State of Remote Work survey from November.
39-year-old Alonso Morris has been working in data-sharing and analysis long enough to know about how much the field can pay, especially for someone with nearly 20 years of experience.
But Morris, who asked that his real identity be kept private but has been disclosed to Insider, is fine where he is.
That's because remote work has changed his life for the better, he said. Working remotely means that he spends less time commuting from his home in Connecticut to an office in New York — and that makes it easier to deal with personal matters, such as his mother's health.
"I can always answer any emails, and if anything's immediate I can be back in my office within 10 minutes," Morris told Insider. "There is no fire alarm that's that severe that can't be looked at in 10 minutes. That kind of flexibility is honestly life-changing."
Read more: Meet a 39-year-old remote worker making $116,000 who says he could quit and get a job that pays more — but he'd rather have the flexibility to work from home
A Gen Z worker told her boss that she's quiet quitting for her health
Cobb first got sick right when she started at her job, and said that her mental health issues were exacerbated by the stress of trying to navigate both.
Gina Cobb was diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune illness last year, and it completely changed her life — as well as her relationship with work.
Cobb, 26, asked that her real identity be kept private, but has been verified by Insider. Before starting her current job as a senior marketing strategist, she said she was the type to go above and beyond at work: spending time at the office after hours for no extra pay and doing tasks that weren't in her job description, she said.
But getting sick meant that she had to draw a hard line between her personal and working lives.
"Work was definitely a thorn in my side that really affected my entire life," she told Insider. "Because when I was neglecting my health that bled into my personal life… It became unclear to me where my illness stopped and the stress of my job began."
So she began to put her foot down in the office when it came to any extra work without accompanying compensation.
Read more: Meet a Gen Z remote worker who told her boss she was quiet quitting for the sake of her health: 'I need to do my role as defined, but also not apologize for who I am'
Remote Work Zoom great resignation | 2022-12-27T14:37:20Z | www.businessinsider.com | How 3 Remote Workers Negotiated for Workplace Flexibility and Won | https://www.businessinsider.com/negotiate-remote-work-flexbility-great-resignation-quiet-quitting-raise-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/negotiate-remote-work-flexbility-great-resignation-quiet-quitting-raise-2022-12 |
Jill Robbins and her family at Disney.
Courtesy of Jill Robbins
I'm a big fan of gift cards and I use them strategically to help offset vacation costs.
Buying a gift card for less than its face value is the holy grail of savings for me.
Using gift cards to save money is a long game strategy that's easy to implement.
Disney World and Disney Cruises are on the expensive end of vacations.
I'm a Disney Vacation Club member (a good way to explain that is that we bought into Mickey's timeshare and prepay our vacations) so we do some kind of Disney vacation at least every other year. Although our DVC monthly fees cover our hotel, we still have expenses for park tickets, food, and travel.
That's where gift cards come in handy.
I can often get Disney gift cards at a discount
Buying gift cards at a discount means paying less for the gift card than the face value of the card. If you pay any amount less than $50 for a $50 gift card, then that's a discounted gift card. I buy discounted Disney gift cards at Target and Sam's Club. BJ's Wholesale Club also sells discounted Disney gift cards. Sam's limits the purchase of Disney gift cards to two per member.
If I buy a $100 Disney gift card at Target each month, I'll have $1,200 after a year. The 5% discount is only $60, which doesn't buy a lot, but I didn't have to do anything complicated or go out of my way to get it. If I found $60 laying on the ground and used it to buy dinner for my family at Disney World, I'd be excited about my good luck.
To buy a discounted Disney gift card at Target, you'll need a Target RedCard. You can get a credit, debit, or reloadable RedCard. When you use your RedCard at Target you'll get 5% off your purchase, which includes Disney gift cards. If I purchase a $100 Disney gift card and use my RedCard, I've gotten that for $95. Both Sam's Club and BJ's give a 4% discount on Disney gift cards.
I've also seen discounted Disney gift cards listed on eBay for prices comparable to what's listed above, although I've heard other people report discounts of up to 10%. I think buying a gift card on eBay seems risky.
I collect gift cards throughout the year
Since it isn't practical to go out and buy thousands of dollars of gift cards in one pop, I collect them throughout the year. If I know we've got a trip coming up, I'll grab a gift card during a Target run and put it aside. I pay for my gift cards with a credit card that gives me cash back or earns me airline miles, which adds to additional money I can use for travel.
Disney gift cards spend like cash at Disney parks, Disney Cruise Line, and ShopDisney. If you don't want to keep track of a bunch of gift cards, you can consolidate through DisneyGiftCard.com. The maximum amount you can put on a single card is $1,000. I load my gift cards into my Apple Wallet, which makes paying for things on the go very simple.
I've also taken all my gift cards to guest services as soon as I get on a Disney Cruise. While I do have a credit card associated with my onboard account, onboard charges we incur (alcohol, spa treatments, merchandise) are taken off the gift card balance first. I also do this with Visa or American Express gift cards if I have them.
I don't limit myself to Disney gift cards for my trips
While I've never managed to snag a Visa or AmEx gift card at a discount, I use these while traveling if I have them. I also save my "nearly empties": gift cards that might have a buck or two left on them.
While this probably gets tedious for whoever is entering multiple gift cards to close out a transaction, I'm unapologetic about doing what I'm able to do to make an expensive vacation more affordable. By all means, be patient if you hand over 15 gift cards to cover the dinner check, but you shouldn't feel bad because you're thrifty.
Restaurant gift cards usually offer the best savings. I typically find them at Costco during the holidays for 20% off. While Costco doesn't sell Disney gift cards, they sometimes have Landry's gift cards, which can be used at the Rainforest Café and T-Rex Café at Disney World.
Some might see giving a gift card as an impersonal way to give a present, but I disagree. I'm working hard to simplify my life and declutter my house. A gift card that I can put towards an experience I enjoy is more valuable to me than something I'll have to make space for in my home.
PERSONAL FINANCE I came up with a credit-card strategy that's gotten me discounts of nearly 15% on my purchases, and it just takes a bit of organization
Gift Cards Disney Personal Finance Insider | 2022-12-27T14:37:21Z | www.businessinsider.com | A Gift Card Strategy Helps Me Save Money on Disney Vacations | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/gift-card-strategy-disney-vacations-save-money-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/gift-card-strategy-disney-vacations-save-money-2022-12 |
Racial slurs, misinformation, and abusive posts were shared from Morgan's account.
Jeff Schear/Getty
Piers Morgan's Twitter account was flooded with offensive posts after his account was seemingly hacked.
Racial slurs, misinformation, and abusive messages were shared from Morgan's account.
In one of the posts, Morgan's account announced that Andrew Tate had been shot dead in Dubai.
Piers Morgan's Twitter account was flooded with offensive posts after the British broadcaster's account was seemingly hacked in the early hours of December 27.
Racial slurs, false information, and abusive messages directed at singer Ed Sheeran and the late Queen Elizabeth II were shared with Morgan's 8.3 million Twitter followers.
By 9 a.m. EST, the tweets had disappeared and Morgan's Twitter account had been cleared of its profile and banner photo.
In one of the posts, Morgan's account falsely announced that Andrew Tate had been shot dead in Dubai. The influencer later replied saying he was "hard to kill."
Another tweet posted from the account said: "Fuck the Queen," seemingly in reference to the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II.
—ella dawson (@brosandprose) December 27, 2022
Two abusive posts were also directed at the British singer Ed Sheeran, with one labeling him a "ginger fucker," according to The Independent.
Another offensive tweet sent before the account was wiped simply said the n-word.
It isn't clear who was carried out the likely hack, though initially the Chuckling Squad group appears to have claimed responsibility. The hacker collective has previously claimed responsibility for taking over famous social media profiles.
Representatives for Morgan and Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Morgan's Twitter hack follows another high-profile social-media hack in the UK. On December 26, the UK's Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan's Twitter account was used to promote cryptocurrencies and her profile picture was changed to an image of Elon Musk.
Trending UK Piers Morgan Twitter | 2022-12-27T14:37:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | Piers Morgan's Twitter Hacked, Offensive Posts Aimed at Late Queen | https://www.businessinsider.com/piers-morgans-twitter-hacked-offensive-posts-queen-elizabeth-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/piers-morgans-twitter-hacked-offensive-posts-queen-elizabeth-2022-12 |
Rep. Mondaire Jones.
Rep. Mondaire Jones criticized GOP-appointed judges' abilities to issue nationwide injunctions.
He referred to a Trump-appointed judge blocking student-debt relief for millions of Americans.
His new bill would channel that authority to D.C. courts and the Supreme Court only.
A Democratic lawmaker doesn't think conservative judges should have the power to halt Democratic policies for millions of Americans.
Last week, New York Rep. Mondaire Jones penned an opinion piece criticizing Republican-appointed judges' "unrestrained use of nationwide injunctions" to block Democratic policies. For example, federal Texas Judge Mark Pittman — appointed by former President Donald Trump — ruled President Joe Biden's plan to cancel student debt illegal in November, blocking the relief from reaching millions of Americans until the Supreme Court makes the final ruling on the policy's legality.
Jones said Pittman should not have had that power.
"Although the Biden administration has appealed this ruling, its long-overdue student debt relief program will now, at a minimum, be stalled for many months," Jones wrote. "This begs an important question: How can a lone Trump-appointed judge in Texas, through a single opinion, overturn the Biden administration's meticulously planned executive order in all 50 states?"
Jones referred to other instances where conservative judges issues nationwide injunctions on certain policies, like U.S. District Court Judge Kathryn Mizell in April — also appointed by Trump — striking down Biden's mask mandate for public transportation.
Jones said these rulings have shown "right-wing litigants" that they can target certain states like Texas that have a record of conservative rulings to make a decision in favor of their desired outcome, like blocking student-debt relief. To prevent that from happening, Jones introduced the Injunction Reform Act, which would bar federal courts from issuing nationwide injunctions of federal policies, channeling that authority instead to the federal district court in Washington, DC, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, or the Supreme Court.
"By making these three courts the only ones that can universally enjoin federal laws, regulations, and executive orders, my bill would vest this authority in the courts best suited to make decisions with national implications — as judged by their jurisprudential history and subject-matter expertise," Jones wrote.
Two federal courts have so far succeeded in blocking Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers. Pittman oversaw one of the lawsuits, filed by two student-loan borrowers who sued because they did not qualify for the full amount of relief, and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on the other lawsuit filed by six Republican-led states who argued the debt relief would hurt their states' tax revenues, along with that of student-loan company MOHELA.
Biden's administration had argued in legal filings that the court should not have paused debt relief universally and asked it to be limited to just the six states that sued, but it was not successful in that request, and loan forgiveness remains on hold for every federal student loan borrower.
Some Republican lawmakers have lauded those rulings because they have consistently argued Biden does not have the authority to cancel student debt broadly without Congressional approval. Now, the fate of this debt relief rests with the Supreme Court as it will begin to hear arguments on February 28 as to whether Biden can move forward with the loan forgiveness. | 2022-12-27T16:17:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | 'Lone Trump-Appointed Judge' Shouldn't Block Student-Debt Relief: Mondaire Jones | https://www.businessinsider.com/why-republican-judges-shouldnt-block-student-debt-cancellation-mondaire-jones-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/why-republican-judges-shouldnt-block-student-debt-cancellation-mondaire-jones-2022-12 |
Residents of the Bajo Lempa meet weekly at a retreat center to discuss the mass arrests.
Fred Ramos for Insider
"El Ceibo," a gathering place in Sisiguayo, is marked by a sturdy tree with an abundant canopy. It was here that Walber Rodriguez was arrested on May 1, 2022.
A sign in the capital, San Salvador, announces the anti-gang crackdown.
Police make an arrest in San Salvador on June 14th, 2022.
Glenda Rodriguez walks to the Mariona prison to get news of her brother, Walber Rodriguez, on June 20, 2022.
By the late summer, Jeremias is usually out in the fields alongside Roxana's two boys and his two nephews, planting corn for the family to eat. With them in prison, he had to forgo the crop this year, because it's too much to handle alone.
Walber's father, Tomas, at home in Sisiguayo, on June 17, 2022.
A photo of Walber Rodriguez's father, Tomas, from when he was a member of a guerrilla group during the Salvadoran civil war, hangs in his house.
US surfer Griffin Colapinto won the final at the 2022 Surf City El Salvador Pro. Pat Nolan/World Surf League via Getty Images
Gabriel Medina of Brazil at the Surf City El Salvador Pro on June 17, 2022. Thiago Diz/World Surf League via Getty Images
Graduation photos of Walber Rodriguez, left, and his sister, Glenda Rodriguez, right, at the family house in Sisiguayo.
A meeting of the Bajo Lempa families on June 17, 2022.
News-freelancer El Salvador El Salvador bitcoin | 2022-12-27T18:02:12Z | www.businessinsider.com | One Family, and the True Cost of the MS-13 Crackdown in El Salvador | https://www.businessinsider.com/one-family-the-true-cost-of-ms13-crackdown-el-salvador-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/one-family-the-true-cost-of-ms13-crackdown-el-salvador-2022-12 |
Best interest rates for checking
Popular Direct High-Rise Savings
Term Savings
Alliant Certificate
Open an account with at least $5,000
Deposit at least $100,000 to earn a higher interest rate on a term account
Maintain at least $1,000 for an entire term
On Quorum Federal Credit Union's website
On Alliant Credit Union's website
$5 excess withdrawal fee
For the first 70 days, the only account you can transfer money to is your linked funding account
Must link to external bank account and transfer funds to access your savings
Why it stands out: You might like Popular Direct High-Rise Savings if you have at least $5,000 for an opening deposit. Popular Direct also might be a decent choice if you're searching for a savings account that doesn't charge any monthly service fees.
What to look out for: The Popular Direct High-Rise Savings has a steep minimum opening deposit. Other banks will let you open a savings account with less money upfront.
Popular Direct only has savings accounts and CDs. Since there's no checking account, you won't be able to directly access money in your savings account. Instead, you'll need to transfer an external bank account, which could take a few business days.
Why it stands out: UFB Direct is an online division of Axos Bank. UFB Best Savings could be a good option if you want a savings account with an ATM card.
What to look out for: Customers with existing savings accounts will have to call customer service to get upgraded for the newest rate.
UFB Direct also only offers savings and money market accounts. If you'd like to also open a checking account or CD, you may prefer another financial institution.
Why it stands out: CFG Bank CDs are a strong choice for a 1-year, 18-month, 3-year, or 5-year CD. You only need $500 to open a CD, and you could earn a high rate.
Quorum Federal Credit Union Term Savings
Competitive interest rate on select CD terms
Standard CD terms
Online credit union with 1 location in NY
To become a member, you or a family must work at a Select Employee Group OR you must join the American Consumer Council or Select Savers Club
Earn an additional 0.10% APY on account balances over $100,000
Early withdrawal penalties: 1% of the amount withdrawn for terms between 2 months and 11 months; 2% of the amount withdrawn for terms between 1 year and 2 years; 3% of the amount withdrawn for terms over 25 months
NCUA insured
Why it stands out: Quorum Federal Credit Union offers a competitive interest rate on a 2-year CD.
You'll earn 4.60% APY with a minimum deposit between $1,000 and $99,999, or 4.70% APY if you deposit more than $100,000 in your account.
Rate: The rates for Quorum Federal Credit Union Term Savings are as follows:
13 month (new money only): 4.50% APY
Keep in mind if you deposit $100,000 or more in a Term account, you'll earn an additional 0.10% APY to the rate listed.
What to look out for: To open a bank account at a credit union, you'll need to become a member first. At Quorum, you or a family member have to work for a Select Employee Group on this list, or you must join the American Consumer Council or Select Savers Club.
Low-to-standard early withdrawal penalties
No terms under 1 year or over 5 years
Several ways to become a member; the easiest is to join Foster Care to Success (Alliant will cover your $5 membership fee)
Terms ranging from 1 to 5 years
Early withdrawal penalty is dividends for the number of days the certificate is open. Up to 90 days dividends for terms of 12-17 months; up to 120 days dividends for terms of 18-23 months; up to 180 days interest for terms of 24 months or more; 7 days dividends if you withdraw during the 7-day grace period, even though no interest has accumulated yet
Interest compounded monthly
Why it stands out: Alliant pays a high rate on a 3-year CD and has reasonable early withdrawal penalties.
Rate: The rates for Alliant are as follows:
What to look out for: Credit unions require you to become a member to open an account. The easiest way to become a member is to join Foster Care to Success, and Alliant will cover your $5 joining fee.
What to look out for: Juno has two types of accounts: Basic and Metal. The main difference between the two accounts is that the Juno Metal Checking Account has higher limits for yearly cash back, crypto purchases, and other perks. | 2022-12-27T18:02:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | 10 Best High-Interest CDs and Savings Accounts Today: Dec. 27, 2022 | up to 4.86% APY on a 1-Year CD | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/todays-best-high-interest-accounts-december-27-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/todays-best-high-interest-accounts-december-27-2022-12 |
Starbucks is making changes to its popular Starbucks Rewards program, making it harder to redeem points for many free drinks — but easier for others.
Starbucks is making changes to its beloved Starbucks Rewards program.
Many items, like free coffee, lattes, and sandwiches, will soon require more stars.
Customers will still get one star per $1, or two stars per $1 on a pre-loaded card.
Starbucks is making changes to its hugely popular Starbucks Rewards program, increasing the number of points required to redeem many menu items.
Customers who enroll in the chain's Starbucks Rewards program earn points — or "stars" — when purchasing food or drinks, which can then be redeemed for free menu items, like coffee. An update to the system is rolling out in February, changing the number of stars required for most of the redemption options, a leaked internal memo viewed by Insider reveals. Insider reviewed the memo from two different sources.
Free hot coffee, tea, or baked goods will now require 100 stars, doubling the previous price of 50 stars. But iced coffee and iced tea will also be available at that tier — meaning customers will now be able to get those free drinks for only 100 stars, down from the current 150 stars. Some packaged snacks, ham and swiss croissants, and plastic to-go cups will also be available at the 100-star tier.
Cold brews, lattes, and all other "handcrafted drinks," along with hot breakfast items like sandwiches, which previously required 150 stars to redeem, will now require 200 stars, while 300 stars can be redeemed for lunch items like sandwiches and salads, up from 200 stars previously. Also at the 300 level is a new option to redeem stars for packaged coffee.
The updated rewards system is scheduled to go live February 13 and the changes are being made to "ensure the health of the program and meet the evolving needs of our customers," the memo said.
A Starbucks spokesperson declined to comment to Insider on the memo or the changes it describes.
Starbucks Rewards members tend to have strong feelings about the program and any potential changes. When the coffee chain last made major changes to the program in 2019, customers took to social media to express their grievances. At that point, Starbucks changed how many stars were required for some free foods and drinks. The rewards program has gained over 10 million members since then, so even more people could be affected this time around.
News Retail Starbucks | 2022-12-27T18:02:36Z | www.businessinsider.com | Starbucks Rewards Changes Make It Harder to Get Some Free Drinks | https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-rewards-changes-make-it-harder-to-get-some-free-drinks-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-rewards-changes-make-it-harder-to-get-some-free-drinks-2022-12 |
See the pitch deck a startup used to raise $4 million to buy, sell, and manage short-term-rental properties
Jonah Hanig, the founder and CEO of Rove.
Investors love short-term rentals, but they face pitfalls with property management and regulation.
Rove, a marketplace and property-management startup, helps investors underwrite short-term rentals.
Jonah Hanig, the CEO of Rove, walked Insider through the pitch deck Rove used to raise $4 million.
Short-term-rental housing exploded in interest among real-estate investors during the pandemic. Listings on Airbnb alone jumped by a whopping 62% since 2020, according to the short-term-rental analytics firm AirDNA, a sign that more investors were rushing to meet the needs of digital nomads and everyday tourists alike.
Operating a short-term rental property is rarely as easy as buying a property and posting it online, though, especially when considering the needs of remote workers.
Jonah Hanig said he knows this after spending months working from Airbnbs around the country with his fellow cofounders of the business-intelligence-software company Explo. Their struggle to find suitable remote-work spaces sparked Hanig's idea for Rove, which offers short-term-rental owners property-management, furnishing, and design services.
Since founding Rove in 2021, Hanig has expanded his services to eight different markets, from New York City to Scottsdale, Arizona. The latest outgrowth of the business is a marketplace exclusively for buying and selling short-term rentals, because Hanig — the company's CEO — saw that his property-management clients were looking to expand or reduce their portfolios.
The listings get into the weeds, but necessarily so.
They include verified income statements so buyers can see how well their investment might do, and explanations of local regulations, zoning laws, and homeowner-association rules that could throw wrenches into the rental process. Some local rules hung up Hanig himself after he tried to rent a co-op apartment in the highly regulated New York City.
He's said Rove can help investors avoid similar — costly — mistakes, especially in restricted markets.
"In Park City, Utah, there are roughly 500 properties for sale, but only approximately 100 are in areas where you can use them as short-term rentals," Hanig told Insider.
The marketplace will charge users a transaction fee — similar to what a broker does — with the goal of turning the buyer into a customer of Rove's property-management business. The ultimate goal is to create "Zillow" for short-term rentals with the added feature of underwritng and valuing properties based on their potential incomes.
In some markets, the flood of new investors has resulted in oversupply, creating an "Airbnbust" for property owners counting on fast and easy bookings. However, Hanig said Rove hasn't experience a slowdown in its markets.
"We're in a lot of supply-constrained markets, those with not a lot of housing stock and more challenging permitting processes," Hanig said.
In 2022, the company raised a $4 million seed round from a range of founders and executives from companies like IndieGogo, ZocDoc, and Lattice. Hanig walked Insider through the deck that he used to help raise the cash.
See the deck below.
Rove pitches itself as the first marketplace exclusively for buying and selling short-term-rental properties.
Shopping for a short-term rental isn't as simple as just buying the right home in a popular area — it requires wading through regulations and zoning codes.
Rove's marketplace only includes active short-term rentals, which means that it can verify rental information for prospective owners.
Without the proper knowledge of local laws and the ability to underwrite a purchase, it can take months to purchase a short-term rental.
Rove collects "ready-to-rent" properties and can value them based on their income, in the same way firms value commercial real estate.
Rove makes its money through fees on transactions and property-management services.
This slide shows what the company's revenue would be if it sold a $2 million home, and then managed it for four years.
The company sees a massive potential market in the short-term-rental game.
This chart of New York City neighborhoods shows how much more Rove-managed short- and medium-term rentals have made compared to average long-term rents in the same areas.
This case study shows how lucrative medium-term furnished rentals are compared to traditional rentals. By partnering with a family-office investor, this Rove-managed property made 69% more than comparable long-term rentals.
The company's property-management wing offers homeowners the ability to easily book the property themselves, should they want a second-home experience.
Rove takes over the design and furnishing of the homes, as well as other traditional property-management tasks.
Guests have remote-work setups with office-quality monitors and chairs.
While the deck provides a sneak peak of Rove's strategies, this slide highlights the actual customer perspective.
Rove also works with corporate customers who are looking for lodging for business trips.
The company is currently operating in eight active short-term-rental markets and has plans to expand its reach.
Many of the company executives come from managed-apartment and short-term-rental companies like June Homes and Kasa Living. | 2022-12-27T19:41:57Z | www.businessinsider.com | This Pitch Deck Helped Raise $4 Million to Manage Airbnbs | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-startup-buy-sell-manage-short-term-rentals-airbnbs-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-startup-buy-sell-manage-short-term-rentals-airbnbs-2022-12 |
Southwest Airlines is experiencing a chaotic operational meltdown, canceling 74% of flights on Monday.
The carrier has blamed the busy holiday weekend and the winter storm on the flight disruptions.
Here is how to get compensated for unexpected expenses, like food and a hotel, due to a cancelation.
Southwest Airlines is battling a severe operational meltdown that has left thousands of travelers stranded across the country — and some have paid hundreds in extra costs to get to their destination this holiday weekend.
Between Wednesday and Monday, the Dallas-based carrier canceled 8,305 flights, amounting to 36% of its operation, according to FlightAware data. On Monday alone, Southwest canceled 74% of its operation and it is struggling to get back on track with 63% of flights already canceled as of 11:00 a.m on Tuesday.
For comparison, the US' second-worst offender between Wednesday and Monday was Delta Air Lines with 1,865 flights canceled, which was 12% of its operation, according to FlightAware. On Monday, the carrier canceled just 10% of its flights.
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan described the airline's chaos on Monday as "a tough day", with the carrier blaming the busy travel weekend and the winter storm on the disruptions.
Due to the cascading snowball of cancelations, many travelers have been forced to rebook travel on different airlines or find a last-minute hotel.
This has amounted to over $1200 for Pensacola-based passenger Elizabeth Noe, whose Southwest flights on December 23 and December 29 were canceled and she had to shell out money for new flights on a different carrier, extra hotel nights, and a rental car. Flight confirmations and rebooking receipts were viewed by Insider.
Noe is not the only person impacted by Southwest's mass cancelations. Video from local new station Fox 7 Austin showed hundreds of people in line to talk to an airline representative, and it's possible many of those people will find themselves in overnight hotels or taking the train instead.
Here's how to get compensation for your flight cancelation — particularly Southwest.
You are entitled to a cash refund, not travel credit
Getty Images; Insider
According to the Department of Transportation, customers are entitled to a refund in the case of flight cancelations, regardless of reason or fare type. This includes weather, staffing shortages, or even if the ticket was non-refundable.
The agency is clear that the refunds cannot be travel vouchers, so do not accept anything but a full refund if given the option to take flight credit instead.
Check the DoT's Airline Customer Service Dashboard
The DoT's Airline Customer Service Dashboard outlines what travelers are entitled to — including a hotel and transportation due to an overnight delay or cancelation. For disruptions that resulted in a three or more hour wait, a meal voucher or meal cash will be provided.
If you end up taking a later flight that results in a hotel stay, airlines have committed to providing these accommodations to impacted travelers in the case of "controllable" disruptions — including Southwest. While the carrier has blamed the weather on the chaos, it may extend goodwill gestures to passengers, so it doesn't hurt to ask.
Email Southwest for reimbursement
In some cases, travelers will decide to receive a refund for a canceled flight and rebook their own transportation, like a flight on a different carrier, a rental car, or a train.
According to Southwest's website, passengers impacted by cancelations or significant delays between December 24 and January 2 can email the airline with receipts for "meals, hotel, and alternate transportation."
The carrier says it will "honor reasonable requests."
Travelers should also check if their credit card comes with trip insurance.
Banks like Chase and American Express have credit cards that come with travel insurance that covers unexpected expenses due to flight disruptions. This includes hotels, meals, and transportation, and can be acquired via a claim to the bank.
In the case of Southwest's meltdown, those with travel insurance attached to their card must purchase their hotel and other expenses with the same card to receive compensation, and the original flight must have also been purchased with that credit card.
Southwest flight Cancelation | 2022-12-27T21:22:00Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Get Compensation for Hotels and Food After a Flight Cancelation | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-compensation-for-hotels-and-food-after-a-flight-cancelation | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-compensation-for-hotels-and-food-after-a-flight-cancelation |
Baggage claims at Tampa International Airport were flooded with luggage on the day after Christmas.
Courtesy of Brittany Loubier-Vervisch
A Tampa teacher turned into a lost luggage angel during the travel chaos this holiday season.
The woman texted at least 50 people using the numbers on people's lost baggage.
She told Insider she's "never seen anything like it" as abandoned bags were left at the Tampa airport.
As travel mayhem gripped the nation this week, one Tampa-based science teacher did her part to help spread a little holiday cheer — by helping to reunite weary travelers with their lost luggage.
With thousands of flights canceled over Christmas weekend, Brittany Loubier-Vervisch found herself searching through an "Armageddon of luggage" at Tampa International Airport the day after Christmas.
Loubier-Vervisch and her husband had already faced some holiday travel woes: They had canceled their Christmas Eve flight to visit family in Ohio because of the weather.
The couple then made a last-minute decision to fly to Tuscon, connecting through Denver, on Boxing Day.
"We had no idea that Southwest was going to cancel thousands of flights," Loubier-Vervisch told Insider, adding that after a few delays, they realized they weren't going to make it to Tuscon on Monday, so they canceled that flight, too.
While her husband stayed put in Southwest Airlines' customer service line at the airport to figure out how to get their luggage back, Loubier-Vervisch — frustrated with the long wait — decided to head to Southwest and Spirt Airlines' joint baggage claim to look for their bags herself.
Loubier-Vervisch said she'd "never seen anything like it": "hundreds, if not thousands" of bags piled up at the baggage claim from flights all over the country.
Faced with a mountain of baggage, she realized that she could probably reunite some travelers with their own by texting the number listed on the luggage tag while looking for her own.
"I was circling through the baggage claims as stuff was coming off the line and being piled up and if there was a tag on it with a number, I sent a text," Loubier-Vervisch said.
Loubier-Vervisch said she sent at least 50 text messages on Monday while searching for her own bag.
A lot of the bags that ended up in Tampa were either sent there from another location where the traveler didn't make it on the flight or were left behind by travelers who made it out of Tampa without their bags, she said.
The rest, Loubier-Vervisch added, were left behind because of cancelations at the airport.
Loubier-Vervisch said she was "just trying to help people so they knew where their bags were because people were all over the United States." She added that travelers mistook her for an airport employee.
"I was like walking through the bags, I was like, 'Oh, here's your bags. Is this your name?' And they were like, 'Yes,'" Loubier-Vervisch explained. "I'm like, 'Oh, here's your other bags.' And they were like, 'Do you work here?'"
She said the people in the airport who had been waiting for their bags "for hours" were thankful for her initiative. As for the people she texted, she said they were generally grateful for her tip, with some asking her to give their phone numbers and addresses to Southwest to ship their luggage out.
"It was an inconvenience for us," Loubier-Vervisch admitted, "But for people that had no idea where in the United States their luggage could possibly be, I was like, 'Well if I at least tell them it's in Tampa, they know it's not still where they were, where they were going or you know, they can figure out where it is and at least know where to look for it.' "
The teacher's heroics didn't go unnoticed. One lucky traveler shared her text message on Twitter, writing: "Thank you to the random stranger who texted me that my suitcase was in fact in Tampa. You are a lifesaver!"
Loubier-Vervisch and her husband eventually found their bags around 4:30 p.m. — four hours after canceling their flight. But it was time well spent, she said.
"I'm a teacher, I help people, that's what I do," Loubier-Vervisch told Insider. "Anybody can do something ... What I did was very small, but if everybody does something, it can have a ripple effect." | 2022-12-27T22:58:31Z | www.businessinsider.com | Teacher Texted Travelers to Reunite Them With Their Lost Luggage | https://www.businessinsider.com/teacher-texted-travelers-lost-luggage-southwest-flights-cancellations-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/teacher-texted-travelers-lost-luggage-southwest-flights-cancellations-2022-12 |
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks with supporters during an election night party in Peachtree Corners, Ga., on May 24, 2022.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ghosted Sen. Lindsey Graham in November 2020.
In a newly-released transcript, Raffensperger said Graham made an odd request during Georgia's recount.
Graham insinuated that Georgia's signature verification should work similar to credit card companies.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that his office never called South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham back in November 2020 after he said the lawmaker tried to insert himself in Georgia's recount of 2020 election results.
Additional transcripts were made public by the January 6 committee on Tuesday, following the release of the committee's 845-page final report last week.
In the transcript of the committee's interview with Raffensperger, he testified that Graham called his office on November 13, 2020, as a vote recount by hand was underway in Georgia, with an odd request. Raffensperger said that he was rubbed the wrong way by Graham's ask and that he gave the senator the cold shoulder.
Raffensperger's office did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
"He mentioned about credit card companies," Raffensperger told the committee in a November 30, 2021, interview. "He says, they get millions of signatures every day and they run that through their machines."
In the transcript, Raffensperger explained that his staff member Gabe Sterling handled the talking on the call where Graham tried to pitch an alternate signature matching process to the hand recount and audit, which was underway at the time.
In December 2020, after Raffensperger's office and Georgia ballot workers had endured weeks of harassment and election conspiracies from Trump's camp, Sterling received a noose at his home.
During the call with Graham, Raffensperger said that there hadn't been an outright ask to find additional votes like Trump requested in January 2021 but maintained the conversation was ominous.
"He was talking about a process of using companies, and I didn't know exactly where he was going," Raffensperger said. "I just didn't want to go where he was — where I thought he might want to go. I just thought it best not to call him back."
Graham's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
"And so I told him — we finished up the call, and I said, 'Well, let me talk to our general counsel,' who wasn't on the call, 'and we'll get back to you,'" Raffensperger said in his November interview with the committee, of the conversation with Graham. "And we just never got back to him."
In January 2021, Raffensperger was asked by former President Donald Trump to "find" 11,780 votes to overturn the state's 2020 election results, a move which Raffensperger said led to months of death threats to him and his family. In an interview with Insider, Raffensperger maintained that election misinformation was the biggest threat to democracy in the US.
Brad Raffensperger 2020 electon 2020 election disinformation | 2022-12-28T02:26:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | GA Sec of State Raffensperger Ghosted Lindsey Graham After Odd Request | https://www.businessinsider.com/ga-sec-of-state-raffensperger-ghosted-lindsey-graham-odd-request-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ga-sec-of-state-raffensperger-ghosted-lindsey-graham-odd-request-2022-12 |
Even with negative undertones, this year was pivotal for the auto industry's $515 billion push to leave the internal-combustion engine behind.
Momentum this year showed the EV space just what it needed in terms of charging.
This year, automakers like Rivian, GM, and Ford started addressing the lithium shortage.
Startups struggled with getting the manufacturing for their flagship vehicles up and running. | 2022-12-28T11:16:59Z | www.businessinsider.com | In 2022, Carmakers Figured Out How to Make EVs Actually Work | https://www.businessinsider.com/automakers-electric-vehicles-carbuyers-adoption-supply-chain-manufacturing-batteries-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/automakers-electric-vehicles-carbuyers-adoption-supply-chain-manufacturing-batteries-2022-12 |
Tejas Hullur, Catch'n Ice Cream
Christen Nino De Guzman, Clara for Creators
Jose Manuel Perrone, Cura
Chloe Shih, Discord
Zaria Parvez, Duolingo
Josh "Caru" Glodoveza, Fanjoy
Andrew Rico, Instagram
Nate Jones and Arianna Williams, JUV Consulting
Julien Wettstein, LinkedIn
Lindsey Gamble, Mavrck
Becca Wathen, Meta
Natalie Barbu, Rella
Sue Lee, RTS
Francis Roberts, Snapchat
Rebecca Hesse, Spotter
Divyanshu Damani, TagMango
Melissa Tecson, TikTok
Ogo, Thirteenth
Christen Moore, Twitch
Andrew Leonard, YouTube
Tiffany Matloob, YouTube
Rising stars of the creator economy: 22 of the social-media industry's new generation of leaders
From left to right: Tejas Hullur, Rebecca Hesse, Zaria Parvez, and Francis Roberts.
Tejas Hullur; Spotter; Karli Renken; Jerome A. Shaw; Rachel Mendelson/Insider
Sydney Bradley, Amanda Perelli, Shriya Bhattacharya , Marta Biino, and Dan Whateley
The creator economy is brimming with new talent and promising professionals.
Insider is recognizing the rising stars building and innovating in the space.
Here are 22 rising stars who are the next generation of leaders in the industry.
It's been another record year for the creator economy.
The industry, often still described by insiders as the "Wild West," has witnessed ups and downs in 2022, from record-breaking investments into startups and newly minted unicorns to mass layoffs across the space.
Influencer-marketing spend, which in part fuels many creators' businesses, is expected to exceed $6 billion by next year, according to Insider Intelligence data.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, there is a new class of rising stars. Insider is highlighting 21 of these emerging power players.
Like many other industries, people are what truly shape the creator economy, especially those who have recently entered and have made their mark — whether that's starting a "Glassdoor for creators" like startup Clara, or completely reinventing the social-media strategy for a company like Duolingo.
These rising stars have spent the past year making tangible change through their work on products, content, or initiatives at social-media giants like YouTube or Meta.
"I don't know what happened in me, but I knew this is what I want to do with my life," said Josh Glodoveza, who became vice president of talent at merch company Fanjoy at the age of 18. "I want to help people get into the spotlight."
Insider solicited nominations, sought recommendations from our sources, and vetted these pros with their partners and peers. We also asked each nominee about how they first started in the industry, lessons learned along the way, favorite social-media moments, what's next for them, and more.
Here are 22 rising stars in the creator economy, listed alphabetically based on their company:
Tejas Hullur.
Role: Content creator and cofounder of Catch'n Ice Cream
Hullur, 22, got his start in the creator economy by making content about the creator economy itself.
Since Hullur began creating in 2020 content on TikTok (where he has 594,000 followers), his career has taken some turns. From cofounding Catch'n Ice cream, a brick-and-mortar ice cream shop in New York City, to consulting for creator startups like Stir, Hullur wears many hats.
Catch'n, cofounded with creator Dylan Lemay, is Hullur's first major business endeavor. The company raised in 2021 $1.5 million and opened its doors this summer — weeks before MrBeast opened his first MrBeast Burger location and months before David Dobrik opened Doughbrik's Pizza.
Opening up shop "showed what is possible" for the creator economy, Hullur said.
But while Hullur has been busy launching businesses and working with startups, he's been itching to get back into what got him here in the first place — content.
Next year, he'll focus on just that and is already thinking about ways to iterate on different content and revenue streams.
"2022 has been this year of euphoria for the creator economy, meaning that there was a lot of experiments, a lot of people pumping a lot of money into it and really trying to embrace this," Hullur said. "I do have a general feeling that things may scale back in 2023."
Recession-proofing his business — and likely educating others about how to help themselves get through the headwinds — will be top of mind.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: The sheer advancement in TikTok filters, and more generally, AI and AR filters across social media.
"The different voice things where people record and the whole thing is dubbed in this whole new voice — that created a whole new dimension of creativity," Hullur said.
Hullur is eyeing the "micro industry of filter creators" that has emerged because of this.
Christen Nino De Guzman.
Alexey Reyes
Role: Founder
In January, 31-year-old Nino De Guzman launched Clara for Creators, which she terms a "Glassdoor or LinkedIn for creators."
On the app, creators can post about how much they've gotten paid and review brands anonymously. Others can then use this information to help decide if they should work with a particular brand or leverage it to request higher compensation. The platform now has 22,000 creators and 1,000 brands.
Nino De Guzman previously told Insider that creator pay transparency — including highlighting racial pay gaps in the industry — is a core part of her vision for Clara.
"Many creators, especially those new to the industry, didn't know how to properly price or negotiate their content," she told Insider. "There was no brand-deal-pay-database for reference to help guide creators through their negotiations."
Nino De Guzman launched Clara after working at TikTok, Pinterest, and Instagram. In her roles, she worked with a range of creators, from those with a few thousands of followers to those with millions, and noticed that pay disparity was the one commonality they all faced when trying to land brand deals and grow their businesses. She also faced this issue herself, as a creator with 370,000 TikTok followers and 41,000 Instagram followers.
Next year, she plans to significantly expand the team so that they can manage operations as more creators join the app.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: Nino Ge Guzman loves all the street interview-style content that's popped up in the last year. She said the TikTok accounts American Income and Salary Transparent Street inspired her company to start a series on Clara's TikTok account called "How much do creators make."
Jose Manuel Perrone.
Jose Manuel Perrone
Role: Cofounder
According to Perrone, the word "Cura" stems from a Latin word meaning "to take care of," so he and his cofounder Krishna Chatpar thought it would be the perfect name for the startup they launched in March 2020 to take care of their community.
Cura was initially founded as an "Etsy for food," where chefs who were laid off during the pandemic could sell customizable food to their own communities through Instagram, and where people could in turn order food tailored to their needs and support their local chefs.
After realizing that Cura could help chefs build sustainable businesses and launch products, it relaunched in March 2021 as Create with Cura. Now, the platform focuses on empowering creators and influencers to launch their own consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) food product lines.
"Food can help solve several problems we face as a society and we believe the creator economy is the gateway to a better future for all of us," Perrone told Insider.
This past year, he has helped the company connect with and pitch some of the largest talent agencies in the world like Viral Nation and WME.
Create with Cura has more than 1,800 creators, including chefs, musicians, and comedians who are all interested in launching their own food and beverage brands in 2023. The company has a core team of five people, and over 100 people in its partner network.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: Perrone said he was excited to see how many creators launched their own CPG food brands this year, like MrBeast's Feastables.
Chloe Shih.
Role: Product manager, communities engagement lead
Shih, 29, is a product manager focused on community engagement at Discord, a communications platform built around group chats, messaging, calls, and community building.
Since joining the company last year from TikTok, she's focused on helping Discord's myriad communities scale. Discord had 150 million monthly active users in December 2021.
In 2022, Shih oversaw the launch of Discord "Forums," a new channel feature that helps creators and community organizers centralize conversations within a server, making it easier for new members to understand what's happening within a community.
In addition to working at a tech company focused on creators, Shih is a content creator herself. She posts videos about her own professional path and offers career advice to subscribers on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Discord under the brand "Colors of Chloe."
"I think there's a huge rise of professional creators who are sharing video narratives about their skill sets and work lives," Shih told Insider. "While this content may not make it to the trending charts on YouTube, they'll generate a sustainable enough community for their creators to offer niche, educational experiences or products and monetize directly from their audiences."
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: The emergence of AI-generated content tools like Midjourney, ChatGPT, and Lensa.
Zaria Parvez.
Karli Renken
Role: Global social-media manager
Parvez, 24, is the brains behind Duolingo's rapid TikTok success, which she built without a budget using the resources she had around the company's office.
She fuels the language-learning app's social channels and social-first marketing campaigns across Duolingo's Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok pages.
In her role, Parvez, who started her career in June 2020, organically grew Duolingo's TikTok account from 50,000 followers to 5.2 million followers in a little over a year.
This year, Parvez helped Duolingo launch its inaugural Creator Day, in which Parvez worked with her colleagues to select six creators to travel to Duolingo's Pittsburgh headquarters and create content around the brand. The event led to 7 million impressions across creator-led content and each creator posted two to three more posts beyond the single post requirement, the company said.
Her work has differentiated Duolingo from other brands on TikTok, and has attracted press attention from NBC and Rolling Stone.
Her success has also led to more internal growth for Duolingo's social team. In March, she was promoted from social-media coordinator to global social-media manager. Over the summer, she managed two full-time social-media interns.
As a Pakistani American Muslim, Parvez said she aims to create more representation for a new generation of young, diverse talent from intersectional backgrounds. She said her primary reason for building a career at Duolingo was that the company was inherently diverse.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: When the Duolingo owl mascot showed up in March outside of Dua Lipa's concert at Madison Square Garden and proposed to the artist.
Josh "Caru" Glodoveza.
Role: Vice president of talent
At just 19, Glodoveza has been working in the creator economy for six years.
He got his start at 13, making YouTube video thumbnails and editing videos, and later working primarily with anonymous gaming creators. That's when he coined his social-media handle Carusel, sometimes shortened to Caru.
"I would go up on everyone's Twitch channels and just be that helpful person," he said. "I'd be that friendly face, and creators ended up trusting me."
Through networking in the gaming industry and building relationship with players, Glodoveza got into talent representation, and eventually connected with Fanjoy CEO Chris Vaccarino, who offered Glodoveza a role at the company. He joined in November 2021.
Glodoveza has built Fanjoy's entire gaming department, onboarded new creators to build merchandise and CPG brands, and managed multiple six-figure brand campaigns.
Recently, he's started to shift his focus from just gaming to a variety of content verticals, working with creators in beauty, lifestyle, comedy, and music.
"I've always been passionate about working with brands and creating beautiful campaigns that have impact," he said. "In gaming, I get to work with different publishers and help creators launch their games or promote them."
With his work, Glodoveza hopes to keep bringing physical products from creators onto shelves in retail stores, and maybe get into content creation himself. He recently started a podcast, "Finessed."
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: "Corn Kid," a seven-year-old boy who became an internet sensation because of a video where he expresses his love for corn. A remixed version of the video went viral on TikTok.
"I loved that it was such an organic wake," Glodoveza said. "It felt like we were back in the early 2000s, when you could do something funny and you would go viral, and you just had this moment."
Andrew Rico.
Role: Strategic partner manager
The last two years, Instagram has made it a goal to build more robust relationships with creators. Partnership managers across Meta are tasked with that responsibility.
Rico, 32, started as a strategic partner manager in 2019 overseeing media partnerships, and has since evolved his role to focus on creators. He started his career in entertainment as an assistant at the talent agency UTA.
Rico is the current face of Instagram's "Reels Star Search," a weekly video series that runs on the platform's Creators account. Rico has invited short-form video stars Grace Amaku (known online by her handle GraceAfrica) and Axel Webber to join since he began hosting the series in 2021.
"I have really leaned in this year to not just being a public-facing creator manager at Meta, but to contribute to the shift, to make these once exclusive best practices accessible and digestible for a global audience," Rico said.
One of the responsibilities under Rico's purview is identifying emerging talent.
"We're in a position to not just identify and develop digital talent but to amplify and provide a platform for underrepresented voices," he said.
Next year, Rico anticipates more power will be put into the "hands of creators — especially when it comes to earning money," he said.
"They are already diversifying their revenue streams across multiple apps," Rico said. "We know they are on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube. In 2023, we anticipate many more creators will realize the untapped potential and monetization opportunities across platforms."
Naturally, Rico pointed out Facebook, in particular.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: One of the first creators that Rico worked with was Dylan Mulvaney, a trans rights activist and content creator, who rose to fame this year with her "Days of Girlhood" series documenting her transition on TikTok and Instagram.
"Dylan is an absolute superstar," Rico said, highlighting her recent interview with President Joe Biden about trans rights via NowThis.
Arianna Williams.
Arianna Williams_Pati Pakulis
Roles: Jones: head of influencer marketing, Williams: director of influencer marketing.
Jones, 22, and Williams, 24, are the brains behind marketing campaigns at JUV Consulting, a Gen Z-focused marketing consultancy. They've worked on projects for companies like Levi Strauss & Co, Unilever, JanSport, and Six Flags Entertainment. They've also worked with startups like Geneva to help the company build its digital presence.
Together, the pair helped Nike find its next brand ambassadors. They also recently helped build out the Gen Z section of Influence Change, an organization that leverages artists and influencer platforms to amplify grassroots organizations and voter-awareness initiatives, ahead of the midterm elections.
Jones built what is now one of the company's biggest verticals over the past three years: influencer marketing. Jones and Williams are involved in most client projects at JUV, because of their expertise on all things influencer.
They have also worked to grow their team, client roster, and network over the last year. Jones began building out JUV's influencer-marketing vertical as a 19-year-old college student.
The pair believe that a community-first model is where marketing is headed. For instance, the agency runs a creator house for influencers to come and create content in Los Angeles.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: Ziwe's late-night talk show.
"I think it's so iconic and so many funny moments have come out of that show," Williams said.
Julien Wettstein.
Julien Wettstein
Role: Head of editorial, EMEA
Wettstein, 33, started in November 2021 at LinkedIn as head of creator management for EMEA and LATAM, and was promoted in November 2022 to his current role.
Wettstein has built from the ground up a team of more than 20 creator managers, and played an integral role in developing the platform's creator community in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
He spearheaded the launch of the LinkedIn Creator Program in Europe and Latin America, and brought the first iterations of the Creator Accelerator Program to the UK and Brazil.
"We had all the creators in the office and we were hosting an event for them and you could just see the excitement, they're exchanging ideas, they're giving each other advice," Wettstein said, referring to the UK program. "Bringing some of the key creators in the UK together has really helped us accelerate that community feel."
Since becoming head of editorial for EMEA, he has brought the community-management team and the news team under one umbrella, working on developing the growth of individual creators, as well as content verticals, at the same time.
In his new role, Wettstein is also hoping to bring more monetization opportunities to LinkedIn creators, and allow them to make a living on the platform.
"I've worked with creators for a long time, and I really see that it is a full-time job," he said. "But on the outside, the job of a creator is still not fully acknowledged."
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: Sir Richard Branson and the charity Made by Dyslexia launched a campaign called #DyslexicThinking to help change the narrative around dyslexia.
As a result, LinkedIn added dyslexic thinking as a standardized skill globally, so users can put it on their profiles.
Lindsey Gamble.
Role: Associate director of influencer innovation
Gamble's professional career began outside the influencer world, working in clinical research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute while writing a hip-hop blog in his free time. As a blogger, he aspired to work in the creator industry. He used hip-hop writing as a way to build experience in content creation outside his day job.
Since joining Mavrck about four years ago, Gamble, 34, has held a few different roles at the company, largely focused on helping the company experiment with and break into new trends in the creator economy.
In his role as associate director of influencer innovation, Gamble helped the company run its first tests with brands for TikTok's Spark Ads feature, as well as its early work in NCAA student-athlete marketing.
Outside of Mavrck, Gamble also writes a weekly newsletter on the creator economy, a project that earned him the distinction of being one of LinkedIn's "Top Voices in the Creator Economy" in 2022.
"My general stance is that creators can really be integrated into any business," Gamble said. "Whether it's creators becoming a social-media manager on TikTok or brands hiring them for consulting. How do you unlock the true value of creators beyond what we traditionally know as influencer marketing?"
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: The "Corn Kid" from TikTok.
Becca Wathen.
Wathen, 27, manages partnerships with student-athletes and sports creators at Meta. But she's been in their shoes – quite literally. Wathen was a college-basketball star herself at Duke University.
While at Meta, she has spearheaded the company's programs to support college athletes after the NIL rules were overhauled in 2021 to allow NCAA athletes to profit from their names, images, and likenesses.
Wathen has led Meta's NIL Empower Program, which she said "started as a passion project" and has since evolved into its latest iteration: a cohort of 30 female student-athletes. Representing nine different sports, the program helps student-athletes navigate their careers, brand partnerships, and content strategies.
"To play a small part in helping athletes find success, whether in the form of follower and engagement growth, or landing an NIL deal, is a humbling feeling and one of my favorite parts of my job," Wathen said.
Wathen has her eyes set on building up more opportunities for female student-athletes, she added.
"In the short amount of time NIL has existed, female athletes are proving to be social-media savvy, entrepreneurial, ambitious, and creative when it comes to building and monetizing an audience in the creator economy," Wathen said. "Because a lot of women often don't have the same professional sports opportunities as their male counterparts, the time to capitalize is now — during the peak of their careers — and we're seeing females take advantage."
Setting up college athletes for success in the creator economy hits close to home for Wathen.
"Many athletes struggle to transition to life after sports," Wathen said, adding that it was something she had experienced herself. "NIL allows athletes to fast-track key life skills such as entrepreneurship, marketing, negotiation, networking, and more — all skills that undoubtedly translate to life after sports."
Athletes and creators are more synonymous than ever, Wathen said.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: "As a former hooper, I have to say World Trick Shot Day," Wathen said. "We work with sports creators and athletes to make this a big moment on our platforms every year."
And Wathen herself likes to partake in the trend. "I love any excuse to get back on the court."
Natalie Barbu.
Credit: @itsmadisonlanephoto
Role: CEO and cofounder
In 2021, Barbu founded the creator-business startup Rella, which offers tools to help creators organize their content and save time.
Toward the end of 2022, Rella closed its first round of VC-backed funding, raising $1 million.
Barbu, 26, has been a content creator since 2011. On YouTube, Barbu has over 300,000 subscribers and a podcast called "The Real Reel."
Since founding the company, Barbu's content has shifted away from fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content to center around entrepreneurship and business, highlighting the highs and lows of a startup founder.
"Fundraising this year was definitely challenging," Barbu said. "Managing being a creator, with being a CEO, with closing a fundraising round in the climate that we were in was really difficult."
In her role, Barbu has worked to hire a team of five to grow and scale Rella, which now has more than 12,000 users on the platform.
She spends most of her time building the company, creating content, and connecting with creators.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: When one of Rella's first users, Sarah Baus, went viral on TikTok this year.
"She had a TikTok that went viral about laundry detergent, and I loved it because it felt like if you watched her TikToks you were FaceTiming her, and yet something that simple and random was able to blow up her career," Barbu said.
Sue Lee.
Role: Vice president of talent management
Lee, 32, is a power player in the gaming, esports, and streaming industry, spearheading businesses for social stars like Imane "Pokimane" Anys, who has over 9 million Twitch followers.
Recently, Lee, who is based in Orange County, California, worked on the execution of Pokimane's partnership with Spotify, as well as helped facilitate Jeremy Wang's (aka Disguised Toast) partnership with esports organization Team Liquid.
Lee, known as "Smix" online, began her career live-translating pro esports matches — as she is fluent in both English and Korean — and hosting live tournaments, including BlizzCon and DreamHack. In 2015, she landed a role at Twitch where she worked for six years on the strategic partnerships team working with the largest streamers on the platform.
In 2021, Lee began her current role at the new esports and gaming management company, RTS, which Anys cofounded.
Throughout this year, Lee has worked to build the company's talent-management department, which includes growing her team of talent managers and building the roster of talent that they work with.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: When Twitch streamers Abe and Natsumiii livestreamed their wedding.
"It was nice to see all of these creators rally for a wedding recently," Lee said. "It wasn't a huge viral moment or anything like that, but it was a nice departure from the seemingly endless grind of content, and it was nice to see this beautiful interruption about something that is important in life."
Francis Roberts.
Jerome A Shaw.
Role: Head of creator partnerships
Keeping creators happy is a critical task for the big social platforms — particularly as audiences and features overlap across apps. As Snap's head of creator partnerships, Roberts, 34, heads up the team that supports Snapchat's highest-impact creators as they seek to use the app as a growth and monetization tool. Roberts has helped lead creators into programs that allow them to make money, including making syndicated shows in Discover and posting Stories.
"We want to be able to allow creators to build their audience and to build their business," Roberts said. "One of the projects that we rolled out over the last year is the monetization program for creators within their Stories, which allows them to basically participate in rev share for ads that appear in the middle of their Story."
Max Levine, COO at Amp Studios, a digital content studio that represents internet stars like Brent Rivera and Ben Azelart, told Insider last year that Roberts was "phenomenal to communicate with."
Prior to joining Snap in May 2020, Roberts worked at YouTube where he managed partnerships with some of that platform's most popular creators.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: All of the creative, visual content released by creators around Beyoncé's new album, "Renaissance."
Rebecca Hesse.
Role: Director of operations
There's a reason former Fullscreen employees are still scattered around the creator economy: the media company was in the YouTube business early on. Hesse, 31, is one of them.
Hesse now works at Spotter, a buzzy creator-economy startup, spearheading events after working in operations at Paramount and Spotify.
"When I joined Spotter, I got to join a company with a bunch of like-minded people," Hesse told Insider. What made Hesse and her peers like-minded? Their obsession with creators.
Spotter, a financing solution for video-content creators, made a name for itself by inking deals in 2021 with mega creators like Dude Perfect and MrBeast. Spotter buys the rights to creators' YouTube catalogs for a flat sum in exchange for 100% of the advertising revenue earned on those videos for the duration of a contract.
By early 2022, the startup had received a unicorn valuation. Hesse came on board shortly after. Her colleagues describe her as empathetic and efficient — someone who gets things done.
During her time at Spotter, she's spearheaded several creator-facing events on behalf of the company at conferences like VidCon and Playlist Live. Spotter also had a heavy presence at VidSummit, a professional conference for the industry, as a sponsor. Currently, she's busy planning an event for creators that will happen in early 2023.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: Hesse is a fan of MrBeast, who is one of Spotter's creator partners, and was impressed by his Willy Wonka stunt this year.
"The chocolate factory he produced was amazing with such attention to detail," Hesse said. "Plus, I've always been a fan of his dairy-free Feastable chocolate bars as I'm dairy free."
Divyanshu Damani.
Divyanshu Damani
Damani, 26, is the cofounder of TagMango, India's first creator-economy platform and "one-stop shop" to help creators monetize.
He started his company in 2019 after graduating from high school the year before. He had been a content creator himself with a combined 200,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram, but hadn't found a way to make money from it.
Now, creators can use TagMango to build digital products, like an online store or a course, to sell to their followers. Currently, more than 1,000 creators use it to monetize, of which 90% are based in India.
"I built a platform for creators to connect with each other and their audience, which this country didn't have when I was in school," he said.
This past year, Damani has focused his energy on building a narrative for the company so it can attract more investors and grow. He eventually hopes to take the company international.
"Initially, we had a brand-to-influencer model, where we connected brands directly with creators, but the road to scale that was really difficult," he said. "Now, we're a lot more product facing."
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: Damani said that since TikTok is banned in India, nothing really comes to mind. "I'm at a loss for words, and that usually doesn't happen to me," he said.
Melissa Tecson.
Role: Lifestyle and education creator lead, North America
Tecson, 30, leads a team that works with lifestyle and education creators in the US and Canada, a category that includes users who make videos about food, fashion, beauty, art, and science, among other topics.
Tecson's team is focused on helping creators grow and improve their content strategy on TikTok, often arranging one-on-one discussions or webinars with influencers within the lifestyle and education content verticals. Tecson worked with Bella Poarch, a creator and music artist who leveraged her popularity on the app into a singing career.
"I think it's really important and it's a really big challenge for us constantly to always pivot and try to meet our creators exactly where they are," Tecson said. "If there are explicit questions that they have that we haven't answered before, we work really hard to provide those resources for them."
Before joining TikTok, Tecson worked in creator management at YouTube.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: The "Corn Kid," and a more recent trend in which creators use voice filters to share their partners' "icks."
Ogo.
Ogo
Role: Founder and head of partnerships
When Ogo Akamelu (known professionally by his first name) was in high school, he and a friend were running a t-shirt company and paying Twitter influencers to amplify their products.
"It didn't go anywhere," said Ogo, now 25, but it wouldn't be his last influencer-marketing exchange.
Ogo went on to found in 2019 an influencer-marketing company called Thirteenth, during the apex of TikTok's explosive rise.
In 2020, Ogo became the non-exclusive manager handling brand deals for the creator-content house The House Nobody Asked For, which was based in Las Vegas and disbanded at the end of 2020. Ogo began managing the collective after meeting one of the members through a Netflix project, the house members previously told Insider.
From there, Ogo has continued to manage talent and work closely with brands like Nike, Converse, and Chipotle. He also helped co-launch The Crib Around the Corner, an Los Angeles content house designed to shine a spotlight on Black creators.
"TikTok was a bit more of an even playing field because there wasn't a long-standing relationship in place to gate keep who can do what or who can work with who," Ogo said. "No one really had a TikTok team or TikTok expert."
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: Lil Uzi Vert's song "Just Wanna Rock" and the viral dance that came with it (the song itself has more than 610,000 videos on TikTok).
"It's just really high energy and really fun," Ogo said.
Christen Moore.
Role: Director, strategic partnerships (creator)
Moore, 31, leads a team within Twitch focused on strategic partnerships with its top streamers, across categories like gaming, "Just Chatting," pop culture, music, and sports.
Since joining the company in 2018, Moore has worked closely with streamers like Imane "Pokimane" Anys, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, Jeremy "Jerma985" Elbertson, and Hasan "HasanAbi" Piker.
Moore's team helped support several of Twitch's banner streaming events of the last few years, including Piker's 2020 election coverage, Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez's "Among Us" Twitch stream, Elbertson's "DollHouse" stream, and Julien Solomita's Aries Kitchen League.
Moore told Insider that her focus in the past couple years has been helping streamers become more data-oriented in how they run their businesses.
"My hope is that creators make a regular habit of putting aside time to celebrate their successes, learn from past challenges, and dig into their data to improve their channels," she said. "By empowering them to review their brand through the lens of a business owner, streamers are able to engage their communities more strategically, monetize more effectively, think about what they want their futures to look like, and then get right back to doing what they know and love best: creating incredible content."
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: Streamers like Hasan "HasanAbi" Piker and Imane "Pokimane" Anys covered big news events on stream with compassion, building a sense of community for their chats during challenging moments in the year.
Andrew Leonard.
Andrew Le
Leonard, 31, started his career at Google, where he worked for nine years in departments like ad sales and hardware.
He'd always been a YouTube fan and had two YouTube channels throughout his life.
"I had this moment where I thought, 'I like making YouTube videos. Maybe I should just work at YouTube,'" Leonard said.
In 2020, he joined YouTube, and became a key figure in supporting the growth of top Shorts creators on the platform and in creating a playbook for YouTube's approach to short-form video.
Leonard provides creators with one-on-one, in-depth support, helping them grow and stabilize their YouTube revenue across both Shorts and long-form video.
He helps creators build businesses, introducing them to potential investors to support efforts to expand into brick-and-mortar sales or product launches. He also introduces talent to other creators to foster relationships.
Leonard works within YouTube to secure resources for creators inside the company, and to keep execs informed about the top Shorts personalities they should know about.
"Our team really prides itself on going deep with creators," he said.
One example of this was Leonard's work with Dylan Lemay.
Lemay gained millions of subscribers on TikTok and YouTube while documenting his work at an ice-cream shop. In the summer of 2022, Lemay was able to open his own brick-and-mortar ice-cream store in New York.
Leonard was there every step of the way, helping to secure investors, marketing the launch, soliciting press coverage, and even just sweeping the floors and installing the air-conditioning on opening day.
As more physical businesses like Lemay's emerge, Leonard is hoping to create a support system that allows them to access the services Google offers for small businesses, like search ads or map listings, with ease.
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: The "Penny Series" videos published by creator Ryan Trahan.
In this series of videos, Trahan attempted to survive for 30 days after starting with just one penny. He filmed daily vlogs to document his experience while raising money for charity.
Tiffany Matloob.
Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for YouTube
Role: Global head of creator community, YouTube Shorts
Matloob, 33, has been working in the short-form video space for six years.
She led creator partnerships and content operations at Musical.ly — which later became TikTok — and supported the launch of Reels on Instagram. In 2021, she joined YouTube to be at the forefront of the platform's push into short-form video.
"YouTube is this well-oiled machine, and they totally know creators and how to give them all that love," she said, adding that her role is about "figuring out a way to do it at scale" with Shorts.
In her role, Matloob looks after the community partner managers who help identify and nurture emerging creators on Shorts, through the Shorts Creator Community.
The community now includes tens of thousands of creators globally across 19 languages, YouTube said, and Matloob is at its helm, organizing virtual and in-person events for creators, and coming up with ideas to support creativity on Shorts.
Her team launched a virtual "Shorts Creator House" to allow YouTubers to meet online, and recently introduced "Shortsmas," a short-form take on the longstanding YouTube tradition of "Vlogmas" — when creators film vlogs throughout December all the way to Christmas.
Internally, Matloob has taken the role of an "educator on all things short-form content," she said, organizing immersive experiences with teams like product, research, and marketing.
"We have all of these systems set up to help support these creators," she said. "It's just like, let's amplify even more. Let's 10x it."
Favorite social-media moment of 2022: Matloob enjoyed dancing to Taylor Swift's new music, but her favorite trend is that of "content with soul," she said.
She describes it as, "something that is great to watch, but you also learn something or feel empowered from it."
She mentioned creator Morgan Lynzi, who makes cooking videos while telling stories about empowerment or social issues, as an example.
Features Influencers | 2022-12-28T11:17:10Z | www.businessinsider.com | 22 Rising Stars of the Creator Economy, Including at Meta and YouTube | https://www.businessinsider.com/creator-economy-social-media-platforms-meta-youtube-instagram-tiktok-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/creator-economy-social-media-platforms-meta-youtube-instagram-tiktok-2022-12 |
Europe's tech ecosystem nursed a hangover in 2022 as the post-pandemic party ended and VCs returned to fundamentals
Callum Burroughs and Tasmin Lockwood
Investors and founders alike were found nursing hangovers in 2022 after a record breaking 2021.
VCs returned to slower capital deployment and due diligence processes after a record-breaking 2021.
Higher cost of capital, inflation, and lower growth expectations have put investors back in charge.
European startups raised $16 billion in the third quarter – a 44% annual drop, per Crunchbase.
If 2021 was the year of FOMO, then perhaps 2022 could be characterized for investors as the year for the joy of missing out.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the last remnants of the era of cheap money led to reckless abandon in funding markets with tech startups raising capital at record rates, often at valuations untethered from reality.
Funding to European startups more than doubled to $116 billion in 2021, according to Crunchbase data. VC cash dried up considerably this year with investors pumping $16 billion into startups in the third quarter of 2022, a 44% annual decline.
Now, with interest rates spiking, inflation at multi-decade highs, and fears of a recession impacting growth forecasts, tech investors appear content to take their time again before making a few select deals.
"I don't think it happened overnight but there was definitely the feeling from last year, into the first quarter of this year, that growth was just never ending and that trees grow to the sky," Sarah Hinkfuss, a partner at Bain Capital Ventures, told Insider at the Slush conference in Helsinki. "There was a total disconnect between what growth projections were and what was actually happening in the world."
Numerous VCs told Insider the past two years had felt like an out-of-control celebration with many "now looking around at the aftermath and thinking about tidying up. "
"The ecosystem is nursing its hangover after two years of a big party," Arne Morteani, founding partner at Kiko Ventures said. "As with every big party, sort of slightly, regretful about a lot of unreasonable things that have happened. So, those mistakes will take some time to clear themselves out."
After the party's over
The result is that investors are going back to a slower deployment pace with longer due diligence processes. Valuations have dipped significantly too, a boon for VCs who are looking for massive outperformance to return their funds versus the lower thresholds required from sovereign wealth funds and crossover funds, like Tiger Global, for example.
For Morteani, a number of less traditional – or tourist – investors placed enormous pressure on the European tech ecosystem, ramping up prices in the process.
"So now they're leaving," he said. "Now the ecosystem is on its own and can do reasonable things again."
A focus on business fundamentals has been widely touted by investors, alongside a push for profitability over growth, and an emphasis on unit economics. Portfolio companies have been advised to extend their runways and plan for the worse and the bar for completing new business has been raised by funds.
VCs told Insider that the quality of revenue was now being brought into starker focus plus an increased emphasis on burn rates, customer acquisition costs, as well as managing their hiring and marketing spend.
"I want companies to have their budgets in order and to figure out what they have to prove to get to the next step," Hinkfuss added. "We're looking for an actual business plan, not a hope that money just falls from the sky."
Chasing high-quality, recurring revenue now could be too late – ideally investors would have safe companies before a downturn.
Tech startups at the growth stage have also been caught between a rock and a hard place, with increased growth and revenue figures no longer in demand, businesses have been forced to cut back. Others have found the market unsympathetic to their capital raising needs with the looming spectre of down rounds leading some to consider structured funding rounds with onerous terms.
Market Tech | 2022-12-28T11:17:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | Europe Nursed a Hangover in 2022 As VCs Flag Return to Fundamentals | https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-nursed-hangover-in-2022-vcs-flag-return-to-fundamentals-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-nursed-hangover-in-2022-vcs-flag-return-to-fundamentals-2022-12 |
The $113,000 GMC Hummer EV is an incredibly silly vehicle, but is also one of the most fun models I drove all year
GMC has revived the Hummer as an electric pickup truck — and I got to drive it.
The Hummer EV Edition 1 costs $113,000 and is ridiculously large.
But the Hummer is also surprisingly fun thanks to its quick acceleration, removable top, and the sheer absurdity of it all.
GMC's electric Hummer is a whole new kind of electric vehicle. It isn't sleek and sporty like a Tesla, nor is it compact and cost-effective like a Chevy Bolt. And even though it's a pickup truck, it isn't built for the job site like a Ford F-150 Lightning.
The Hummer EV is more like the electric equivalent of a boxy Mercedes G-Wagen or a lifted diesel truck. It's big, brash, and extreme just for the hell of it.
A weekend with the $113,000 behemoth proved it's one of the silliest vehicles on the market — electric or otherwise. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a blast.
It's ridiculously huge
Of course the Hummer is huge. It's a freaking Hummer. But it's tough to truly grasp the enormity until you see one in person — or better yet, get behind the wheel. (To put some numbers to it: The Hummer is nearly eight feet wide and 18 feet long.)
I breathed a sigh of relief once I escaped the cramped streets of New York City for the highway, where the monster would have plenty of room to roam. Or so I thought. Pretty much anywhere I found myself driving, the Hummer's boxy proportions and plentiful blind spots stressed me out. I constantly feared I was taking up too much room and was about to bonk another car.
However, for better or worse, the Hummer is tough to miss, and other drivers gave me space when I needed it. One backed up to let me squeeze my obnoxious vehicle through the gate of a quaint farmers market — a maneuver that would've required no extra fuss in a normal car.
I can't say I would've done the same. As far as I'm concerned, if you drive a truck that's too big for everyday errands, that's on you.
But loads of fun
The Hummer EV is kind of like an oversized toy. Its hulking size — plus oodles of other cool features — made it endlessly entertaining to live with. For a weekend at least.
As I drove around and towered over the other, lesser cars, I couldn't help but giggle at the sheer absurdity of the Hummer EV. The feeling is amplified when you remove the truck's roof panels and transform it into not just a huge truck, but a huge convertible truck. Cruising around in a Hummer packed full of friends and the top off was just plain fun.
Moreover, the thing moves way quicker than you'd expect from a 9,000-pound truck. Pin the throttle and the Hummer jolts forward instantly, leaning back like a speedboat before leveling out at around 40 mph.
It comes with four-wheel steering, which helps out in tight spaces and enables the Hummer's most outlandish feature, Crab Walk. Switch on that mode, and all four wheels swivel in the same direction when you turn the steering wheel, meaning you can drive in a zig-zag without actually turning. This elicited a collective shrug from my friends, but I thought it was pretty neat.
Then there are the little things that put a smile on your face.
The Hummer's windshield is so wide and squat that it needs three little wipers instead of two regular ones. I can't quite explain why, but I burst out laughing when I saw this for the first time. When you scroll through the Hummer's drive modes, ridiculously detailed animations pop up that show the truck trundling through various environments, like Mars or the Moon.
Would I buy a Hummer EV? Nope. It's just too big. But I enjoyed the Hummer's outrageousness way more than I expected, and I'd gladly live the Hummer life for a weekend again sometime soon.
Transportation Tech 2022 GMC Hummer EV | 2022-12-28T11:17:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | GMC Hummer EV Review: Incredibly Silly, but Also Very Entertaining | https://www.businessinsider.com/gmc-hummer-ev-electric-truck-review-silly-but-fun-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/gmc-hummer-ev-electric-truck-review-silly-but-fun-2022-12 |
The sneaker wall at a Foot Locker
Bethany Biron/Business Insider
As Nike's eased back at places like Foot Locker, it's opened up shelf space for more brands.
Formerly niche brands like Hoka are expanding beyond specialty channels.
Sizable competitors like Lululemon also are pushing harder into footwear.
For years, Nike and Adidas dominated the sneaker walls at shopping malls and sporting goods stores.
Expect that to change in 2023.
As Nike pulls back from some of its biggest retail partners and focuses on direct sales, it's opening up shelf space for competitors. Wall Street analysts who spoke with Insider said that means several upstarts could be filling more shelves next year.
"You have a lot of brands that have had a very narrow distribution but are rapidly growing their brand awareness and are now expanding into bigger retailers that will give these brands so much more visibility," Wedbush analyst Tom Nikic told Insider.
Hoka sneakers
"There are so many more doors they can go into"
Hoka, which is owned by Deckers, historically has been sold at running stores. But that's changing.
"They entered Dick's Sporting Goods one or two years ago, but they're still in less than 20% of Dick's doors," Nikic said. "They just entered Foot Locker over the summer and are only in a small slice of their massive store footprint. They're not in Academy Sports, the second-biggest sporting goods retailer in the country, they're not in Finish Line yet. There are so many more doors they can go into, which should cause the brand awareness to keep growing and growing."
Nikic said On and Hey Dude could follow similar trajectories next year.
In a recent note, Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser said Hey Dude could hit $1 billion in fiscal year 2022 sales. Poser recently met with the management of Crocs, which bought Hey Dude this year.
"We came away from our meetings confident that the Crocs brand will realize its 2026, $5 billion revenue target, and that Hey Dude, if managed well, which we expect, has sales opportunities that exceed that of Crocs," Poser wrote.
Nikic noted Crocs already is sold by a lot of retailers, which could help get Hey Dude on shelves everywhere from family footwear stores to Foot Locker locations.
A Lululemon Blissfeel sneaker
"Keep an eye on Lululemon's nascent footwear business"
Lululemon launched its footwear line this year. It exceeded the brand's expectations.
"Keep an eye on Lululemon's nascent footwear business," Nikic told Insider. "They're planning a slow, cautious ramp-up of that business, which just launched nine months ago. But as one of the few 'female-first' sneaker brands out there, they have potential to make a lot of headway in the category by serving a demographic that might feel under-served by the broader sneaker industry."
Poonam Goyal, senior e-commerce and athleisure analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, is less bullish on Lululemon's footwear.
"They have a long way to go," she said, noting how rivals like Nike and Adidas have decades more experience making performance sneakers.
But she continues to be impressed with the brand.
"Lululemon is just one of those retailers that continues to deliver," she told Insider. "The execution has been there."
"We spent a lot of time with Mary Dillon and her team at Foot Locker"
In 2017, Nike announced its Consumer Direct Offense, which focuses on direct sales. In 2020, Nike ramped up the effort, renaming the plan the Consumer Direct Acceleration.
As part of the focus on direct sales, Nike cut 50% of its wholesale accounts since 2018, splitting with thousands of retailers and pulling back products from others, including Foot Locker. That's opened up shelf space for more brands.
But that dynamic is changing. Nike's no longer cutting accounts, and it's working more deeply on connecting its inventory with a handful of partners, reemphasizing the importance of its wholesale partners.
That includes Mary Dillon, the new CEO of Foot Locker. In September, Nike hosted its wholesale partners at its Oregon headquarters for the first time in three years, CEO John Donahoe said on a December earnings call.
"This quarter, we spent a lot of time with Mary Dillon and her team at Foot Locker," Donahoe added. "There's a lot of excitement, I would say, with our wholesale partners and what we can accomplish together."
Sneakers Sportswear Retail | 2022-12-28T11:17:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Sneaker Walls at Shopping Malls Could Look a Lot Different in 2023 | https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-sneakers-replaced-by-hoka-hey-dude-in-stores-2023-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-sneakers-replaced-by-hoka-hey-dude-in-stores-2023-2022-12 |
To get refunded for online returns ASAP, avoid these 3 mistakes
A worker at a Pennsylvania Inmar Intelligence warehouse inspects a returned item of clothing.
Americans will return more than $816 billion worth of merchandise in 2022.
Returns experts say consumer frustration often stems from simple mistakes.
Avoid these common errors to get refunds as soon as possible.
Consumers are getting money back for their returns faster than ever — for the most part.
Many retailers refund a purchase virtually the moment the item leaves the customer's hands, as soon as the package is scanned by UPS, FedEx, USPS, or by a worker at a drop-off point.
But plenty of refunds are tied up for days or even weeks, and industry experts told Insider the consumer is often to blame.
Consumers make the same mistakes over and over, said Thomas Borders, the vice president and general manager of Inmar Intelligence, a major processor of returns that operates 27 warehouses dedicated to returns and liquidations in the US. In addition to causing headaches for retailers and returns processors, these mistakes can also tie up consumers' refunds.
"Oftentimes, when consumers don't get credit in a timely manner, what do they do? They pick up the phone and call a customer-service number, write an email, put a complaint on social media," Borders told Insider. "But the retailer is in a difficult position there, because it's the consumers that aren't following the proper processes. It's making the processing of that return more challenging than it should be."
Here are the top-three mistakes consumers should avoid.
'Blind returns'
One of the most common mistakes consumers make is sending an item to the retailer without actually initiating the return online or sending the order paperwork. These cases are called "blind returns," Borders said.
"They just go online to research and find an address. And they send an item to the address they found," he explained.
When packages show up to warehouses that don't normally process returns, they can take much longer to process or may get lost in the shuffle. And even when a package shows up at the correct address without a return logged in the system, a refund can't be triggered as quickly. Inmar's team will need to play detective, looking at the return address and any other information on the package to try to figure out whose order it is.
"It creates problems for us, but also problems for our customer and ultimately problems for you, the consumer, because you're probably going to get credit much, much more slowly than you would have if you followed the prescribed path for making that return," Borders said.
Careless packaging
If the consumer skips the bubble wrap or padded envelope in favor of whatever box is lying around, the item may show up to the returns processor in much worse condition than when it arrived to the customer, and the refund could be delayed or denied.
"That's when you open packages that have leaking liquids and turned over powders. Leaks and spills may be completely unintentional, but they are going to create a problem for us," Borders said.
Poor packaging resulting in a damaged item can affect refunds, and it can also turn a resalable item or one that could be donated into garbage, Borders said.
Sending things back without tags
Tags or no tags, returns-processing workers will check for signs of wear. But for apparel in particular, the tag is an important identifier. Even though a garment may eventually get back into the hands of the retailer that originally sold it, the workers handling returns don't have a comprehensive knowledge of that company's inventory.
If the brand is using an outside returns-processing company like Inmar, the worker logging the tagless return may work with merchandise from many brands, and their actions are dictated by software.
The workers have to scan the tag so the system can tap into preset instructions to check that the item is in good condition and decide whether it's fit for resale in the store or at a discount retailer, or must be donated or trashed.
Without a tag, processing staff will have to take extra time to track down the barcode in the catalog of what could easily be hundreds of thousands of items for sale.
The fraud problem
Though it's a milder form of returns fraud, Inmar does regularly receive items with clear signs of wear. Deodorant marks, holes, wine spills, and pet hair are fairly common when consumers buy items with the intention of wearing them once and returning them.
The National Retail Federation has found that for every $100 in returned merchandise that retailers accept, they lose $10.40 to fraud. Half of cited fraudulent returns involve "used, non-defective merchandise."
Even when working with an outside company, retailers decide whether or not customers will get their money back for damaged merchandise.
Fraud doesn't necessarily slow down refunds, but it does create bugs in the system that can slow down returns for everyone. And as the total volume of returns continues to increase, retailers are going to be forced to crack down.
Returns are going to continue to get easier, said Borders, with "no-box, no-label" strategies becoming ubiquitous. But that often means that consumers need to be even more conscious of ever-changing return policies and procedures. And since these new returns scenarios are even easier to exploit, crackdowns could come in the form of individual bans on returning items at specific retailers.
"The short answer is some make the crediting decision as soon as you put the box in the mail or the package in the mail, and others don't make the crediting decision until they received some data or information from Inmar or whoever returns processors," Borders said. Especially when the call on whether to refund or not to refund is made in the warehouse, consumers need to follow instructions to the letter to get their money back fast.
BITranspo Returns eCommerce | 2022-12-28T11:18:13Z | www.businessinsider.com | 3 Mistakes to Avoid for Speedy Refunds on Returned Purchases | https://www.businessinsider.com/returns-refunds-speedy-avoid-mistakes-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/returns-refunds-speedy-avoid-mistakes-2022-12 |
Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX saga keeps getting weirder as new details shed further light on how much his company's finances overlapped.
Happy hump day to the smartest corner of the web. I'm Phil Rosen, writing to you from Los Angeles.
This morning I'm thinking about just how wild, deep, and strange the FTX drama has become.
More details are sure to emerge, but there's already enough fodder for a spectacular thriller novel on par with "The Big Short." In fact, Michael Lewis is already working on a book.
Today, I'm breaking down the latest and weirdest developments surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried and company — and also sharing details from a conversation I had with one FTX user who's been left in a six-figure hole.
1. The SEC has alleged that Sam Bankman-Fried orchestrated a years-long fraud scheme. A closer scrutiny of court documents reveal an underlying theme of commingled funds, overlapping and mixed finances, and inexcusable, messy bookkeeping.
Bankman-Fried's entire enterprise — counting FTX, his hedge fund Alameda Research, as well as scores of smaller entities — were steeped in one another's funds.
It's hard to tell where one company's cash ended and another's began.
For example, earlier this year Bankman-Fried and FTX co-founder Gary Wang borrowed $546 million in promissory notes from Alameda to fund purchases of Robinhood stock, court documents showed.
Later, Alameda took out a loan and pledged those same shares as collateral, per CoinDesk.
Now, Bankman-Fried is stuck in a four-way legal battle for ownership of that nearly half-a-billion stake in Robinhood.
Then, consider a separate SEC complaint that alleged FTX customers were told to wire money to an obscure, fake electronics retailer with a website full of misspelled words and unusually priced items.
This subsidiary, North Dimension, played a key role in putting user's funds in the coffers of Alameda to use in trading.
The website, which has now been deactivated, would list a laptop or cell phone at a "sale" price of $899, compared to its "normal" price of $410.
I certainly think so. But look at this: FTX execs reportedly hid $8 billion in liabilities in a customer account that Bankman-Fried referred to as "our Korean friend's account," according to CFTC prosecutors.
The whole notion of "where did the money go" seems to be getting more muddled by the day.
There's a chance that those who end up in the most financial pain will be everyday investors who, like some institutional investors, trusted their funds to FTX.
I spoke to a California-based father of three who lost access to $120,000 as FTX collapsed. Nauman, a 48-year-old software developer who asked to be identified by first name only, isn't holding out much hope to get his money back.
In a phone call, he told me he'd planned to use those funds for his childrens' college education.
A bear market is one thing, he said, because that's something you can stomach as a veteran investor. But when there's malice and thievery it becomes much harder to handle.
"If this turns out that Bankman-Fried is locked up in jail, and all the lenders and big creditors get taken care of, but retail customers get left empty, then that doesn't do much," Nauman told me.
"Everyday investors are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to pecking order, but there has to be some type of recourse for unsecured individuals."
Do you have a similar FTX story to share? Tweet me (@philrosenn) or email me (prosen@insider.com) to let me know.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 27, 2022 in New York City.
2. US stock futures rise early Wednesday, after China announced it will end quarantine for inbound travelers from Jan. 8. Here are the latest market moves.
3. Earnings on deck: Cal-Maine Foods, Toshico, and more, all reporting.
4. These books can help you build wealth in 2023. Real estate investors, "super savers," and finance experts broke down their top reads that can help you spend less and save more as the calendar turns. See all eight books.
5. Russia's finance minister said the oil price cap is hitting the Kremlin's export revenue. It could also widen its budget deficit, Anton Siluanov said, adding that if export volumes decrease, Russia could turn to both loans and the National Wealth Fund.
6. The biggest losers in the S&P 500 this year have erased $1.6 trillion in market value. Meta, Tesla, and PayPal sit among the top 10 worst performing stocks in the index that, like the rest of the market, have endured a brutal year. Here's the full list.
7. Tech stocks are at "great entry levels" for long-term investors right now. That's according to Wedbush, which pointed out that Apple, Amazon, and other behemoths are trading at a low price that could be seen as an opportunity. With the Fed in the "7th inning" of rate hikes, it could set up a choppy but upside path for tech shares.
8. The CIO of a top-performing fund said 2023's stock market will present a tale of two halves. He believes the S&P 500 will retest its 2022 lows in the coming months, but could see a change in course later in the year. These are the sectors he thinks will outperform.
9. These 50 stocks are trading at steep discounts that make them low-risk and high-reward, according to Goldman Sachs. Certain names are set to deliver outsized returns next year, and pose only a little more risk than the S&P 500. Get all the stock names.
10. Southwest Airlines stock tumbled Tuesday. The airliner canceled thousands of flights over the holiday weekend, and expects more cancellations to spill over into the rest of the week. One figure estimated Southwest's cancellation rate at 62%. | 2022-12-28T11:18:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX Saga Is Getting More Weird and Strange. | https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-crypto-markets-investing-alameda-finance-sec-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-crypto-markets-investing-alameda-finance-sec-2022-12 |
A top healthcare banker predicts some digital-health startups will be able to go public in 2023
One Medical was one of several buzzy healthcare startups to go public in 2020.
SVB Securities' Jon Swope thinks some digital-health startups will IPO in the second half of 2023.
Swope said mental-health and women's-health startups will be best positioned to go public.
Other startups will use debt or mergers to buy themselves runway in a downturn, he said.
After last year's funding spree, the digital-health market took a tumble in 2022, dragging down the number of healthcare-startup exits.
In 2021, 15 US-based digital-health companies went public via IPO, according to Rock Health. Only one digital-health company has gone public this year: Akili Interactive Labs, which went public in August in a SPAC deal.
And Akili's stock has fallen dramatically from its public-market debut — when shares surged as high as $37.58 — to $1.65 as of December 15. Seeing the writing on the wall, digital-health companies like Komodo Health that sought to IPO this year are now putting those plans on hold.
But SVB Securities' Jon Swope said he thinks the IPO market will reopen for certain digital-health companies in the second half of 2023.
Jon Swope, senior managing director in investment banking at SVB Securities.
Swope, the senior managing director of investment banking at SVB Securities and the leader of the firm's digital-health practice, has worked on numerous IPO deals over the years.
He thinks high-growth healthcare startups that rely on technology, which are either already profitable or have a clear path to profitability, will be first to test the waters.
"Each day that goes by is another day closer to realizing that your next capital raise, if you need one, has to be your last before becoming a cash-flow positive company," he said. "The days of burning cash with no end in sight, that's over for now."
In particular, Swope said mental-health and women's-health startups, particularly those who serve patients by partnering with employers and health plans, will be in the best position to go public. Those companies have large markets of potential customers and deliver significant value to their patients, to their employers, and to health-plan customers, he said.
Different approaches to getting cash
For the majority of digital-health startups that stay away from the public markets next year, figuring out how to secure capital to ride out the downturn — without compromising their valuations — will be critical, Swope said.
"Those companies that were close to IPO but still burning a lot of cash, their first choice certainly won't be a down-round IPO," he said.
The first choice for healthcare startups, he said, will always be a flat or an up round, where the company lands the same or a greater amount of equity as their previous fundraise. But when startups can't secure a round with those terms, they'll most likely turn to debt.
Debt rounds are considered "unpriced" rounds and won't impact the startup's valuation, Swope said. Venture debt also doesn't require founders to give up any of their ownership in a company, unlike an equity fundraise. The catch, of course, is that startups will have to pay those loans back.
Swope said a lot of companies are doing convertible notes, which are a form of short-term debt that typically convert to equity in a future funding round. Seed-stage companies are most likely to issue convertible notes.
A startup's last choice, Swope said, is a down round.
Reckoning with inflated valuations
Healthcare startups will try to avoid down rounds at all costs, in part so they don't have to notch a new, potentially reduced valuation, Swope said. Plenty of companies that locked down sky-high valuations in 2020 and 2021 with large funding rounds will face this conundrum.
"For example, Ro is valued at $7 billion," Swope said. "What's next for companies like that?"
Swope said he thinks there will be more private companies merging next year, in the style of deals like the October 2021 Headspace-Ginger merger and Thirty Madison's merger with Nurx in February.
Because there's no outside capital flowing in during those mergers, some startups may attempt those deals to gain stability in a rocky market without having to establish a new valuation, Swope said.
"Those with cash and cash runway will be in a strong position for negotiating leverage in what will be a more active M&A environment than this past year," he said.
SVB Securities Dispensed | 2022-12-28T13:18:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | Some Digital-Health Startups Will IPO in 2023: Top Banker | https://www.businessinsider.com/digital-health-startups-will-ipo-2023-jon-swope-svb-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/digital-health-startups-will-ipo-2023-jon-swope-svb-2022-12 |
A visualisation of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, inspired by Kabosu the Shiba Inu.
The internet-famous dog who inspired the "doge" memes is seriously ill, its owner said.
Atsuko Sato said Tuesday that her Shiba Inu, Kabosu, was diagnosed with liver disease and leukemia.
Shiba Inu dogs have an average life expectancy of between 12 to 15 years.
Kabosu, the internet-famous Shiba Inu who inspired the "doge" memes, is seriously ill with liver disease and leukemia, her owner said on Tuesday.
The dog's owner, Atsuko Sato, a teacher in Sakura, Japan, gave an update on Instagram on December 27.
She said that Kabosu had been diagnosed with acute cholangiohepatitis, a liver condition, as well as chronic lymphoma leukemia, a type of blood cancer.
"Right now, the liver level is very bad and jaundice appears," Sato wrote in one post. "But antibiotics will definitely improve."
Sato said that Kabosu stopped "eating and drinking voluntarily" on Christmas Eve.
Cholangiohepatitis is a condition marked by inflammation of both the liver and the bile system. Lymphoma leukemia is the most common form of blood cancer reported in dogs.
Kabosu became internet famous when a picture of her posing with folded paws and a quizzical expression went viral on Reddit, Tumblr, and 4Chan in 2010.
Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, the founders of Dogecoin — a cryptocurrency that was a tongue-in-cheek response to Bitcoin — eventually used Kabosu as their mascot.
Despite being created as a joke, Dogecoin remains popular within the crypto world nearly 10 years after it was created.
Last month, the meme-inspired cryptocurrency surged in value after Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted an image of a Shiba Inu dog wearing a Twitter T-shirt, adding a winking-face emoji. It is unclear whether the Shiba Inu was Kabosu.
Shiba Inu dogs have an average life expectancy of between 12 to 15 years. According to an Instagram post, Kabosu celebrated her 17th birthday in October.
News UK Dogecoin | 2022-12-28T13:18:54Z | www.businessinsider.com | 'Doge' Meme Shiba Inu Ill With Cancer, Liver Disease, Owner Says | https://www.businessinsider.com/doge-meme-shiba-inu-ill-cancer-liver-disease-owner-says-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/doge-meme-shiba-inu-ill-cancer-liver-disease-owner-says-2022-12 |
Musk's yes-men: 5 experts break down why it's difficult to 'speak truth to power.'
Top of the morning, tech readers! I'm Jordan Parker Erb, worn out from a long weekend of holiday fun.
Like yesterday, we're continuing with some of the year's best stories from our VC and startups team. In addition to the day's top stories, we'll be talking about the best early-stage investors of 2022, as well as dozens of the most promising tech startups of the year.
We've got lots to look back on today, so let's get into it.
1. Elon Musk is surrounded by yes-men, and experts say it's a recipe for disaster. "It's the classic scenario where the emperor has no clothes but everybody's too afraid to tell him," a management professor said. Why it's difficult to "speak truth to power."
2. If you buy an EV by March, you'll have a better chance of saving the full $7,500 on your taxes. That's because the Treasury Department recently delayed the implementation of a rule that could make many cars ineligible for the full credit. Here's what you want to know.
3. Meet social-media's new generation of leaders. After another record year for the creator economy, the industry is brimming with new talent. From power players at Meta, Discord, and LinkedIn, to founders and cofounders of innovative new companies, check out Insider's list of rising stars.
4. Founders shared how they survived this year's bursting VC funding bubble. After an era of record venture capital funding and new unicorns minted by the dozen each week, this year brought a harsh reality to startups. Insider spoke with six founders about how they've handled the abrupt switch from market exuberance to economic caution. Here's what they said.
5. Tired of seeing the same photo of Caroline Ellison? We asked a robot to make some new ones for the holidays. Images of the former Alameda Research CEO — who pleaded guilty to charges that carry up to 110 years in prison — are hard to find. So here's a robot's vision of the fallen crypto queen.
The top VC and startups stories of 2022:
Union Square Ventures; 645 Ventures; Race Capital; Mindset Ventures; Marianne Ayala/Insider
6. Former Amazon leaders have infiltrated the tech industry. Leadership coaches say that's not always a good thing. With over 650 startups founded by former Amazon employees and swaths of alumni joining C-suites, Amazon-trained leaders — known as "Jeff Bots" — are bringing founder Jeff Bezos' metrics-focused style to businesses across the globe. Inside the rise of the "Jeff Bots."
7. We outlined the best early-stage investors of 2022. Thanks to data analysis from Tribe Capital, we were able to identify the seed-stage investors who have the skills it takes to succeed year after year. Meet the Seed 100.
8. After dominating the VC industry last year, crossover funds spent 2022 pulling back. Firms like Tiger Global and Coatue, which whipped the venture-capital industry into a dealmaking frenzy in 2021, slammed on the brakes this year. Traditional VCs argue that these funds misunderstood the true nature of venture investment — and now they're "licking their wounds."
9. It's time for Apple to talk to Android. For years, customers have been complaining about iPhone/Android texting problems — but when asked to fix iPhone's issues texting Android, Tim Cook brushed it off with a flippant comment. Here's how Apple could fix texting.
10. These are 460 of the most promising startups of 2022. We asked VCs to share their top picks for startups in edtech, fintech, crypto, cloud, proptech and more. They came back with an exciting list of dozens of startups that are destined for success. See their top picks here.
Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com) Edited by Hallam Bullock in London.
10 things in tech Newsletters Newsletter | 2022-12-28T13:19:06Z | www.businessinsider.com | Elon Musk's Yes-Men: 5 Experts Break Down Why It's Difficult to "Speak Truth to Power." | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-yes-men-5-experts-break-down-why-its-difficult-to-speak-truth-to-power-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-yes-men-5-experts-break-down-why-its-difficult-to-speak-truth-to-power-2022-12 |
Jeffrey Cane
Good morning! And thank you for reading us on what is typically a sleepy week for Wall Street. This is Jeffrey Cane, filling in for Dan DeFrancesco today.
Investors both big and small are closing the books on 2022, and to state the glaringly obvious, it wasn't a good year for many of them. Take just one market benchmark, the S&P 500, which is heading for its worst annual performance since the global financial crisis year of 2008.
To be sure, some big investors like macro hedge funds have been notable exceptions to the market gloom. (And yes, we see you Citadel, basking in the South Florida sun after another stunning year.)
Will the "smart money" be any wiser in 2023? Please let me know what you think at jcane@insider.com.
As we do our own account settling for the year, here is some of our best reporting on the buy-side: hedge funds, asset managers, and wealth management.
Tiger Global's Chase Coleman
Mike Nudelman/Insider
1. Tiger, Tiger burning bright. An aggressive bet on tech startups by Tiger Global Management flamed out this year. A major part of its innovative approach had involved outsourcing much of its due diligence to consultants from Bain & Co., an Insider investigation found.
2. A giant launch's promise deferred. ExodusPoint Capital Management made a splashy debut in 2018, raising $8.5 billion. Four years later, the hedge fund, founded by two former Millennium executives, has yet to live up to the lofty expectations for it. High-profile departures and a mixed performance have dogged the firm. Read why ExodusPoint remains the talk of the hedge fund world.
3. A bellow from the "thundering herd." At Merrill Lynch, client associates, who help financial advisors with clients' investments, say they feel overworked and underpaid. Inside the discontent at the storied brokerage firm.
4. Not so easy. Even the biggest companies can now become targets of activist investors. But many activists say that the hurdles to mounting a successful campaign have gotten steeper. Read more about the new challenges facing shareholder activism.
5. Private credit has become a booming market. So it's no surprise that BlackRock would want to ramp up by buying a small specialist in the market. Since acquiring Tennenbaum Capital Partners in 2018, however, more than a dozen investment professionals at that firm have left, frustrated over strategy and pay. Inside the tensions at BlackRock's private credit business.
6. Who gains from the war on "woke capitalism." Republican state officials have withdrawn more than $2 billion from BlackRock, over the asset manager's embrace of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) considerations when investing. Among the money managers benefiting from these political moves are Bank of New York Mellon and Federated Hermes. Here's a look at what's going on beyond the rhetoric.
7. War for top talent. Quant funds, which like macro investors have enjoyed a good 2022, have been going to increasingly great lengths to stop employees from working for competitors. Read how firms like Citadel and Renaissance Technologies keep their key people.
8. The ultra-wealthy's money managers. Meet the 10 investment professionals who handle the fortunes of America's wealthiest, from Jeff Bezos to the Walton family.
9. Bet the ranch. A private-equity fund run by Beartooth Group has been buying up distressed ranches in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Why wealthy investors are putting millions of dollars into restoring ranchland.
10. Here comes the sun. Would you have guessed that Blackstone Group was behind the trendy sunscreen of last summer? The success of Supergoop, in which Blackstone holds a majority stake, points to other opportunities in household brands for the private-equity titan. More on Blackstone's consumer bet.
Curated by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane). Feedback or tips? Email ddefrancesco@insider.com, tweet @dandefrancesco, or connect on LinkedIn. Edited by Michelle Abrego (tweet @mabrego) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London. | 2022-12-28T13:19:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | Inside the Main Themes at Hedge Funds and Asset Managers | https://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-funds-wealth-asset-management-blackrock-blackstone-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-funds-wealth-asset-management-blackrock-blackstone-2022-12 |
How an Instagram influencer earned $1 million from brand deals in her first year as a full-time creator
Achieng Agutu is a full-time influencer born and raised in Kenya.
Achieng Agutu, 26, is an influencer with about 730,000 followers across platforms.
2022 was her first full calendar year working as a full-time influencer.
She broke down for Insider how much she earned in brand deals each month.
Two years ago, Achieng Agutu, a 26-year-old lifestyle and fashion influencer, had just graduated from business school with a master's degree in marketing.
While her recent Snapchat Memories have been flooded with "throwbacks" to the late nights Agutu spent eating ramen and drinking Red Bull "struggling to make it past exam week," her day-to-day now looks quite different, she told Insider.
"At that point, I could not think beyond my nose," Agutu said. "I definitely wanted to be full time in social media, but I did not think of the extent of how it could change my life and change the lives of the people around me."
Agutu started sharing more content throughout 2020 and at the start of 2021, had under 100,000 Instagram followers, according to SocialBlade data. Now, Agutu is wrapping up her first year as a full-time influencer with about about 488,000 Instagram followers, and 730,000 total followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
She's also earning seven figures.
Repped by Digital Brand Architects, a talent agency under the UTA umbrella, Agutu is closing 2022 with more than $1 million in revenue from brand deals on social media. Insider verified Agutu's earnings with documentation provided by DBA.
Agutu (right) sits alongside influencers Nicky Hilton, Camila Coelho, Leonie Hanne, and Chriselle Lim during February's New York Fashion Week.
"I thought the most I could make was probably $500,000," she said. "It's so surreal. I haven't had the time to process how far financially I've come."
How Agutu earned money during her first year as a full-time influencer
Agutu went full time as an influencer in 2021 and signed with DBA the same year, but 2022 was a year of experimentation as she adapted to her new career.
Transitioning to full-time influencer work meant restructuring her entire schedule, navigating how to maintain a sustainable cadence of content and paid sponsorships, and also figuring out what types of paid content worked best.
"People want to feel something, they want to be moved to do something," Agutu said. Paid content that felt like a scripted ad made her feel like a robot, she added, so instead, she focused on delivering branded content that fit into her daily lifestyle and voice.
She works closely with her team at DBA to plan partnerships that make sense for her own brand and revenue goals. Long-term partnerships are preferred over one-off deals, too, Agutu said. In addition to being more lucrative, these longer-term deals offer more for both her audience and the brand, she said.
Agutu has a longstanding partnership with skincare brand Ole Henriksen, and has worked with a variety of beauty, fashion, and other lifestyle brands — from Aerie to Vision Mobile to even Denny's diner — in 2022.
Here's a full breakdown for Agutu's earnings from brand deals in 2022:
Month (2022) Earnings from Brand Deals
February $110,500.00
May $212,848.53
June $127,250.00
October $8,000.00
December $77,500.00
Agutu is still waiting on about $76,000 from brand deals to be paid out, according to DBA. Outstanding checks are not uncommon in influencer marketing, however. Brands often have different payout schedules, some lasting as long as three months.
Planning ahead for 2023 — from scheduling time off to diversifying revenue streams
As an influencer, Agutu knows not to expect the same payout every single month like salaried workers. For instance, May was her highest earning month — exceeding $200,000 — which she credited to fashion week deals and Coachella.
On the other hand, October was a lower month — but for good reason. Agutu took the month off after she hit a "breaking point" and needed to take care of herself to avoid burnout (an issue many creators face).
Succeeding in the influencer industry often requires adapting.
Agutu, like many other influences, wants to go "beyond the digital space" and rely less on brand deals to pay the bills, she said.
Agutu attends an event sponsored by Ugg.
Craig Barritt/Getty Images for UGG
Heading into 2023, Agutu is eyeing ways to diversify her income as she continues to grow her audience and economic turbulence looms. Some options she is considering are expanding more on YouTube and YouTube Shorts, hosting more in-person events, and potentially collaborating with a brand to build something tangible like a product line of her own.
There will be a lot of "trial and error," Agutu acknowledged.
But before 2023 picks up speed, Agutu said she will be taking some time off. She will spend time with her family in Kenya to "connect with [her] roots" and spend time with herself in order to "get back to the energy" she had.
"I understand a little bit more of how to pace myself," she said.
Influencers Instagram TikTok | 2022-12-28T13:19:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | How an Instagram Influencer Made $1 Million From Brands in First Year | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-instagram-tiktok-influencer-earned-million-sponsorships-year-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-instagram-tiktok-influencer-earned-million-sponsorships-year-2022-12 |
The author in front of Erewhon (left), a photo of Erewhon's interior (right).
Erewhon is an LA-based luxury organic grocery store frequented by celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian.
Its shelves are stocked with unexpected pricey offerings, like camel milk and sea moss gel.
Armed with a limited budget, I attempted to buy my normal week's worth of groceries at Erewhon. See what it was like.
Ever since I made a cross-country move to Los Angeles in the fall, many friends and colleagues have asked me some variation of the same question: Have you visited Erewhon yet?
A street in Santa Monica, CA.
For the uninducted, Erewhon is not your traditional LA tourist attraction like the Hollywood sign or the Santa Monica Pier. It's a ritzy grocery store.
The New York Times called it "the unofficial hangout for the young, beautiful, and bored."
Erewhon was founded in 1966, but it has recently exploded in popularity. It reportedly even inspired the fictional grocery store "Anavrin," which was heavily featured in season 2 of the hit show "You."
"Come for the spring lettuce mix, and stay for the perfect life that could be yours if you just spend enough and quit gluten, you f---ing a--hole," says Joe, the show's main character.
Armed with new private equity funding, Erewhon has expanded from just 1 location to 8 grocery stores in Los Angeles in less than a decade.
In late 2019, Stripes, a private equity firm, took a minority stake in the store with sights on expansion.
Erewhon
The grocery chain says it sells "exceptional organic products" and focuses on healthy foods. "We believe that nutrition is the key to a radiant lifestyle," its website reads.
Fresh vegetables on display at Erewhon.
Erewhon has also gained the reputation of being one of the most expensive grocery stores in America, frequented by celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, and many others.
Ringo Starr and his wife Barbara Bach photographed shopping at Erewhon.
Photo by Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Armed with a budget of $100, roughly what my household spends on a week's groceries, I decided to partake in the Erewhon experience myself.
Photo of the author standing in front of Erewhon.
I visited Erewhon's location in West Hollywood – right down the street from the grocery chain's original location. At first glance, the store looked like a regular upscale grocery store, similar to Whole Foods.
Erewhon is "the Whole Foods for people who think Whole Foods is a dump," a columnist at the LA Times once wrote.
Upon closer inspection, I saw it was no ordinary grocery retailer. Many products were offered in reusable glass jars, and the snack aisle was filled with healthy options, like raw kale and $30 trail mix.
A snack aisle filled with various nut offerings.
Walking through the aisles, I saw products that were unfamiliar to me, like sea moss gel, which can apparently be consumed straight from the jar or added to meals…
A jar of Erewhon's sea moss gel retails for $39.99.
…and dairy products I wasn't used to seeing in traditional US grocery stores, like camel milk and raw kefir.
Camel milk is "the closest milk to human breast milk," according to Erewhon's in-store display.
After much time gawking at the products and puzzling over a $26 bottle of water, I started tackling my grocery list.
Ophora water is "nano-pure," "restructured," and "hyper-oxygenated."
For breakfast, I usually have cereal and non-dairy milk. I grabbed some oat milk and a cereal called "real corn flakes," which only had two ingredients: organic corn grits and sea salt.
The cereal was surprisingly tasty. I may come back to buy it again if I feel like spending a few extra bucks on breakfast.
My dreams for a homemade organic pizza were dashed when a store employee told me they didn't carry pizza crust or dough at the West Hollywood location, so I pivoted to tacos. One can of black beans was $5, which is significantly more than I normally spend.
A quick search told me a can of the same Eden-branded organic black beans is nearly $3 cheaper on FreshDirect.com.
It wasn't just the beans that were higher-priced than what I was accustomed to: most ingredients I purchased cost more than I'd normally spend, including $12 for "paleo" tortillas and $12 for plant-based taco meat.
I did feel healthier knowing I'd eat a dinner made from strictly organic ingredients, though it may be psychological.
Samatha Delouya
Next, I saw ricotta gnocchi pasta that caught my eye, so I picked up a box for dinner. However, I couldn't justify the price of some of the pasta sauce offerings, so I decided to use what I had at home.
A jar of pesto was $21. Tomato basil was $15.50.
After grabbing some additional groceries, including bananas, peanut butter, and eggs, I realized I had run through my $100 budget before barely making a dent in my list.
My half-full shopping cart at Erewhon.
I left Erewhon with a week's worth of breakfast, but I could only snag the ingredients for two dinners before going over budget.
My entire Erewhon purchase.
I found shopping at Erewhon to be more entertaining than the usual chore of a grocery store visit. While I don't think I'll attempt to buy a full week's worth of groceries at Erewhon again, I could see myself returning to the store for the occasional special treat.
$20 "raw" milk caught my attention as I walked down the aisles at Erewhon.
Samantha Deloiua
Some may poke fun at LA's obsessive health culture, but Erewhon seems to have a legion of loyal fans, and it's setting its sights on expansion: the grocery chain is reportedly looking to open a new store on the East Coast.
"We are looking at New York City; it's definitely on the plate," owner Tony Antoci told the LA Times last year.
Features Erewhon Grocery shopping | 2022-12-28T13:19:36Z | www.businessinsider.com | I Blew Through My Grocery Budget at Erewhon, but I'd Shop There Again | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-erewhon-grocery-store-shopping-expensive-health-foods-los-angeles-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-erewhon-grocery-store-shopping-expensive-health-foods-los-angeles-2022-12 |
Some occupations are looking safer than others in 2023.
The wave of recent layoffs, particularly in tech, has stoked fears of a possible recession in 2023.
A new Payscale report identified 20 jobs that appear well-positioned to weather a potential downturn, based on wage growth.
The list includes a mix of blue- and white-collar jobs, including some employees reporting pay up 30% from last year.
Mass layoffs have hit tech, and they've stoked fears of a broader recession.
However, some jobs look better-positioned to make it through a possible downtown, and a new report from Payscale reveals just which ones.
The salary comparison site identified the top 20 recession-proof jobs based on wage growth in 2022 compared to previous years. They've seen pay hikes of anywhere from 14% to 30% this year, according to employees' self-reported wages.
These roles, a mix of blue- and white-collar jobs, are considered recession-proof because labor shortages and increased competition are leading employers to drive up wages, Payscale says.
"Despite the possibility of an economic downturn, the labor market remains tight, forcing employers to pay top dollar to attract and retain talent for the most sought-after roles," said Lexi Clarke, VP of People at Payscale, in an accompanying press release.
Here are the jobs that would have the most job security in a recession, according to the report, along with their national median pay and salary growth:
Police, Fire, or Ambulance Dispatcher
Marketing & Business Development Director
Assembly Line Machine Operator
Bookkeeping, Accounting, or Auditing Clerk
Tanker Truck Driver
Graphic Design Manager
Diversity Manager
Education Coordinator
Director of Environmental Services
Estimator, Automobile Damage
PayScale Jobs Recession | 2022-12-28T13:19:42Z | www.businessinsider.com | Here Are the Top 20 'Recession-Proof' Jobs by Salary Growth: Payscale | https://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-20-recession-proof-jobs-by-salary-growth-payscale-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-20-recession-proof-jobs-by-salary-growth-payscale-2022-12 |
Ring Doorbell Camera
Doorbell cameras are changing the legal profession as their numbers surge, lawyers say.
Private eyes and process servers also note a proliferation of the devices in cities and suburbs.
They capture crooks, give alibis to the innocent, and catch cheating spouses in the act.
Manhattan divorce lawyer Suzanne Kimberly Bracker was not happy the other day, after a doorbell camera caught her client kissing the nanny right on the doorstep of his marital home.
"It was perfectly innocent!" Bracker insisted of the peck on the lips, footage of which is now forever preserved as part of the couple's divorce record.
On the same day, her process server was having no luck serving a divorce summons on a wife in Homestead, Florida.
"They know she's home, but she has a doorbell camera and never opens the door," Bracker told Insider recently. "Damn doorbell cameras!"
The easily-installed cameras are commonplace in America's cities and suburbs, say the lawyers, private eyes, and process servers now using the devices well beyond their already-documented ability to catch burglars, prowlers and porch pirates.
Prices are at all-time lows — Amazon recently offered the popular battery-powered Blink Video Doorbell for only $34.99 — so many more of the devices will soon be migrating out from under Christmas trees and onto to front doors.
As is also true for law enforcement, doorbell camera evidence can cut both ways for lawyers, exonerating or incriminating clients.
A doorbell camera recently swung a custody case Bracker's way by catching a client's kids letting themselves in and out of the house of the opposing spouse, who had claimed to be a "stay-at-home" parent but was never actually home.
While judges will frown on one spouse "spying" on the other with indoor cameras, "judges expect that you have a doorbell camera," said Bracker, who has practiced family law in New York City for 35 years.
"And clients are all wising up. They all want that footage, especially in family law litigation," she said. "They want to see if their best friend is coming to visit their spouse during the day."
With the explosion in Ring, Blink, Nest and other systems, "there are cameras in places that never had them before," said Herman Weisman, a private investigator whose company, Sage Intelligence Group, is based in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Miami.
"Accident reconstruction depends on doorbell video cameras. And I've used them for bigger cases — homicides, disappearances," the former NYPD detective said.
Acquiring footage from homeowners is typically easier than from building superintendents or business owners, he said. "A lot of times homeowners are happy to help out private investigators."
For another recent job, a hotel let Weisman set up a series Nest cameras so he could monitor an adjacent location. Otherwise, "I would have needed several human beings to sit there," he said.
Doorbell cameras provide footage that has high resolution and great depth of field while supplying a reliable timestamp, performing far better than traditional security cameras, he said.
On the flip side, they can also make surveillance more difficult.
"If you're doing a stake out on somebody that's evading, they can certainly monitor their door without coming outside or even being home," he said.
Doorbell camera footage can make or break personal injury or workman's comp cases, notes commercial litigator Steven Frankel, of the Manhattan and Boca Raton, Florida, firm Meltzer Lippe.
Frankel once used Ring doorbell footage to prove that a Long Island breach-of-contract defendant was not, as he'd been claiming, too sick to be deposed or testify at trial.
"We saw that he had the doorbell, and we demanded his recordings for the past 30 days," he said. The judge agreed, and the footage showed "he was going in and out, and he was jogging occasionally."
No matter their specialty — family law, criminal law, corporate law, and beyond — lawyers know they must move quickly to secure doorbell camera footage. Many personal-use cameras are cloud based, and images are stored for only 30 days.
"If you think the other side is going to have relevant evidence on their doorbell, you've got to demand those records right away," Frankel said, or demand that they be preserved.
He also agreed that doorbell cameras make it harder for process servers to hand-deliver important legal documents.
"Somebody can answer their Ring doorbell and be 1,000 miles away," and just speak remotely through the camera's speaker, Frankel said.
"The process server can't know if the person 'answering' the doorbell is actually there," he said.
"What if the person uses the doorbell to say, 'I'm on vacation in Hawaii?'" Maybe they are, or maybe they are actually still at home, hiding from your server, Frankel said.
But doorbell cameras don't impress Irving Botwinick, whose New York-based process serving agency, Serving by Irving, has specialized in "impossible" cases coast-to-coast and overseas for 40 years.
Doorbell cameras are just a slightly more complicated front door peep-hole, said Botwinick, who for decades has sent his process servers to crash weddings, show up at airports, or toss legal papers into open limousine windows.
"Sometimes we'll send a young lady with some flowers or balloons," to a target's workplace, he said.
"The secretaries all fall for it. They love it. Somebody walks in with balloons and candy or whatever. And we sing 'Happy Birthday,' or if it's not the birthday, we sing something to do with serving — 'It Had To Be You.'
"We sing a song, a little song," Botwinick said. "And then we serve them."
Divorce Lawyers Surveillance | 2022-12-28T15:12:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | Why Lawyers Love and Hate Doorbell Cameras | https://www.businessinsider.com/lawyers-doorbell-cameras-are-changing-legal-profession-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/lawyers-doorbell-cameras-are-changing-legal-profession-2022-12 |
US airports were flooded with unclaimed luggage after Southwest and other airlines scrapped flights.
The airports included LA International, Denver, Chicago O'Hare, and Sacramento Airport.
Airlines canceled flights after a massive winter storm hit the country this festive period.
The intense winter storm sweeping across the US led Southwest and other airlines to cancel thousands of flights, impacting many passengers — and their suitcases.
Southwest scrubbed nearly 2,700 flights on Tuesday, which accounted for 84% of all cancelations in the US that day, according to FlightAware. The chaos has left passengers' baggage mounting up at various airports.
LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Luggage was left on Tuesday in a cornered-off section at Southwest's baggage claim at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Meanwhile, Southwest's baggage service office at LA International Airport was flooded with bags and suitcases after mass cancellations.
Los Angeles International Airport.
The situation was similar at Denver International Airport, where passengers were trying to find their belongings in a mass of unclaimed luggage which accumulated in Southwest's baggage claim area.
Denver International Airport.
After Southwest canceled flights over the festive period, suitcases started to amass on Tuesday in the baggage claim area in Sacramento International Airport in California.
Sacramento International Airport.
AP Photo/Sophie Austin
Passengers at Chicago Midway International Airport searched for their luggage on Tuesday at Southwest's baggage claim after their flights were disrupted amid the storm.
Chicago Midway International Airport.
There were hundreds of passengers on Tuesday at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, waiting in line to resolve issues with Southwest about their luggage.
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images
A sea of suitcases was also seen around the carousels at San Francisco International Airport after airlines canceled thousands of flights.
San Francisco International Airport.
Piles of dropped luggage were left at United Airlines' Terminal One at Chicago O'Hare International Airport days before Christmas as the storm hit the country.
Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan described Monday's operational meltdown as "a tough day." A spokesperson for Southwest told Insider the airline will "make every attempt to reconnect customers with their baggage at no cost."
Southwest Airline's incoming CEO Robert Jordan
Features Trending UK transport | 2022-12-28T15:12:31Z | www.businessinsider.com | Luggage Piles up at Airports After Airlines Cancel Flights: PHOTOS | https://www.businessinsider.com/lost-luggage-piles-airports-winter-storm-disrupts-cancels-flights-photos-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/lost-luggage-piles-airports-winter-storm-disrupts-cancels-flights-photos-2022-12 |
Best for retirement planning
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Best for universal life
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Compare life insurance for seniors
Pick the best life insurance
Best 7 life insurance companies for seniors in 2023
Life insurance is best purchased early. Ironically, the need for life insurance grows with age. Many retirees start thinking seriously about life insurance to pay for funerals, leaving existing belongings, and taking care of their family after they're gone. But options shrink, and rates may rise exponentially with some life insurance providers. Nevertheless, depending on your life insurance goals, you may still have great options.
Acceptance gets harder as you age because a life insurance company looks at health conditions and other indicators you may not pay premiums for as long as it would like. This is why many life insurers get stricter as you age and eventually stop offering policies altogether. Others only provide small funeral expense policies. Our goal is to help readers with more limited options find a life insurance policy that makes sense.
Best for term life insurance: Mutual of Omaha
Best for retirement planning: New York Life
Best for end-of-life care: John Hancock
John Hancock Life Insurance
Accelerated death benefits available for policyholders with terminal illnesses
Term and permanent life insurance options available for seniors
Life insurance options for smokers who intend to quit
May not offer life insurance for applicants with diabetes, cancer history, etc.
Online quoting not available
Some policies not available in all 50 states
Best for buyers who need flexibility: USAA
Best for universal life: Prudential
Knowledgeable agents who can walk you through your options
Limited policy options for seniors and other groups who might struggle to find life insurance
Best for guaranteed issue: AIG
AIG Life Insurance
On AIG's website
Guaranteed life insurance available for seniors between 50 and 80
High financial strength and customer service ratings
Some policies only have benefits up to $25,000
AIG may not offer more extensive death benefits for seniors
Compare the best life insurance for seniors
JD Power's life insurance study continues to rank State Farm as the top life insurance provider for customer satisfaction. It gathers thousands of consumer reviews and gives each insurer a score out of 1,000. State Farm offers a range of insurance products, including auto, life, pet, homeowners, and renters, with multi-policy discounts and other incentives to keep your insurance there.
Some policies exclude seniors over age 65 from applying for the first time. But all life insurance policies are quoted by licensed insurance agents employed by State Farm. Meeting with a State Farm agent allows buyers to communicate goals and needs and answer critical questions agents might have. In addition, qualifying seniors can access limited whole, term, and universal life policies. State Farm is among the companies also offering survivorship universal options. Essentially, spouses can get insured together, and a surviving spouse can continue to make payments and increase the death benefit. Both spouses can also take out loans and other withdrawals against the policy once they meet the requirements.
K of Clewiston, FL, a verified reviewer on ConsumerAffairs, said, "State Farm is the best insurance company out there. They have great Life Insurance Policies to fit your needs…..Also, their prices are the most reasonable out there."
Mutual of Omaha remains one of the industry's most stable life insurance companies. Its size allows it to be more flexible in its underwriting for specific populations, including seniors. Regardless of your age, a licensed insurance agent can sort through your options and find one that makes sense.
However, its term life insurance policy stands out for seniors applying for the first time or younger buyers looking to renew term life policies. Term life insurance policies with Mutual of Omaha are renewable for qualifying applicants up to age 94. Of note, not all applicants will qualify to renew policies beyond any age, as approval is based on health history and other factors. Many life insurance policies also require a medical exam. However, Mutual of Omaha stands alone as it does not cut off term life buyers over 65.
One important thing to highlight is Mutual of Omaha's availability to resolve consumer issues, even when it's not the company's fault. For example, Roger of Eagle, AK, originally left a complaint on ConsumerAffairs, and the company promptly responded. He later updated his review, saying, "Thank You Mutual of Omaha! Physicians Mutual Dental has informed me of my mistake. You are a Fine Company serving the Life Insurance Needs of USA Citizens and Expats as well."
New York Life caters to a forward-thinking customer. It offers many robust investment options. So its agents are extensively trained to answer all questions about its policies. Questions could be as simple as what penalties you'll pay to take early withdrawals or loans from your life insurance policy.
Like other retirement planning vehicles, the earlier you start, the better. Premiums will be lower, and you can apply for a large payout. But if you can afford higher premiums at a later age, New York Life still offers comprehensive policies with loans and early withdrawal options to take you into retirement. Riders can also customize its coverage. For example, whole life customers can buy a living benefits rider to withdraw money in the event of a terminal illness. Buyers can also add an accidental death rider until age 70 for an extra death benefit for loved ones. This satisfies borrowers who want stability but like the idea of a higher payout should they die in their prime working years.
New York Life's knowledgeable agents are highlighted by William of Starks, Louisiana, on ConsumerAffairs, saying, "They are willing to help and pay without hassle. They make sure all your needs are met. They check with you often to make sure your policy is up to date. If at anytime there are questions that need addressing they are readily available to help."
Life insurance is traditionally thought of as a death benefit option. You pay into the policy for years, and your beneficiaries file a claim for a payout once you're gone. Some policies still work that way. John Hancock is among many life insurance companies offering an accelerated death benefit or "living benefits." Even if you don't want to use your life insurance for retirement planning, you have early withdrawal options to keep you comfortable in the event of a terminal illness. Buyers can exercise the rider at any age as long as waiting periods and other terms are met.
If you develop a qualifying condition, John Hancock will pay 50-100% of your qualifying death benefit while you're still alive. However, it caps accelerated death benefit claims at $1 million if you expect to live a year or less. This could help balance costly medical bills and end-of-life costs beyond what social security or disability payments would comfortably cover.
USAA life insurance policies are available to Americans from all walks of life, including military and non-military buyers. However, it offers unique whole life coverage to active duty military members beyond the government's equivalent of employer life insurance. USAA policies stick with the buyer wherever they work. With options for active duty military members, USAA is common among veterans with combat-related illnesses and disabilities sustained during deployment. Of course, buyers purchase these policies before the conditions become apparent.
USAA is among the limited life insurance providers still offering coverage with a history of cancer. Of course, not all buyers will qualify, and policy options are limited. Accounting for state laws, USAA life insurance policies may also pay out after a drug overdose (frequency may increase with more daily medications to treat age-related conditions) when other life insurance companies refuse. For seniors looking for a bit of flexibility, USAA could be an ideal option.
Prudential's PruLife SUL Protector offers survivorship options for life insurance shoppers. Unlike a standard life insurance policy, it covers two people. When one person passes, the policy continues growing as long as the surviving spouse continues making payments. The policy can increase to $65 million with a maximum age of 85. The two insureds cannot have an age gap of more than 25 years.
The PruLife SUL Protector program encompasses multiple categories such as the Preferred Best, Preferred Smoker, and Preferred Non-Tobacco. Universal policies with Prudential do allow loans. So both parties can pull money out of the policy via loans. It would simply reduce the final death benefit.
Guaranteed issue: two words many seniors and even younger applicants aren't used to hearing about life insurance. Seniors aged 50-80 enjoy guaranteed coverage with no medical exam, and the application is 100% online. In short, it means what it sounds like. AIG cannot deny your application if you fall within the set age limits.
Policies are small, maxing out at $25,000. So this would be appropriate for funeral expenses and/or a small death benefit for surviving family members.
Best life insurance companies for seniors ranked by customer satisfaction
JD Power conducts an annual study of life insurance based on reported customer satisfaction. Then it assigns companies a score out of 1,000, listing the top performers on its website. So if you're shopping for life insurance, the following companies are the ones JD Power readers had positive experiences with.
We act as both experts and buyers in insurance. A licensed insurance agent reviews new guides and reviews for accuracy to avoid common misnomers. We aim for readers to walk away with more knowledge about the type of insurance and companies that may provide better coverage and customer satisfaction. Life insurance is about the peace of mind of knowing your family can pay for retirement, funeral, and other costs based on the terms of the policy you buy.
Each life insurance company has underwriting guidelines to control risk and ensure financial stability. But as insurance guidelines evolve, companies can offer coverage to more diverse buyers. Therefore, our reviews are subject to change as life insurance companies change. While we are open to feedback from different companies, agents, underwriters, or providers do not dictate our opinions.
Our life insurance ratings are based on a few key factors. To ensure a fair and even playing field for insurance companies and customers, we look at customer satisfaction, financial stability, types of policies offered, average premiums, coverage exclusions, and more. We also factor in recent controversies and ways an insurance company may engage with and improve its community.
Factors such as customer satisfaction and average premiums are equally weighted. However, we are aware not all charitable efforts are recognized, and not all controversies are based on facts. So a company's engagement with its community and recent controversies are considered separately.
How to pick the best life insurance policy for seniors
Each person's experience with life insurance is unique. Preexisting conditions, desired death benefits, and other factors influence a customer's expectations. We review individual life insurance products and offer opinions, but we recommend getting three quotes on life insurance policies. Then compare your quotes side by side. A company can answer questions about its policies. But a quote allows you to compare pricing, death benefits, and more. You can also ask agents about accelerated benefits and if the company provides those automatically or as riders at an additional cost.
Once you've compared three companies on the same measures, you can make an informed decision. A life insurance agent can then guide you through the process. This includes warning you if you are at risk of being denied and may want to shop elsewhere.
Why is there an age limit on life insurance policies? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
Ultimately, any insurance is a calculation of risk. What are the chances a life insurance company will have to pay you more than it got through premiums and subsequent investments? As you age, an insurer's chances of a loss grow exponentially. As such, companies place stricter limits on coverage or don't cover seniors.
Traditional life insurance policies pay out death benefits to your beneficiaries. Beneficiaries could use payments to pay off old debt, pay for funerals, and set loved ones up financially. Life insurance is vital for people with young children and stay-at-home parents (it can cover lost income or services such as child care, cleaning, etc.). In addition, many buyers invest in life insurance for retirement. It's all about being financially prepared for the future.
How much life insurance should I buy for my needs? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
How much you need and how much you can get are important considerations. The coverage you're eligible for will change with age and based on other factors. Online calculators can give you a rough estimate. But a life insurance agent can run a customized quote on the amount of coverage you might need to achieve your financial goals.
How does term life work for senior buyers? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
Term life insurance is a temporary life insurance policy. It allows buyers to get more coverage with lower premiums. The risk is you get no benefit if you live beyond the policy's expiration. Accelerated death benefits are generally not included. However, term life insurance providers may offer riders for increased coverage for a term with a whole life base or offer accelerated death benefits in specific circumstances.
Insurance Life Insurance State Farm | 2022-12-28T15:12:37Z | www.businessinsider.com | Best Life Insurance Companies for Seniors in 2023 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-life-insurance-for-seniors | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-life-insurance-for-seniors |
Comprehensive ratings
Is there a perfect insurance company?
Insider's rating methodology for insurance
Insurance is always in the background of our lives, and it's easy to forget until we need it. Some insurance products, like auto, are required by the state. Others, such as pet and travel, are entirely optional. But a plan fitting your needs could save you thousands of dollars in an emergency with affordable monthly premiums.
Personal Finance Insider asks what it takes to balance cost and benefit. To assess insurance companies, we go beyond customer satisfaction and online reviews and delve deep into the coverage, customer service, company mantras, and other factors creating positive consumer experiences.
We rate all categories on a scale of 1-5. Things like customer service and monthly premiums may be more evident to the average consumer. But we consider other factors in our ratings to be just as crucial in finding insurance that performs when you need it most.
Each category gets unique ratings combined to get one average for each product. Some rating categories only apply to specific product types. However, we consider customer satisfaction and financial stability across the board. We also assign extra points when we find proof of ethical practices with no significant controversies or known misdeeds within the past five years.
Read on to see how we rate insurance products to give every reader the most objective ratings and comparisons.
Insurance is a game of risk with tradeoffs. Lower premiums could mean less employee training and fewer agents to support you when you file a claim or adjust your plan. It might also suggest lower death benefits and more restrictive underwriting. Coverage for a broader range of insured parties might lead to higher premiums and insurance agents who aren't familiar with the life insurance product you want. High customer service ratings could lead to lower financial stability if the company earns those ratings by giving customers whatever they want. Ultimately, lower financial stability could put you at risk of not getting your claims paid later, as the company could shut down.
We have reviewed a lot of excellent insurance companies striking a balance to serve customers better. These include both general providers and those offering specialty coverage. We evaluate all insurance types on a few fundamental bases.
Top factors we consider for insurance
Customer satisfaction:
JD Power releases annual insurance studies ranking the top companies in each insurance type by customer satisfaction. Each company has a score out of 1,000. We award five stars for a score of 800 and above and one star for under 200. If JD Power does not rate a company, we check alternative sites like ConsumerAffairs.
AM Best releases financial ratings based on balance sheets, credit ratings, and more. Highly rated companies will likely be around for the foreseeable future, which means paying your insurance claims now or in 20 years. Therefore, we assign companies five stars for A+ or A++ ratings. Companies with a rating of C or below are at significant risk of shutting down. So a C-rated company would receive one star.
State coverage
How many states is the insurance company licensed to do business in? The majority of insurance companies do business regionally. So one company might sell great auto and homeowners insurance in California, but five-star insurers are licensed to sell insurance products in all 50 states and Washington DC. Those available in fewer than five states receive one star.
Ethical companies look out for surrounding communities. This could mean going green, donating to charities, or sending employees out on company time to volunteer. We also check for scandals or misdeeds within the past five years. All these factors combine to create an ethics score that can enhance a product's total ratings.
Car insurance is required in most states. It's also one of several options to establish "financial responsibility" in states that don't technically require auto insurance. Of course, nobody would ever need auto insurance in an ideal world. But in reality, a good auto insurance plan makes policyholders whole after an accident while simultaneously protecting insured parties from liability should they cause an accident. Here are the rating factors we use specifically for car insurance.
Policy types (weighted 20%)
Many top-performing insurance companies also use restrictive underwriting. In this context, an auto insurance company may offer coverage solely to drivers with a clean driving record and minimal risk factors. Companies using restrictive underwriting and dropping insured drivers over one ticket or accident receive a one-star rating for policy types. Companies covering a more diverse range of drivers (foreign nationals, families with teen drivers, etc.) earn a five-star rating on this metric.
Average premiums (weighted 10%)
Which companies offer the lowest premiums for the same basic coverage? We're not looking for companies cutting coverage to give you an artificially low price. Instead, we compare quotes with comprehensive, collision, PIP, and liability coverages. The most affordable companies receive a five-star rating in this section. One star would mean the company charges more than the industry standard without something to justify the higher costs.
Claims paid (weighted 15%)
Modern car insurance companies typically offer online claims and policy management. Many nationwide carriers also have apps, phone support, and more. We use trusted online resources to compare average claims handling times between car insurance providers. High ratings go to companies offering web-based, mobile, and other resources with fast claims-processing times.
Standard exclusions (weighted 15%)
Every insurance company has to mitigate risk to stay in business. Our standard exclusions rating operates independently of affordability. So if a company covers drivers with a history of DUIs, but its premiums skyrocket, we still consider it as coverage offered. Five-star companies in this area offer coverage to a wide swath of age groups, families, driving histories, and more. One-star companies only cater to specific groups (i.e., military, teachers, medical workers, etc.).
Agents (weighted 10%)
Modern drivers continue to see innovations in technology across the board. The agents who help you with insurance are no different. Some customers prefer to go into an office or get on the phone with a live agent. Others prefer to get a quote online without talking to an insurance agent. We assign five-star ratings in this area to companies with options to purchase policies online or through broker agents who can run multiple quotes to find a good fit for the individual driver. Low ratings go to companies with no online quoting, only selling policies through agents who work specifically for the company.
Weightings for remaining car insurance categories
Beyond the criteria of customer satisfaction, financial stability, state coverage, and ethics that we apply to all types of insurance, here's how the car insurance-specific criteria are weighted in our ratings:
Policy types: 20%
Average premiums: 10%
Claims paid: 15%
Standard exclusions: 15%
Agents: 10%
One party purchases a traditional life insurance policy while another party eventually files a claim. Over the years, life insurance has evolved with options for multi-million dollar retirement vehicles and more. Unlike other types of insurance, if you wait too long, you could lose your chance to buy a life insurance policy. Life insurance premiums also rise every year you delay. Whatever your life insurance goals are, finding the right plan the first time is crucial. The additional factors we consider when rating life insurance products include the following:
Most people have heard of term and whole life insurance. We also look for universal life insurance, no medical exam policies, and more. Some providers now offer policies for HIV patients, people with a history of cancer, and other preexisting conditions as long as the applicants meet set requirements. Companies providing various products for diverse applicants get our five-star rating. Companies only offering term or no medical exam policies with limits under $25,000 get one star in this area.
Holding all factors equal, we compare premiums between life insurance companies. More affordable companies receive a five-star rating. Companies with higher premiums only selling plans with more features fall in the middle. Our one-star rating is used for companies only offering life insurance plans with low benefits and high monthly premiums for the expected benefit.
Waiting periods (weighted 10%)
Many life insurance companies institute a waiting period for the payment of benefits. If you buy a $1 million life insurance policy and die within the first year, an insurer may only pay part of $1 million. Instead, it might repay the premiums you already paid. Some companies add an extra 10-20% in returns. We've seen companies waive waiting periods on some plans. Some life insurers use multi-year waiting periods. Higher ratings go to companies with fewer barriers to policy usage.
Life insurance customers may be familiar with the concept of preexisting conditions that would keep them from getting coverage. However, recent medical innovations have made conditions like HIV more manageable (and, by extension, less deadly) than ever before. As a result, most life insurers will take the conservative road in these matters. So our highest ratings in this arena go to life insurance companies ready to make the leap and offer coverage for previously high-risk groups, including seniors.
Agent training (weighted 15%)
The life insurance industry has an ongoing stream of new agents trying to sell as many policies as possible. An untrained life insurance agent might think they're doing a buyer a favor by recommending lower monthly premiums with any term policy, even unknowingly dispensing inaccurate information about how term policies work. A top-ranking life insurance company in this area sends all agents through an extensive training process to understand its policies front and back. High-ranking companies have agents who can make helpful recommendations and answer any buyers' questions.
Weightings for remaining life insurance categories
Beyond the criteria of customer satisfaction, financial stability, state coverage, and ethics that we apply to all types of insurance, here's how the life insurance-specific criteria are weighted in our ratings:
Waiting periods: 10%
Agent training: 15%
Homeowners insurance protects homeowners in obvious areas (personal property and the home's structure). It also offers liability protection if someone gets hurt on your property or hotel costs should you be displaced from your home for a short period. Choosing your homeowners insurance policy carefully up front could mean avoiding long waiting times, denied claims, and other complications later on. The additional factors we consider when rating homeowners insurance products include:
Homeowners insurance companies offer products for single-family residences, condos, homes under construction, and more. In some states, most homeowners policies exclude hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc. As a result, mortgage companies may require homeowners to buy separate policies to fill those gaps.
You might expect large national companies like GEICO, Progressive, and Allstate to offer lower rates. However, you might be surprised how low rates can be with a smaller state-specific provider for homes in good shape with no history of claims or other issues. We consider average premiums for all covered populations. A homeowners insurance company with five stars will provide low rates based on the coverage offered. One-star insurance companies charge more without justification (such as covering high-risk areas like beachfront properties and certain lava zones).
Our five-star ratings go to homeowners insurance companies with various claims options. Insured parties can file claims online, with an insurance agent, or over the phone. According to customer reviews, claims are processed quickly, and the BBB has minimal complaints about claims. One star goes to companies with extreme complaints about unpaid claims.
Each insurance company takes on certain risks balanced against its premiums and profits. While no homeowners insurance company can cover everything, many companies partner with other insurers. For example, the primary insurer may provide homeowners insurance while quoting hurricane or earthquake coverage with a trusted partner. We're looking for providers that make insurance shopping as simple as possible for consumers.
The top homeowners insurance companies in this category offer quoting online, through licensed insurance agents, and over the phone. We look for companies that come to potential customers. The personalized option of an insurance agent coupled with online and other options is essential for a premium insurer.
Weightings for remaining homeowners insurance categories
Beyond the criteria of customer satisfaction, financial stability, state coverage, and ethics that we apply to all types of insurance, here's how the homeowners insurance-specific criteria are weighted in our ratings:
Renters insurance offers considerable value for your money, but many renters know they need it. Expressly, these renters assume homeowners insurance will cover their claims too. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. A homeowners policy covers the building, personal property, liability, and other demands of the homeowner. If the owner has renters, renters insurance provides the same coverages besides the building if losses are associated with the renter. The additional factors we consider when rating renters insurance products include:
Renters insurance works differently than other insurance types. Premiums are generally around $200 annually. However, pricing can vary for specific riders to enhance coverage. For example, if you rent in a particular apartment building, the management may require you to buy renters insurance. Some of these apartments have contracts with renters insurance providers for lower rates. But renters need to live in specific buildings to qualify.
Renters insurance can cover personal belongings, as you might expect. It also covers the cost of your hotel room if you're temporarily displaced due to flood, fire, etc. While claims are generally small, premiums paid are small. So a financially unstable insurer may be slow to pay claims. We look for companies processing and paying claims efficiently. Frequent denials or underpayments reported by customers would constitute a one-star rating for claims paid.
The most common way to buy renters insurance is online. Many renters run a quote through their auto insurance company and enjoy multi-policy discounts. Our five-star ratings in this area go to companies offering online, agent, and other options tailored to diverse buyers.
Weightings for remaining renters insurance categories
Beyond the criteria of customer satisfaction, financial stability, state coverage, and ethics that we apply to all types of insurance, here's how the renters insurance-specific criteria are weighted in our ratings:
Travel insurance can save you a lot of headaches whether you travel once a year or every chance you get. A strong policy will cover lost baggage, plane tickets, and more. One of the critical things to understand about travel insurance is the timing and reason behind your claim matter. This is why many companies offer a CFAR (cancel for any reason) rider to make the lines a little more flexible. When rating travel insurance companies, we consider the following in addition to our previously mentioned criteria for insurance in general:
Policy types
Airlines offer limited travel insurance to cover the cost of your ticket if you have to cancel unexpectedly. When you buy your travel insurance from specialized companies, medical coverage, lost luggage, rental car protection, and many other coverages may be available. We assign higher ratings to companies offering domestic and international coverage, additional coverage for pets traveling with you, roadside service, etc.
Average premiums
Premiums vary based on coverage, travel destination, and policy type. We use a combination of customer reviews and company quotes to see how competitors stack up. If a company offers the same coverage with lower premiums, it gets a higher rating.
Claims paid
One of the biggest problems travel insurance customers encounter is the claims process. If it's long and drawn out or the company fails to pay, it creates a negative experience. Unfortunately, these experiences can be missed in the sea of reviews saying, "I never had to use my travel insurance, but the peace of mind was great." High ratings mean we identified a company that pays its claims promptly.
Weightings for remaining travel insurance categories:
Beyond the criteria of customer satisfaction, financial stability, state coverage, and ethics that we apply to all types of insurance, here's how the travel insurance-specific criteria are weighted in our ratings:
Pet insurance is among the cheapest insurance products with restrictions on preexisting conditions. But a good pet insurance policy could save a pet owner thousands of dollars in an emergency. In addition, it could save a beloved pet's life by making medical care financially accessible. Some companies only offer pet insurance, while others are part of a larger company like Nationwide. Many pet insurance agents and companies describe it as a labor of love. We use the factors below to help pet parents find pet insurance meeting their needs.
Pet insurance is similar to human health insurance in that you have options. You can lower your monthly premiums if you want basic accident coverage, but policies will not cover many severe illnesses. Even seemingly normal conditions can get expensive quickly. We look for pet insurance providers with accident-only, comprehensive accident and illness policies, and wellness riders to balance out pet health costs. Companies with one star in this area only offer wellness or accident-only coverage.
Pet insurance premiums can be as low as $10 monthly with discount pet insurance companies. These are typically accident-only plans to cover auto accidents, falls, etc. We factor in both price and what you're buying. For example, a company with comprehensive pet insurance plans for a 3-year-old dog with no preexisting conditions with a $30-$50 monthly premium will score higher than a company charging $30-$50 for an accident-only plan for the same dog.
Excellent pet insurance companies offer online and app-based claims processes. If you need help, you can also call a toll-free hotline to file claims over the phone. In addition, some pet insurance companies streamline the process by guiding you through a step-by-step process to ensure you submit itemized invoices for payment in as little as 1-2 business days. Pet insurance companies honoring claims quickly and in line with the policies sold earn five stars.
The average pet parent may see exclusions for preexisting conditions and assume a universal definition. In practice, every pet insurance company has a different explanation. Some companies separate "curable" and "noncurable" conditions. If your pet is asymptomatic for 12 months with a "curable" illness, you may qualify for coverage for that condition. Others exclude known conditions for the entirety of your pet's life. We also factor in any waiting periods on coverage for joint conditions, hereditary conditions, etc.
Age exclusions
Some companies only offer coverage once a pet reaches a certain age (generally eight weeks for cats and dogs). Age limits for senior pets are more common. Some companies stop accepting pets altogether at a certain age. Others take senior pets but with no coverage for joint, hereditary, or other specific conditions. Pet insurance providers with five stars in this area accept pets of all ages without additional restrictions.
Weightings for remaining pet insurance categories
Beyond the criteria of customer satisfaction, financial stability, state coverage, and ethics that we apply to all types of insurance, here's how the pet insurance-specific criteria are weighted in our ratings:
Pre-existing conditions: 15%
Age exclusions: 10%
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Insurance Car Insurance Auto Insurance | 2022-12-28T15:12:43Z | www.businessinsider.com | How We Rate Insurance Products | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/insurance-rating-methodology | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/insurance-rating-methodology |
Brandy Melville owners to pay $1.5 million settlement to thousands of employees over claims they worked 'off the clock' and without breaks
Nearly 4,000 former Brandy Melville employees are receiving settlement checks following a California lawsuit.
Brandy Melville's owners will pay $1.5 million to settle ex-workers' claims of labor law violations.
Nearly 4,000 former California employees will receive payouts of roughly $200 each.
In 2021, Brandy Melville employees described racism, Hitler memes, and exploitation to Insider.
Thousands of former employees of controversial fast-fashion retailer Brandy Melville are receiving checks in the mail this holiday season.
In November, the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles issued its final judgement in a class-action lawsuit filed by former Brandy Melville employees in 2016. The companies that own Brandy Melville stores in California — including Bastiat USA, Inc., which controls the brand nationally — agreed to pay $1.45 million to settle ex-workers' claims the retailer violated California labor laws.
The former Brandy Melville workers who filed the lawsuit said employees were forced to work "off the clock," as well as through meals and without overtime. While California employers are required to provide a 10-minute break for every four hours of work, plaintiffs said Brandy Melville failed to do so.
Eighteen of Brandy Melville's 41 US stores are located in California, according to the brand's website. Stephan Marsan, CEO of Bastiat USA, founded the chain in Italy in the '90s and opened its first American store in Westwood, California in 2009. Since then, the fast-fashion brand has gained a cult following among teen and pre-teen girls, despite (or perhaps because of) its "one-size-fits-most" model.
Brandy Melville's owners denied all wrongdoing in court documents. Representatives and lawyers for the business did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
The lawsuit's 3,943-person settlement class is made up of hourly non-exempt employees who worked at Brandy Melville (or companies related to the brand) between October 12, 2012 and July 4, 2021. The settlement class will receive a net $805,000, with the rest of the $1.45 million going towards attorney's fees and other costs.
Ex-employees are set to receive about $204 each, the plaintiffs' lawyer said in a filing, with the exact amount determined by how many shifts they worked. Some started to receive checks in December.
'I'm surprised that Brandy Melville hasn't closed down'
For some former employees, reports of labor law violations are unsurprising. Alec, who worked at Brandy Melville from 2013 to 2014, received a settlement check for $162 in late December. He told Insider he "100%" saw violations during his time at Brandy Melville, with upper management "not hiring or straight-up firing employees based on looks." (Alec and another former Brandy Melville employee who spoke with Insider asked to be referred to by their first names to speak frankly without fear of repercussions. Both of their identities are known to Insider, and Alec sent a photo of his settlement check.)
Brandy Melville has faced scrutiny for its hiring practices, with employees saying executives pushed to hire thin, young, white teenagers.
Courtesy of Weathered Signs
In 2021, 32 current and former Brandy Melville employees told Insider that appearance was a crucial factor in hiring and firing at the brand. They said that executives, including Marsan, saw photos of all potential employees; once hired, employees are required to send photos of themselves to higher-ups every day. Marsan and other executives even had a perch at the New York City flagship where they could watch shoppers, according to an employee who quit in 2020. If they saw a shopper who met their criteria — typically blonde, thin, and white — they pushed a button, setting off a light that prompted the cashier to ask for the shopper's photo and contact information so she could be recruited.
Emily, who worked at a California Brandy Melville store from 2019 to 2021 but has not yet received a settlement check, told Insider she was uncomfortable sending photos of her "chest, body, and feet" to management on a daily basis. She also said she saw direct violations of the labor laws mentioned in the lawsuit.
According to Emily, management coerced employees to work through breaks and lied about how many breaks employees were entitled to by law. In a screenshot of a Brandy Melville Slack channel provided to Insider, a manager told Emily she could only take one 10-minute break per seven-hour shift; in reality, California law requires two 10-minute breaks for shifts over six hours.
Both Emily and Alec said working at Brandy Melville turned them against the brand. Alec said he "wouldn't advise people to shop there if it's still under the same ownership."
Marsan and other Brandy Melville executives faced scrutiny after Insider published its investigation into the brand last year. The investigation uncovered a group text where Marsan and other higher-ups exchanged dozens of bigoted jokes, including frequent Holocaust references and memes featuring the N-word. Employees said racist hiring and firing practices were the norm. Executives crossed professional boundaries, according to former employees, with one saying she was sexually assaulted by an Italian store owner.
Despite all of this, Marsan remains CEO. Brandy Melville did not offer any comment, publicly or to Insider, in response to allegations. Over the last year, Brandy Melville has opened a number of new locations, including its second store in Australia.
"I'm surprised that Brandy Melville hasn't closed down or had more people boycott them," Emily said. The settlement, as least, indicates that "something is finally being done."
Retail Brandy Melville | 2022-12-28T15:24:58Z | www.businessinsider.com | Brandy Melville Pays $1.5 Million Settlement in Class-Action Lawsuit | https://www.businessinsider.com/brandy-melville-15-million-settlement-class-action-lawsuit-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/brandy-melville-15-million-settlement-class-action-lawsuit-2022-12 |
A top digital health investor predicts that a big tech company like Amazon or Salesforce will buy a mountain of patient health records in 2023
Missy Krasner, a venture chair at Redesign Health.
Missy Krasner
Insider asked investor Missy Krasner about the future of digital health in 2023.
She said that next year, a tech giant will buy an electronic medical records company.
The move would supercharge efforts to make predictive analytics commonplace in healthcare.
Missy Krasner, who oversaw several health efforts at Google and Amazon, predicts that a large technology firm will buy a mountain of patient medical records in 2023.
Krasner, who's now a venture chair at Redesign Health, said specifically Amazon, Salesforce, or Alphabet would make viable candidates for acquiring an electronic health record (EHR) company. EHR companies provide software that doctors use to store and analyze medical records and other kinds of patient data.
Having access to the breadth and depth of medical data contained in patient records would allow tech firms to make scientific discoveries that could change healthcare for the better, Krasner said.
"I think it just opens up a huge, huge opportunity for healthcare to just work better," she said.
Big Tech wants more health data to train AIs
Big health records companies such as Epic and Cerner have started to train algorithms to predict bad health outcomes before they happen, such as adverse drug events and hospital infections, based on data contained in patient records.
But on the whole they don't have the search and AI power of the large technology giants. They're working in a more traditional framework, using humans, analytics, and algorithms, rather than training machines to learn data and do massive calculations, Krasner said.
That's why they often tap tech firms to collaborate on certain projects, she added. Epic and Cerner have long partnered with the cloud units at Microsoft and Amazon, for example.
At the same time, the technology giants don't possess the health data they need — data that spans years of patients' lives — to do the deep predictive work they want to do, Krasner said.
Training machines to study large quantities of data could unleash insights into human health, such as ways to make more effective drugs or intervene before bad things happen to patients on a larger scale, she said.
"When you buy a ton of EHR data, you finally get longitudinal records on people where you can do a lot better predicting," Krasner said.
The timing is right for big tech to make a play for patient data
The timing may be right for a big tech company to buy its way into owning patient data.
In 2019, Google was heavily scrutinized for its work with the health system Ascension, based on fears that it would use patient data to fuel its search business and compromise patients' medical privacy.
But now big tech and healthcare increasingly go hand-in-hand, especially when it comes to cloud work, wherein tech firms charge providers to migrate their data to the cloud. Especially over the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare providers leaned on the likes of Google to get systems up and running for telehealth, triage bots, supply management, and more, all of which depended on cloud infrastructure.
Tech companies have made seismic investments in this area.
In March, Microsoft closed its $16 billion acquisition of Nuance Communications, which makes popular doctor tools, to supercharge its cloud business in healthcare. In June, Oracle, the software company, bought Cerner, the second-largest medical records-maker, at $28 billion, for the same reason.
For the part of EHR companies, they're vulnerable to getting acquired right now because many of them are public, so they could become easy targets based on how the market performs, per Krasner.
Cerner's stock was stagnant for years before finally getting bought out by Oracle.
Providers in the US have largely already switched to electronic records from paper, meaning pretty much all medical records companies, from private Epic to public Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, are trying to find new ways to grow despite fewer new customers, Krasner said.
Epic has been growing "horizontally" by making products specific to certain areas of care such as radiology or nursing, whereas Cerner has expanded to international markets, she added.
"I do feel like that's a really vulnerable sector that just has had a really hard time maintaining their innovation edge," Krasner said.
Healthcare Digital Health Startups | 2022-12-28T17:00:59Z | www.businessinsider.com | A VC Predicts That Big Tech Will Buy a Health Records Company in 2023 | https://www.businessinsider.com/missy-krasner-big-tech-amazon-alphabet-buy-medical-records-prediction-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/missy-krasner-big-tech-amazon-alphabet-buy-medical-records-prediction-2022-12 |
Company union VP Captain Mike Santoro told Insider that pilots are booking their own hotel rooms.
He explained clogged phone lines are to blame for the lack of accommodations, but pilots will be reimbursed.
Southwest Airlines passengers aren't the only people fighting for hotels.
A snowballing operational meltdown has forced the airline to cancel thousands of flights on Monday and Tuesday, according to FlightAware data, blaming the winter storm and "scheduling issues" on the chaos.
Captain Mike Santoro, vice president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), told Insider the union is encouraging its pilots to book their own accommodations during the meltdown and some pilots have had to do that.
Santoro explained that when a pilot does not have a room and they are not in their base, they are instructed to call a specific number to request a hotel. However, because the line is so backed up, there is no way to get through to anyone. On a normal day, the wait times would be significantly lower.
"What we've told our pilots is after 30 minutes on hold, they should absolutely get their own room and expense it back to the company," Santoro explained.
He told Insider that the decision to tell crew members to book their own accommodations comes down to safety.
"Safety is a Southwest number one, so they are not going to argue against getting a pilot rested to do their duties the next day," Santoro said. "They [Southwest] never object to a pilot getting their own room and expensing it, so I will take their side on that one."
Flight attendants are also being left without hotel rooms, with the union, TWU Local 556, telling CNBC that some crew members were forced to sleep in airports because they couldn't get accommodations.
"Employees, like customers, may submit receipts for reimbursement consideration," a Southwest representative told Insider.
In a previous statement, Southwest said it would "work to make things right for those we've let down, including our employees."
Despite the ongoing problems, Southwest is trying to make things better for both its customers and employees, saying it is addressing the disruption "by rebalancing the airline and repositioning crews and our fleet ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel with us."
"This safety-first work is intentional, ongoing, and necessary to return to normal reliability, one that minimizes last-minute inconveniences," the carrier said in a statement. "As we continue the work to recover our operation, we have made the decision to continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one-third of our schedule for the next several days."
Customers impacted can contact Southwest to rebook or request a refund, and take advantage of the carrier's current flexibility policy.
Southwest Airlines Airlines Aviation | 2022-12-28T17:01:12Z | www.businessinsider.com | Southwest Pilots Told to Book Their Own Hotel Rooms During Meltdown | https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-pilots-book-own-hotel-rooms-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-pilots-book-own-hotel-rooms-2022-12 |
The ski resort Courchevel in Haute-Savoie, France.
Gunter Fischer/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
A Ukrainian oligarch was arrested in a French ski resort, Ukrainian law enforcement said Wednesday.
Officials said Konstantin Zhevago was detained in Courchevel, a famed Alpine ski destination.
Ukraine said his property, including millions of dollars in shares, were seized.
A Ukrainian oligarch was arrested at an elite French ski resort, Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) said.
French law enforcement detained Konstantin Zhevago in a hotel in the famed alpine ski resort of Courchevel on Tuesday, the agency said in a statement.
An DBR spokesperson said French police made the arrest after Ukraine asked for it, Interfax reported.
Zhevago is a former Ukrainian MP and used to have a major stake in the liquidated Finance & Credit Bank in Ukraine.
A press release announcing his arrested cited a slew of anti-financial crimes including embezzlement and money laundering.
The DBR said in July 2021 that Zhevago had been put on a international wanted list on suspicion of embezzlement and money-laundering after $113 million disappeared from Finance & Credit Bank, Reuters reported.
The agency said that a vast swathe of Zhevago's assets had been seized, including shares worth of millions of dollars and dozens of properties.
News UK Ukraine France | 2022-12-28T17:01:30Z | www.businessinsider.com | Ukraine Oligarch Zhevago Arrested in French Ski Resort: Officials | https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-says-oligarch-arrested-france-ski-resort-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-says-oligarch-arrested-france-ski-resort-2022-12 |
Best for preexisting conditions
Best for guaranteed coverage
Best for term life
Best for whole life
Best for customized coverage
Best for military and veterans
Best for foreign nationals
Compare the best life insurance
How to pick the best life insurance
Best 8 cheap life insurance companies in 2023
Life insurance offers a great way to care for your family's short-term needs once you're gone. In the right circumstances, it can also be a retirement tool and build generational wealth for your descendants. Whatever your goals, applying for a new policy in your 20s gives you a greater chance of being accepted and more affordable premiums. But we've identified cheap life insurance for buyers of all ages.
Best for preexisting conditions: Guardian Life
Site pushes buyers towards term policies first
Best for guaranteed coverage: Ethos
Ethos Life
100% online application process, quotes in minutes
Coverage starts immediately once approved
Term policies renewable up to age 94 for qualifying applicants
No conversion options to turn term policies to whole life for no exam policies
Whole life policy limits are lower
Best for term life: Haven Life
High coverage limits
Policies are available without a medical exam
Some plans offer digital health and wellness apps
Policies are underwritten by MassMutual
No whole life plans currently available
Plans are only available to applicants 64 and under
Best for whole life: New York Life
Best for customized coverage: Northwestern Mutual
Best for foreign nationals: Transamerica
Transamerica Life Insurance
Wide range of life insurance products including term, universal, foreign nationals, and more
Policies available for foreign nationals
Can only be quoted and sold by licensed Transamerica life insurance agents
Life insurance not available for certain high-risk clients
Compare the best cheap life insurance companies
In 2020's JD Power US Life Insurance Study, State Farm took its top spot back from Northwestern Mutual and has remained there ever since. State Farm agents are well versed in its auto, home, life, and other insurance products, quoting with all applicable discounts, claims management, and more. State Farm sells several types of whole life policies ranging from a single premium option (for immediate protection) to a whole life policy with fixed payments. Adults between 50 and 80 may also qualify for a final expense policy with a $10,000 death benefit.
State Farm life insurance operates in all states except Massachusetts, New York, and Wisconsin. State Farm Life and Accident Assurance Company offers similar life insurance policies in New York and Wisconsin.
Guardian Life offers easy online quotes in minutes with no insurance agent required. In addition, the company offers term policies as short as 10 years and as long as 30 years. It also provides whole, universal, and other life insurance products.
What sets Guardian Life apart from other life insurance companies is its unique HIV life insurance. Of course, conditions apply, such as a two-year history of antiretroviral therapy, no AIDS-defining illnesses, and an undetectable HIV viral load. The HIV plan is just one of the innovative life insurance products offered by a select few life insurance providers, including Guardian Life.
Ethos is known for its efforts to work with difficult-to-insure populations. The company offers easy online quotes and term and permanent life insurance options. It also has guaranteed issue policies, meaning guaranteed acceptance if you fall between predefined age limits. At this time, all guaranteed issue policies with Ethos are whole life policies. While some companies may offer no medical exam term life insurance, issuance requires underwriter review.
Ethos' guaranteed coverage plans can offer death benefits up to $25,000 for applicants between 65 and 85. Guaranteed plans primarily cover funerals and other final expenses. If you're seeking a higher death benefit, Ethos offers whole, term, and no medical exam policies. Its monthly premiums start at just $7 per month, but interested customers should get a quote on their preferred life insurance plan to nail down exact premiums.
Haven Life offers coverage ranging from $25,000 to $3 million for qualified applicants. Many plans don't require a medical exam, and term policies are available with terms of 5 to 30 years. Haven Term and Haven Simple can both be purchased online, the difference being Haven Simple requires no medical exam.
One thing sets Haven Life apart from other insurance companies selling term policies. Haven Life customers can add an accelerated death benefit rider to term policies. While the policy would eventually expire, policyholders can withdraw 75% of the total death benefit or $250,000 when they need it most.
The term life insurance market is full of stories of buyers unable to convert term policies before death. Policies expire before they die, leaving loved ones with six-figure medical debts and no death benefit. Haven Life offers a happy medium to protect you in the worst-case scenario.
New York Life specializes in multi-million dollar investment policies great for retirement planning with term, whole, and universal life insurance options. However, it does not provide online quotes. In addition, New York Life insurance agents complete extensive training to answer all questions about its policies and help buyers identify the right policy. New York Life agents can add riders to customize plans to meet your needs. Even with some of its smaller policies, policyholders may earn dividends.
New York Life customers can also withdraw money from life insurance policies through loans or accelerated death benefits.
Northwestern Mutual temporarily unseated State Farm as the top life insurance company in customer satisfaction. While it may not top JD Power's rankings, the company continues to offer easy quoting, strong customer service, and a streamlined process overall. Northwestern Mutual also allows buyers to utilize diverse riders to customize plans to meet their needs.
Adding a rider to protect your life insurance benefits if you're sick and can't make payments is just one of the affordable life insurance riders offered by Northwestern Mutual. Working with a qualified life insurance agent is the best way to ensure you can customize your plan to meet your needs.
USAA has become synonymous with financial services for veterans. USAA life insurance is available to buyers with no connection to the military. What makes it unique is its life insurance policies are open to active-duty military members. Outside of SGLI (servicemember's group life insurance), many life insurance companies restrict coverage for military members in specific ways. SGLI may be generous while you're involved with the military. But once you separate, the coverage would no longer be available.
USAA offers whole life insurance policies with expedited coverage for deployed soldiers. It also provides severe injury benefits and coverage for wartime. One key selling point for veterans is USAA guarantees SGLI replacement when separating from the military.
Transamerica offers life insurance limits of up to $10 million with many universal life insurance policies and other permanent options. Visa holders can also buy plans with Transamerica. When evaluating your risk class, some restrictions may apply depending on the country of origin.
Transamerica has decades of history in the life insurance market. It also reports faster underwriting and processing times than its competitors. If you're interested in life insurance with Transamerica, we recommend contacting an agent. It offers limited quotes online, but many of the best policies are only sold through licensed insurance agents.
Best cheap life insurance companies ranked by customer satisfaction
Every year, JD Power releases a new life insurance study. It ranks the top life insurance providers based on customer satisfaction. Below, you can find the most recent leaders in life insurance.
Life insurance is a complicated product, and customization is key. Health and age qualifications are a small part of the picture. Price remains a significant factor for many buyers of all ages, ultimately dictating what life insurance products we can buy. We are insurance customers with personal experience with different companies. So we know how exciting, frustrating, and tedious shopping for the right insurance policy can be.
Our opinions are not influenced or dictated by the insurer or its agents. Instead, we use online and other resources to compare life insurance products, restrictions, pricing, and more. A licensed insurance agent then reviews insurance articles to check for accuracy.
We look beyond the obvious factors like online quote calculators and affordable pricing to see what life insurance companies offer. As a result, our ratings for life insurance products reflect aspects including:
Customer satisfaction (as rated by JD Power)
Financial stability (as rated by AM Best)
Policy types offered
Average monthly premiums/affordability
Waiting periods required for complete life insurance benefits
Exclusions that would prevent you from getting life insurance with the company being reviewed
What you can expect from life insurance agents who quote a company's policies
How available are a company's life insurance products? (is it licensed to sell life insurance in all 50 states and Washington, DC?)
How ethical company practices are measured by recent controversies, charitable activities or donations, etc.
How to pick the best cheap life insurance policy for you
We recommend starting with online research if you want a life insurance plan. You can get quotes online if you want a plan to cover funerals and other limited costs. But first, decide what you want your life insurance plan to do, how much you can afford to spend each month, etc.
Next, we recommend talking to at least one licensed insurance agent. Some of the best life insurance products can only be quoted or sold through a licensed insurance agent. Ask questions about the things you don't understand. Let an agent help you calculate the ideal benefit for your needs. Ask which riders customers add to the policies you're looking at, and compare three life insurance quotes.
Should I buy term or permanent life insurance for the best results? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
Each buyer should carefully evaluate their life insurance needs. Term life insurance is often presented as a cheap way to get more coverage. The problem is it does expire after a set term, and there are no guarantees it can be converted to a whole life policy or renewed. Some insurance companies offer riders to boost your permanent coverage during your prime working years or offer accelerated death benefit riders with term policies. We recommend discussing your options with a licensed insurance agent.
There's no single answer to this question. Some people only want coverage for funerals and other limited costs. Others intend to use life insurance for a comfortable retirement. A licensed insurance agent can help you customize a life insurance product to meet your needs.
Should I buy a no medical exam life insurance policy? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
Despite common misnomers, no medical exam policies are generally given to young, healthy buyers. A life insurance company offering no medical exam life insurance has to mitigate its risk. So it will use other measures such as age, specific answers on health questionnaires, and known health history to substitute for medical exams. If you can't get approved for a no medical exam life insurance policy, a life insurance agent can quote a life insurance policy with a medical exam.
Is life insurance worth it? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
Cheap life insurance could cost as little as $7 per month with some companies. Of course, the payout is proportional to the amount you pay. With proper planning, life insurance can be an invaluable asset.
Insurance Life Insurance cheap life insurance | 2022-12-28T18:45:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Best Cheap Life Insurance Companies | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-cheap-life-insurance | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-cheap-life-insurance |
Some Southwest ground workers developed frostbite and worked 16-hour shifts amid the airline's holiday meltdown, union says
Hannah Towey and Taylor Rains
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 at a gate in Austin, Texas
Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights this week amid extreme winter weather.
Many ground workers were forced to work 16-18 hours shifts during the chaos, their union said.
Some developed frostbite after working outside in the frigid temperatures, per the union's president.
Some Southwest Airlines ground workers developed frostbite after working outside for extended periods of time during the airline's operational meltdown this month, according to a union representing the workers.
"Many of our people have been forced to work 16 or 18-hour days during this holiday season," Randy Barnes, president of TWU Local 555, said in a statement released Wednesday. "Our members work hard, they're dedicated to their jobs, but many are getting sick, and some have experienced frostbite over the past week. In severe weather it's unreasonable for workers to stay outside for extended periods. People need to be able to cycle in and out of the cold."
Southwest canceled thousands of flights in the wake of a deadly winter storm that hit the US during peak holiday travel. Southwest told Insider that scheduling issues are partially to blame, saying the system could not handle the "magnitude and scale of the disruptions," but it is focused on "making investments in technology upgrades."
On Monday and Tuesday, the carrier canceled about 5,600 flights — about 70% of its schedule — with over 2,500 already canceled Wednesday morning, according to FlightAware data.
In Denver, Southwest declared a "state of operational emergency" on December 21 and required ramp agents to work mandatory overtime shifts or risk being fired, according to an email to workers from Ground Operations Vice President Chris Johnson that was seen by Insider and verified by the company.
The next day was Denver's second coldest day on record, according to the National Weather Service, reaching "life-threatening" temperatures as low as minus 24 degrees Fahrenheit.
Calling in sick during the state of emergency without providing a doctor's note would be considered "abuse of sick leave" and result in the employee's termination, according to the memo, noting that telemedicine and telehealth doctors' notes would not be accepted.
—NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) December 23, 2022
The emergency requirements for Southwest ramp agents are contractual and allow the airline to "ensure reliability for our customers by having the necessary amount of available, working staff" during periods of mass flight disruptions, a spokesperson said, adding that a state of operational emergency can only be declared at the Denver airport hub.
"Our network is highly complex and the operation of the airline counts on all the pieces, especially aircraft and crews remaining in motion to where they're planned to go," CEO Bob Jordan said in a video statement Tuesday apologizing for the mass flight disruptions.
Do you work for Southwest Airlines? Have a tip or story to share? Email these reporters from a non-work address at htowey@insider.com and trains@insider.com.
Southwest Airline Flight Delays | 2022-12-28T18:45:37Z | www.businessinsider.com | Southwest Agents Developed Frostbite, Worked 16-Hour Shifts Amid Meltdown | https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-flight-cancellations-ground-workers-frostbite-mandatory-overtime-union-denver-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-flight-cancellations-ground-workers-frostbite-mandatory-overtime-union-denver-2022-12 |
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said he wants to see Elon Musk move Twitter's headquarters to Miami.
Eric Espada/Getty Images and Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez wants Twitter to relocate from San Francisco to Miami.
He told Insider he has reached out to people close to Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
Suarez and Musk haven't had a conversation about it yet, the mayor said.
MIAMI, FL — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez hasn't given up on trying to lure Twitter away from San Francisco.
"I think they belong here," Suarez told Insider during an interview on Wednesday at City Hall. "I think that their rebranding fits our city, which is a city that puts a premium on liberty and freedom of expression."
Suarez publicly urged Twitter to move its headquarters to Miami by tweeting the suggestion to CEO Elon Musk at the beginning of December.
But Musk, one of the world's richest people who is also CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, hasn't gotten back to Suarez even though the mayor tried to reach him through several channels. The two have yet to have a phone call about the prospect, Suarez said.
"I have reached out to him through multiple different sources of people that I know are close to him, people that are friends of his, former board members of his companies, people that are helping him with the project," Suarez said. "I haven't heard back yet. Obviously, it's a hyper-complex situation with everything that's going on."
Musk tweeted about the news and questioned San Francisco Mayor London Breed's priorities.
"So city of SF attacks companies providing beds for tired employees instead of making sure kids are safe from fentanyl," he wrote.
Suarez then chimed in on Twitter to say it was time for the social media giant to make a geographical change for its business. Suarez, 45, is a Republican but the office of the Miami mayor is considered nonpartisan.
—Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) December 7, 2022
Should Twitter make the leap to Miami, it would be far from the only big company to do so. Suarez has been shepherding the city toward becoming a major tech hub — a migration that became especially pronounced during 2020 pandemic lockdowns.
One of Miami's biggest business gains was the hedge fund and financial services company Citadel, which moved its headquarters from Chicago. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin is a lead donor to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Suarez said such business migrations would help turn Miami into what he called the "capital of capital" and "the epicenter of aggregation and deployment of capital."
Suarez, who is of Cuban descent, told Insider that Musk's repositioning of Twitter made it a strong fit for Miami because "this is a city that leans into the American dream and the American experience of working hard and wanting to better yourself." Nearly three-quarters of people living in Miami are Hispanic, and Suarez said many families who live here come from countries in which "freedoms are taken away."
As CEO of Twitter, Musk has promised to unleash free speech. He altered Twitter's content-moderation policies and reinstated certain banned accounts, including that of former President Donald Trump.
Musk, however, also temporarily suspended the accounts of a number of journalists after accusing them of "doxing." Some of the reporters had written about the suspension of the account @ElonJet, a Twitter account that used publicly-available information to track the whereabouts of Musk's private jet.
It's not clear whether Musk is considering moving the company's headquarters. A Twitter message Insider sent to the company's communications team was not answered.
Musk formally acquired Twitter in October for $44 billion, and since then he cut about half the company's workforce. He launched new features and revoked others, and various celebrities have quit the platform. Musk has said he'll step down as CEO once he finds someone else to fill the role.
Asked about the "Twitter Files" of internal company deliberations that Musk released to select independent reporters, Suarez said that he was not "overly shocked" because of already-existing perceptions about the company under previous leadership.
The "Twitter Files" reporting included communications that showed how Twitter employees decided which tweets or accounts to suppress and elevate, as well as input from government entities under both the Biden and Trump administrations.
"Maybe that'll create some measure of accountability and fear that if you're working in a company, this could happen," Suarez said. "Somebody could buy the company say, 'Hey, we're going to air out our practices and procedures,' and so you should be thinking about that possibility."
Politics Elon Musk Miami | 2022-12-28T20:25:26Z | www.businessinsider.com | Miami Mayor Called People Close to Elon Musk About Twitter Relocation | https://www.businessinsider.com/miami-mayor-called-people-close-to-elon-musk-about-twitter-relocation-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/miami-mayor-called-people-close-to-elon-musk-about-twitter-relocation-2022-12 |
The average overall personal loan rate this week is 20.11%, a 10 basis-point increase from the beginning of December.
The average low rate is 10.08%, having increased steadily from 9.98% over the past four weeks. Personal loan interest rates have been going up this year as the Federal Reserve has raised the federal funds rates to try to slow inflation, leading to higher consumer borrowing costs across the board.
You can get a personal loan for a variety of reasons. Many borrowers take them out for debt consolidation. Other popular uses for the money include financing a home improvement project, paying a medical bill, and covering general household expenses.
Average low rate 10.08% 10.06%
The rates shown above aren't locked in. The rate you'll get depends on your creditworthiness and other aspects of your financial situation. You can find the rates you'll qualify for by applying with each lender you're interested in. | 2022-12-28T20:25:32Z | www.businessinsider.com | Average Personal Loan Rates: Dec. 28, 2022 | Rates Continue to Rise | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/personal-loan-rates-today-wednesday-december-28-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/personal-loan-rates-today-wednesday-december-28-2022-12 |
A top private equity investor predicts Big Tech will acquire a health company to defend against the recession, and 3 other M&A drivers in 2023
Fletcher Gregory, a principal at General Atlantic.
Insider asked private equity investor Fletcher Gregory about the future of healthcare in 2023.
He predicted a wave of consolidation in digital health due to the economic downturn.
He also said a big tech or retail company may be interested in a healthcare purchase.
This year wasn't a great one for deals in healthcare, as early companies struggled to find funding and delayed public debuts.
That's because the ups and downs in the stock market made for a challenging deal-making environment, according to Fletcher Gregory, a principal healthcare investor at General Atlantic, a private equity firm that invests in companies at earlier stages than traditional PE shops.
The market volatility has made it harder to predict healthcare startups' financial futures and valuations, critical components of M&A, he told Insider. But that's all going to shift next year.
In 2023, Gregory said four major trends will drive a "wave" of consolidation in digital health: slumping valuations; companies running out of cash; employers cutting their health budgets; and big tech firms and retailers continuing to move into healthcare to find new ways to grow.
The economic downturn will fuel healthcare M&A
Over the past two years, private digital health companies have enjoyed higher valuations as the coronavirus pandemic helped usher in unprecedented levels of investment.
Thanks to a now slowing economy, startups will have more reasonable valuations in 2023, which will make them cheaper to acquire, Gregory said.
For example, shares of publicly-traded healthcare companies have plummeted, many by more than 50% year-to-date, and that affects how investors value their private peers.
Additionally, startups that raised private funding in 2020 and 2021 are going to start to run out of cash, another boon for M&A next year, per Gregory. With fewer alternatives to survive by themselves, they'll be forced to merge with other companies.
The third factor leading to more deals is that employers, which pay for the majority of Americans' healthcare, are cutting their health budgets, Gregory said.
That means employers are going to bring a higher level of scrutiny to whether healthcare startups can actually improve the health of their employee populations and save money on medical bills, he said.
Startups that only have treatment lines for specific conditions such as diabetes will have to merge or partner with others to cover a broader swath of health issues, Gregory predicted. Otherwise they won't control enough care to reduce overall cost, he said.
Big tech and retail will continue to move into healthcare
The fourth major driver of M&A in healthcare may be big tech or retail behemoths continuing to move into the industry through acquisitions, Gregory said.
Healthcare spending typically doesn't fluctuate much during recessions, so big outsiders may view acquisitions in the space as protective of their core businesses, he said.
"With the aging population and with the increased demand for healthcare, broadly, healthcare is seen as a highly defensive industry despite the downturn," Fletcher said.
What's more, as consumers gain more control over their healthcare decision making, companies outside of healthcare will want to own some of that real estate, he said.
For example, Amazon could start to combine aspects of the Prime membership with primary care through its acquisition of One Medical, a primary care startup. It did that with Amazon Pharmacy, where Prime members enjoy discounts on drugs.
Over the last two years, tech giants Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft, as well as retail behemoths CVS and Walmart, have already bought healthcare companies.
That means the next splashy deal could come from a player that's remained on the sidelines, Gregory said.
As for what type of healthcare companies tech firms will actually acquire, Gregory said it could be those that sell health records, primary care, or Medicare Advantage plans.
"There's a wide set of types of businesses that they would be interested in," Gregory said.
Missy Krasner, a top digital health investor, echoed this prediction to Insider, saying that Alphabet, Salesforce, or Amazon could move to acquire a company that has patient health records.
Healthcare Dispensed | 2022-12-28T22:05:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | 4 Drivers of Healthcare M&A in 2023, According to a Top PE Investor | https://www.businessinsider.com/4-drivers-healthcare-ma-in-2023-investor-fletcher-gregory-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/4-drivers-healthcare-ma-in-2023-investor-fletcher-gregory-2022-12 |
This week's student loan refinancing rates: December 28, 2022 | Big drops for 5-year undergrad rates
Average interest rates on refinanced student loans are mixed across the board from two weeks ago, according to Credible. Rates on 5-year undergraduate loans and 10-year graduate loans are down, while rates on 5-year graduate loans and 10-year undergraduate loans are up.
The average 10-year fixed student loan rate for borrowers with credit scores below 680 is 7.75%. This is higher than the average rate of 6.78% for borrowers across all credit scores. Usually, the worse your credit score, the higher the rate you'll have to pay.
College costs have gone up this year as the Federal Reserve has moved aggressively to slow inflation by upping base interest rates. Those higher rates increase borrowing costs for everything from student loans to mortgages and credit cards.
Federal student loan rates for the 2023-24 school year have risen by the widest margin in about two decades. While private student loan rates aren't directly affected by federal rates, they may also go up because they don't have to stay as low to remain competitive with federal ones.
Important: The Biden administration extended the repayment pause on federal loans through the end of August 2023. You won't qualify for this pause if you refinance your federal loans into private ones. You may also pay higher interest rates with private loans, making federal loans the best choice in most cases.
Insider's Featured Student Loan Refinance Companies
SoFi Student Loan Refinancing
Splash Financial Student Loan Refinancing
Earnest Student Loan Refinancing
Variable: 4.66% - 8.99%, Fixed: 4.49% - 8.99%
Variable: 2.50 - 8.65% with AutoPay, Fixed: 3.99 - 8.49%
Variable: 3.99% - 8.29% APR with AutoPay, Fixed: 4.39% - 8.99% APR with AutoPay
On Splash Financial's website
On Earnest's website
Rates on 5-year variable undergraduate student loans are over 5% less than they were two weeks ago. Even with this downward trend, they are still significantly higher than they were one year ago.
Graduate rates are up slightly this week, raising by five basis points. Rates are up about 1% from 12 months ago.
2 weeks ago 10.26% 3.78%
Rates on 10-year undergraduate loans are up by 56 basis points from two weeks ago, while graduate rates have decreased by 27 basis points.
From one year ago, undergraduate rates have increased by roughly 3%. Graduate rates are up about 2.5%.
You'll usually receive a better interest rate with a higher credit score — though that isn't always the case. The table below shows the 10-year fixed student loan rates by credit score:
Example: Suppose you're repaying a $20,000 undergraduate loan over 10 years with the interest rates listed above. If you are a borrower with a score below 680, the lifetime cost of your loan would be $28,803 with this past week's rate of 7.75%. For borrowers with a score over 780, paying an average rate of 6.10%, the same loan would have cost $26,766, or $2,037 less.
What are the drawbacks to refinancing student loans? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
While getting a lower interest rate is often a great reason for people to refinance, it doesn't come without drawbacks for certain types of loans.
If you have federal student loans, be careful before choosing to refinance them. You will lose key protections that come with federal loans if you refinance. For instance, you won't qualify for the COVID-19-related student loan payment pause, currently in place through the end of August 2023, and federal student loan relief programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
Is it hard to get student loan refinancing? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
Your credit history is the most important factor in your refinancing approval chances. If you have a poor credit score, it'll be harder for you to get approved for a new loan, but you may be able to add a cosigner to boost your likelihood of approval.
Should I continue to pay my student loan during the repayment pause? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. | 2022-12-28T22:22:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | This Week's Student Loan Refinancing Rates: December 28, 2022 | Big Drops for 5-Year Undergrad Rates | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loan-refinancing-rates-today-wednesday-december-28-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loan-refinancing-rates-today-wednesday-december-28-2022-12 |
Southwest Airlines corporate employees are being asked to help the airline's schedulers get back on track.
Southwest Airlines is battling an operational meltdown, canceling over 9,000 flights since Sunday.
The carrier asked corporate employees to volunteer to work eight-hour shifts to help with crew scheduling.
The shifts would be in lieu of normal day-to-day work duties, according to an internal memo.
Southwest Airlines is doing everything it can to get its schedule back on track — including asking for extra help from its corporate employees.
On Wednesday, workers at the airline's Dallas headquarters were asked to volunteer for one of three possible eight-hour shifts that will operate 24 hours a day to help with crew scheduling, according to an internal memo viewed by Insider. The shift would be worked instead of each employee's normal day-to-day duties and the memo does not mention incentives like extra pay.
Southwest confirmed to Insider that additional employees were assisting crew schedulers with their duties.
To be a crew scheduler at Southwest, new hires must complete extensive training. The employees are responsible for ensuring each Southwest flight is staffed with pilots and flight attendants, notifying crew members of their flight duties, and managing crew schedules. To prepare untrained corporate employees for the task, the memo said a "train the trainer" approach would be used, meaning volunteers would sit next to a scheduler to learn to ropes.
The move comes as Southwest continues to battle an operational meltdown that was caused by the winter storm and "scheduling issues." Since Sunday, the airline has canceled over 9,000 flights, according to FlightAware data.
Captain Mike Santoro, vice president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, told Insider on Tuesday that the airline's scheduling software is "outdated" and needs an upgrade.
A Southwest spokesperson said the airline was working on upgrading its systems.
"In our desired state, we will have automation that can handle crew reassignments quickly and efficiently," the spokesperson told Insider. "We are focused on making investments in technology upgrades to work toward that solution and obviously need to complete that work."
Despite the frustrations, the carrier is working hard to get fix its operation, including running just one-third of its flights over the "next several days" and helping affected customers with rebookings and hotel accommodations, its people have said.
"We are focused on safely getting all of the pieces back into position to end this rolling struggle," Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said on Tuesday night. "I have nothing but pride and respect for the efforts of the people of Southwest who are showing up in every way."
Southwest Airlines Aviation Airlines | 2022-12-28T23:45:28Z | www.businessinsider.com | Southwest Asks HQ Employees to Volunteer to Help Sort Out Flight Mess | https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-asks-hq-employees-to-volunteer-help-fix-flight-mess-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-asks-hq-employees-to-volunteer-help-fix-flight-mess-2022-12 |
The 10 bestselling sneakers on eBay in 2022, including Yeezys, Jordans, and the controversial Nike Panda Dunk
eBay remains one of the most popular places to resell sneakers.
The website defines best-selling by the number of units sold. It doesn't provide data on prices.
Jordan and Yeezy dominate eBay's 2022 most-sold sneaker list, but a controversial sneaker ranks No. 1.
10. Adidas Yeezy Slide "Ochre"
Adidas Yeezy Slide "Ochre"
Courtesy Adidas
The Adidas Yeezy Slide "Ochre" released for $60 in December 2021 and it has continued to be a hit with sneaker lovers. The Yeezy slide has distinctive grooves on the outsole designed to add better traction.
Numerous pairs are currently listed on eBay for more than double the original retail price as consumers stock up on Yeezys they want to add to their collections. It remains unclear how popular Yeezys will remain after Adidas' split with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, in October.
9. Supreme Nike Air Force 1 Low White
Supreme Nike Air Force 1 Low White
Nike's collaborations with Supreme remain popular with sneakerheads. The Air Force 1 is a Nike brand stalwart. Combine the two and you have an incredibly popular shoe on the secondary market.
The Supreme x Nike Air Force 1 Low White released in March 2020 for $96 and goes for more than $150 on sneaker reselling sites. It's still a top seller on eBay more than two years after its release.
8. Air Jordan 12 Retro "Playoffs"
Air Jordan 12 Retro "Playoffs"
Michael Jordan wore a pair of white and black "Playoffs" Air Jordan 12s in 1997 when the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz for Jordan's fifth NBA title. Nike re-released the shoe for its 25-year anniversary in early 2022 for $210.
Like other colorways that Jordan wore on the court, the colorway remains popular with sneaker collectors. On most resale sites, including eBay, the "Playoffs" sell for anywhere from $250 to $350, depending on the size.
7. Adidas Yeezy Slide "Bone"
2019 Adidas Yeezy Slide "Bone"
The Adidas Yeezy Slide "Bone" first released in late 2019 for $55, and released again in May 2022 for $60. At the time, many sneaker brands were increasing retail prices due to supply chain costs.
The model and colorway remains a great seller on eBay and continues to fetch a premium, consistently selling for more than double its release price.
6. Air Jordan 4 Retro "Military Black"
Air Jordan 4 Retro "Military Black"
Michael Jordan first wore the Air Jordan 4 in 1989. More than three decades later, the silhouette was arguably the most popular for Jordan Brand this year.
Many Jordan 4s performed well on the resale market. But in 2022, the most-sold colorway on eBay was the "Military Black," which lists on the platform for anywhere from $350 to $500 in men's sizes.
The shoe released in May for $210.
5. Air Jordan 11 Retro "Cool Grey"
Air Jordan 11 Retro "Cool Grey"
The Air Jordan 11 first released in an all-gray colorway in 2001. Nike re-released the "Cool Grey" shoe last holiday season for $225 to mark its 20th anniversary. Like other iconic colors, it quickly sold out.
The sneaker remains popular on the secondary market, with nearly 1,300 pairs for sale on eBay at the time of publication, with many priced between $350 and $400.
4. Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 "Bone"
Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 "Bone"
Before Adidas split with Ye, the company's Yeezy business had grown to a reported $2 billion in annual sales. The wildly popular Yeezy 350 is among the reasons why.
The V2 "Bone" colorway, released in March for $230, now goes for more than $300 on the secondary market.
3. Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 "Beluga Reflective"
Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 "Beluga Reflective"
Not surprisingly, another Yeezy 350 made the list of eBay's most-sold sneakers in 2022. The V2 Beluga Reflective released in December 2021 for $240. The average resale price on StockX is $311.
Over the years, the Yeezy 350 v2 became a popular shoe for even non-sneakerheads to wear, from children to older generations seeking the comfort of Adidas' Boost technology featured on on the shoe's midsole.
2. Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG Patent Bred
Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG "Patent Bred"
The Jordan 1 Chicago Lost and Found might have been the highest-profile Jordan 1 release of the year, but the Retro High OG Patent Bred sold more on eBay. The patent leather version of a colorway Jordan wore on the court remains popular with collectors.
Released in December 2021 for $170, it sells for anywhere from the low $200s to mid-$300s on the secondary market, depending on the size.
1. Nike Dunk Low Retro White Black "Panda"
Nike Dunk Low Black White "Panda"
The most-sold sneaker on eBay in 2022 is a controversial one among collectors given its ubiquity. The Complex sneakers podcast even devoted an episode to exploring the culture's dislike for Nike's Panda Dunks.
The mixed feelings, however, haven't stopped it from being a big hit for Nike and resellers looking for a quick flip on the secondary market. The colorway, which retails for about $100, immediately sells out when restocked on the Nike app. Average sales on StockX are $219. | 2022-12-29T11:25:57Z | www.businessinsider.com | Here Are the 10 Bestselling Sneakers on eBay This Year | https://www.businessinsider.com/10-bestselling-sneakers-ebay-in-2022-are-yeezy-jordan-nike-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/10-bestselling-sneakers-ebay-in-2022-are-yeezy-jordan-nike-2022-12 |
Think long-term, grab land, watch your runway: Here's how European VCs are advising their founders ahead of a looming recession
Tasmin Lockwood and Callum Burroughs
Sequoia Capital's R.I.P. Good Times 2008 presentation.
Sequoia's iconic 2008 'R.I.P Good Times' presentation still rings true for some investors.
But for some founders, the current economic downturn may not be the time to pull back completely.
We asked VCs like Lightspeed, Balderton, and Kiko Ventures what they're advising their portfolios.
Everyone knows Sequoia's "R.I.P. Good Times" presentation from 2008.
Amidst the financial crisis, partners at the heavy-hitting firm laid bare scenarios for the tough economic times ahead.
The iconic presentation resurfaces every time the economy rattles. It details just went wrong in 2008 and, importantly, how Sequoia's portfolio companies could keep their head above water during the downturn. The advice at the time was: react quickly, slash costs, be realistic about valuations, and have a minimum of a year's runway in the bank.
"That's the generic advice," Kiko Ventures partner Arne Morteani told Insider, although he added it still rings true. "Because people are so programmed with the whole RIP Good Times thing, the nuance gets lost sometimes."
In some cases where a business' underlying market remains strong and can be won through a land grab, slashing costs and headcount could actually end up doing more harm than good, according to Morteani.
"If you now shrink your cash burn then you lose out on your land-grab opportunity," he said. Companies can use a downturn to "clean up" as competitors stumble, he added. Where this is the case, Kiko has not advised layoffs.
This is in stark contrast to the rest of the industry, where layoffs have been rife. Companies can actually reduce headcount and costs by up to 30% and still grow, said OTB Venture partner Adam Niewinski.
"It's never easy, never nice, but sometimes really needed for the company to survive during the downturn," he said.
Supporting portfolio companies during a downturn is delicate: founders are "not excited" by investors taking a more hands-on approach but few are open to asking for advice, he added.
"That's the value of the board," Niewinski said. The board should share its previous lessons learned and be honest with the company – it will struggle to raise next year, or at least at its target valuation, and must work to balance growth and burn, he said.
Companies are being urged to focus on their long-term vision.
"The world is ready to think more long-term, rather than the fact we are in a difficult situation now," OpenOcean partner Ekaterina Almosque said.
Almosque is helping portfolio companies understand resilience by focusing on high-level goals. Magda Lukaszewicz, principal at Balderton, echoed this – even if it takes companies longer to achieve said goals.
2023 is full of unknowns
This situation is tipped to get worse before the get better. It remains to be seen what investors will and won't fund in 2023, added Northzone's Michiel Kotting.
In March, Kotting told his companies that they should have two, ideally three, years of runway. This is based on the assumption that the business continues to operate as it did then, which it may not as the economy bites.
"It might not, and therefore your perceived runway might be much longer than your real runway is, so be careful of that," he said.
Investors are also reevaluating business models – if it's not a "fundable" business, it needs to break even, Kotting said. This lines up with the tech industry's widespread pivot to profitability over growth.
The longer a company's runway, the longer it has before heading to the market to raise again. Some were considering internal bridge or extension rounds to extend this further but capital has already dried up, according to Antoine Moyroud, partner at Lightspeed Ventures.
"Now, at those later stages, founders are considering going out to the market despite their circumstances just because they don't really have a choice," he said. "Even 2021 high flyers will struggle and end up taking a haircut valuation if they are not at the top of their game," he added.
Still, cash will flow into companies next year. This is in part thanks to multiples coming down – meaning it's a good time to be an investor – and the end of deployment cycles, VCs said. They still need to make a return for their own investors, called limited partners.
Sequoia's "RIP Good Times" ends on a bleak note: Get Real or Go Home. Europe's new reality is one of tightening purse strings from both investors and startups. | 2022-12-29T11:26:40Z | www.businessinsider.com | European VCs Provide Portfolio Company Advice Ahead of Recession | https://www.businessinsider.com/europes-investors-advising-portfolio-companies-ahead-impending-recession-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/europes-investors-advising-portfolio-companies-ahead-impending-recession-2022-12 |
Landing is gaining popularity with Gen Z users.
Landing via @SpaceBean
Landing, a vision board site similar to Pinterest, is becoming popular with Gen Z.
Gen Z users told Insider they make several vision boards a week on the site.
The founders plan to officially launch the Landing mobile app in early 2023.
Stanford business school classmates Miri Buckland and Ellie Buckingham joke that they're like the right and left sides of the brain. When they graduated in 2019, they used their collective mental power to launch a new social media platform.
"We always really cared about this idea of empowering creativity," Buckingham said, "and this idea that creativity is not something you're born with or not, but is something that can be encouraged."
Pinterest, the virtual pinboard site that launched seven years earlier, had debuted on the stock market that April at a $10 billion valuation. The site had banked on millennials' propensity to curate their ideal lunches, outfits, and even lives.
Scroll through Landing and you'll see playful, irreverent, and even otherworldly vision boards from users showcasing everything from New Year's resolutions to their dream wedding with musician Harry Styles.
Gen Z women — who make up somewhere between 80 to 90% of Landing's user base — describe the platform as "Pinterest but with community," the founders said. Where Pinterest encourages an individual approach to image discovery, Landing fosters communal discovery by allowing users to share, comment, and like each other's boards.
The boards are shoppable too, so users can hover over items that catch their eye and follow steps to make a purchase.
Hundreds of new boards are created on the site each day. Buckland, who identifies as a full-fledged millennial, said in August that while millennials might create one or two boards for their dream house, "Gen Z-ers manifest constantly." The founders said the velocity with which Gen Z makes vision boards is unlike anything they expected.
Creating a vision board is akin to making a list of goals, journaling, or writing oneself an encouraging note. By arranging these boards side by side, Landing becomes a visual discussion thread of its users' plans, worries, and dreams for the future. Even when users don't share a common culture or language, bonding becomes inevitable.
Vega's 2023 vision board.
Xiomara Vega
Xiomara Vega, a 23 year-old from Mexicali, Mexico, told Insider that every year she makes a board with her resolutions for the new year. She said she sets it as her phone wallpaper, so it serves as a constant reminder of who she wants to become.
Deyana Atanasova, a 22 year-old Landing user from Chicago, told Insider, "I put a chess board on my 2022 vision board, and it's funny because I got a lot better at chess this past year."
Since Landing launched in 2019, 160,000 accounts have been created, 400,000 boards have been made, and 3 million images have been uploaded. The mobile app, currently in beta, will launch in early 2023.
The founders remain tight-lipped about Landing's business plans, but they've already secured $3 million in seed funding. Buckland landed a coveted spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list this year. In the coming year, the founders are planning ways to bring the communities forming on Landing together in real life.
The potential success of a platform like Landing can be read in the tea leaves of the current moment. Twitter is struggling with its identity under Elon Musk. Teenagers are abandoning Facebook and even Instagram. There's a growing opportunity for newcomers to redefine the social media dictates of the past decade.
The founders contend that a new age of social media called "collective media" is on the horizon.
"Gen Z is looking for new homes," Buckland said. "We're one of many different apps that's being built right now for Gen Z to connect over niche interests."
Take a look at more trends that are popular on Landing:
Landing via user @gossipgirl
Scandinavian Winter Style
Landing via user @woolleyandco
Thrifting in New York
Landing via user @cybersoda
An Ode to Taylor Swift
A Harry Styles playlist
Features Vision Boards gen z | 2022-12-29T11:26:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | Landing, a Pinterest for Gen Z, Is Growing in Popularity | https://www.businessinsider.com/landing-a-pinterest-for-gen-z-is-growing-in-popularity-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/landing-a-pinterest-for-gen-z-is-growing-in-popularity-2022-12 |
Mortgage rates dropped last month, though they remain more than three percentage points higher than they were a year ago, according to Freddie Mac. Rates have been holding relatively steady this week.
The Federal Reserve has been hiking the federal funds rate to tame inflation, and the latest economic data shows that its efforts are starting to pay off. As the economy slows and inflation comes down, mortgage rates will likely decrease throughout 2023.
If the Fed overcorrects and raises rates too high, it's possible we could experience a recession, which would push mortgage rates down even further. | 2022-12-29T11:27:04Z | www.businessinsider.com | Today's Mortgage, Refinance Rates: Dec. 29, 2022 | Rates Hold Steady | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-thursday-december-29-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-thursday-december-29-2022-12 |
Here are the most shocking details of how FTX misused funds and treated customer money as its own private ATM, according to CFTC findings
KRIS INGRAHAM / Getty Images
FTX customer funds were comingled with Alameda since the beginning of the exchange's inception, according to a recent CFTC complaint.
When Alameda's external loans were called in, FTX customer funds were used to cover the debts.
The complaint also alleges Bankman-Fried, his parents, and some employees used customer funds for personal purchases and loans.
On November 11, Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange FTX and its affiliated companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Shortly after, he went on a media road tour telling the public that he didn't fully know the depth of what was going on at his company, nor what could have happened to customer funds.
But a lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission argues otherwise.
Unbeknown to customers, Alameda — the trading and investing arm of the exchange — had been dipping into customer fiat deposits and digital assets from the very inception of FTX, according to a recent complaint.
It was a setup that was clearly against FTX's terms of service.
Last week, two of Bankman-Fried's associates — Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX and the former chief technology officer — both pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with the feds. In their confessions, they revealed that they were knowingly defrauding customers — and did it under the direction of Bankman-Fried himself.
What's significant about the latter revelation is that the FTX's founder claim that he was unaware of what had gone on at his company is being strongly challenged.
Below are key details from the CFTC's findings:
When FTX initially launched in May of 2019, customers who wanted to deposit fiat were required to wire their money to bank accounts owned by Alameda. Some or all of these accounts were registered under a company called North Dimension, a subsidiary of Alameda. The CFTC alleges that the name was intentionally not identifiable with its sister company.
The only possible public trace of North Dimension that Insider could find is a website that has an "about us" page with a single paragraph:
"North Dimension Inc is a financial services company. We bring decades of experience from Wall Street and Silicon Valley to provide mature and stable fund management, liquidity, and payment processing services. We bring the sophistication we have all come to expect from mainstream financial institutions in the realm of cryptocurrencies."
When these deposits hit the account, they were never separated from Alameda's own funds but customer deposits were registered on FTX's internal ledger system under the account name "fiat@ftx".
Throughout this time, the CFTC finds that Alameda used those funds to trade, invest, and engage in lending and borrowing.
It wasn't until August 2020 that FTX opened its own bank account. But the customer deposits that were previously held in Alameda's accounts were never transferred to the new account, according to the complaint.
After the two entities separated their accounts, Alameda still had access to new customer deposits that went directly to the exchange. This happened through a series of coded commands, one of which was an almost-unlimited line of credit. Specifically, Alameda could borrow from FTX in amounts approaching tens of billions of dollars. This allowed the trading firm to execute transactions without having the available funds in its account.
Additionally, unlike other customers on the exchange, Alameda was not subject to "auto-liquidation", which is when your positions are automatically sold if your leveraged account falls below a certain determined level.
The CFTC states that under the direction of Bankman-Fried, Wang created the code that allowed Alameda access to credit on FTX and an exception from being liquidated. Meanwhile, Ellison was making deceptive public statements about the separation of operations between Alameda and FTX.
Alameda also took large loans, in the billions, from external lending platforms and lines of credit from banks. Some of Alameda's borrowed capital was used for illiquid investments such as long-term equity holdings in digital asset companies.
When crypto firms began to collapse in May of this year, Alameda's external loans were called in. Under the direction of Bankman-Fried, FTX customer funds were further used to cover the debt. Alameda's debt to FTX reached approximately $8 billion.
Around this time, Bankman-Fried was publicly assuring investors that the worst of the crypto market's liquidity crunch had likely passed. He also stated that he had a "few billion" dollars to back struggling firms that could destabilize the digital asset market.
However, the CFTC alleges that the purpose of the acquisitions was, in part, to gain access to additional capital to fill the hole in his own exchange, specifically customer funds.
In an effort to conceal the hole, Bankman-Fried asked FTX executives to move Alameda's liabilities to a ghost account which he called "our Korean friend's account" and/or "the weird Korean account." The CFTC claims this was intended to conceal the large liability.
By September, it seems as though Bankman-Fried had come to terms with the mess Alameda had caused. In an internal document, he wrote that he was contemplating shutting it down. The beginning of the letter stated:
"I only started thinking about this today, and so haven't vetted it much yet. But: I think it might be time for Alameda Research to shut down. Honestly, it was probably time to do that a year ago."
It has also become clear that the flashy ad and sports campaigns were funded by customer deposits. Additionally, the CFTC believes that Bankman-Fried, his parents, along with some employees, also used customer funds for luxury real estate purchases, private jets, personal loans, and political donations.
Investing Sam Bankman-Fried | 2022-12-29T11:27:26Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Most Shocking Details of How FTX, SBF Misused Customer Funds: CFTC | https://www.businessinsider.com/shocking-details-ftx-sam-bankman-fried-misused-customer-funds-cftc-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/shocking-details-ftx-sam-bankman-fried-misused-customer-funds-cftc-2022-12 |
Venture capitalists shared what they're expecting from the electric-vehicle industry in 2023.
Dünzl\ullstein bild via Getty Images
2023 is set to bring even more momentum to the electric-car industry than 2022 did.
Insider asked six venture capitalists what they expect to see in 2023.
They said to look out for a battery bonanza.
The electric-vehicle industry gained a lot of momentum in 2022: Car companies are spending more than $515 billion to pivot from gas engines to electric ones, and that requires a whole lot of battery, charging, supply-chain, and manufacturing know-how.
Even with challenges — and some executives' losing faith in the EV biz — the industry can't turn back on its ambitions. To get a sense of what to expect out of the industry in 2023, Insider surveyed six venture capitalists who monitor the many big companies, startups, sectors, and trends brewing in the world of EVs. Here's what they think.
Redwood Materials, a recycling startup, plans to break ground on its second plant in the first quarter of 2023.
A battery bonanza and a reworking of supply chains
Venture capitalists think the EV push — especially in the US — can only see more success with improvements in battery supply chains and manufacturing. It's no surprise this is the area they expect to see grow the most in 2023.
Stakeholders, car buyers, policymakers, and more can anticipate all sorts of opportunities in batteries, particularly as the industry reinvents the way it has long been doing things.
"What's going to be relevant both in '23 and probably for the next seven to 10 years is how do we reshore — or just shore, period — our EV and overall battery supply chains?" said Aidan Madigan-Curtis, a partner at Eclipse Ventures. "There's a lot of pressure on these supply chains to figure out how we do things efficiently."
"One of the areas that we're most interested in exploring is on the mineral discovery side," she said, adding that she also anticipates raw-materials processing and production of battery cells to gain momentum. "Pack manufacturing is where we see the biggest opportunity right now."
In addition to opportunities on the supply side, expect improvements in battery tech. Automakers are exploring different types of batteries to get a leg up on the competition.
"Expect to see higher-energy-density, faster-charging batteries, and pack-level innovations get more traction," Rajesh Swaminathan, a partner at Khosla Ventures, told Insider.
One VC thinks the industry could be at a tipping point with charging infrastructure.
Charging, charging, charging
Historically, charging hasn't been a money-making venture. To satisfy early EV buyers, automakers have teamed up, conducted mergers and acquisitions, and made other strategic moves.
Now the industry could be at a tipping point.
"The infrastructure capital is coming in," said Brian Walsh, the head of Wind Ventures. "It's an indication that the risk of deploying EV-charging infrastructure has reached a point where it's no longer risk capital" — or otherwise risky.
While it's been difficult to determine where exactly to install charging stations, as more people buy and drive EVs, companies have more insight into where charging would be most beneficial.
"The second wave is happening now, and it's going to correct or address a lot of the shortcomings" of existing infrastructure, Walsh said. "We can also now predict, as the Amazon fleet, for example, grows, where they will have to have charging hubs."
People gather around Faraday Future's FF91 electric car at CES in 2017. Five years later, the company has experienced all sorts of challenges.
A shakeout is still to come
Chris Stallman, a partner at Fontinalis, predicted that more automaker commitments, government support, and public interest will continue to bolster the EV transition in 2023. Stallman is confident in the industry, even with a shakeout possible.
"Customers and investors are becoming more discerning, and automakers, dealers, consumers are coalescing around what they truly want and need," Stallman told Insider.
Keep an eye out for companies that simply won't be able to make it. "The reality is that it is unlikely that every company will succeed, but some will certainly do so," Stallman said.
Alexei Andreev, a managing director at AutoTech Ventures, said a shakeout could come in the battery industry, where hundreds of startups are racing to compete with giants.
"It's a question of capital formation and investment decisions. If I'm LG, if I'm Samsung, if I'm SK or BYD or Panasonic, they do what they know the best," Andreev told Insider in the fall. "But as a startup, I have no chance to compete with those established players.
"My take is it will be a miracle if even one of them will make it," Andreev added.
The autonomous-vehicle industry took several hits in 2022, but General Motors is still optimistic about Cruise.
The autonomous-vehicle industry took a few hits in 2022: Argo AI, a startup backed by Ford and Volkswagen, shut down, while the GM subsidiary Cruise became the focus of an investigation, TuSimple struggled with layoffs and executive churn, and Aurora debated a sale.
But Robert Ravanshenas, a partner at Maven Ventures, said he expects municipalities to start capitalizing on what AVs can offer for cities next year. He predicted self-driving consumer transportation will pick up next year, following on big advances in 2022 by the likes of Waymo and Cruise.
"As a result, all pieces of the transportation supply chain," he added, "will begin developing second-order technologies that enhance the experience within autonomous vehicles." | 2022-12-29T11:27:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | VC Predictions for the Electric-Car Industry in 2023 | https://www.businessinsider.com/vc-predictions-for-the-electric-car-industry-in-2023-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/vc-predictions-for-the-electric-car-industry-in-2023-2022-12 |
Waterpiks locked up at a Walgreens store in Louisville, Kentucky.
Ben Tobin/Insider
Retail theft led to roughly $94.5 billion in losses for retailers in 2021, per a recent NRF survey.
Retailers have been locking away more items to protect them from potential theft.
But that has led to customers abandoning certain stores, shoppers nationwide told Insider.
As retail theft has become a nearly $100 billion problem for the industry, retailers are putting more items under lock and key to deter shoplifting.
Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid are among the retailers that lock up products as a security measure.
But a solution that's designed to help companies' bottom lines may be pushing away customers who don't want to wait for store employees to help them get locked-away products.
"I believe that it has progressed from slightly annoying to more than inconvenient," said Matthew Hollenbeck of Cape Coral, Florida.
Hollenbeck added that he does roughly 90% of his shopping online, in part to avoid the hassle of retrieving items from locked-up store shelves.
He isn't alone. Retailers typically will see a 15% to 25% drop in sales when they put products – ranging from razors to deodorant to jewelry – under lock and key, a security device executive told Forbes in April.
It's a quagmire for retailers: either they risk losing customers, or losing inventory.
Retailers lost an estimated $94.5 billion in total inventory shrink that was largely driven by theft in 2021, according to a survey from the National Retail Federation. And earlier this month, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon sounded the alarm on theft, saying "stores will close" unless it is abated.
"During this holiday season, we are seeing a lot more items kept under lock and key," David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations, told Insider. "That's necessary today as we're facing this issue. Long term, it's probably not great for the customer experience."
Maura Mana of San Francisco, California, said the consumers in the city have been dealing with locked-up items in retailers "for years now."
"It's incredibly frustrating for both customers and employees," Mana told Insider.
Roger Evans of Arizona said he stopped buying razors at Walgreens and CVS due to their security measures. He now buys razors from direct-to-consumer brands like Harry's and Dollar Shave Club.
"I always found it difficult to find a staff member to come unlock them," Evans told Insider. "The drug stores have been perpetually understaffed."
Notice any other security measures at stores where you shop? Contact reporter Ben Tobin by email at btobin@insider.com or via the encrypted app Signal at (703) 498-9171.
Walmart CVS Walgreens | 2022-12-29T11:27:58Z | www.businessinsider.com | CVS, Walgreens Lock up Items to Prevent Theft, but Customers Annoyed | https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-walgreens-cvs-lock-merchandise-to-deter-theft-frustrates-shoppers-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-walgreens-cvs-lock-merchandise-to-deter-theft-frustrates-shoppers-2022-12 |
Good morning, readers. Jordan Parker Erb here.
2022 was an eventful year for the tech sector. Interest rates rose, companies began cutting costs, and massive layoffs swept the industry — and Insider was there throughout it all.
Today, after a rundown of the latest news, we'll continue to reflect on our top articles from the past year. Our Big Tech team was constantly chasing the biggest stories, from alleged executive misconduct at Microsoft to injuries in Amazon warehouses.
Ready? Let's dive in.
1. Europe's tech ecosystem nursed a hangover in 2022 as the post-pandemic party ended. After a record-breaking 2021, European startups raised $16 billion in the third quarter — a 44% annual drop. Now, with interest rates spiking, inflation at multi-decade highs, and fears of a recession impacting growth forecasts, tech investors appear content to take their time again before making a few select deals. More on that here.
2. The internet-famous Shiba Inu who inspired "doge" memes and Dogecoin has cancer. The dog, named Kabosu, became internet famous when a picture of her posing with folded paws and a quizzical expression went viral in 2010. She later became the mascot for Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that was a tongue-in-cheek response to Bitcoin. Get the latest on Kabosu.
3. A founder explains how she got into Y Combinator — and left with a $4.5 million investment. Kathryn Cross is the founder of Anja Health, a cord blood bank that freezes stem cells for future disease treatment purposes. The solo founder joined YC in January 2022, and has since raised millions from investors like Alexis Ohanian. Here's how she did it.
4. Meet the eight most important execs who left Google in 2022 — and eight who joined. Despite a hiring slowdown halfway through the year, the revolving door at Alphabet HQ continued, with some notable hires and exits from the search giant. These are the biggest joiners and leavers.
5. An iPhone notified emergency services when a couple's car plunged 300 feet down a canyon. Apple's new crash-detection feature, available on the iPhone 14 and some Apple Watch models, sent an emergency message to the authorities after the wreck — and it worked even without cell service. Here's what happened.
More top stories of 2022:
6. We investigated injuries in Amazon warehouses. The risk of debilitating muscle and joint injuries at Amazon warehouses is off the charts, workplace regulators have said. And because these injuries build up over time, Amazon workers may not know they're at risk for months or years — but they can be left with a lifetime of pain. Take a look at our investigation.
7. Microsoft employees told us that "golden boy" execs run wild at the company. Eight years ago, CEO Satya Nadella promised to end Microsoft's tolerance for "talented jerks." But dozens of current and former employees said that executive misconduct remains rampant. Read the full story here.
8. As the tech sector faced a historic downturn, Amazon began the largest corporate layoffs in its history. The cuts, which are expected to stretch into 2023, affected thousands of workers. Read a recap of the turmoil.
9. Amazon sellers are stealing people's identities. We found that random people are being bombarded with return packages from angry Amazon customers after rogue sellers stole their identities. Insider spoke to six victims whose identities were used by fraudsters selling everything from bargain-bin clothing to counterfeit goods — here's what they told us.
10. Amazon workers shared why they planned to vote against unionizing. This spring, we watched as one of the most consequential union votes in the United States unfolded. Before the election, we spoke with workers at the warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama — many of whom told us they planned to vote against the union. Here's what happened before the vote. | 2022-12-29T11:43:30Z | www.businessinsider.com | What's Next for Europe's Tech Sector | https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-next-for-europes-tech-sector-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-next-for-europes-tech-sector-2022-12 |
Home Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Future of Work
Gen Zers entering the workforce need social skills more than tech skills, experts say.
Morsa Images/Getty
Gen Z is falling behind in skills needed to enter the workforce.
Some experts say the pandemic hindered the younger generation's development of soft skills.
To overcome this, experts suggest companies offer training.
By 2025, Gen Z will make up 27% of the global workforce, according to the World Economic Forum.
Some studies say this generation is falling behind in its technical skills. Software company Salesforce surveyed 23,000 workers across 19 countries in January 2022 and found that 32% of Gen Zers said they have the resources to learn the digital skills they need for the workforce.
However, it's possible to develop technical skills like coding and AI on the job or through online educational tools like YouTube videos. But experts say soft skills like communication and public speaking, which are more difficult to develop remotely, are holding Gen Z back. Much of their growth has been stunted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Society of Leadership and Success reported.
Insider spoke with three career coaches who explained the challenges of the Gen Z skills gap.
It's harder to build soft skills with remote work
While remote work and Zoom interviews have increased access for many applicants, it has also hindered Gen Z's job prospects in other ways.
"They went through Covid during some of their prime years of career searching and it makes it difficult for them to practice those networking skills," career coach Emily Rezkalla said, adding that social skills are more difficult to develop online.
Rezkalla mentioned that Gen Z has a harder time navigating LinkedIn because it's not as refined as other social media platforms.
That lack of exposure can also increase anxiety around job hunting and interviewing, according to career-confidence coach Sam DeMase. "Working remotely for so long, they don't have the same confidence that millennials and older generations have with public speaking and networking," she said.
Companies will need to provide training
This soft-skills deficiency is not just a Gen Z problem, said career coach Anna Belyaeva. Remote learning and working has made many professionals feel unprepared, which she attributes to an education system that has failed to develop workers.
"A hard skill is something you can learn on the job," she said. But communication is a "set of skills that takes time to develop."
Now more than ever, companies will need to offer employees training in those skills, she added.
If companies want to recruit young talent, DeMase said they will need to provide the training. In fact, she said the companies that already provide extensive training are the ones Gen Z wants to work for.
Plan your career and have patience
To get past these challenges, Rezkalla advises Gen Z workers to plan their careers. "I don't think enough people plan their year for their career," she said. "They spend more time planning their vacations than their careers."
She takes a quarterly approach, researching and setting small goals every few months. "You need to be more intentional in where you want to go," she said.
Then, she encourages professionals to be patient in their job searches. "The unpredictability of the career space makes it difficult for Gen Zs to navigate that," she said.
"Do not think that you're going to get a job within one month of applying, which is the mindset these days."
Future of Work Gen Z workers Employment | 2022-12-29T15:34:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | Gen Z's Workplace Communication and Networking Skills Need Work | https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-communication-and-networking-skills-work-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-communication-and-networking-skills-work-2022-12 |
Does pet insurance cover dental care?
Types of dental care covered by pet insurance
Are cleanings and routine care covered?
How to get dental insurance for your pet
How to get dental insurance for your pet and what it covers
To get insurance coverage for your pet’s routine dental care, you’ll need to buy a wellness plan.
Ericlefrancais/Getty
There aren't stand-alone dental insurance policies for pets.
Dental treatments for an accident, injury, or illness are often covered under basic policies.
Sometimes, insurers offer preventative care or wellness add-ons that cover routine dental exams and cleanings.
Just like humans have health insurance policies to help with their medical costs, pets can, too.
Often, these policies can offset (or even fully cover) the costs of treating injury, illness, disease, behavioral issues, and many other conditions. Some even pay for dental care — at least to an extent.
You typically won't find standalone dental policies in the pet insurance world. Instead, dental care and tooth-related issues are covered under general pet insurance policies or, sometimes, as add-ons plans with an extra fee.
"Dental insurance coverage for accidents, like a broken tooth, and illnesses, like stomatitis, is generally included in the main pet insurance policy," says Kari Steere, a licensed insurance agent at Pawlicy Advisor, a pet insurance comparison site.
"For reimbursement on routine dental care, many pet insurance companies offer a wellness plan add-on for an additional fee each month," Steere says. "These wellness plans generally offer some reimbursement for routine dental cleanings, as well as annual check-ups, vaccinations, spay or neuter surgery, flea and tick prevention, microchipping fees, and more."
If you're buying pet insurance for your dog or cat, choosing one that includes some sort of dental coverage may be smart. Periodontal disease is the most common health condition in both dogs and cats, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. If not caught early, it can lead to "severe problems and pain" for your pet, not to mention issues with their kidneys, heart, and liver.
Quick tip: Toy poodles, King Charles spaniels, greyhounds, and cavalier King Charles spaniels are more prone to periodontal disease than other dog breeds. If you have one of these animals, it may be particularly important to ensure you have dental coverage.
The exact type of dental care covered by pet insurance depends on the policy and insurer, but many include some level of coverage for dental issues in their base plans.
Some treatments often included on accident and illness policies include:
Fixing broken, fractured, or chipped teeth
Tooth extractions
Root canals
Caps and crowns
Fractured jaws
Tooth resorption
Tooth root abscess
Policies that cover illnesses may also extend to some oral and dental health conditions too, including:
Stomatitis
Periodontal disease
If your pet insurance plan does not specifically cover these items, it may cover the other costs associated with treating dental illness or injury. "Keep in mind that although a policy might not cover the cost of teeth cleaning itself, it can often cover expenses related to the procedure, such as anesthesia, x-ray images, pain medication, and antibiotics to prevent secondary infection," Steere explains.
Important: Pet insurance policies generally exclude pre-existing conditions. So if your pet has a dental issue or injury before you apply for coverage, it probably won't be covered even once you have insurance in place.
Routine dental care, such as annual cleanings, aren't covered by standard pet insurance policies.
"Most policies consider routine dental cleaning preventive care," Steere says. "Since insurance is designed to provide financial protection against unforeseen vet bills, not planned veterinary services, annual teeth cleanings and the management of pre-existing dental issues are excluded from coverage by most policies."
Some insurers, however, offer preventative care add-on packages, typically called wellness plans. These will include routine dental services such as:
Anesthesia for cleanings
If you purchase a preventative add-on, make sure you understand its limits. These packages typically come with an annual reimbursement limit, so you'll want to choose which services you use carefully. Trupanion's limit, for example, is $400 per year.
Dental coverage varies widely from one pet insurer to the next. If you're interested in purchasing a policy, be sure to compare several companies before moving forward. You can use a comparison site or get quotes directly from the insurers you're considering.
When getting quotes, make sure to compare:
Services and treatments covered
Annual limits
Policy premium
Reimbursement rate
You should also look at the company's specific coverage exclusions. While most pet insurers won't cover treatment for pre-existing conditions, some will if your animal is symptom-free for at least a year.
PERSONAL FINANCE Does pet insurance cover spaying and neutering? | 2022-12-29T15:34:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | Pet Dental Insurance: How to Get It & What It Covers | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/pet-dental-insurance | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/pet-dental-insurance |
Shopify had a bumpy 2022, with a stock split, layoffs, and more. These are the biggest stories about the e-commerce company.
Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters; Shopify; IStock Photo; Vicky Leta/Insider
From layoffs to stock splits Shopify hit some bumps in the road in 2022.
As e-commerce spending growth slowed, Shopify adjusted to a new normal.
Here were the biggest news stories about Shopify this year.
2022 was a roller-coaster year for Shopify. After seeing explosive sales and revenue growth during the earlier days of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Canadian e-commerce company saw its business come back down to earth this year.
Its stock has struggled as well, tumbling from its pandemic highs and bringing the Canadian stock market down along with it. Shopify lost about $118 billion in market value in 2022.
As it adjusted to a new normal, Shopify continued to launch software products meant to help merchants sell their wares in a changing e-commerce landscape.
It switched up its C-suite, appointing a new CFO, COO, and more.
It also made some big changes to its corporate governance, approving a special "founder's share" for CEO Tobi Lütke and completing a 10-for-1 stock split in June.
Here were the biggest news stories about Shopify in 2022:
Shopify began the year with some major changes to its fulfillment strategy. In January, the company canceled contracts with some of its warehouse and fulfillment partners while reducing the amount of work it did with others.
In doing so, Shopify signaled that the "prototype phase," in which it would test a model based on partnerships, was over for its fulfillment network.
During a first-quarter earnings call in February, Shopify leaders laid out a new plan for the fulfillment network, moving away from its initial "asset-light" strategy. The company said it would invest $2 billion through 2024 as it moved to run more of the physical network itself, "while still using partner software in some cases." Starting with a fulfillment center in Atlanta, the new model would involve investing in building leases and hourly labor.
Meanwhile, Shopify's stock began to fall from its pandemic highs. Peaking in the fall of 2021, its stock traded at about $1,762. By the end of February, it was just under $700.
Shopify's plummeting stock price created internal strife around pay. Shopify employees are granted restricted stock units, or RSUs, in addition to their base salaries. But as the value of Shopify's stock fell, some employees grew uneasy about their lower compensation. In leaked Slack messages that were viewed by Insider, company leaders assured employees that changes were ahead.
On the product front, Shopify moved further into social commerce with its launch of Linkpop, a "link-in-bio" tool. Similar to Linktree, Linkpop allows users to create a custom URL that navigates to a page where they can highlight multiple links, like their Shopify store, blog, playlist, or app listing.
Shopify hired former Wells Fargo executive Tia Silas as its chief talent officer, later changing her title to chief human resources officer. Silas filled a vacancy left by Brittany Forsyth, who departed Shopify in May 2021 after joining the company as its 22nd employee in 2010.
Silas' hiring came as Shopify announced plans to overhaul its compensation program to give employees a greater say over the makeup of stock and cash in their pay.
Tia Silas is Shopify's chief human resources officer.
It also announced its acquisition of influencer marketing startup Dovetale on April 11.
On May 2, Shopify announced plans to acquire e-commerce fulfillment startup Deliverr for more than $2 billion. The acquisition was intended to help Shopify merchants offer one and two-day shipping to their customers.
The company launched Shop Promise, essentially a badge that would give shoppers expected delivery dates on merchants' stores and across channels like Google, Facebook, and Instagram.
The Shopify Audiences launch was its first big foray into digital advertising. The audience tool uses machine learning to anonymously pool purchase-intent data across its merchants and shoppers, making it easier for merchants to find and target new customers with Facebook ads.
In June, Shopify shareholders approved a proposal to give CEO Tobi Lütke a special "founder share" in the company, granting him 40% of voting rights. The company also completed a 10-for-1 stock split on June 29.
Shopify unveiled a suite of new tools during a new semiannual release called Shopify Editions. Many of the new tools focused on in-person retail, including the launch of "tap to pay" on iPhones in the US and local inventory search with Google. The company also announced "tokengated" commerce allowing merchants to use nonfungible tokens to offer their biggest fans access to exclusive perks and experiences.
Around this same time, Shopify quietly laid off at least 50 employees, telling some it was due to an internal reorganization.
Shopify had more bad news in July. Early in the month, it rescinded offers for some fall interns and delayed the rollout of its previously announced compensation overhaul.
On July 26, Shopify announced it would lay off 10% of its workforce, or about 1,000 employees. CEO Tobi Lütke said in a company memo that the job cuts were made because he and other company leaders had "miscalculated" how long the pandemic-related boost to e-commerce would last.
The news came as a shock to many, including employees who were at team getaways to far-flung locations in the time leading up to the layoffs.
In August, Shopify invested $100 million in e-commerce marketing startup Klaviyo.
Later that month, the company launched Shopify Collabs, a product intended to help match merchants with creators who can promote their products.
Also in August, Insider reported on changes to Shopify's workplace culture that brought increased moderation of employee conversations on Slack.
Shopify announced several changes to its C-suite in September. Longtime Morgan Stanley investment banker Jeff Hoffmeister replaced Amy Shapero as CFO. Kaz Nejatian, who previously served as a vice president of product for Shopify's merchant-services division, took over Toby Shannan's role as COO.
Bobby Morrison, a former Intuit executive, was also appointed to the newly created role of chief revenue officer, reporting to Nejatian. Luc Levesque was promoted to the C-suite as chief growth officer.
Analysts said that Hoffmeister's hiring was the most notable change, potentially signaling a renewed focus on acquisitions given his investment banking background.
Also in September, Shopify officially rolled out Flex Comp, its revamped compensation system that allowed workers to decide the breakdown of their compensation between cash and stock. Employees whose performance was "off track" were not eligible.
It also launched a handheld point-of-sale device called POS Go, putting it in more direct competition with other payments players like Square and PayPal.
Shopify's new POS Go hardware.
Shopify Tax was launched in October to help merchants better understand their sales tax obligations.
Later in the month, Chief Human Resources Officer Tia Silas told employees in a company-wide email that Shopify would be changing how it evaluates their performance. Silas said the goal was to create a system that was less ambiguous and more "evidence-based."
The company also sent out an employee survey focused on its workplace culture, worker productivity, and competition in the e-commerce world. Employees were asked fairly standard questions, but some prompts hinted at potential company culture issues.
Insider reported in November that Shopify had stepped up its hiring of outsourced customer-support representatives in the previous months. Many of the dozens of new contractors were hired through the digital-outsourcing company TaskUs and are located in the Philippines.
The increased outsourcing was concerning to some employees still reeling from the July layoffs, which heavily affected employees in Shopify's support division.
Later in November, Shopify announced that its merchants notched a record $7.5 billion in sales over Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend, a 19% increase over 2021.
As the year comes to a close, Shopify has faced backlash for hosting the controversial Libs of TikTok store. The store sells products like T-shirts and mugs with the phrase, "Stop grooming our kids," which many have interpreted as an allegation of child abuse among LGBTQ communities. Shopify received so many inquiries about the store, that it told customer-support employees not to engage with related tweets, according to leaked internal messages viewed by Insider. The company said it had determined that the Libs of TikTok store did not violate its acceptable-use policy.
On December 15, Shopify announced that it was doubling down on its sustainability efforts by investing $11 million in carbon removal projects. The move brought Shopify's total sustainability partners to 28, according to a company statement.
Got a tip? Contact Madeline Stone at mstone@insider.com or on the secure messaging app Signal at (646) 889-2143 using a non-work phone.
Shopify eCommerce | 2022-12-29T15:34:36Z | www.businessinsider.com | Shopify's 2022 in Review: Layoffs, a Stock Split and More | https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-layoffs-stock-split-news-review-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/shopify-layoffs-stock-split-news-review-2022-12 |
14 top ad industry recruiters who are helping companies like Albertsons and IPG find the best talent to help them get through a tough economy
Dana Siomkos, founder and CEO, You & Them
You & Them
Even as companies downsize, the demand for ad talent is still surging.
Soft skills and the ability to communicate are becoming just as important as technical skills.
As hiring power shifts back to companies, candidates need to actively sell themselves.
Layoffs have been hitting the ad industry since early this year as marketers reined in their spending due to growing economic concerns.
But because brands must compete more forcefully, agencies and in-house marketers continue to hire, with some recruiters telling Insider targets have not changed for 2023.
"When the economy goes south, there is demand for certain kinds of talents," said Gary Stolkin, global CEO of The Talent Business. Brands want "leadership that understands business, gets digital transformation, and knows how to drive growth."
But while job-seekers held an advantage during the pandemic, gravity has shifted back to employers as work normalizes. And talent acquisition itself keeps evolving, recruiters told Insider, with social media platforms like TikTok becoming a valuable tool for both candidates and employers.
Here are 14 top industry recruiters advertisers and marketers are turning to fill roles during this uncertain period.
Mary Abrasley, senior director, talent acquisition lead, Mediabrands
Part of ad agency giant Interpublic Group, Mediabrands includes agencies like Initiative, Rapport, and Orion. Across its agencies, the group hires about 1,500 people annually, Abrasley told Insider.
Abrasley and her team have been aggressive about talent acquisition across social media, including the "We See You at Mediabrands" diversity initiative, which showcased employee stories.
"We recommend candidates come to the table with examples of projects they've led, transferable skills and other ways they've made an impact," Abrasley said. "We also see people make the mistake of compartmentalizing their professional and personal personas. We talk a lot about bringing your whole self to work, so if you have a passion outside of work, leverage that!"
And while it's now "saturated," LinkedIn remains "one of the most valuable platforms for recruiters and candidates alike," Abrasley said.
Elfe Cimicata, head of HR and talent, Bulletproof
A branding and package design studio with six offices around the world, Bulletproof is "always looking for people who are really innovative and entrepreneurial," Cimicata told Insider.
Rather than use social platforms for talent acquisition, Cimicata relies on LinkedIn and the firm's own Careers page. "No one has directed me to a TikTok video, but people do send their portfolios," she said. "We have not seen a downturn, and clients are asking for the same amount of work," she said. Brand strategy has been especially in-demand, she noted.
Cimicata cautioned against "overconfidence. A lot of people consider themselves more senior than they actually are. Some companies give away titles. We seek people who are low on ego and very smart."
Katie Farber, US talent acquisition lead, Dentsu International
Founded in Japan, Dentsu employs 65,000 people worldwide. During the pandemic, employees with "hard" technical skills were in high demand, including TikTok creators, UX web designers, data and technical roles, Farber told Insider.
Now, "soft skills are equally important," she said. "Management, leaders, and employees have to show up for each other. Talent is getting stretched in different ways than even five years ago. Flexibility and communication are key."
Jay Haines, founder, GraceBlue
Grace Blue
With 20 headhunters in the US and 30 more around the world, Grace Blue describes itself as the largest independent executive search firm in marketing and communications.
During the pandemic, "people would readily leave roles without the next opportunity lined up," said Haines. "Where the economy is now, I would advise people stay in their roles until they have the next one locked in."
He also advised job seekers to evaluate the economic health of the company they might be joining. "Is the business in good shape financially? Is the relationship strong with the client you are taking on? Assessing the midterm stability of an organization is very important as you seek that security in your next role," he said.
In 2023, Haines foresees "an uptick of hiring in the CX [customer experience] space. The CX discipline will continue to move from being a spoke to on the marketing hub to the center," he said.
Lauren Lotka, founder, Lotka & Co.
Lotka & Co.
Launched in 2017, six-person Lotka & Co. primarily handles executive searches for brand marketers. Clients include Specialized, Burton, Foxtrot, and Reformation.
"The market is wild, and it's been a rollercoaster," Lotka told Insider. Leadership remains in highest demand, she said. "Balancing the hard and soft skills requires a critical eye towards what's missing to drive business and inspire the team."
With that in mind, candidates should consider why they're changing jobs. "What's the motivation? We saw a lot of people jump to big tech for a big paycheck, many are now out of a job. If money is the motivator, be clear on what you're leaving behind," Lotka said.
Still, she advises candidates to carefully consider company culture as they search for new roles. "Network. Talk to people. Recruiters have a lot of information. Candidates are often scared to ask tough questions."
Avi Mally, CEO, Three Pillars Recruiting
Three Pillars serves Fortune 500 brands including Albertsons, whose digital transformation the firm helped staff.
Since the pandemic, "the market has shifted drastically from candidate-driven to employer-driven," Mally told Insider. "The quality of candidates is going up, with their price tags not as inflated."
He advises candidates to be genuine and curious. "Before, it felt like you hardly needed a resume. Now, companies want to see candidates put forth the effort and have an interest level." And while Zoom interviews once sufficed, "employers want more face time now. More of them are returning to hybrid schedules, and they want to meet you. Say no, and they'll move on."
Rather than TikTok and social platforms, Mally said he and his team rely on LinkedIn and their own database to find candidates.
Josh Marmer, managing director and partner, AC Lion
AC Lion
New York-based AC Lion specializes in "revenue-generating talent" for the digital-native ecosystem of marketing communications, including adtech and martech, Marmer told Insider. Fortune 500 companies and emerging brands are clients.
After a "manic" 2021, the company saw a slowdown in late 2022, Marmer said. "Companies are not doing poorly, but they're proactively cautious about hiring. It's a wait-and-see situation."
As the market tightens, "candidates are not marketing themselves properly, and really miss the mark on LinkedIn," he said. "Once, it was enough just to have an account. Now, your picture has to be polished – don't use a photo of you and your friends at a bar."
And build out a strong profile, he advised. "Don't just say 'I worked for company X. Say what company X does and what you did. The power of LinkedIn multiplies by ten if you describe yourself and your contributions."
Jessica Natches, group vice president of executive recruiting, Huge
Huge rebranded itself as a "creative growth acceleration company," and its recruiting needs have shifted, Natches told Insider. "Our evolution reflects massive shifts in the creative industry, and expectations of the global talent pool have shifted radically as well."
Because the firm has "eliminated regional barriers and divested traditional office spaces," Huge is now structured as "talent hubs" without physical locations, Natches said. As a result, Huge is seeking "people with change management experience, along with a sincere and genuine interest in our brand and an understanding of what we're about."
The agency will continue seeking "the kind of talent that can help us build the organization," she said.
Whitney Radia, founder and co-CEO, Misfit Talent
Misfit Talent
Founded by Radia and partner Patricia Brennan in 2015, Misfit Talent specializes in marketing, creative, technology and innovation roles for both agencies and brands, Radia told Insider.
She advised candidates to stay open. "The best time to look for something new is when you're not entirely unhappy," she told Insider. "That's when you can evaluate a job with clear eyes and move toward something, not away from something."
Basics matter more than ever, Radia advised. "Keep your LinkedIn profile updated, even if you're not actively looking," she said. "Make sure your headline is a real and relevant job title, not a clever summary of all the hats you wear. And on that note, make sure you emphasize what you're amazing at versus what you know how to do. Companies want people who excel in certain areas, not those who have done all the things and therefore could appear to be a master of none."
But assets can also prove a liability, Radia said. "The greatest challenge is knowing how to market themselves. There are stellar people out there who, because they have taken an unorthodox career path and don't check all the boxes on the most typical job specs, aren't sure where they fit. We try to help them articulate their value."
An agency veteran herself, Siomkos focuses on executive and creative leadership roles for agencies, brands, and startups.
Calling herself the "anti-recruiter," Siomkos said that modernizing the process is part of You & Them's mission. "One reason recruiting is a bit archaic is that being professional means being boring. In our field, creative expression is the name of the game. Video content or a portfolio can give a sense of charisma." Candidates "are not using platforms like TikTok as much as they could be," she added.
Post-pandemic hybrid work means "you have to be an exceptional creative leader who can think of ways to keep your team inspired and motivated – and do the best work possible in a remote setting."
Traci Shepherd, executive vice president, executive director/talent, BBH Global
BBH Global
Publicis agency BBH Global values "being a storyteller, and understanding how to apply that storytelling to your creativity in exciting, new, inventive ways," Shepherd told Insider about its candidates. Regardless of what 2023 holds, "that's not going to change, or at least for me," she said.
Shepherd, whose team onboards hundreds of candidates annually, believes "the best way to find them is not necessarily through LinkedIn, though it's a great tool. I prefer to go down rabbit holes of social media, reading about a piece of work and seeing who created it, and researching that person," she said.
Young candidates especially need to show they're authentic and feature their best work, Shepherd said. "Candidates should bring their authentic selves to work, and recruiters should celebrate that versus a robotic sense of professionalism. I like to see personality when we're having a conversation and interviewing."
Tony Stanol, president, Global Recruiters of Sarasota
Global Recruiters of Sarasota
In today's market, "the fundamentals of job search are important to keep in mind," Stanol told Insider.
Among his tips: "Make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and chock-full of quantifiable accomplishments. Don't be afraid to load up every relevant keyword that pertains to you." And make a "hit list" of "target organizations you'd like to work at. Research them. Who do you know there? Follow them on LinkedIn and other social media."
And while Stanol said tech "has been stricken with layoffs as a result of decreased demand post-pandemic, I'm seeing robust hiring in all things digital in agencies. Search, social and omnichannel experience and skills are in demand. Pharma advertising powered through the pandemic and continues to thrive today – some call it recession-proof."
Gary Stolkin, global chairman and CEO, The Talent Business
The Talent Business
The economic downturn "has emboldened employers to get people back in the office, so we're seeing a shift in power from employees to employers," said Stolkin, whose firm focuses on senior-level talent for "major agency holding companies and leading tech platforms."
Tough times also mean strong demand "for senior talent across all disciplines that has experience of leading business & digital transformation, that understands the pivot required from the traditional agency model to produce high quality content at scale and at speed, and that's comfortable operating at the intersection of creativity, data & tech," Stolkin told Insider.
Candidates can "future-proof" their careers by "expanding their skill sets," Stolkin said. "Make a career move that enables you to get experience in digital transformation and content, and adds those skills to traditional brand experience."
Barbara Tejada, owner and recruiter, Mighty Recruiting
Mighty Recruiting
Tejada, who founded Mighty Recruiting in 2013, told Insider that the challenging economic client will actually boost some marcomm specializations. "I think we will see digital, content and social media continue to press forward as budgets potentially get cut on larger TV/traditional campaigns. Data-focused, consumer-based marketing has done very well recently," she said.
"Don't be afraid to work for a company that knows how to work and create with data and strategic thinking. Digging into data and your consumers habits does not have to be the death of creativity," Tejada counseled.
She advised candidates to "know what you are looking for and what you are open to. Fully remote? Hybrid? What salary and title make sense for you? What kind of work do you want to be doing? Know what your parameters are. If you find the job you are looking for right away, great. If not, be patient. Companies are still hiring, just not as much as before. Your perfect job may not be out there on day one of your search, but there are still good roles available."
Features Recruiters Digital Advertising | 2022-12-29T15:51:30Z | www.businessinsider.com | Meet the 14 Top Ad Industry Recruiters | https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-14-top-ad-industry-recruiters-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-14-top-ad-industry-recruiters-2022-12 |
The iPhone doesn't have a proper split-screen feature — but there are other built-in, multi-window options
The iPhone lacks a split screen feature comparable to the iPad's.
You can't split the iPhone screen to show two apps at the same time like you can on an iPad.
But you can use Picture-in-Picture mode to overlay a video on a different app.
It's also possible to quickly switch between recently opened apps by swiping up from the very bottom of the screen.
For many people, being able to split your screen is the very foundation of productivity, and the ability to display different apps on either side of the screen has been available on the desktop for decades.
The iPhone doesn't have a proper split-screen feature
While you can properly split the screen on an iPad and even some Android phones, a traditional, full-featured split screen isn't an option for the iPhone.
All is not lost, though; you still have some options that give you some multi-window flexibility.
How to use Picture-in-Picture mode on an iPhone
The iPhone might not allow you to split the screen between any two random apps, but you can display a floating video window over another app with Picture-in-Picture mode, so you can continue watching a YouTube video, for example, while reading a webpage in Safari or while working in Google Docs. The only requirement is that your iPhone needs to be running iOS 14 or later.
To get started, make sure that the Picture-in-Picture mode is enabled. Start the Settings app, tap General, and then tap Picture in Picture. Make sure Start PiP Automatically is enabled by swiping the button to the right.
If PiP doesn’t work, it’s probably because you haven’t enabled it in Settings.
Now you can start any Picture-in-Picture-compatible app and start a video. If you close the app, the video will continue playing in a smaller overlay window, which will appear on top of any other app you start. Many video players now support iOS's PiP mode, including YouTube, Netflix, Apple TV, and numerous others.
How to fast-switch between apps on the iPhone
It would be great to be able to position two apps side-by-side on the same screen on your iPhone, but if you really need that, consider using an iPad. Even so, you can use fast app switching to rapidly alternate between iPhone apps you've recently used.
To do that, simply swipe up at the very bottom of the screen. Each swipe to the right and left from this screen cycles through a different recently opened app. If you are flipping through apps you don't want to see, you can close unwanted apps to make fast-switching more efficient and convenient.
Swipe up from the very bottom of the screen and swipe horizontally to quickly switch among apps.
TECH How to do split screen on your iPad and multitask with Split View
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TECH How to add and customize widgets on iPhone to quickly access info from apps
TECH How to change your iPhone wallpaper, and set different images for your home and lock screens
split screen Picture in picture iPhone | 2022-12-29T17:27:29Z | www.businessinsider.com | The iPhone Doesn't Have Split Screen: Other Multi-Window Options | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/split-screen-iphone | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/split-screen-iphone |
Hooters dispels rumors that it's shutting down and rebranding in response to study that claims millennials 'aren't that into boobs'
Hooters is denying rumors of a shutdown.
Gil Cohen Magen/Reuters
A viral tweet falsely claimed Hooters is shutting down and rebranding to appeal to millennials.
The tweet appeared to cite information from a study reported in a 2017 article published by Insider.
"There is no validity to this story," Hooters of America said in a statement shared with Insider. "Our concept is here to stay."
Ignore the rumors. Hooters is here to stay.
The restaurant chain dispelled murmurs that it plans to shutter and relaunch as a more millennial-friendly brand, after a viral tweet surfaced Wednesday stating otherwise.
"There is no validity to this story," Hooters of America said in a statement shared with Insider. "Guests are enjoying this week's televised sports events at our restaurants across the country and around the world in record numbers, accompanied by craveable menu items, cold beer and iconic hospitality. Our concept is here to stay."
The tweet — posted by Daily Loud, a website focused on hip-hop and viral news — claimed Hooters "was shutting down and 'rebranding' after a new study found that millennials 'aren't that into boobs.'" It now has more than 31 million views.
Hooters' official account also tweeted a response Wednesday debunking the claims.
—Hootie (@Hooters) December 28, 2022
The 2017 study by Pornhub found younger people were less likely to search for breasts on pornography websites. It noted that the research was part of a larger trend of millennials being less inclined to visit "breastaurants" like Hooters and Twin Peaks compared to older generations.
The Insider story about the study added context about declining foot traffic and slumping sales at Hooters, which led to a period of closures between 2012 and 2016, and prompted a strategy shift that included a menu redesign and new decor intended to appeal to a wider millennial and female audience.
In 2017, Hooters opened a fast-casual spinoff chain called Hoots, designed to attract consumers looking to pick up food on-the-go, where employees "dress more modestly" than at traditional Hooters locations, Restaurant Business Online reported.
Hooters girls posing for a picture.
Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
In 2019, Hooters was sold to Nord Bay Capital and TriArtisan Capital Advisors, in a deal former Hooters CEO Terry Marks said at the time "comes at an ideal time for the company, bringing fresh partners with complementary skills and experience to support our next phase of growth to the benefit of all our employees, franchisees and customers."
The company made headlines in 2021 after several employees pushed back against new revealing uniforms that included shorts so skimpy they described them as "like underwear." After a series of viral TikTok videos shared by staffers, Hooters adjusted its policy to make the new uniforms optional.
In March 2022, the company closed on a $70 million, five-year loan, intended to be used "for working capital and general corporate purposes" according to a press release.
Restaurants Hooters Retail | 2022-12-29T17:27:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | Hooters Dispels Rumors That It's Shutting Down and Rebranding | https://www.businessinsider.com/hooters-dispels-shutting-down-rebranding-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/hooters-dispels-shutting-down-rebranding-2022-12 |
An old boss told me to put 100% of my year-end bonus in a retirement account. 6 years later, I regret following that advice.
When I was in my 20s, a former boss told me to invest my full annual bonus for retirement.
I followed his advice, but I didn't realize that financial advice isn't one-size-fits-all.
I wish I had used some of that money to get out of debt, prioritize other goals, and reward myself for working hard that year.
Before I became self-employed, there was one time of year where I genuinely looked forward to meeting with my boss: when he'd give me my annual review and year-end bonus. Every year, I had a list of how I would use the extra cash, which included a healthy mix of saving and spending.
But my last year working a full-time job for an employer, at age 26, my boss told me it would be smart to invest 100% of the money into my retirement account. He was nearing retirement age and wished he had made smarter moves with his money earlier in life. Rather than spend the cash, he suggested I deposit it all into my 401k, which I had only opened the year before.
Because he made me feel behind on my retirement plan, I took his advice. Years later, it's one of my biggest regrets. Here are the three reasons I wish I didn't follow his advice.
1. I ignored some of my other financial goals
At 26, my finances were a complete mess. Not only did I have credit card debt, but I didn't have any type of financial stability. Saving for retirement was just one of the many things I hadn't really started doing.
On my financial goal list, at the time, were things like creating an emergency fund, investing in stocks, bonds, and index funds, as well as starting to get better at budgeting so that I wasn't spending more than I was saving.
Because my finances weren't in a good place, it was a reckless decision to take my entire bonus and put it toward just one financial goal, especially one that wouldn't benefit me until many years in the future.
2. I could have used the cash to keep me out of debt
Since that bonus, which was a few thousand dollars, showed up in my final paycheck of the year, I wish I had kept the money handy to help me start off a new year with an influx of cash.
At the time, I wasn't able to save very much of my paycheck every month, since I was living in New York City and my expenses were high. If I had kept even 50% of the money, I could have used it to avoid taking on credit card debt throughout the next year (which I had a history of doing), and to pay off current credit card debt that I had lingering from that year. I would have been able to pad my budget with more than enough money to pay my monthly expenses, at least for the first few months.
I also didn't factor in how much I'd have to pay in taxes for that year. Even though the bonus was put into a tax-deferred retirement account, I could have used a portion of it to help pay off the rest of my tax bill.
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3. It didn't leave me with any fun money
One of the reasons I received a big bonus that year was because of my strong performance at work. I was often putting in 60 hours a week in the office and spending weekends going to work events or staying plugged in so I could answer any emails that came in.
I didn't have much of a work-life balance, and receiving that bonus felt like a nice and well-deserved reward. I wish I had taken a portion of that money and used it for something that I wanted or would have enjoyed doing, after a long work year. I could have used it for a weekend trip, a fun activity, or even to invest in a new hobby for the new year.
Instead, I just invested it in my retirement account and didn't use a penny of it for anything else.
Looking back, my boss didn't know about my financial situation. His recommendation was just based on his experience and his mistakes. I took his advice as if it was one-size-fits-all, and no financial advice can ever be taken that way. It was a costly lesson to learn and I still think about it, even six years later.
PERSONAL FINANCE I did a year-end inventory on my finances and 4 mistakes cost me the most money
Retirement Personal Finance Insider PFI Freelance | 2022-12-29T17:27:47Z | www.businessinsider.com | 3 Reasons I Regret Investing My Whole Annual Bonus for Retirement | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/invest-annual-bonus-retirement-regrets-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/invest-annual-bonus-retirement-regrets-2022-12 |
Don't panic over holiday spending
After a holiday splurge, you can get your spending back on track.
Here's what: Don't panic over holiday spending
The holidays are such a fun time of year, but it goes without saying that they can come with a hefty cost. It's so easy to overspend and get off track with your budget and financial goals between dinners and parties, holiday planning and gift-giving.
And even if you carefully laid out a holiday budget ahead of time, unexpected costs can add up quickly. But there is good news: You can revisit your financial goals and get back on track. Here's how to recover:
Decide how you will get back on track
Get back to your regular budget and everyday spending habits as soon as you can. It might be tempting to throw in the towel on your budget for a few extra weeks and delay getting on top of the extra spending that crept in during the holidays, but there is no better time than now to make changes for the better.
Open up all of your holiday bills and take a look at the damage. You may not like what you see, but it's the only way to know how much you will need to recover. Also, in the holiday rush there may have been everyday expenses that were sidelined, so you need to see the complete picture to determine what you need to get back on track.
Sit down with your bills, be very detailed and figure out exactly what you need to pay it off and when. Set concrete numbers and deadlines.
Decide what changes need to be made for next year
While going through your budget and bills, you may have noticed expenses and purchases that were higher than normal or that shouldn't be a part of your budget at all. Decide what needs to be different for next year and what cuts can be made and be sure to document your budget changes in a notebook, on a budgeting app on your phone, or in a journal so you can refer to it as needed.
Don't be too hard on yourself
Holding onto guilt about splurging, especially after the holidays, can be a unhealthy cycle. At this point, what's done is done and what's spent is spent. Remember that whatever you spent over the holidays most likely resulted in memories, family traditions, and celebrating the season with loved ones.
Instead of feeling guilty about going off budget, think about how much you appreciated and enjoyed the holiday experiences and memories you made and put that energy into being determined to recover — because you can.
_ Jennifer Streaks, Senior Personal Finance Reporter
I'm on track to retire wealthy, but there are still 4 money lessons I wish I'd learned before 40
From increasing your earnings to the magic of compound interest, Holly Johnson discusses the four money lessons she wished she had learned before 40.
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This is a good list to have for the holiday season and also covers online banking transactions.
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Ready to get your finances on track in the new year? These top personal finance books can help.
Heading into the new year, look closely at how you are spending your money and maybe wait to purchase these items.
Newsletter PFI Newsletter Personal Finance Insider | 2022-12-29T17:27:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | Don't Panic Over Holiday Spending: How to Get Back on Track | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/pfi-newsletter-dont-panic-over-holiday-spending-2022-12 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/pfi-newsletter-dont-panic-over-holiday-spending-2022-12 |
What do pet insurance policies cover?
Types of pet insurance and what each covers
In general, pet insurance covers accidents and illnesses. But you can also get routine care covered for an extra fee.
Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez/Getty
Pet insurance can offset the costs of emergency veterinary care and treatment.
It works on a reimbursement model where you pay the vet and file a claim with your insurer to get repaid.
There are several types of pet insurance policies, and most exclude pre-existing conditions.
Pet insurance can help you with the costs of caring for your dog or cat. If they're hurt, sick, or otherwise need medical care, your policy can kick in and help you shoulder the cost.
But pet insurance, just like insurance for humans, varies quite a bit from one policy to the next. Not all medical services are covered by every policy, and in some cases, certain conditions may be excluded entirely. Understanding what different pet insurance policies cover can help you choose the best one for your furry friend and your budget.
Most basic pet insurance plans cover accidents and injuries, meaning if your dog breaks a bone or is hit by a car, your insurance company would cover some or all of the costs of diagnosis and treatment.
"There are many pet insurance plans you can choose from, each with its own coverage," says Yoni Kiehl, founder and president of pet insurance company Animalia. "You can choose the one which best suits you and your pet's needs."
However, most pet insurance policies exclude pre-existing conditions, so if your pet has a health issue before you apply for coverage, your plan won't cover the costs of treating or managing it — or treating or managing a new illness that was caused by the pre-existing condition. Other pet insurers exclude certain breeds altogether, as they're more prone to health conditions.
Quick tip: Many pet insurers offer customizable coverage, so you can choose a plan, add additional coverages as needed, and even adjust the deductible, coverage limits, and other details to fit your budget and needs.
Most pet insurance companies offer several tiers of coverage, including a basic, accident-only plan, and a more comprehensive option. Many also offer additional, low-cost wellness packages that provide extra coverage for annual check-ups and preventive care.
Accident-only
Accident-only plans cover your pet if they experience an unexpected injury, like breaking a bone or ingesting a toxin. They don't cover illnesses or diseases that may arise, nor do they extend to behavioral issues or hereditary conditions.
Here's a look at some common issues an accident-only plan would cover:
Bite wounds
Foreign object ingestion
Toxin ingestion and poisoning
Bee stings
If you have accident-only coverage, your policy should cover X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, laboratory testing, and ultrasounds to diagnose the issue, as well as medications, emergency care, surgery, and hospitalization to treat it.
Accident and illness
With accident and illness coverage — also known as comprehensive coverage — you get all of the above, plus coverage for illness, disease, and other health conditions.
Intervertebral disc disease (IVDD)
This type of plan will also often cover behavioral therapy, emergency dental care, care from specialists, and sometimes even alternative therapies and complementary treatments, like acupuncture.
"Most pet owners select accident and illness plans, as they provide comprehensive coverage," says Kari Steere, a licensed insurance agent at Pawlicy Advisor, a pet insurance comparison site.
Wellness plan add-on
Wellness plans cover routine healthcare and preventive treatments. Unlike the traditional plans, these add-on packages cover the costs you can regularly expect as a pet owner — not just sudden ones.
Examples of wellness plan coverages include:
Annual exams
Flea and tick preventatives
Routine blood and fecal tests
Cremation and burial
Wellness add-ons typically come with a maximum annual coverage amount or per category reimbursement limit. With Embrace pet insurance, for example, you get a $250 to $650 allowance per year.
Important: To be eligible for pet insurance, your pet usually needs to be between six weeks and 14 years old. Older pets are generally more expensive to insure.
Unlike human health insurance plans, when you have a pet insurance policy, your insurer and veterinarian won't communicate directly. Instead, you'll be responsible for paying the bill at the time of service and then filing a claim with your insurance company to get reimbursed.
"Most pet insurance policies work off a reimbursement model, which means you don't have to worry about being in-network," says Steere. "You'll pay a monthly or annual premium to maintain coverage, as well as a deductible before your reimbursement rate kicks in."
As Steere mentioned, pet insurance policies usually have a deductible. These policies also have a reimbursement rate, coverage limits, and a waiting period. Here's what each of those mean in the context of pet insurance:
Waiting period: The waiting period is the time between activating your pet insurance policy and becoming eligible for coverage. With Lemonade, for example, the waiting period is between two days and six months, depending on the health condition. At Animalia, it's just five days (or 30 for cancer coverage).
Deductible: Your deductible is how much you're responsible for paying out of pocket before insurance pays anything. This typically ranges from $100 to $500.
Reimbursement rate: This is how much of each claim your insurer will pay. An 80% reimbursement rate, for example, would pay 80% of the bill on a covered service (after you've met your deductible).
Policy limits/coverage amount: Your policy limit is the maximum your insurer will pay for covered services across your coverage period (usually a calendar year). Some insurers don't have coverage limits.
Because pet insurance policies are reimbursement plans, you'll want to make sure you have some way to pay unexpected veterinary bills up front, as there may be some time between submitting your claim and receiving reimbursement.
"If clients are interested in pet insurance, I recommend that they also find another financing option, like CareCredit or a credit card solely for the pet, in addition to the insurance," says Thomas Dock, director of communications at Noah's Animal Hospitals in Indiana.
"Then, if a major illness or injury happens to their pet, they can use CareCredit or the other card to pay the veterinarian, [and] submit their claim to insurance," Dock says. "In many cases, the reimbursement check is sent from the pet insurance company in time to pay off the credit card or CareCredit before interest starts accruing."
Quick tip: If you're considering pet insurance, get quotes for your pet from a few different insurance companies, as costs can vary widely. Make sure each quote has a similar deductible, coinsurance, and policy limit so you're comparing apples to apples.
Pet insurance may be worth it for many pet owners. The right choice, and right type of policy, will largely depend on your emergency fund and budget. Do you have enough to cover unexpected veterinary bills if your pet is hurt or becomes ill? Could you foot the bill for a life-saving treatment if it became necessary? If not, having pet insurance may offer a much-needed safety net.
For reference, the cost of radiation therapy for a dog with cancer is between $2,500 and $7,000. Even less serious conditions like a broken bone can cost thousands of dollars.
"Having pet health insurance can help avoid any decisions on whether someone can afford the treatment their dog or cat needs to live their best life," says Sean Burgess, chief claims officer at Lemonade.
The breed, age, and overall health of your pet should also play a role in your decision to get pet insurance.
"Having the right pet insurance can provide valuable peace of mind, especially for pets whose breed is known to be predisposed to certain hereditary disorders," Steere says. But it's not meant to be a "last-minute respite from known upcoming costs," she adds, so if your pet is already sick or injured, it may not help.
PERSONAL FINANCE 3 questions I'm glad I asked myself before buying pet insurance | 2022-12-29T17:27:59Z | www.businessinsider.com | What Does Pet Insurance Cover? Examples & How It Works | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/what-does-pet-insurance-cover | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/what-does-pet-insurance-cover |
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