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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wearing an M-TAC fleece at a press conference.
People have been trying to buy the M-TAC zip-up fleece worn by the Ukrainian president.
Stocks of the jacket are unlikely to be replenished until the war is over, the company told Insider.
One of Zelensky's own M-TAC fleeces was auctioned at a London fundraiser for $110,000.
While Vladimir Putin dons designer garb with exorbitant price tags, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky buys clothes where "normal" people shop, said Taras Rudnytskyi.
The Ukrainian manager runs the US operations of M-TAC, the company behind one of the signature olive green fleece jackets the Ukrainian leader has been sporting since Russia invaded his country.
Demand for the zip-up jacket soared since the conflict began, Rudnytskyi told Insider, and he's been fielding queries from people all over the world wanting to buy one ever since. "The demand for [the fleece] is very high," he said.
The company makes the fleece entirely in Ukraine, but it focused on producing solely for the country's military after the war began, meaning stocks soon ran out.
"We hope to restock it someday, maybe after our victory," Rudnytskyi said, adding that hostilities have made it difficult to continue any type of production. "Right now it's impossible."
Zelensky has frequently been pictured wearing an M-TAC fleece throughout the conflict, such as during his meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in April. The item also frequently features in his televised addresses to Ukraine and the rest of the world.
Zelensky sported the jacket when he met House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her visit to Kyiv in late April.
Zelensky's leadership during the invasion has attracted praise from Ukrainians and international supporters alike.
"Zelensky now is like a rockstar," said Rudnytskyi, saying it explains why people want to dress like him and why there have been so many requests for the fleece.
One of Zelensky's M-TAC jackets that he had signed was auctioned for £90,000 ($110,000) at a May 5 charity fundraiser hosted by the Ukrainian embassy in London.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged attendees to place high bids on the item, with proceeds going to Ukrainian war relief efforts.
—Embassy of Ukraine to the UK (@UkrEmbLondon) May 7, 2022
Demand from Ukrainians for other items made by M-TAC has also risen since the conflict began. Rudnytskyi said its products are practical and functional especially during wartime, which is why the military is also a customer.
More: Zelenskyy War Ukraine Retail | 2022-05-22T07:11:04Z | www.businessinsider.com | Everyone Wants Zelensky's Green Fleece – but It's Out of Stock | https://www.businessinsider.com/zelenskyys-signature-fleece-out-of-stock-due-war-increased-demand-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/zelenskyys-signature-fleece-out-of-stock-due-war-increased-demand-2022-5 |
Tesla says its Autopilot features need "active driver supervision".
A Tesla driver is facing trial on two counts of vehicular manslaughter, Fox Business reported.
The driver had a hand on the steering wheel in the crash in which two people died in 2019.
The Tesla driver was using its Autopilot features when the crash occurred in Los Angeles.
A Tesla driver who had his car on Autopilot in a crash that killed two people will stand trial on two counts of manslaughter in Los Angeles, Fox Business reported.
The fatal accident in 2019 occurred when Kevin George Aziz Riad, 27, was driving a Tesla Model S at 74 mph in Gardena, Los Angeles.
The Tesla driver, who previously pleaded not guilty, will go on trial for vehicular manslaughter. The case may be the first time a driver is facing a court trial for using semi-automated technology in a fatal crash.
Riad's car went through a red light and crashed into a Honda Civic in a collision that killed Gilberto Alcazar Lopez, 40, and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez, 39, the report said.
Prosecutors said the Tesla's Autopilot features including autosteer and traffic aware cruise control were being used when the driver crashed into the Honda.
Six minutes before the collision, no brakes were used, crash data showed. But sensors appeared to show that the driver being tried for manslaughter had a hand on the steering wheel, according to a Tesla engineer who testified.
The driver will now be tried on two counts of vehicular manslaughter, according to a Fox 11 LA report. Riad and a female passenger in the Tesla were treated for injuries in hospital.
A number of car crashes have been recorded while drivers used Tesla Autopilot functions, and the first self-driving-related death was recorded in 2016.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is examining a dozen crashes that involved Tesla drivers using Autopilot features amid scrutiny over its advanced driver-assistance functions.
Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features need "active driver supervision", does not make the car autonomous, and is intended for "fully attentive" drivers, the company says on its website.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
More: Tesla Autopilot transport BI Weekend UK | 2022-05-22T11:40:29Z | www.businessinsider.com | Driver Who Had Tesla on Autopilot in Crash Faces Manslaughter Trial | https://www.businessinsider.com/driver-who-had-tesla-on-autopilot-in-crash-manslaughter-trial-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/driver-who-had-tesla-on-autopilot-in-crash-manslaughter-trial-2022-5 |
VCs are still doubling down on the 'picks and shovels' of Web3 despite billions of dollars lost in the plunging crypto market. Here's why.
Masha Bucher, founder and general partner of Day One Ventures, has invested in Web3 startups such as SuperRare and Worldcoin.
Day One Ventures
VC funding to Web3 startups hit a record early this year even as overall funding slowed.
Investors told Insider that startups focused on Web3 infrastructure will withstand the crypto crash.
VC firms, as a result, are growing their Web3 and crypto practices even in the market downturn.
Though individual cryptocurrency coins and nonfungible tokens may come and go, many investors believe that the future of crypto is still stable and ripe for opportunity.
In the world of Web3 startups, investors have still been partying like it's 1999, despite 30% tumbles in the prices of bitcoin and ethereum over the past month and the collapse of stablecoins TerraUSD and Luna. New startups in the space such as Highlight and Mara are still announcing outsized "mango" rounds.
Investors say there's a good reason why the broader slowdown hasn't hit Web3 nearly as hard. Of roughly a dozen VCs Insider contacted about their Web3 investments, nearly all of them pointed to their focus on the "picks and shovels," or underlying technology supporting other applications.
The fundamental premise of Web3 — a more decentralized version of the internet fueled by crypto that allows users to maintain ownership over their digital assets — is here to stay, said Aaron Holiday, the cofounder and managing partner of 645 Ventures, an early-stage firm that has invested in the Web3 companies Solidus Labs and Cion Digital.
"That part, I believe, is isolated," he added, referring to Web3's "picks and shovels" in contrast to the broader market crash. "But there is going to be material capital that is going to be lost."
Investors told Insider they remain confident in backing the "picks and shovels" of Web3.
Much of the venture capital funding is going to companies building tools for the crypto space at large, such as the security and compliance company, Chainalysis, which recently doubled its valuation to $8.6 billion following a $170 million Series F round. Solidus Labs, which offers crypto risk analysis for financial institutions, announced $45 million in Series B funding earlier this month.
While the overall flow of venture capital into startups slowed in the first quarter of 2022, funding to Web3 companies hit a record high of $9.2 billion over that period, according to CB Insights.
The rise of newer, standalone VC firms devoted to crypto, such as Paradigm and Haun Ventures, which have raised billions of dollars in the past months, has helped keep capital flowing into Web3 startups. But other venture firms have also been moving to beef up their expertise in the area.
Some firms, such as Lux Capital, have in the past few months added investors to their team who are focused on the space, while others, such as Bain Capital Ventures, have launched entire crypto-focused arms. Newer VC firms are devoting significant portions of their portfolio to crypto, too, even if Web3 isn't their sole or primary focus.
For instance, Day One Ventures, a seed-stage firm founded by the investor Masha Bucher, has backed crypto-focused companies such as SuperRare and Worldcoin, and it's even invested a small portion of its funds in NFTs. (The firm's collection includes the popular Bored Apes Yacht Club and CryptoPunks.)
Bucher told Insider that she's seeing Web3 companies continuing to secure funding at robust valuations even now. "The best companies won't have trouble raising," she said — a phrase that's become a mantra among investors over the last few months.
Day One Ventures owns an NFT from the popular collection Bored Apes Yacht Club, but founder Masha Bucher says she personally has slowed down recent purchases.
Some investors are less rattled by the current crypto crash because they've seen it play out before. Mike Duboe, a partner at Greylock, first started investing personally in bitcoin shortly before the infamous collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox in 2014. He's since backed Web3 companies such as Pinata and Magic Eden and has seen several other crypto slides since then.
Yet, he said, the founders of standout Web3 startups have largely managed to withstand the changing market winds.
"A lot of these companies are built by founders who have lived through downturns," Duboe told Insider. "Our conviction is as strong as it's been historically."
Not all investors are completely sanguine. Mo Koyfman, the founder of the VC firm Shine Capital, told Insider he believes that investor appetite for Web3 startups will eventually cool for a while.
Just like the plunge in tech stocks has led to slashed valuations, so too will the slide in cryptocurrencies, he said: "They're all correlated."
Even some crypto bulls have started to tighten their belts. Bucher told Insider she began to taper her personal purchases of NFTs earlier this year.
"We'll be able to buy them at better prices in the next few months," she said. | 2022-05-22T12:29:05Z | www.businessinsider.com | Why VCs Are Still Investing in Web3 Despite the Crypto Market Crash | https://www.businessinsider.com/vc-investing-web3-startups-funding-crypto-market-crash-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/vc-investing-web3-startups-funding-crypto-market-crash-2022-5 |
Ukraine produces 80 million metric tonnes grain each year and accounts for 6% of all food calories traded in the international market. The blockades are driving global hunger to "famine levels," the UN Security Council was told at a session on Thursday.
After failing to take Kyiv, Russian forces are refocusing their efforts on the country's east, including Odesa and Mariupol, which Russia now appears to control after Ukraine withdrew troops and said it had stopped fighting there.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden signed a $40 billion military and humanitarian aid packet for Ukraine, which Zelenskyy thanked the President for in a separate address to Ukrainian citizens Saturday night.
More: Weekend BI UK Ukraine Zelenskyy Russia | 2022-05-22T12:29:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | Zelenskyy: Global Food Crisis If Ukraine Can't Clear Ports | https://www.businessinsider.com/zelenskyy-global-food-crisis-if-ukraine-cant-clear-its-ports-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/zelenskyy-global-food-crisis-if-ukraine-cant-clear-its-ports-2022-5 |
5 steps every 20-something investor should follow to build wealth, according to a financial educator
Before throwing all your money in the market, make sure you have emergency savings.
Financial educator Soledad Fernández Paulino joined Insider for our Re/Thinking Re/Tirement Instagram Live event.
An attendee asked how they should be investing in their early 20s.
An employer retirement account is a good place to start, followed by a Roth IRA and brokerage account.
For many 20-somethings, retirement is the last thing on their minds. But starting to invest early can set you up for financial success — especially if you want to retire early.
On Monday, Insider hosted an Instagram Live event focused on early retirement with Soledad Fernández Paulino, a financial educator and founder of the blog Wealth Para Todos. During the Re/Thinking Re/Tirement event, an attendee asked, "What is the best way to invest in my early 20s? Is there a particular formula for it?"
Fernández Paulino provided a step-by-step method for investing in your 20s so you can be financially prepared for your future.
1. Build a solid emergency fund
"Before you start really investing aggressively, you want to make sure that you have an emergency fund. You want to have access to cash reserves," Fernández Paulino said.
An emergency fund is money that you only tap into when you face an emergency, such as a job loss, large medical bill, or unexpected car repair. You don't need to completely hold off on investing until you have an emergency fund — you just may not want to put all of your extra money into investments quite yet.
Traditionally, experts have advised that you keep three to six months of necessary expenses in an emergency fund. But some people prefer to set aside even more for a rainy day, maybe a year's worth of expenses.
"It depends on the financial security that you have in your life," said Fernández Paulino. If you think you could find another job easily should you be laid off, you may only need a few months' expenses in your emergency fund. But you may want more cash reserves if you think it would be hard to find a job quickly, or if you have kids or other dependents who rely on you financially.
2. Pay off high-interest debt
Once you have an emergency fund, there's one more important step before kicking your investment strategy into high gear: Paying down any high-interest debts. Fernández Paulino said they consider "high interest" to be anything that charges over 9% APR.
You might not need to put extra money toward your federal student loans or mortgage, which tend to charge lower interest rates. But credit cards and personal loans might be worth paying down sooner, because they could charge higher rates than you'd earn by investing in the stock market.
3. Find out if you have an employer retirement account
The first step in investing should be contributing to an employer retirement account, if your company offers one. This could be a 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b), for example.
Fernández Paulino said this is an especially useful first step if your employer offers a match. For example, the company might contribute 100% of what you contribute, up to 3% of your paycheck. This way, you're basically receiving free money toward retirement.
4. Explore a Roth IRA
Next, you can look into opening a Roth IRA. With a Roth IRA, you pay taxes on the money you contribute now so you don't have to pay taxes when you withdraw cash later. Other accounts, such as traditional IRAs, don't require you to pay taxes now, but you'll pay when you take out money.
Roth IRAs are often good accounts for young people, because you're probably in a lower tax bracket now than you will be later in life. It could ultimately cost you less to pay taxes now.
5. Finally, open a taxable brokerage account
"If you still have the extra cash flow and you know you want to retire before the age of 59.5, you're also going to want to open up a taxable brokerage account," said Fernández Paulino.
Taxable brokerage accounts don't offer the same tax benefits as Roth or traditional IRAs, but there are no rules about when you can take out money. So if you want to retire early, a taxable brokerage account makes it easy to access your money.
PERSONAL FINANCE Traditional IRA vs. Roth IRA: What's the difference?
More: Investing Retirement Early retirement Roth IRA | 2022-05-22T14:12:51Z | www.businessinsider.com | What's the Best Way to Invest in My Early 20s? an Expert Gives 5 Steps | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-way-to-invest-in-early-20s-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-way-to-invest-in-early-20s-2022-5 |
Elon Musk said the Biden administration "has done everything it can" to "sideline" Tesla.
The businessman's comments came in a series of tweets with former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau.
Musk said he would start backing the GOP after supporting Democrats in the past.
"In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party," he tweeted. "But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican. Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold."
Favreau on Friday took issue with Musk's characterization and issued a sharp rebuke to the businessman over his political change of heart.
"Hey man, if you want to support a bunch of electric vehicle-hating climate deniers, that's on you," he wrote. "Not sure it helps the cause that you and your team have dedicated much of your lives to, but I guess you'll get some attention on Twitter, so there's that!"
The automotive executive, who is currently engaged in a bid to buy Twitter for $44 billion, responded to Favreau while also taking a swipe at President Joe Biden's administration.
"Hi Jon! You're a good dude, but obv die-hard Dem, so have to support the party, but this Administration has done everything it can to sideline & ignore Tesla, even though we have made twice as many EVs as rest of US industry combined," he said.
Favreau responded: "I know you're mad that the guy who was part of a White House that made Tesla possible isn't giving Tesla enough love now, but supporting climate-denying MAGA politicians who want to overturn elections isn't the answer. You're much closer to Dems on climate and I hope democracy."
Musk replied: "I've just switched from moderate D to moderate R, as I think many independent voters have done. We will know the magnitude of this trend in November. I think it's big."
After Biden took office in January 2021, Musk told Fortune he was enthusiastic about the administration's push to tackle the climate crisis.
"I'm super fired up that the new administration is focused on climate," he said at the time.
But over time, Musk began to needle Biden for not including Tesla in his push for electric-vehicle manufacturing throughout the country. Earlier this year, a Change.org petition was even launched to push the president to say "Tesla" and include the company in his long-term vision for electric vehicles.
Then, in a February speech, Biden acknowledged Tesla as the country's "largest electric-vehicle manufacturer."
"Since 2021, companies have announced investments totaling more than $200 billion in domestic manufacturing here in America," the president said at the time. "From iconic companies like GM and Ford building out new electric-vehicle production to Tesla, our nation's largest electric-vehicle manufacturer, to innovative, younger companies like Rivian building electric trucks or Proterra building electric buses."
More: Elon Musk Joe Biden Jon Favreau Tesla | 2022-05-22T14:47:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | Elon Musk: Biden Administration 'Has Done Everything It Can' to 'Ignore' Tesla | https://www.businessinsider.com/musk-biden-tesla-electric-vehicles-political-switch-gop-twitter-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/musk-biden-tesla-electric-vehicles-political-switch-gop-twitter-2022-5 |
The Miami Herald reported that Hussain Sajwani's DAMAC Properties had paid $120 million for the site.
Plot where 98 people died when Miami condo collapsed has been bought by a Trump associate.
Hussain Sajwani, who owns Dubai-based DAMAC Properties, bought the land for $120 million.
The families of the victims will receive the proceeds of the sale as part of a $1 billion settlement.
Sajwani designed two Trump-branded golf courses in Dubai and has partnerships with Versace and Fendi.
Trump turned down a $2 billion real-estate business deal with Sajwani in 2018 because he didn't want to be perceived as taking advantage of the presidency.
A DAMAC spokesperson previously told the Miami Herald that Sajwani plans to build an super-luxury condo building. The company didn't immediately respond when contacted by Insider for comment.
Champlain Towers collapsed on June 24 last year, killing 98 people.
The families of the condo collapse's victims reached a settlement worth nearly $1 billion this month, after a wrongful death lawsuit targeted the engineering firm that identified structural issues and warned about them, the building's insurer, and nearby developers.
A November investigation found the fire alarms didn't sound before the building collapsed, which would have given residents seven minutes to escape.
"While nothing can take away the pain or suffering, we are happy that we are moving forward with this successful purchaser to help bring closure for everyone," Fay told the Miami Herald.
More: Weekend BI UK Trump Hussain Sajwani surfside condo | 2022-05-22T14:47:30Z | www.businessinsider.com | Surfside Condo Site Sold to Trump Business Partner for $120 Million | https://www.businessinsider.com/surfside-condo-site-sold-to-trump-business-partner-120-million-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/surfside-condo-site-sold-to-trump-business-partner-120-million-2022-5 |
Department of Defense // U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 721st Aerial Port Squadron load a pallet of Nestlé infant formula onto a C-17Globemaster lll aircraft assigned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, May 22,2022. The President of the United States launched Operation Fly Formula to speed up the import of infant formula from Europe to the United States due to critical shortages there. These formulas have been prioritized because they serve a critical medical purpose and are in short supply in the United States because of the Abbott Sturgis plant closure.
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman1st Class Jared Lovett
The first import of baby formula as part of Operation Fly Formula just arrived in the US.
A military cargo plane carrying more than 70,000 pounds of formula touched down in Indiana on Sunday.
Parents in the US have struggled with a massive formula shortage caused by supply chain challenges and product recalls.
Operation Fly Formula's first shipment of baby formula has officially arrived in the US.
A military cargo plane carrying 78,000 pounds of infant formula touched down in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday, part of an effort launched by the Biden administration to mitigate the nationwide shortage. The formula came from Switzerland and was first transported to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where it was then flown to Indiana.
FedEx will move the formula to a Nestle distribution center nearby for a standard quality control check before it is distributed to hospitals, pharmacies, and doctor's offices, an administration official onsite said, according to the Associated Press.
President Biden launched Operation Fly Formula earlier this week to fast track the import of infant formula and get the product back on store shelves amid a dire formula scarcity in the US. The shortage, caused in part by supply chain challenges and product recalls, worsened last month prompting some families to take extreme measures.
While some more affluent parents resorted to purchasing formula on black market forums at a significant markup, others sought out substitutes or attempted to make their own homemade formula. Doctors have strongly discouraged these alternatives, noting that formula must adhere to specific standards to ensure proper digestion.
The shortage has also led to hospitalizations around the nation, as infants struggle with malnutrition. On Saturday, local outlets reported that four babies are seeking treatment at the Medical University of South Carolina for nutritional deficiencies related to the formula shortage.
Out-of-stock rates for formula reached 40% at US retailers by the end of April, up from 31% at the start of the month, according to grocery price tracking service Datasembly.
In total, Operation Fly Formula shipments will transport the equivalent of up to 1.5 million eight-ounce bottles of three Nestlé formulas: Alfamino Infant, Alfamino Junior, and Gerber Good Start Extensive HA. The products are all hypoallergenic formulas for children with cow's milk protein allergies.
According to The White House, these formulas are being prioritized because "they serve a critical medical purpose and are in short supply in the United States because of the Abbott Sturgis plant closure."
Sunday's shipment included 132 pallets of Alfamino Infant and Alfamino Junior, and 114 pallets of Gerber Good Start Extensive HA are expected to reach the US in the coming days.
Along with Operation Fly Formula, President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act earlier this week to ramp up domestic production of baby formula.
"We're proud to be able to make a difference in the lives of children and their parents and caregivers who are struggling to find formula right now due to the recent shortage," Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said in a statement. "While more is on the way, our hope is that this progress gives concerned parents a little more comfort to know we are committed to doing all we can to support them during this time."
More: Baby formula Infant Formula Parenting Nestle | 2022-05-22T19:05:21Z | www.businessinsider.com | First Shipment of Baby Formula Arrives in US Via Operation Fly Formula | https://www.businessinsider.com/operation-fly-formula-78000-pounds-infant-formula-arrives-us-indiana-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/operation-fly-formula-78000-pounds-infant-formula-arrives-us-indiana-2022-5 |
Herschel Walker speaks at a September 2021 Trump rally in Georgia.
Herschel Walker on Wednesday said he supports a total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.
"There's no exception in my mind," Walker said. "Like I say, I believe in life. I believe in life."
The Georgia primary takes place on Tuesday with Trump-backed Walker ahead in the polls.
Following a campaign event on Wednesday, Georgia GOP candidate for Senate Herschel Walker said he supports a total abortion ban with no exception for rape, incest, or the health of the mother.
"There's no exception in my mind," Walker said after a campaign speech, The Hill reported. "Like I say, I believe in life. I believe in life."
Walker's campaign confirmed to The Hill the former professional football player turned politician "is pro-life and will not apologize for that."
The Georgia state primary election is set to take place Tuesday, with Herschel, a Trump-endorsed GOP candidate, leading in the polls and likely to secure the Republican nomination for Senate. Should he secure the nomination, Walker will face off against incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in November.
Walker's campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
More: Abortion Roe v Wade Herschel Walker GOP | 2022-05-22T22:15:39Z | www.businessinsider.com | Herschel Walker Supports Total Abortion Ban: 'There's No Exception in My Mind' | https://www.businessinsider.com/herschel-walker-supports-total-abortion-ban-no-exception-georgia-senate-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/herschel-walker-supports-total-abortion-ban-no-exception-georgia-senate-2022-5 |
Mark Humphrey, File/Associated Press
A new report details decades of sexual abuse cover up by the Southern Baptist Convention.
The report found SBC leaders kept a secret list of sex offenders and dismissed victims.
With 13 million members, the SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the US.
An independent investigation released by the Southern Baptist Convention on Sunday found leaders covered up or ignored sexual abuse allegations and treated victims with hostility for decades.
The nearly 300-page bombshell report, which was ordered by the 13-million-member SBC, sent shockwaves through the largest Protestant denomination in the US.
The investigation found survivors and other Southern Baptists reported child molesters and abusers who were in the pulpit or church employees to SBC leadership "only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility."
The report outlined specific sexual abuse allegations and the response of leaders, finding that a few senior leaders on the SBC Executive Committee and outside counsel determined how reports of abuse were handled. The report said they were "singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC."
The report also found that SBC leaders lied about a database of offenders. They had said the church could not maintain such a database due to how the SBC operated, despite calls for one to prevent future abuse. However, SBC leaders secretly kept their own list, according to the report.
Russell Moore, a prominent evangelical and former president of the SBC's policy arm, wrote in Christianity Today on Sunday that "the investigation uncovers a reality far more evil and systemic than I imagined it could be."
Moore, who departed the SBC last year, wrote that even though he had called for such an investigation the extent of the report's findings shook him.
The third-party firm that conducted the investigation, Guidepost Solutions, recommended that SBC create an online database of abusers, establish a unit focused on sexual abuse, compensate survivors, and limit non-disclosure agreements.
More: southern baptist convention Sexual Abuse Clergy | 2022-05-22T23:43:40Z | www.businessinsider.com | Southern Baptist Leaders Covered up Clergy Sex Abuse: Bombshell Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/southern-baptist-leaders-covered-up-clergy-sex-abuse-bombshell-report-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/southern-baptist-leaders-covered-up-clergy-sex-abuse-bombshell-report-2022-5 |
Food prices around the world are soaring.
The surge in billionaires' fortunes comes as food and energy companies post record-high profits amid the pandemic, "even as wages have barely budged and workers struggle with decades-high prices," the UK-based nonprofit wrote in its latest report, released Monday.
"Five of the largest energy companies (BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, Exxon and Chevron) are together making $2,600 profit every second, and there are now 62 new food billionaires," according to Oxfam calculations.
The US Consumer Price Index — a measure of the country's price growth — climbed 8.3% in the year through April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the pace of inflation slowed in April, it was still around the four-decade high of 8.5% in March.
Monopolies "are especially common" in the energy, food, and pharma sectors, contributing to a rise in billionaire fortunes, Oxfam wrote.
"Together with just three other companies, the Cargill family controls 70 percent of the global agricultural market," the non-profit wrote. Oxfam did not name the three other companies, but world's dominant food companies are known in the industry as the "ABCD" quartet after their initials: Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus.
The Cargill-MacMillan clan, which owns the business, has also gotten richer. The family now has 12 billionaires, up from eight before the pandemic, according to Oxfam's report, which uses the Forbes Billionaires List from various years.
'Profiting from pain and suffering'
As the super-rich get even wealthier, "millions of others are skipping meals, turning off the heating, falling behind on bills and wondering what they can possibly do next to survive," Gabriela Bucher, the executive director of Oxfam International, said in a press release.
"The extremely rich and powerful are profiting from pain and suffering. This is unconscionable," said Bucher.
"Some have grown rich by denying billions of people access to vaccines, others by exploiting rising food and energy prices. They are paying out massive bonuses and dividends while paying as little tax as possible," Bucher added.
Oxfam is calling for permanent wealth taxes on the super-rich and "one-off solidarity taxes on billionaires' pandemic windfalls" that will go into supporting those struggling with energy and food inflation. It also proposed a "temporary excess profit tax" of 90% on the windfall profits of big companies across all industries.
Three groups of wealthy people from Patriotic Millionaires, Patriotic Millionaires UK, and taxmenow echoed Oxfam's call against extreme wealth. In an announcement on Sunday, they called for wealth taxes to narrow inequality and "help deal with the cost of living scandal playing out in multiple nations around the world."
More: Inflation Food Energy Consumer | 2022-05-23T05:57:41Z | www.businessinsider.com | Oxfam: Food, Energy Tycoons Made $1 Billion Every 2 Days During Pandemic | https://www.businessinsider.com/food-energy-billionaires-richer-covid-ukraine-war-inflation-oxfam-inequality-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/food-energy-billionaires-richer-covid-ukraine-war-inflation-oxfam-inequality-2022-5 |
Putin would face a coup if he orders a nuclear strike and is disobeyed, a Bellingcat expert said.
Defying his command would signal insubordination that may lead to "the death of Putin," he said.
Some leading Russian officials already believe Putin is losing his grip on power, the expert said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin would face a coup if one of his top officials ever disobeyed an order to launch a nuclear strike, according to Bellingcat's lead Russia investigator Christo Grozev.
The coup would take place if just one of the "five hands" needed for a Russian nuclear launch defied Putin, Grozev told Radio Liberty, per the Metro news outlet.
"Because after the refusal to comply with the order of the king, everything will go down very quickly," he said, the outlet reported.
According to Metro, Grozev said Putin may be under pressure from some in his inner circle to escalate the invasion of Ukraine via the mass mobilization of troops or even a nuclear strike.
However, the Russian leader must first "be sure everyone along the chain will carry out this order" before he considers sanctioning such a launch, Grozev said, the outlet reported.
Per Metro, the investigator said that if one person in the chain of command refused to comply, it would be a "signal of insubordination" that could bring about the "death of Putin."
"So until he is sure that everyone will comply, he will not give this order," Grozev added, per the outlet.
It seems likely that leading officials won't follow through with such a command because they believe Putin is losing authority quickly and won't stay in power for three more months, the investigator said, per Metro.
To launch a nuclear strike, a decision would need to be made by the Russian president, who always has a small briefcase (or "Cheget") by his side that links him to the country's nuclear forces, Reuters reported citing a 2020 nuclear policy document.
While the briefcase doesn't have a launch button, it relays the order to Russia's central military command, per the outlet.
Even if Putin decided to launch such an attack, at least two other lead officials would also be needed to follow through with his command.
According to several intelligence reports, a nuclear strike can only be carried out if Russia's defence minister and chief of the general staff — positions currently by Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, respectively — also authorize the launch with their own codes and "Cheget" briefcases.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov attend a meeting in Moscow on February 27, 2022.
According to the Arms Control Association, Russia claims it has an inventory of 6,257 nuclear warheads, compared with the 5,500 estimated warheads in the US.
Last week, Ukraine's military intelligence chief said that a coup against Putin is underway and that the Russian leader is battling cancer. Western intelligence agencies have not publicly verified the claims. | 2022-05-23T08:59:29Z | www.businessinsider.com | Coup Against Putin Begins If Officials Refuse Nuclear Strike: Expert | https://www.businessinsider.com/coup-against-putin-begins-if-officials-refuse-nuclear-strike-expert-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/coup-against-putin-begins-if-officials-refuse-nuclear-strike-expert-2022-5 |
Creditspring offers loans in exchange for membership fees instead of interest. It's raised $60 million using this 14-slide pitch deck.
Neil Kadagathur, cofounder and CEO of Creditspring
Creditspring
London-based Creditspring has raised $60 million in funding to expand its business offering.
The company focuses on what it calls subscription finance, where customers pay fees instead of interest.
Creditspring has around 150,000 users in the UK
Lending startup Creditspring has raised £48 million ($60 million) in fresh funding.
Founded in 2016, the London-based firm offers credit products targeted at "near prime" customers, those with thin credit files, who would otherwise struggle to access more mainstream lending options. The company offers offers users up to two loans a year with a fixed membership fee to be repaid rather than interest. Creditspring says this is more transparent for borrowers.
For example, someone seeking to borrow £1,000 ($1,250) would repay the advance in fixed instalments along a £10 ($12.5) a month membership fee. The fee for membership is lower for smaller amounts of borrowing such as £500 ($624) or £300 ($374), per the company's website.
Unlike a number of fintech companies , Creditspring is not backed by venture capitalists but rather by private investors, predominantly high- net-worth individuals with backgrounds in private equity and VC, Neil Kadagathur, Creditspring's CEO, said.
"We spoke to VC's when starting out, but we did not want to be seen as a pure tech company," Kadagathur told Insider. "Given lending is not a 'move fast and break things' sector, we wanted to create a sustainable business model with a positive social impact rather than a 'growth at all cost' model."
The new funding round takes Creditspring to $79 million raised to date. However, the global economic slowdown posed challenges. Ironically, after years of spiraling tech valuations, Creditspring found positioning itself as "more than just a tech company" attracted more investors, Kadagathur said, adding the firm was "fortunate enough to avoid the recent dip in technology stocks and valuations."
Creditspring's own research indicates that one in six (16%) UK adults will need to borrow in the coming months due to the country's acute cost of living crisis. The company wants those looking to borrow to avoid what it calls unscrupulous lenders who allow people to fall into unmanageable debt.
The company claims to have added 50,000 customers since the start of 2022, taking the business to 150,000 users and an estimated lending total of £100 million ($125 million) for the year. Kadagathur told Insider that the company would look to double its employee numbers through the rest of the year with 80 new hires for positions across all areas of the business, including data, engineering and customer operations.
Check out Creditspring's pitch deck below: | 2022-05-23T08:59:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | Exclusive: UK Lending Fintech Startup Creditspring Raises $60 Million | https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-uk-lending-fintech-startup-creditspring-raises-60-million-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-uk-lending-fintech-startup-creditspring-raises-60-million-2022-5 |
One billionaire was minted every 30 hours during the pandemic. Now, a million people may fall into extreme poverty every 33 hours, Oxfam estimates.
COVID-19 minted 573 new billionaires.
Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images
A billionaire was minted every 30 hours during the pandemic, per a new Oxfam report.
Oxfam expects a million people to fall into extreme poverty every 33 hours in 2022.
To overcome the wealth disparity, Oxfam recommends a permanent wealth tax.
One new billionaire was minted every 30 hours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, one million people are expected to fall into extreme poverty every 33 hours.
That's according to a new report called Profiting from Pain, released by UK-based nonprofit Oxfam on May 23. To compile the report, Oxfam examined data gathered from Forbes' annual billionaires and from the World Bank.
A total of 573 people hit first-time billionaire status from March 2020 to March 2022, when central banks injected trillions of dollars into the global economy, the report found. The cash injected into the economy led to a price hike on assets, lining the pockets of asset-owning billionaires. The 10 wealthiest men on the Forbes Billionaires List doubled their wealth to from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion between March 2020 and November 2021, Oxfam calculated.
In 2021, China alone minted 62 new billionaires, including Chris Xu, the founder of online fashion giant Shein. The US produced the second-highest quantity of pandemic billionaires, with 50 added to the list, including Gary Wang, the cofounder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and three family members of Minnesota-based agriculture company Cargill Inc. The Cargill family has a collective fortune of $51 billion as of September 2021, per Bloomberg.
While billionaires globally enjoy their windfall fortunes, ordinary people continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic.
In January 2021, 8.1 million Americans entered into poverty, Insider's Ayelet Sheffey reported, citing a study by the University of Chicago and University of Notre Dame economists. Oxfam expects 263 million more people to fall into extreme poverty by the end of 2022.
Around the world, the average person struggles with inflation and the rising cost of essential goods like flour, fuel, and electricity, the report states. As companies in sectors such as energy, food, and pharmaceuticals have enjoyed record-high profits, wages for workers in the same industries have seen minimal increases.
Oxfam estimates 263 million people will fall into extreme poverty this year.
"The super-rich have rigged the system with impunity for decades and they are now reaping the benefits. They have seized a shocking amount of the world's wealth as a result of privatization and monopolies, gutting regulation and workers' rights while stashing their cash in tax havens — all with the complicity of governments," Gabriela Bucher, the executive director of Oxfam International, said in Oxfam's press release.
To overcome the wealth disparity, Oxfam recommends a permanent wealth tax on millionaires and billionaires at 2% and 5% a year respectively. This wealth tax could generate $2.52 trillion a year, lifting 2.3 billion people out of poverty, Oxfam estimates.
Oxfam did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
More: Wealth Social Inequality Wealth distribution poverty cycle
Billionaies | 2022-05-23T09:16:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | One Billionaire Minted Every 30 Hours During Pandemic: Oxfam | https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-billionaires-millions-enter-poverty-oxfam-inequality-wealth-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-billionaires-millions-enter-poverty-oxfam-inequality-wealth-2022-5 |
Welcome back from the weekend. Stagflation, the dreaded combo of weak economic growth and high inflation, is on everyone's mind.
People often point to the 1970s for comparison, but here's how this time might be different.
Russia is a major exporter of commodities including oil and gas.
castenoid/ Getty Images
1. Stagflation might look different this time around. The spike in the price of things like oil, wheat, and many metals has been a big story during the pandemic, and has been exacerbated further by the war in Ukraine. These pricing pressures have sparked a wave of warnings that inflation is here to stay right as economic growth is set to slow.
But according to the Bank of International Settlements, this time could look different compared to the last notable era of stagflation.
"By some measures, recent events look even more disruptive than those of the 1970s," the report reads. "For example, recent price increases have affected a broader set of commodities. Commodity price rises in the 1970s were concentrated in oil markets, whereas in recent months energy, agricultural, commodity and metals prices have all experienced strong gains."
But while these commodity shocks might be more severe, the outlook isn't totally grim, BIS said. For one, inflation is less severe than in the 1970s. Also, economies are less energy-intensive now. BIS estimated that the amount of energy consumed relative to GDP has fallen by around 40% since the late 1970s.
Finally, central banks are better equipped to respond to crises than in the 1970s. For these reasons, BIS says this crisis should be less intense than the 1970s.
Morgan Pōmaikaʻi Lee
2. US stock futures rise early Monday, after President Joe Biden said he would consider cutting the US tarriffs on Chinese imports imposed by the Trump administration. Bitcoin also recovered to $30,000 over the weekend. Here are the latest market moves.
3. On deck today: Zoom Video Communications Inc., XPeng Inc. Advance Auto Parts Inc., all reporting.
4. UBS has some stock picks if you're worried about stagflation. Strategists at the Swiss bank said that some names can still thrive in an environment of slow growth and high inflation. Check out the list of their 34 top picks.
5. China has ramped up its buying of Russian oil. The Russian ally is purchasing nearly 1.1 million barrels per day of discounted Russian crude. That's up from 750,000 barrels a day in the first quarter.
6. Billionaire investors Stanley Druckenmiller is shorting the S&P 500. His family office revealed in an SEC filing last week that it purchased thousands of put contracts on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. Read about the bet here.
7. Joe Biden announces major Asia economic deal. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is part of an effort to boost the US' economic leadership in the region — where China is one of the dominant countries. Here's everything we know about the plan.
8. A top JPMorgan Private Bank strategist says the US will avoid recession. Tom Kennedy says that even as housing cools and rates rise, there is still a two-thirds chance the economy doesn't hit a downturn. Here are his tips to position for 19% upside in stocks in this period.
9. There's a case to be made for investing in real assets right now. That's according to Goldman Sachs, which says the asset class could be investors' way to weather inflation. Read the firm's top picks for real assets here.
10. There are two reasons the US has a housing shortage. The pandemic home-buying frenzy was a wild time for the US real estate market and highlighted the big imbalance of supply and demand for homes across the country. Read why this is happening — and why it will be hard for conditions to improve.
Curated by Max Adams in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email madams@insider.com) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.
More: 10 things 10 Things Before Opening Bell Newsletter | 2022-05-23T12:01:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | 10 Things Before the Opening Bell: May 23 | https://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-before-the-opening-bell-may-23-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-before-the-opening-bell-may-23-2022-5 |
Evite is bucking the trend and exiting the ads business — here's why
Evite CEO David Yeom decided to wind down the ads business when he took over the company in 2020.
While companies jump on retail media, Evite is going in the other direction and winding down its ads business.
Ads drove most of the company's revenue, but CEO David Yeom said they degraded the customer experience.
Ads now generate 20% of revenue and the company claims it's never been as profitable.
At a time when companies of all stripes are getting into the advertising business, online party planner Evite is going in the opposite direction.
CEO David Yeom said he was shutting Evite's ads business because ads were hurting the customer experience, leading to user declines. Evite's e-card business had also plummeted in the pandemic because people stopped having events, and the company didn't want to annoy its remaining customers. And it was hard to become a significant player in a space dominated by tech giants.
"Our users don't like ads," Yeom said. "When you're putting thought into creating an awesome invitation for an event, the last thing you want is your guests to see William Sonoma or P&G ads. If you piss off your users, they'll find a different alternative."
Evite now gets 20% of its business from ads, down from 80% two years ago, and plans to entirely exit the business by the end of the year.
Evite was entirely ad-based when it was founded in 1998. Yeom, a former marketer at The Honest Company who cofounded online dollar store Hollar, bought Evite in 2020 from SiriusXM owner Liberty Media with a group of private investors that included Twitch cofounder Kevin Lin and Triller CEO Mike Lu. Along with the ads business, a 50-person ad sales team was eliminated.
"When you're dealing with people, it's always a difficult thing," he said of the decision. "Then came getting everyone to buy into this new vision."
Evite now makes most of its money from sales of new card designs and from commissions it gets when it recommends party vendors and gift suggestions to users. It's been investing in its card designs, with animations and artist collaborations.
The company said revenue is up 73% since 2019 and it's on track to have record growth in 2022. Without the constraint of its advertisers, which were US-focused, Evite plans to expand globally soon.
Evite's move comes as scores of companies get into the ads business to shore up their profit margins and use their data to help advertisers target consumers amid privacy changes by Apple and Google.
Yeom said ads can be good when helpful and relevant to consumers, but shouldn't come at the expense of the user experience.
"Keep your customers and users in mind," he said.
More: Evite Media retail media | 2022-05-23T12:02:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | Evite Is Exiting the Advertising Business | https://www.businessinsider.com/evite-is-exiting-the-advertising-business-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/evite-is-exiting-the-advertising-business-2022-5 |
JPMorgan poaches a senior Point72 quant as Wall Street doubles down on data science
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, pictured in November 2021, has spoken out on the bank's need to harness big sets of data and artificial intelligence across units like asset management.
JPMorgan has hired the former quantitative analytics head of Point72's market intelligence unit.
Arezu Moghadam will run the data science team globally for the bank's asset management arm.
The competition between firms to hire quant specialists has grown cutthroat in recent years.
JPMorgan's asset management arm has poached a former senior quantitative analytics specialist from Point72 Asset Management to run its global data science team, Insider has learned.
The move underscores the growing demand and fierce competition for employees who can bring an edge in the world of data science. The largest US bank aims to ramp up its own efforts to better use machine learning and artificial intelligence in processes from investment decision-making to portfolio construction across the firm.
Arezu Moghadam.
Arezu Moghadam, who is based in New York, started last week and reports to Kristian West, JPMorgan Asset Management's head of investment platform. Moghadam will oversee a group of about 26 specialists based in New York and London with a more recent expansion into Hong Kong and Shanghai.
West said in an interview with Insider last week that the data science unit, which works with groups across the bank, has been working on broadening its capabilities by expanding the team into China and adding alternative data analytics expertise in the region.
For instance, last fall JPMorgan's asset management arm invested in a sustainable investing data startup called MioTech, which has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore. MioTech provides analytics on mainland China companies that are not otherwise easily available, West said. JPMorgan Asset Management oversaw $2.6 trillion in assets as of March.
"What we want do is step back and say, 'How do we integrate AI and ML, so predictive elements and process automation, into the existing fabric of the organization?'" West said. "Stepping away from very specific use cases and saying, 'How do we make this part of the overall fundamental investment process so it touches everything we do?'"
'It's literally the tip of the iceberg'
Moghadam was previously the head of quantitative analytics in the market intelligence unit of Point72, the Stamford, Connecticut-based firm run by billionaire investor Steve Cohen. The unit uses alternative data and analytics to produce research that the firm's investment teams and portfolio managers use.
A spokesperson for Point72 did not return a request for comment on who will replace Moghadam. Earlier in her career, Moghadam worked at the alternative money manager Stone Ridge Asset Management, Oppenheimer Funds, and Goldman Sachs.
The demand for data scientists on Wall Street is high. Colleges know it, too, and have been scrambling to offer courses aimed at training aspiring financiers on those skills. JPMorgan's team is in the process of recruiting about five new data scientists.
JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon has been vocal about the need to better use the power of big data and artificial intelligence across business lines at the bank. In December, the asset management business launched its first mutual fund that uses a data-science-driven investment process.
"You have a tremendous amount of AI" being used in asset and wealth management, the corporate and investment bank, trading, and other areas, Dimon said on a January 2021 call with analysts to discuss earnings, according to a transcript from research provider Sentieo.
"It's literally the tip of the iceberg. Whatever we say today, 10 years from now, it will be probably 50 times more than we're doing today," he said. "And I would spend anything to get it done faster."
More: Finance Asset Management JPMorgan Point72 | 2022-05-23T12:02:23Z | www.businessinsider.com | JPMorgan Poaches a Senior Point72 Quant Arezu Moghadam | https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-asset-management-arezu-moghadam-quant-point-72-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-asset-management-arezu-moghadam-quant-point-72-2022-5 |
A Federated Hermes strategy chief who warned about stagflation 2 months ago details when a recession will most likely come — and says his firm is loading up on cash as 'cracks in the armor' of the economy form
Phil Orlando, the chief equity market strategist at Federated Hermes, has been warning of stagflation.
He says the US won't slide into a recession in the next year, but a downturn could come in late 2023.
Orlando recommends investors protect their portfolios by adding stocks in five key sectors, and holding cash.
There's arguably no bigger threat to an economy than stagflation — a damaging combination of stagnant growth and high inflation. When stagflation sets in, a recession usually follows.
So it was noteworthy when Phil Orlando, the chief equity market strategist at Federated Hermes, told Insider in March that stagflation risk had arrived. He qualified that by saying the US economy could dodge a downturn for the foreseeable future, even though he sees it "losing steam."
Two and a half months later, Orlando's first prediction appears well on its way to coming true. US GDP growth — an imperfect but widely accepted approximation for economic activity — shrank during the first quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, inflation is running at levels last seen in the early 1980s.
And while it's too early to know whether a recession is imminent or even already underway, Orlando told Insider in a recent interview that he's sticking to his call that the expansion will continue.
The stock market, however, is pricing in plenty of pain. Orlando said he thought earlier this year that the S&P 500 could slip into a bear market in the late summer or early fall. Sure enough, the major US stock index is down about 19% from its peak — on the precipice of a bear market even sooner than Orlando imagined.
"Our stock market outlook for this year has played out almost exactly the way we expected," Orlando told Insider. "With the one exception that the correction, which I guess has been about 19% since the beginning of the year, has actually happened a little quicker than we thought."
When to expect a recession
When juxtaposed against his stagflation call and glass-half-empty view on stocks, Orlando's belief that a recession isn't about to hit may seem out of place.
But there's a simple explanation for why the strategy chief holds those seemingly opposing views at once: he still believes that growth is stronger than it appears, and will continue to be going forward.
Though the first-quarter GDP contraction of 1.4% was even worse than Orlando's lowered expectations, the strategist said that the quarter "wasn't nearly as bad as the report would seem to suggest."
Volatile components like net trade, inventories, and government spending weighed on GDP growth, Orlando said, adding that the three components that matter most — personal consumption, corporate spending, and housing — suggest that the economy is still healthy.
"If you are only looking at those three pieces, the GDP in the first quarter was actually up 3.7%," Orlando said. "That's pretty good. So when I say, 'I don't think the economy's about to fall into a recession,' that's what I'm talking about."
But while Orlando isn't concerned by what he believes to be a better-than-it-looks GDP mark, he's keeping an eye on the labor market after what he saw as a deceptive April jobs report. A sterling headline number of new jobs masked underlying data that Orlando said was "quite bad."
The strategy chief also noted in early May that the household jobs survey showed a loss of 353,000 jobs in April after a gain of 736,000 in the prior month. That weakness suggests to Orlando that the US economy is "starting to see some cracks in the armor."
To take Orlando's armor analogy a step further, it's possible that the fire-breathing dragon that is inflation will be hot enough to melt the economy on its own. The strategist had hoped that price surges would have shown more signs of abating by now outside of a slight slide in energy costs.
Assuming that supply-chain issues don't quickly get resolved, the only way that inflation recedes to a reasonable level — outside of a recession occurring — is if the Federal Reserve continues to aggressively raise interest rates. However, Orlando acknowledged that the odds that the US central bank can do so without eventually triggering a downturn are growing longer by the day.
"I was a lot more confident two months ago that the Fed was going to stick the soft landing," Orlando said.
Adjusting monetary policy is less like flipping on a lightswitch and more like "trying to turn a battleship," Orlando said. A full policy pivot typically takes 12 to 18 months, the strategy chief said, which is one of several reasons why he isn't banking on a recession in the next year but believes that one could come in late 2023 or in 2024.
"I don't think we're rolling into a recession tomorrow," Orlando said. "But I do think late '23, early '24 is where we need to be focused."
When Orlando first told Insider that stagflation was a serious concern, he also recommended that investors had exposure to five sectors: energy, financials, industrials, materials, and healthcare. Two lunar cycles later, the strategist said those preferences hadn't changed.
But there are three additional factors that Orlando also thinks that investors should consider: value stocks, small caps, and international equities.
Value stocks have fared far better than their growth counterparts this year as interest rates rise, so Orlando is sticking with that group. Smaller companies, which tend to be reliant on economic growth, would "absolutely" be at risk if the US slips into a recession, Orlando said, but that's not his base case. If he's right, then small stocks with dividend yields should be strong bets.
Although the risk of a recession in Europe or Asia is higher than in the US, Orlando said that international stocks are "extraordinarily cheap" on a valuation basis and are trading at a 40% discount by some measures.
"They're probably closer to recession than we are, which might imply that they'd be, then, closer to the rebound out of recession," Orlando said. "And again, these investment recommendations we're making are not, 'What does the world look like tomorrow?' We're trying to look out over the next 12 or 18 months."
And to hedge against downside risk, Orlando also likes the world's simplest investment: cash.
"We're about 3% overweight cash, which represents a 6% absolute allocation of cash," Orlando said. "In the 20 years that I've been at Federated, that's the biggest cash position I can ever remember holding."
More: Investing phil orlando phil orlando federated hermes | 2022-05-23T12:02:29Z | www.businessinsider.com | Recession Prediction, How to Invest Now: Federated Hermes Strategist | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-risk-prediction-economy-how-to-invest-stocks-federated-hermes-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-risk-prediction-economy-how-to-invest-stocks-federated-hermes-2022-5 |
Deloitte lays out 4 steps to keep the climate crisis from tanking the global economy over the next 50 years
Mike Hutchings/Reuters
A new study from Deloitte lays out four phases for tackling climate change and its economic risks.
The team sees climate risks costing the world economy $178 trillion in GDP over the next 50 years.
Reaching decarbonization can erase that loss and fuel a $43 trillion gain, the economists added.
Letting climate change go unchecked could decimate the global economy by 2070. A new report by Deloitte lays out the four steps that governments, corporations, and citizens need to take if they're to avoid such catastrophe.
The world has plenty of economic problems on its plate, what with inflation, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and broken supply chains all threatening global growth. The looming climate crisis, however, is too costly to ignore, Deloitte economists Pradeep Philip, Claire Ibrahim, and Cedric Hodges said in a report published Monday morning.
If the world stays on its current path, average temperatures will climb 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. That will cost the global economy about $178 trillion in just the next 50 years, according to the study. Human costs including food scarcity, job losses, and reduced standards of living will also mount, the team said.
Conversely, pushing for net-zero emissions can set the stage for stronger economic growth in the coming decades. Such a pivot can grow the world economy by $43 trillion by 2070, according to the report.
The deadline for achieving that windfall is fast approaching. Deloitte's rosier estimate hinges on the world decarbonizing its economy by 2050, a feat that would limit warming to about 1.5 degrees Celsius. But getting to net-zero emissions is no easy task, and Deloitte sees four phases as key to bringing about an environmentally sustainable future.
Going 'bold' on climate change
The first steps toward achieving net-zero will be more theoretical than concrete. The world needs to "set the stage" for decarbonization with policies and frameworks for a low-carbon future, the team said, adding that the first step will be focused on "bold climate plays."
With emissions still on the rise, the clock is running out for world governments to plan for a decarbonized economy.
"Given the costs associated with each tenth of a degree of temperature increase, every month of delay brings greater risk and forestalls the eventual economic gains," the economists said.
Paying upfront for boosted growth
Reaching net-zero emissions will take some serious investment. Economies will have to pay up for clean energy, sustainable supply chains, and replacements for emissions-intensive industries if they're to make the transition in time, according to the report.
The shift won't be without some "growing pains," the team added. Investing in a greener economy will dent GDP growth over the next two decades as companies shift their focus from profitability to sustainability. Deloitte estimates that the growth outlook will reach a turning point in the late 2040s, after which the investments are forecasted to yield massive returns, to say nothing of the benefits of avoiding climate disasters.
Reaching the turning point
The net-zero experiment will start to pay off in about 25 years, when investments in "structural economic adjustment" near completion, the team said.
"Economies would realize the dividend of the transformation and experience net positive growth," they added.
The turning point also represents the moment the world moves away from the risk of a $178 trillion projected loss and toward a $43 trillion gain. There will be significant costs in the first several years of the transition, but economists must regard climate change as a trend — not a temporary scenario — as they model the potential risks, according to Deloitte.
"If the economic impacts of a changing climate are left out of economic baselines, the result is likely to be poor decision-making, ineffective risk management, and dangerously inadequate efforts to address the climate crisis," the team said.
Maintaining a low-emissions future
Staying the path can, ideally, create a decarbonized economy, but the work won't be all done then. Governments and companies will have to maintain "interconnected, low-carbon systems" to keep the green economy alive and growing, the team said. This world economy will expand "at an increasingly faster rate than its carbon-intensive alternative," they added.
The benefits will differ from region to region. The Asia Pacific economy has the most exposure to climate-related damage, according to the report. The region could lose $96 trillion of economic growth by 2070 if decarbonization isn't achieved. Put another way, the area's GDP could be 9% smaller in 50 years than in a world with net-zero emissions.
The Americas would follow with a combined $36 trillion loss by 2070, Deloitte said. The US alone would lose $4 trillion in potential growth, and the region's overall GDP would be 4% lower by 2070 compared to a decarbonized world.
Europe faces the smallest projected loss, with the region expected to lose $10 trillion in GDP by 2070 compared to a decarbonized future. Still, economic growth would reach just 1% in the 2060s as climate problems slam into the European economy.
The stakes are extremely high. Deloitte's modeling shows investments in decarbonization not just paying off, but paying dividends throughout the 21st century.
More: Economy Climate Change economic research Deloitte
climate change assessment | 2022-05-23T12:10:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | 4 Steps for Keeping the Climate Crisis From Tanking the Economy: Deloitte | https://www.businessinsider.com/economic-outlook-4-steps-climate-change-gdp-growth-deloitte-study-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/economic-outlook-4-steps-climate-change-gdp-growth-deloitte-study-2022-5 |
The email template I use to pitch brands to sponsor my podcast and newsletter
Jen Glantz says she landed sponsorships for her podcast and newsletter by pitching herself directly to different brands.
She landed brand sponsorships for her podcast and newsletter by pitching herself to them directly.
Explain why you're unique, Glantz says, to show the brand why they'd benefit from working with you.
When I launched my first newsletter in 2015 and my podcast in 2018, I had one goal in mind — to create engaging and valuable content and grow my audience. In the years since, through consistent content creation, giveaways, and promotion on social media, I've grown my newsletter and podcast to more than 100,000 subscribers.
Last year, I decided to finally monetize both my podcast and newsletter by working with brands that I respected and used personally as a consumer. Since I don't have an agent or manager who does business development for my content streams, it was up to me to reach out to different brands, negotiate deals, and secure profitable ad sponsorships.
To get started, I first spent a few weeks making a list of the brands that I wanted to work with. I selected a total of 15 companies, services, and products that I truly loved and used regularly. Then, I used contact-finder services like Hunter.io and SignalHire to look up the person at each company who was responsible for managing partnerships and find their email address.
After that, I sent over a pitch email. While not all of these companies responded or agreed to work with me, a few did, and I was able to secure my first series of brand partners that brought in a few thousand dollars in ad sponsorships.
Here's the exact email template that I used.
The pitch email
Dear [Name of partnership manager],
I'm [Name]. It's truly so wonderful to e-meet you! I'm popping into your inbox today with the hopes of chatting more about a partnership in 2022.
I've been a true fan and consumer of [Specific product, service, or business] since [Year] and have found that not only did it help [What you like about the service or product] but it's also [Another thing you adore about the service or product].
As a content creator since [Year], I'm super particular about what I share with my audience and want to share with them only the brands that I respect and trust.
That's why I'd love to chat about partnering with [Name of brand] in 2022. My audience cares about [Topic, problem, or need that ties into the brand's values or goals] and I know that they'd be excited to learn more about [Name of brand].
A little about me and my [Podcast, newsletter, or social platform]:
[Share your three-line elevator pitch of your podcast, newsletter, or social media channels]
[Share what makes you unique or different from other content creators]
[Share the demographics of your audience and why they fit with the audience the brand cares about]
[Share data on how many subscribers you have and metrics around engagement, growth, etc.]
When it comes to partnering with [Name of brand], I'd love to chat about working together to do newsletter ads, social media collaborations, and special promotions that I can offer my audience through an affiliate model.
I'm attaching my media kit for more details and hope to hear from you soon.
Once you know who you want to work with, you can use this template to pitch them your podcast or newsletter. While not all of the brands you reach out to will be interested or available to work with you, some will say yes.
Others might even provide you feedback on what you can do so that they would be interested in working with you later on, whether you need to grow your follower count, produce a certain kind of content, or hit specific engagement metrics.
In the end, I've found that it pays off to be proactive in seeking out brand partnerships. Regardless of whether you have 1,000 or 100,000 subscribers, there are brands out there that work with all types of content creators.
More: Strategy Advice Content Creators Podcast | 2022-05-23T12:10:40Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Pitch Brands to Sponsor Your Social Media Content | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-pitch-brands-to-sponsor-podcast-social-media-content-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-pitch-brands-to-sponsor-podcast-social-media-content-2022-5 |
Jared Leto as Michael Morbius in "Morbius."
The box office is on the road to recovery and seeing a vast improvement over last year.
But some movies haven't given the theatrical industry much of a boost.
Some have been outright flops, like "Moonfall," and others underwhelmed, like "Morbius."
The box office is on the road to recovery after the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the theatrical industry.
US ticket sales were up 354% through the weekend, according to Comscore, compared to the same period in 2021, when movie releases were scarce. It's mainly thanks to recent superhero hits like "The Batman" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."
But the US box office is still down considerably from 2019, and some movies haven't helped give it a boost.
The movies that have connected with audiences so far this year have mostly been of the aforementioned superhero variety, or other franchise-types like "Sonic the Hedgehog 2." There have also been surprise successes like the low-budget "Dog."
And there have been outright flops, some of which suggest audiences haven't been turning out in droves for adult-oriented dramas and action movies. Those include the Liam Neeson-starring "Blacklight" and Roland Emmerich's "Moonfall." The latter cost a bloated $150 million to make and earned just $44 million worldwide.
Other movies weren't total disasters but underwhelmed, leaving the future of their respective franchises in question.
The latest "Fantastic Beasts" movie, "The Secrets of Dumbledore," was the lowest-grossing "Harry Potter"-related movie in the franchise yet, and cost a hefty $200 million to product.
"Morbius," Sony's latest Marvel movie, cost $75 million to produce, a modest sum compared to most comic-book movies. But it failed to generate the kind of interest Sony's "Venom" movies have.
Most of these flops and disappointments were torn apart by critics. But others, like the Viking epic "The Northman" and the Nicolas Cage-starring "Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," received favorable reviews.
Both were original, mid-budget, star-driven, adult-focused, action-adventure dramas that couldn't drum up substantial interest in theaters despite positive buzz.
Below are the year's most notable box-office flops and disappointments, in release-date order (numbers are based on data from IMDb Pro unless otherwise specified):
"The 355" — January 7
US opening weekend: $4.62 million
Total US box office: $14.57 million
Total global box office: $27.72 million
Production budget: $75 million (Source: Variety)
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 24%
"Moonfall" — February 4
Production budget: $150 million
"Blacklight" — February 11
US opening weekend: $3.5 million
Total US box office: $9.59 million
Production budget: $43 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 8%
"Morbius" — April 1
US opening weekend: $39 million
"Ambulance" — April 8
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jake Gyllenhaal in "Ambulance."
"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" — April 15
"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore."
US opening weekend: $42.15 million
Production budget: $200 million (Source: Variety)
"The Northman" — April 22
Alexander Skarsgård in "The Northman."
US opening weekend: $12.2 million
"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" — April 22
Nicolas Cage in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent."
Production budget: $30 million (Source: Deadline)
More: Features Movies Hollywood Box Office
Box Office Bombs | 2022-05-23T13:33:08Z | www.businessinsider.com | Biggest Box-Office Flops of 2022: 'Morbius,' 'Fantastic Beasts' | https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-box-office-flops-of-the-year-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-box-office-flops-of-the-year-2022-5 |
Top psychedelics VCs share the key challenges that are keeping them on the sidelines of the first legal magic-mushroom market in the US
A look at a legal psychedelic retreat hosted by the Synthesis Institute. Synthesis plans to operate in Oregon.
Oregon is rolling out the first magic-mushroom market in the US.
The market will be legal under state rules but still federally illegal.
Four venture investors told Insider why they're not making any big moves to enter the market.
Oregon is preparing to create the first legal market for magic mushrooms in the US.
While some companies are laying the groundwork to enter the market, leaders at four venture-capital firms focused on psychedelics told Insider they're skeptical about investing in the state.
Dina Burkitbayeva is the founder of PsyMed Ventures.
The investors told Insider that they see a lack of opportunities to invest because most of the businesses eyeing the market don't seem scalable, and they believe it will be difficult for companies in Oregon to turn a profit. Plus, they said they're wary of investing in companies that would be operating illegally under federal law.
"We're excited that these efforts are happening in Oregon, but from a venture-investment standpoint, we're not really seeing a lot of opportunity," Dina Burkitbayeva, a cofounder of Psymed Ventures, a psychedelics-focused venture-capital firm, said.
Investors see two main paths forward for the psychedelics industry, and Oregon is pursuing a path that's reliant on public opinion in favor of legalizing magic mushrooms. But many investors have been focused on the other path: They're betting on startups that are testing psilocybin and other psychedelics as mental-health treatments, with the goal of getting them approved as legal medication by US regulators.
'We're not that interested in the market'
"We're not that interested in the market," Tim Schlidt, a cofounder of the psychedelics venture-capital firm Palo Santo, said, referring to Oregon.
So far, the companies planning to enter Oregon are focused on clinics, retreat centers, and other businesses that would work with psilocybin, which is illegal under federal law. Businesses that work with Schedule I and Schedule II drugs — like cannabis and psilocybin — are subject to a federal rule that effectively requires them to pay more in taxes.
Tim Schlidt is a partner at Palo Santo.
One of Palo Santo's portfolio companies, Fluence, is preparing for the Oregon market. Fluence is focused on developing a "psilocybin-assisted" therapy certificate with a curriculum that's closely tied to the training standards that are being developed in Oregon.
Two big reasons that psychedelics clinics could struggle to make money in Oregon
Schlidt laid out two reasons he thinks that psychedelics clinics in Oregon will struggle to be profitable.
First, "psychedelic clinics" in the US that administer ketamine, an anesthetic that's being studied for its effects on mental health, are seeing thin margins, he said.
Sessions with psilocybin take four hours longer than sessions with ketamine, which could make it more difficult for magic-mushroom clinics to be profitable, he said. Plus, psilocybin clinics would face higher taxes.
"Even with kosher business models, you're dealing with razor-thin margins, and then once you take away the tax deductibility, you may be in the red on a lot of these business models," he said.
A lot of companies in Oregon don't fit the criteria for what a VC firm is looking for
Burkitbayeva also cited the tax issue as a reason she's reluctant to invest in Oregon.
VC firms tend to look for opportunities to invest in businesses that are able to significantly scale and increase in value with the capital they receive from investors. Burkitbayeva said that the companies she's seeing enter the Oregon market don't seem to have those attributes.
Amanda Eilian is a cofounder and partner at Able Partners.
Amanda Eilian
Amanda Eilian, a cofounder and partner at Able Partners, a fund that's made investments in the psychedelics industry, told Insider that her firm is reluctant to make investments in Oregon because the market is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government.
One VC is open to investing in Oregon if he can find the right opportunity
Simeon Schnapper is the managing partner at the psychedelics VC firm JLS Fund.
JLS Fund
Able Partners invested in the Synthesis Institute, an Amsterdam-based psychedelics retreat center, in 2018, far before the idea of a state-regulated market in the US was on the table. The startup has since made moves to enter Oregon's psilocybin market, including by buying a 124-acre estate in Ashland for $3.6 million, which it plans to use for psilocybin-focused retreats.
While Eilian told Insider she thinks highly of Synthesis' team and respects the company's decision to enter the market, she said she wouldn't make future investments in a company that's operating illegally under federal law.
Simeon Schnapper, a managing partner at the psychedelics-focused VC firm JLS Fund, said he's open to investing in Oregon if he finds the right opportunity. JLS is already an investor in Fluence, the training startup.
"There might be great profits, but there might be great risk," he said. | 2022-05-23T13:33:13Z | www.businessinsider.com | Investors Share Why They're Passing on Oregon's Magic-Mushroom Market | https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-vcs-investors-oregon-psilocybin-magic-mushroom-market-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-vcs-investors-oregon-psilocybin-magic-mushroom-market-2022-5 |
London's fintechs offer in-house pubs and quiet floors to lure talent back to the office. We spoke to 5 startups about how to appeal to the hybrid workforce.
London's fintechs are offering perks like in-office pubs and quiet floors to appeal to hybrid workers.
Others have offered budgets to visit a company's offices elsewhere in the world.
Insider spoke to five of the city's fintechs on how they're adapting to the new world of work.
London has long established itself as one of the world's most-important fintech hubs.
It is home to the likes of $33 billion challenger bank Revolut, now-public money transfer giant Wise, and online payment firm Checkout.com.
Now, the city's startups are adapting their offices and integrating flexible working to attract and retain staff in a hugely-competitive market for talent.
"It feels irrational to go back to how we used to work," Vaso Parisinou, VP of people at Tiger Global-backed startup TrueLayer, told Insider.
"We want to have a competitive advantage as a company and in principle, we believe being in person is an advantage but also that being flexible is one too. Hybrid work has gone down well but if folks want to go fully remote then TrueLayer isn't the right company for them – but knowing that is a strength for us."
The open banking startup wants its employees to think of its offices in London, Dublin, and Milan as hubs that play host to in-person activities like demo days hackathons, and team lunches. TrueLayer also offers staffers £2,000 ($2,516) a year to spend on flights and accommodation to visit its other offices.
Conversely, Codat, a Tiger Global-backed fintech that provides an API to small businesses, has opted for a policy where there is no requirement for staff to be back in the office.
"The key is that there is a culture of growth within the team," Tom Denny, Codat's head of people said.
"When we started to consider the future of the office, it felt like relatively straightforward in that we saw the value of the office and think collaborative in-person work can be good but ultimately it's optional."
The jobs market has increasingly become employee-led since the outbreak of the pandemic. Jobseekers often demand hybrid working to take on a new role and fintechs have largely adopted such a policy to make sure they remain an appealing place to work.
Anti-money laundering AI startup Quantexa has redesigned its offices to encourage collaborative work. Lorraine Metcalf, the company's chief people officer, said its offices were designed to act as a "magnet" for its talent to do their best work but that no mandated days had been implemented.
Elsewhere, companies have opted to make their workplaces more of a hub for socializing. Wagestream, another startup based in the capital, has opened its own pub in its HQ to lure staff back into the center of town.
London's fintechs told Insider that they have made more than just minor cosmetic changes to their office spaces in a bid to facilitate different types of working. From quiet floors, and collaborative meeting rooms, to newly opened roof terraces, the office is no longer being seen as rows of desks.
"We are trying to embrace the true nature of hybrid working and keep iterating based on our observations of what works and what our people tell us they need," Amanda Ward, VP of people at Goldman Sachs-backed financial crime prevention company ComplyAdvantage said.
"We even have a Slack channel buzzing with daily ideas and suggestions and that's great because then when we do implement some of those we know we are delivering something our people want and need to make them happier and in return more productive in their work."
More: Fintech London Remote Work | 2022-05-23T13:41:50Z | www.businessinsider.com | London Fintechs Offer Paid Travel and Socials to Lure Office Workers | https://www.businessinsider.com/london-fintechs-offer-paid-travel-and-socials-lure-office-workers-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/london-fintechs-offer-paid-travel-and-socials-lure-office-workers-2022-5 |
Meghan Morris with her positive COVID test.
Paxlovid, which is authorized to treat COVID-19, can lead to dysgeusia, or a bad taste.
Paxlovid contains ritonavir, a part of some HIV treatments that's known to cause this side effect.
There are no good solutions to mask the taste, but patients should be prepared to endure it.
At first, Meghan Morris thought her slight cough was her asthma acting up. She'd just returned to New York from a friend's wedding in Chicago, and chalked it up to staying up late in a crowded bar for the afterparty. Plus, she'd tested negative for COVID, and was double-vaccinated and boosted.
But by the Tuesday after the wedding, Morris, a senior correspondent at Insider, experienced a worsened cough, trouble concentrating, headache and fatigue. This time, a COVID test turned up positive — just like it had for about 20 other wedding attendees.
Morris doesn't regret her trip, but as an asthma sufferer, she worried the illness could get serious.
So Morris asked her primary care physician for a prescription for Paxlovid, currently the only treatment for COVID-19, which the FDA authorized for emergency use in December. The antiviral drug consists of two medications packaged in three pills, which are taken twice a day for five days.
She swallowed her first dose that Wednesday night.
"I immediately thought something was wrong with my mouth because it tasted so bad," she said. "It felt like the back of my mouth was emitting a metallic tang."
Morris was experiencing dysgeusia, the medical term for a bad taste in the mouth. It's a known side effect of ritonavir, one of the two drugs that make up Paxlovid, but not one Morris was expecting — nor one she found any solutions for.
"In the grand scheme of things, of course, I would rather have a bad taste in my mouth than have the bad side effects of COVID for many more days," she said. "So the ends definitely justified the means, but it was not a pleasant experience."
Paxlovid's side effects may be more common than recorded in studies
In the clinical trial that led to Paxlovid's authorization, researchers found that 5.6% of the 1,120 patients who received the drug experienced dysgeusia. Pfizer's patient fact sheet notes the potential side effect, but the drug's packaging doesn't include it, The Atlantic's Rachel Guttman reported.
A Pfizer spokesperson told her "most events were mild" and "very few patients discontinued study as a result." (Pfizer did not respond to Insider's request for comment.)
But Morris's informal polling of friends and other anecdotes suggest it's more prevalent — and more than unpleasant.
"I imagine this is what grapefruit juice mixed with soap would taste like," Anna Valdez, a nursing professor in Sonoma Valley, California, told Guttman.
In the HIV world, where ritonavir was once used as a standalone treatment and is now used to support other medications' effectiveness, it's well-known as "a very common side effect," Dr. Melanie Thompson, an HIV researcher in Atlanta, said during an Infectious Diseases Society of America media briefing Friday.
"For people with HIV who may end up taking ritonavir every day for a very long period of time, this is a big problem," she said.
It's unclear what causes it, but Guttman laid out some theories. Our tongues are more primed to detect bitterness than other flavor profiles, and both substances in Paxlovid are bitter. The sensation could also be our bodies detecting chemicals, which is a different sensation than taste, experts told her.
Be prepared for side effects when taking the drug
Attempts at masking the sensation fall flat, Thompson said.
Morris, for one, tried brushing her teeth with baking soda and water right after her doses, and drinking all kinds of flavored water. She even tried taking the pills with a spoonful of chocolate syrup, thanks to a friend's suggestion.
The treat "was delicious," she said, "but I felt it did nothing for the taste." She found the sensation was even worse with dairy, so she made sure to eat her milk-containing breakfast before her first dose. "Ultimately I found I just had to suck it up," she said.
Thompson said the best thing clinicians can do is tell patients to expect dysgeusia when prescribing Paxlovid. "When you tell patients about a potential side effect and it happens, then they're more likely to say 'OK, I heard about that, I can get through this,' rather than thinking there's something terrible" going on, she said.
It's also important for patients to be aware of it so they don't mistake it for a side effect of COVID-19.
"We all know that COVID can lead to a change or loss to the sense of taste, therefore people are primed for that. Then they start taking Paxlovid and 'Oh no, it happened,'" Jason Gallagher, a doctor of pharmacy and clinical professor at Temple University, said during the briefing. "It's actually the medication, and it will go away."
NOW WATCH: What would happen to you if you never washed your hands
More: paxlovid Taste COVID Side effects | 2022-05-23T13:59:51Z | www.businessinsider.com | Bad Taste Side Effect of Paxlovid, COVID-19 Treatment: What It's Like | https://www.businessinsider.com/paxlovid-bad-taste-side-effect-covid-treatment-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/paxlovid-bad-taste-side-effect-covid-treatment-2022-5 |
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a fundraiser for Carolina Pregnancy Center on Thursday, May 5, 2022, in Spartanburg, S.C. Pence made his second trip to the state in less than a week to headline an event for the crisis pregnancy center in early-voting South Carolina as he continues to mull a possible 2024 presidential bid.
Trump's spokesman attacked his former VP Mike Pence as "desperate to chase his lost relevance."
Pence is laying the groundwork for a 2024 run and campaigning against Trump in Georgia.
"Pence is parachuting into races, hoping someone is paying attention," the Trump spokesman said.
President Donald Trump's spokesperson attacked former Vice President Mike Pence as "desperate to chase his lost relevance" and "hoping someone is paying attention" as he tests the waters for a possible 2024 presidential campaign.
"Mike Pence was set to lose a governor's race in 2016 before he was plucked up and his political career was salvaged," Trump representative Taylor Budowich told The New York Times in a story about Pence's 2024 presidential aspirations.
"Now, desperate to chase his lost relevance, Pence is parachuting into races, hoping someone is paying attention," Budowich continued. "The reality is, President Trump is already 82-3 with his endorsements, and there's nothing stopping him from saving America in 2022 and beyond."
Pence, who broke with Trump in the wake of the January 6 insurrection, is laying the groundwork for a 2024 run with speeches denouncing Trump's election lies, appearances in key early presidential primary states, and stumping for GOP candidates.
Pence is trying to help reelectRepublicans who acknowledged President Joe Biden winning the 2020 election and refused to aid Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election — starting with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Pence along with other high-profile current and former Republican governors who have bristled with Trump have come out to support Kemp in the days leading up to Tuesday's primary, when Kemp will face Trump-endorsed challenger David Perdue, a former senator whose campaign has struggled.
Perdue's expected loss will be another high-profile blemish on Trump's endorsement record.
The three endorsed candidates who have lost so far in the 2022 primary cycle are Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Nebraska gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster, and Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who Trump endorsed in her unsuccessful bid to unseat sitting Gov. Brad Little.
Another major Trump endorsee, Dr. Mehmet Oz, is barreling toward a likely runoff against Dave McCormick in the Republican primary for an open US Senate seat in Pennsylvania.
In addition to Perdue, Trump has also endorsed an election denier candidate, Rep. Jody Hice, to challenge Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's chief election official.
NOW WATCH: 'Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking': Highlights from Kamala Harris and Mike Pence's vice presidential debate
More: Donald Trump Mike Pence | 2022-05-23T13:59:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | Pence Is 'Desperate to Chase His Lost Relevance': Trump Spokesman | https://www.businessinsider.com/pence-is-desperate-to-chase-his-lost-relevance-trump-spokesman-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/pence-is-desperate-to-chase-his-lost-relevance-trump-spokesman-2022-5 |
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on March 24, 2022.
A long-serving Russian diplomat quit his post in dramatic fashion on Monday, per multiple reports.
Boris Bondarev, formerly Russia's representative to the UN in Geneva, resigned in a scathing letter.
He slammed the war in Ukraine, Russian oligarchs, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
A top Russian diplomat has resigned his post with a scathing letter attacking Russia's war in Ukraine and his country's political degradation, according to multiple reports.
"Never have I been so ashamed of my country as on February 24 this year," wrote Boris Bondarev in a letter sent to diplomats on Monday and shared by the nonprofit organization UN Watch.
Bondarev represented Russia at its mission to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, UN records show.
His letter had numerous stinging comments about Russia's political elites and its foreign policy.
"Those who conceived this war want only one thing — to remain in power forever, to live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity," the letter read.
He said the work of the Russian Foreign Ministry had been reduced to "propaganda cliches in the spirit of Soviet newspapers in the 1930s."
He reserved particular ire for his former boss Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, saying the once-respected diplomat now leads a department that "is all about warmongering, lies and hatred."
The war in Ukraine is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, he wrote, but also a crime against Russians.
Bondarev confirmed the letter as genuine to the Associated Press.
UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer called Bondarev "a hero," and shared a copy of the letter on Twitter:
—Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 23, 2022
An administrator for the Russian mission to Geneva did not confirm the resignation to Insider but said it would later issue a statement.
Bondarev said he served as a diplomat since 2002 and has represented Russia to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland since 2019.
More: Russia News UK Ukraine Sergei Lavrov | 2022-05-23T13:59:59Z | www.businessinsider.com | Russian Diplomat Quits Over Ukraine, Says Putin Circle Corrupt, Pompous | https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-diplomat-quits-over-ukraine-says-putin-circle-corrupt-pompous-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-diplomat-quits-over-ukraine-says-putin-circle-corrupt-pompous-2022-5 |
Elon Musk hints at super app and payment ambitions for Twitter
Elon Musk says he'd consider turning Twitter into a super app with a strong payments focus and pointed to WeChat as a "good model."
The news: Tech mogul Elon Musk would consider turning Twitter into a super app with a prominent role for payments should he finalize his planned purchase of the social media platform, according to comments made in a recent All-In podcast.
More on this: Musk called Tencent-owned WeChat a "good model" for a super app, noting that nothing like it exists outside of China.
He said it's important for content creators to have revenue streams and that integrating payments into such an app, whether they're cryptocurrency or fiat, would be beneficial. Musk's pitch to investors to fund the acquisition involves bringing in as much as $15 million from a Twitter payments business in 2023. Twitter's current payments business is "negligible," according to the New York Times.
But Musk also said that an app like this doesn't necessarily need to be created from Twitter, adding that it could be something new, built from scratch.
Key context: WeChat and Alipay have risen to prominence thanks to their all-encompassing apps that span commerce, finance, transportation, and more.
There has yet to be any other platform, particularly in the US, that resembles these players. But several payment providers have been shifting to support a wider array of consumer needs in the last year—and become one-stop shops for consumers' needs.
PayPal, for instance, launched a redesigned app in September that bundles a slew of services, including a shopping hub, a high-yield savings account, and even a fundraising platform.
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers like Affirm and Klarna have also launched their own versions of a super app that integrate their core BNPL solutions with other shopping and financial tools.
Super apps are appealing because they solve the issue of choice overload—minimizing the number of apps and digital services consumers need to manage: About one-third of US consumers said they feel overwhelmed by the number of devices and subscriptions they need to manage, per 2021 Deloitte data.
Why it's worth watching: Certain features could make Twitter a good super app contender.
A vast user base. It's expected to hit 368.1 million global users this year—about 10% of social media users, per Insider Intelligence forecasts. Twitter's user base gives it a good foundation for becoming a super app, and engaging users with value-added services would be a key component of its transition.
Ties to commerce and payments. In March, Twitter introduced Twitter Shops, which lets merchants showcase products on their Twitter profile that customers can purchase. And it partnered with Stripe in April to test out crypto payouts for creators. These capabilities could be a pathway to developing other shopping and payment tools that can bring Twitter closer to becoming an all-in-one provider.
The big takeaway: While Musk's Twitter deal remains up in the air, it could be a harbinger for Twitter's transition to a super app. But it will be a long time before the platform can develop several features—and encourage users to adopt those features—before Twitter can define itself as a super app. | 2022-05-23T15:04:30Z | www.businessinsider.com | Elon Musk Envisions Twitter Super App With Payments | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-envisions-twitter-super-app-with-payments-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-envisions-twitter-super-app-with-payments-2022-5 |
The training module is mandatory to ensure that it gets the attention it deserves, KMPG's chief people officer said.
From June, KPMG UK will introduce mandatory unconscious bias training for 15,300 consultants.
It could impact a consultant's bonus if they fail to complete the training module, KPMG said.
It comes 18 months after the former UK boss resigned after dismissing unconscious bias training.
KPMG is making unconscious bias training mandatory. Just don't tell their former boss.
From June, 15,300 UK consultants will be expected to attend mandatory unconscious bias training, and could lose part of their bonus if they fail to complete it, the firm announced.
The plans, which are the first time the consultancy has made such training mandatory, come 18 months after the company's former UK boss Bill Michael apologized and resigned after backlash against several comments he made. Among them were his remarks that unconscious bias training was "complete and utter crap."
Michael said he didn't believe in the training because "nothing's ever improved," even when it's carried out. He also said, at the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns, that consultants should stop complaining about the pandemic, and admitted meeting clients for coffee.
Unconscious bias training is designed to mitigate the implicit, often unconscious biases that can lead people to make assumptions about others.
These assumptions have been shown to seep into hiring decisions and company culture. They are also seen as one of the many reasons why women, Black and other minority employees remain underrepresented at senior positions across business.
The training is part of wider plans by KPMG to boost the number of people from working-class backgrounds at its senior management and partner level, the firm told Insider.
As part of the training, consultants will address "invisible barriers" faced by people from "lower socio-economic backgrounds," including assumptions about the type of holiday taken or the school that a person attended.
It will also involve an immersive element, and see consultants take part in monthly themed "team activities" around subjects including Pride Month, Black History and disability inclusion, the firm said.
Completion will be closely monitored and managers will be notified if a colleague failed to attend. This could "impact a colleague's performance rating, and by extension their bonus," KPMG said — although this will be on a case by case basis.
KPMG said that bonuses are linked to a colleague's performance rating rather than the training directly.
The training module is mandatory to ensure that it gets the attention it deserves, said Kevin Hogarth, chief people officer at KPMG UK.
"We want all our people to come as they are, and that can only be made possible by challenging ourselves, confronting biases and listening and learning from each other," he said.
Employers and campaigners tend to be split on the effectiveness of unconscious bias training.
If implemented well it can be an effective way of helping employees empathize with their colleagues and think about the impact of their actions.
However, there is often little standardization across businesses and it can appear to be merely a "tick-box" exercise, and will rarely change organizations unless implemented as part of wider measures.
More: KPMG unconscious bias training Careers UK
Ethnicity pay gap | 2022-05-23T15:04:42Z | www.businessinsider.com | KPMG: Failure to Do Unconscious Bias Training May Affect Staff Bonuses | https://www.businessinsider.com/kpmg-unconscious-bias-training-mandatory-consultants-bonus-uk-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/kpmg-unconscious-bias-training-mandatory-consultants-bonus-uk-2022-5 |
Neobanks need a longer-term strategy for monetization to survive and attain profitability
Despite coming off a record year of funding, most neobanks remain unprofitable, according to a new report.
Without turning a profit, some neobanks may struggle to survive, no matter how many clients they serve.
The news: Neobanks struggle to turn a profit, with an estimated less than 5% of them breaking even, per a report from Simon-Kucher & Partners.
Surface-level success: The report confirmed that neobanks have gained enough traction over the past decade to seriously challenge incumbent banks and the status quo. Neobanks' focus on mobile and digital access has served as a catalyst for change within the financial services industry .
They've revolutionized the way consumers access their financial lives. Their value was truly realized at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when they helped customers easily stay on top of their banking needs through the web and mobile apps.
Neobanks have run away with customization, personalization, and affinity banking. Thanks to them, most customers can find an option that suits their personal values and satisfies their specific needs.
But neobanks' successes appear to be surface level. Without turning a profit, some neobanks may struggle to survive, no matter how many clients they serve.
By the numbers: At the beginning of 2022, approximately 400 neobanks served nearly one billion customers worldwide.
After a peak year of funding in 2021, the neobank landscape is valued at a whopping $300 billion.
One in three neobanks is considered a "speedboat"—meaning it was launched or supported by a large incumbent bank. These neobanks typically have deeper funding than independent start-ups.
But a survey of 25 of the biggest neobanks revealed that only two of them reached profitability. Most earn less than $30 in revenue per customer annually.
Where are they coming up short? The surface-level success of neobanks begs the question of why these banks are unable to climb up from the red into the black.
Neobanks may be spreading themselves too thin by expanding to new geographies too quickly. For example, Revolut in the past few years expanded across three continents in addition to adding new products.
Some neobanks fail to look past their initial innovation or product and identify coming trends.
In a race to acquire customers, neobanks may focus on opening as many accounts as possible without thinking about how to make them profitable. Many banks offer account sweeteners to bring customers in, but that approach might not be sustainable.
Neobanks offer a lot of free features in their apps, but their strategy to monetize them over time is key. Offering premium subscriptions or lending services is one way to do this.
Even the most seasoned neobanks don't fully grasp the complexity of taking a small start-up to global scale.
What can they do? Profitability should be at the core of every future initiative or decision a neobank makes. The report identifies three points of a neobank's life cycle and what it can do at those points.
Get out there: At launch, neobanks can operate with a startup mentality, but they must realistically identify points of pain and build a business case.
Get reach: During the next two to four years, neobanks must focus on their main markets, identify trends in those markets, and lower the cost of customer acquisition.
Get rich: From year five onward, neobanks should begin to monetize their services and have a plan for increasing revenue over the years. Neobanks at this stage should also determine if partnerships can bring value.
The stages Simon-Kucher describes are similar to the steps we identified in our UK Digital-Only Banks Report. We've included four actions within our roadmap for profitability:
Create partnerships to offer more services.
Offer business banking.
Push toward more profitable services, like lending.
Boost premium accounts.
What's next? The explosion of neobanks catapulted the industry into an unprecedented digital space, but as the market becomes saturated, we expect there will be winners, losers, and partnerships.
As neobanks mature, some will stand out as clear leaders. Recent and anticipated IPOs may be an indicator of the standouts. Some to watch include Brazil-based Nubank, US-based Chime, and Germany-based N26.
Some neobanks may never attain profitability and will ultimately dissolve or turn their focus elsewhere. We've seen this in Australia, where neobank Xinja collapsed completely, and Volt shifted to a banking as a service model.
Neobanks may also become acquisition targets. The report identifies six neobanks that were bought in 2021. Fintech start-ups striving to become super-apps may scoop up a neobank to bolster their financial arms. Alternatively, particularly in economically volatile times, incumbent banks may see an opportunity to buy a neobank. These "speedboats" will then be used to bring in customers and increase the incumbent's chances against other digital challengers. | 2022-05-23T15:04:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | Flush With Cash, yet Neobanks Still Struggle to Turn a Profit | https://www.businessinsider.com/neobanks-are-struggling-to-turn-a-profit-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/neobanks-are-struggling-to-turn-a-profit-2022-5 |
I want to retire early as a millionaire, so I asked financial planners for 3 passive income streams I should focus on building
I want to retire early as a millionaire, and I know I'll need passive income to support myself.
Financial planners say their millionaire clients often have rental property income.
They also use Social Security strategically, and invest in businesses that offer cash flow.
As someone who didn't take planning for retirement seriously until I turned 30, I've found myself playing a game of catch-up. Not only am I contributing to my SEP IRA retirement account on a monthly basis, but I'm also always searching for additional ways to build my net worth so I can retire early as a millionaire.
If I am able to make that goal happen, I want to make sure that when I retire, I have passive income coming in to support my lifestyle and cover my bills. In an effort to learn how current retired millionaires bring in money without working full-time, I asked financial advisors to share how their clients earn passive income. Here are the three most common ways.
1. Rental and investment properties
There are a lot of perks that come with having an investment property. That's why financial planner Darren Colananni says it's one of the most common passive income streams among millionaires.
Colananni says that having homes that are rented out year-round, or the majority of the year, can receive not only a stream of steady income, but can also have tax benefits.
"You can get a tax deduction on the rental income by depreciating the property," which means deducting the cost of buying or improving a rental property, says Colananni. You can also use any expenses (including your mortgage, utilities, normal repairs, etc.) to help offset your rental-property income by deducting this from your own personal tax obligations. "This means that some portion of the income is coming to you tax-free while you continue to build equity in the property," he says.
2. Social Security, collected strategically
A passive income stream that most American workers get when they retire, Social Security, is one that millionaires also bank on, according to financial planner Scott Sturgeon. He says that while Social Security a common income stream, generally there's a strategy that should go into when a person starts taking the cash.
"Social Security planning can get surprisingly complicated," says Sturgeon. "For my clients, I run various analyses to determine when the optimal time to start those payments might be based on their specific financial situation."
While you can start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits at 62, if you wait to take payments until you reach age 70, the amount you receive will increase. This won't helpe me if I retire early, but I can count on later in life.
3. Investing in a business
Even once his millionaire clients stop working full-time and retire, financial advisor Brian See has noticed that they're still involved in businesses as investors.
See says clients invest in businesses in many different ways, from investing in start-ups to providing a company with a capital infusion.
"Investing in these businesses gives you ownership in a company with an opportunity to possibly access royalties, profit sharing, or the opportunity to sell the businesses for capital gains at a potential future date," says See.
PERSONAL FINANCE 3 common sources of passive income too many people overlook
PERSONAL FINANCE A real estate investor making $6,000 a month in passive income says he keeps his day job for 4 reasons
More: Retirement Early retirement Millionaire Financial Planners | 2022-05-23T15:04:54Z | www.businessinsider.com | 3 Passive Income Streams Millionaires Rely on in Retirement | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/passive-income-streams-millionaires-retirement-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/passive-income-streams-millionaires-retirement-2022-5 |
Sponsor content Home Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Travel
The hybrid workforce and the pandemic have changed what business travel will mean going forward. Here's how companies can start preparing.
Created by Insider Studios with Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental
Business travel has changed and evolved since the pandemic started.
There is a greater emphasis on road travel, flexibility, and health measures.
Travel managers should choose companies that support them through changes.
Over the past two years, the scope of a corporate travel manager's role has evolved. Now that many professionals are emerging from the crisis mode of the past two years, they're preparing for the future of travel.
And while business travel started making a comeback in the second half of 2021, as new variants arise, companies need to account for ongoing uncertainty and evolving employee needs.
"Work and business travel are in a very different place since 2020," said Don Moore, Senior Vice President of Global Business Sales at Enterprise Holdings, Inc. Moore's team leverages the combined power of the Enterprise and National brands to offer customers comprehensive business rental programs.
Early in the pandemic, Moore and his team worked closely with travel managers to navigate the initial challenges that arose as travel rapidly shut down around the world. Now companies are building policies around redefined versions of business travel.
Here's how travel managers can prepare, what they need to consider, and how the right relationships can help them navigate changes.
Get ready to provide cars as transportation
One of the greatest impacts of the past two years is that many travelers are choosing to drive instead of fly. Overall, driving activity in the corporate sector was up 30% in 2021 from the pre-pandemic average, according to a business travel trends report by Motus. Moore has seen this trend firsthand in corporate rental data and from customer feedback.
"A number of customers who used to take short flights between cities like St. Louis and Chicago are now opting to drive instead," Moore said, adding that people have become more comfortable driving to avoid the airport.
"Customers now are getting used to driving to destinations. When they rent a car instead of flying, they have more flexibility and control over their trip," he said. "I think this preference will continue."
Travel managers can adapt to this shift to more regional ground travel by working with a business rental program so employees can easily pick up rental cars. Enterprise has over 9,500 locations in nearly 90 countries and territories across the globe, making it convenient and cost effective to pick up a rental anywhere – whether it's near home, the office, the airport, or a client.
Supporting how employees want to travel
Since early 2020, one of the biggest business travel concerns has been safety. In a business travel survey by BTN Group, sponsored by Enterprise and National, 82% of corporate travel decision-makers said traveler well-being would be more of a priority in 2022.
Employers and business travelers want to know that rental car companies they work with are concerned with safety and cleanliness. Enterprise is a member of the Clorox™ Safer Today Alliance™, a coalition to help create healthy shared spaces now and into the future. In addition to thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting cars between rentals, a one-count Clorox® Disinfecting Wipe for use on high-touch, hard, non-porous surfaces is provided in every rental vehicle in the US and Canada.
Plus, picking up the car can be a low-contact, frictionless experience. Emerald Club loyalty members can bypass the rental counter altogether and pick up their reserved car directly.
In case of an emergency, account managers can also provide travel managers extra support and leverage their vast network of locations to help with anything from a flat tire to sending an extra car. Moore said that's a benefit of working with a business rental program.
Rethinking travel policies around employee expectations
The definition of travel is changing, too. Flexibility in travel is now a top priority, according to the Motus study. This also translates to the workplace. Many white collar workers who have been working remotely want to continue doing so or move to a hybrid model. A study by McKinsey in July reported that over 60% of respondents want to work from home at least two days a week.
Companies and travel managers will need to think about how this new model of work impacts what counts as corporate travel. For example, if an employee lives two hours from the office and comes in twice a week, is that a corporate travel expense? If an employee travels from home instead of from the office to a client meeting, do they use their personal car or a rental car?
Besides the desire for flexible work, employees have other expectations that impact travel policies. They expect their employer to put people first and support sustainability, according to an article about macro business travel trends. That may impact how travel decisions are made, especially if clients are involved.
There is not a one-size-fits-all answer to these changes, but a transportation company with knowledge of the latest travel trends and access to a network of mobility solutions can help. Moore added that Enterprise and National account managers can be that consultant to help travel managers make decisions and build a program that works for them.
"Our team of account managers has conversations every day with clients about the evolution of travel," Moore said. "Transportation is one piece of the equation. We're here to work through short and long-term solutions."
Learn more about how your company can benefit from the Business Rental Program offered through the Combined Power of Enterprise and National.
This post was created by Insider Studios with Enterprise and National.
More: Sponsor Post Studios Enterprise Studios Custom Studios Travel
sp-enterprise-article1 | 2022-05-23T15:05:06Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Get Ahead of Changes in Corporate Travel | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-to-get-ahead-of-changes-in-corporate-travel | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-to-get-ahead-of-changes-in-corporate-travel |
Westwood College shut down in 2015 and was later accused by the department of misrepresenting graduates' employment prospects. Students should have qualified for a kind of relief for those defrauded by for-profit schools.
Student-loan borrower advocates sued the Education Department over stalled relief claims.
Former students of Westwood College in Illinois have been waiting over six years for debt relief.
Westwood was accused of misrepresenting employment prospects, leaving students worse off.
After a for-profit college accused of predatory behavior shut down, its students were promised student-loan relief. But six years later, they're still waiting — and now they're taking legal action.
On Thursday, advocacy groups Student Defense, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the National Consumer Law Center sued the Education Department, on behalf of former Westwood College students. Westwood, which shut down in 2015, was later accused by the department of misrepresenting graduates' employment prospects, and as a result, those students should have qualified for borrower defense to repayment, which gives student-loan relief to those defrauded by for-profit schools.
But many of those students have yet to receive the promised relief, prompting the lawsuit.
"For nearly six years, across administrations, the Department has shirked its obligations, leaving countless borrowers in the dark about whether or when they'll receive the relief they're owed under federal law," Student Defense Litigation Director Eric Rothschild said in a statement. "The Department has everything they need to free borrowers from financial limbo and offer them a well-deserved fresh start. It's beyond time they act on it."
The Education Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
In 2016, the Illinois Attorney General filed a borrower defense application on behalf of former Westwood students in Illinois in the criminal justice program, and while it resulted in the clearing of institutional loans, which are loans owed by the student to the school, it did not address federal student debt. Earlier this month, Illinois' Attorney General Kawame Raoul sent a letter to the Education Department following up on the 2016 application.
"There is no more analysis or evidence needed: Westwood defrauded all students who attended its Illinois criminal justice program," Illinois AG Raoul wrote. "The Department – and only the Department – knows which defrauded borrowers continue to carry federal loan debt for their time at Westwood. These consumers continue to be harmed by the student loan debt they carry and its negative impact on their lives."
The lawsuit noted the relief the Education Department has already provided to students defrauded by other for-profit schools, like Corinthian College, ITT Tech, and even Marinello Schools of Beauty, which gave relief to borrowers who did not even submit an application. And while the department did approve some relief for former Westwood students in February, the lawsuit cites the failure to act on the Illinois group application as "unlawful," requiring those students to pay off debt they should not owe once the pandemic payment pause on student loans ends after August 31.
The press release noted that from 2004 to 2015, 44% of Westwood's students were Black and 21% were Latino, and failure to act on their borrower defense applications "disproportionately denies relief to communities of color who already face heightened levels of debt and economic insecurity."
ITT Tech | 2022-05-23T15:13:06Z | www.businessinsider.com | Student-Loan Borrower Advocates Sue Biden Over Stalled Debt Relief | https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-borrower-advocates-sue-biden-over-stalled-debt-relief-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-borrower-advocates-sue-biden-over-stalled-debt-relief-2022-5 |
Employees say Google Cloud's strategy shake-up is driving an exodus of VPs and making it harder to retain new recruits
Martin Coulter, Rosalie Chan, and Hugh Langley
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian at Google Cloud Next 2019.
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian has overseen a period of impressive revenue growth at the unit.
But frustrations with senior management are driving VPs to quit, sources say.
Google says this movement is "inevitable", but several high-profile hires only lasted a few months.
Frustration with Google Cloud's senior leadership is driving executives at the division to leave and making it harder for the division to retain new recruits, current and former employees say.
The tech giant's multi-billion dollar cloud-computing arm has undergone a major overhaul over the past three years, as it attempts to catch rivals Amazon and Microsoft. Google Cloud currently holds around 6.1% of the cloud market, compared to Microsoft Azure's 19.7% and AWS' 40.8%, according to Gartner.
Kurian has overseen a period of impressive growth, with the division reporting 44% year-on-year revenue growth to $5.8 billion last quarter, though it has yet to turn a profit.
But recent moves – such as revamping employees' comp plans, laying off dozens of support staff, and poaching senior leaders from rivals like Salesforce and Oracle — have alienated a number of employees within the division, according to more than 20 current and former Google Cloud employees who spoke to Insider.
Insider's analysis of publicly available LinkedIn data showed 30 company vice presidents (VPs) had left Google Cloud since Kurian took the reins in late 2018.
This year is set to be the worst yet, with six VPs handing in their resignations less than halfway into 2022.
In a statement shared with Insider, a Google spokesperson said it was "inevitable that some senior leaders may receive new opportunities and want to take on new challenges."
They added: "We have built a deep and seasoned leadership team and Google Cloud has experienced exceptional growth over the past three years because of our talented teams and focus on the customer."
Five current and former employees said Google Cloud was struggling to retain senior leaders due to cultural tensions inside the unit, driven in part by the influx of talent from rival firms.
A second analysis of an internal Google Cloud org chart, featuring 116 senior VPs, managers, and directors, found half (58) had been recruited from the likes of Oracle, Microsoft, and Salesforce within the past three years.
"You get to Google thinking it's this amazing underdog. It grew out of this fun 'Don't be evil' idea and took on all these old-school competitors," said one current employee, who told Insider that shortly after they joined the company, Google Cloud hired a handful of VPs from SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft. "It was so deflating."
VPs are quitting
The wave of recent senior exits includes former sales president Robert Enslin, who left Google to take on the role of co-CEO at software giant UiPath, and former customer experience VP John Jester. Both had been at the company for just over three years.
"I was told I was joining the most exciting place in the world," said one recently departed manager. "But when I got there, the reality was just so far from what I was expecting ... It's not a fun place to work."
According to Insider's analysis, at least nine VPs quit the division in 2019. The number dropped to four in 2020, amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, but rose back up to 10 in 2021. Between January and April 2022, another six announced their departures.
One former Google Cloud VP said the departures were being driven by a feeling among managers that they enjoyed little autonomy within the company, and that they were "expected to babysit" their reports.
"It's fundamentally different to the rest of Google, because the rest of the company isn't hungry for growth in the way Cloud is," they said. The person also suggested there had been a "culture clash" between Google's relaxed status as a dominant tech giant and the zeal with which Cloud salespeople were expected to chase customers.
"Google's culture has historically been very consensus-driven, meaning it's hard for individual leaders to make big decisions quickly," they said. "That's what burns them out, and that's why you've seen VPs quitting left and right."
Asked about Enslin and Jester's departures, a company spokesperson told Insider the pair left Google on good terms, "having built a depth of talent in our go-to-market organization," adding, "we wish them the best."
They continued: "A large number of our employees joined during the pandemic and are only just beginning to go to offices, meet their managers and build in-person relationships.
"Despite this challenge, we've been proud to see teams come together to innovate, support our customers and grow the business."
New recruits who spent decades elsewhere stayed only months at Google
Newer hires are also quitting, sometimes only months after joining.
Early in his tenure, Kurian poached Steffan Tomlinson from cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks, introducing him as Google Cloud's new chief financial officer in April 2019. Just 14 months later, Tomlinson quit to take the same role at software startup Confluent.
Later in 2019, the division recruited Chris Ciauri, an enterprise tech veteran with more than a decade under his belt at rival Salesforce, to oversee its activities in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) regions.
Ciauri swiftly recruited a handful of former Salesforce colleagues to help him at Google: Sanj Bhayro was appointed EMEA operations chief, Pip White was installed as managing director for the UK and Ireland, and Liens Ceulemans became communications lead.
Sanj Bhayro is one of several Google Cloud managers to quit the company after less than two years.
Two years after he was recruited, Ciauri quit "to pursue external opportunities," with all three of his recruits following suit.
Elsewhere, Marielle Lindgren joined Google Cloud in early 2020 after more than two decades at Ericsson. She exited to take a role with Amazon Web Services less than 18 months later.
Christian Martin, who likewise spent 20 years working at tech giant Cisco, joined Google Cloud as chief of the Alpine region in November 2020. Insider reported earlier this month that he had also quit after little more than a year in post.
"I think there's a lot of frustration with Thomas Kurian ... and where he's taken the company," one current employee told Insider, who claimed Kurian had compromised Google's "biggest competitive advantage": its culture.
"That has been lost, and I think it has been lost forever."
Asked about recent changes within the division, a company spokesperson told Insider: "Google Cloud has a seasoned leadership team with hundreds of combined years of sales and services experience, and many of these leaders will now step into expanded roles.
"These changes will put our resources closer to customers and partners, and will accelerate our ability to help them digitally transform as we enter a new phase in our own growth journey."
The spokesperson added that "customers are our priority," citing recent deals with the likes of Boeing, BT, L'Oréal, and Kraft Heinz.
Are you a current or former Google Cloud employee? Got a tip?
Contact Martin Coulter via email at mcoulter@insider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at +447801985586. Reach out using a non-work device.
Contact Rosalie Chan at rmchan@insider.com, Signal at 646.376.6106, Telegram at @rosaliechan, or Twitter DM at @rosaliechan17. Other types of secure messaging available upon request.
Contact Hugh Langley via encrypted email (hlangley@protonmail.com) or encrypted messaging apps Signal or Telegram at +1 628-228-1836.
More: Google Cloud Alphabet Thomas Kurian | 2022-05-23T16:35:51Z | www.businessinsider.com | Google Cloud Sees VPs Exit Amid Strategy Shift | https://www.businessinsider.com/google-cloud-sees-vp-exodus-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/google-cloud-sees-vp-exodus-2022-5 |
Robinhood is betting big on crypto, but product delays and turnover in leadership have some employees feeling frustrated: 'You can only bang your head against the wall so long'
Carter Johnson, Kylie Robison, and Bianca Chan
Robinhood's crypto ambitions have led it to launch new products in recent weeks.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images; IStock Photo; Vicky Leta/Insider
Robinhood execs have touted crypto as a major opportunity as growth slows.
But obstacles stand in the way of the brokerage's crypto ambitions.
Turnover and a cautious approach to new product development have some employees concerned.
When Robinhood announced job cuts in April, some employees were caught by surprise.
Though the company's core business of executing trades for small investors was suffering, there were signs of growth: Just one week earlier, Robinhood had said it would buy Ziglu, a UK crypto-trading app, for $170 million.
In the wake of the cuts, which affected about 300 people, that acquisition became a bit of a sore subject.
"To sign and ... then to have this layoff announcement exactly one week later, it's just tough," one laid-off Robinhood worker told Insider at the time. "It's tough to hear together, basically."
But the reason for the acquisition became clear days later when Vlad Tenev, the CEO of the popular no-fee brokerage app, and other execs reiterated their plans to bet big on crypto.
Robinhood, famous for its role in fueling the pandemic's "meme stock" revolution, has been "making major investments" in crypto trading, Tenev said on a quarterly earnings call two days after laying off roughly 10% of the company's roughly 3,800 employees. "We believe that crypto is more than just an asset class," he added.
The company is betting on crypto to help drive growth amid a slowdown in its core business of stock trading. But a broader identity crisis, regulatory barriers, and a plummeting crypto market could stand in the fintech's way of executing on its ambitions.
Insider spoke with industry experts and sources familiar with Robinhood's crypto operations, including employees, who asked to remain anonymous in order to protect future employment opportunities within the industry. Company insiders said that while Robinhood's focus on compliance and regulation is to be expected for a registered broker-dealer, it has led to months-long delays in rolling out crypto products, to turnover in leadership, and to frustrated employees.
"You can only bang your head against the wall so long," one person familiar with the crypto team told Insider.
This is happening against the backdrop of a plummeting market for many crypto players, leaving some to wonder about the sustainability of a business model predicated on crypto trading volumes.
Robinhood is throwing its weight behind crypto
Starting in 2020, Robinhood aggressively built out its crypto team, growing it from fewer than 10 employees to roughly 150 this spring. It has rolled out both custodial and noncustodial wallets — a key piece of technology that allows its customers to interact with the crypto ecosystem — and introduced different cryptocurrencies to its platform. Under the hood, Tenev said during the earnings call, the fintech has made headway on its core crypto infrastructure to more easily onboard new coins.
Crypto represents a massive opportunity for Robinhood, said Alex Johnson, the director of fintech research at Cornerstone Advisors. "What Robinhood figured out was a way to make money by pairing up exceptionally good user interfaces with volatile investment assets," he said.
But this time, Robinhood won't have the same conducive macroeconomic environment to lean on.
"Obviously the meme-stock boom was very favorable to them in that way, because it was a fun, gamified user interface interacting with a very volatile and fun asset at the time," Johnson said. "But as that has died down, they view crypto as the next volatile trading wave that they want to build engagement around, and they know exactly how to monetize user engagement in investments. That's their specialty."
Johnson and industry experts also worry that Robinhood has an uphill battle as it faces off against Coinbase, OpenSea, and other marketplaces that offer more wide-ranging crypto products for customers.
"It feels extraordinary to say this, but [crypto] is not a nascent or emerging market anymore at a retail-investor level," Hugh Tallents, a senior partner at the consulting firm CG42, told Insider. "Habits have been formed, accounts have been opened and funded, and trading has been happening for well over 18 months at scale."
Robinhood has also grabbed many of those new customers. The startup's chief technology officer, Johann Kerbrat, recently told TechCrunch that 22 million customers interact with Robinhood's crypto products — a significant number, given the brokerage has 22.8 million funded accounts, it said in its latest earnings report.
But it remains to be seen whether Robinhood's crypto products are enough to differentiate the company from other fintechs that have been at it for longer or that focus solely on crypto. And Robinhood, which emerged as the "it" fintech at the onset of the pandemic, has lost some of its luster as the frenzy of retail-trading activity wanes.
"Robinhood's caught in this weird middle ground where they're not quite sophisticated enough in their capabilities — or hip enough from a branding perspective — to appeal to those really cutting-edge crypto adopters," Johnson said.
'The bigger you get, the slower you move'
In May 2020, Robinhood hired Dan Gallagher, a former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as its chief legal and corporate affairs officer. It was the early days of the pandemic, and users had been flocking to the platform — so much so that its services crashed in March, prompting lawsuits from angry customers. His hiring was largely seen as a response to such issues and a sign of Robinhood's maturation as a growing financial-services startup.
But insiders say Robinhood's legal team under Gallagher has viewed much of the startup's crypto products cautiously, slowing much of that team's work for fear of getting on the wrong side of regulators. They said that in some cases the release of products was delayed by months because of concerns from top management.
A person familiar with the crypto team attributed the delays to Robinhood's status as a highly regulated entity. "In crypto we want to move extra fast, and as a regulated broker-dealer, they need to move extra slow," this person said. "The bigger you get, the slower you move. The frustration of not being able to move fast enough is common across fintech."
But such an environment is anathema to crypto developers, this person added. And it's led to some tensions with members of the crypto team. "Our head of legal is a bit cautious; he's not a crypto person. He's not big on crypto," one former employee told Insider.
Since Christine Brown, Robinhood's crypto chief operating officer and de facto top exec within the trading app's crypto team, left the firm in March, Robinhood has not landed a new head of the division. Two other top execs have since left the team as well, the person familiar with the crypto team said.
Brown tweeted that she left to start her own venture, and she praised Robinhood's crypto efforts on her way out the door. But the departures combined with the product delays have left some rank-and-file employees feeling uneasy about the unit's prospects.
"The folks in the team are worried that more experienced product leaders either left because of lack of innovation or were part of the layoff," one employee told Insider. They added that some in Robinhood's C-suite are considered to be the crypto team's biggest roadblock toward innovation, saying that "legal fears" often halt new product launches.
The employee added that the new coin listings for compound, polygon, shiba inu, and solana were stalled through an entire quarter. They said that while the infrastructure for the launch was ready late in the third quarter of 2021, the team "had to sit on it for months."
"We also underinvested in new products as a result, like crypto yield, because of the slowdown based on regulatory fears," the employee said, referring to crypto yield farming, a process through which users can lend or borrow coins. The employee added that the short-term focus on raising revenue per customer has also created fears about further crypto products being more or less shelved for this year.
Johnson said Robinhood is "hypersensitive, as well they should be," adding, "That tends to inhibit their ability to really go after crypto as aggressively as they otherwise might want to."
In a statement provided to Insider, a spokesperson for Robinhood said: "We are focused on providing a safe and dependable crypto platform for our customers, something we are uniquely situated to do given that we operate in highly regulated markets and have the best regulatory talent in the country. This distinguishes us from the many crypto platforms that may not be accustomed to operating in a regulated environment."
The spokesperson said that in addition to recent product launches, new crypto wallets, assets on the platform, and 24/7 crypto-trading phone support, Robinhood has "plans to integrate with the Lightning Network," a blockchain payments protocol.
But for talent within Robinhood's crypto team, the appeal of joining a crypto-native startup unencumbered, for better or worse, by the brokerage app's sensitivity to regulatory issues has been too great to ignore. The employee said engineers and designers had left because of a lack of direction from leadership.
"Many of our talented employees have gone on to launch their own endeavors or have been hired to lead their own departments, and we view that as a good thing," the Robinhood spokesperson said.
Crypto is crashing back down to earth
Other potential barriers to Robinhood's crypto ambitions are beyond the company's control. The months since Robinhood's initial public offering in July have been filled with macro risk after macro risk, from inflation to the war in Ukraine.
And now, as the Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening signals the end of pandemic-era easy money, public- and private-market tech stocks are selling off at an astonishingly fast clip that some investors have likened to the bursting of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s. The Nasdaq is down 27% since January 1. Private-market startup investing is cratering. And Robinhood's stock has lost roughly 70% of its value since its IPO.
Meanwhile, digital currencies, once touted as uncorrelated assets, are increasingly trading in tandem with traditional markets. The price of bitcoin is down more than 36% this year, further clobbering retail investors who have already been hurt by stock declines.
All of Robinhood's "tailwinds that they had behind their business have now dissipated," Tallents said. "They had the experience of the market basically only going up, the crypto boom and the meme-coin boom.
"All of that has now turned against them, frankly."
Big crypto companies are feeling the pinch. After debuting with a soaring valuation a year ago, Coinbase's stock has fallen by more than 73% this year, while Galaxy Digital has lost some 65% of its value in 2022.
Leadership at Dragonfly Capital, a crypto-investment firm, recently told portfolio companies to "close your raise as quickly as possible" and to "cut the fat, both in product direction and in personnel if you've over-hired." Dragonfly execs, who have invested in crypto fintechs such as Paradigm, Crusoe Energy Systems, and Compound Labs, also said they anticipate that strong calls for regulation will drive innovation offshore, while the market will be less speculative as retail investors pull back.
At least one of crypto's biggest names has seen fit to invest in Robinhood — and by default the startup's crypto efforts. This May, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of the exchange giant FTX, disclosed a 7.6% stake in Robinhood through an investment subsidiary, Emergent Fidelity Technologies.
Whether Bankman-Fried's investment was spurred by faith in Robinhood's crypto ambitions or whether he simply saw an opportunity to grab a big slice of a well-known fintech at an inexpensive price is unclear. But the stake makes Bankman-Fried the third-largest shareholder in Robinhood, according to Bloomberg data.
Through a spokesperson, Bankman-Fried declined to comment further on his investment in Robinhood.
Shares in the brokerage app "represent an attractive investment," an SEC filing disclosing the stock purchase said, adding that Bankman-Fried doesn't "currently have any intention of taking any action toward changing or influencing the control of" Robinhood.
More: BI Graphics Vicky Leta Robinhood | 2022-05-23T16:36:20Z | www.businessinsider.com | Robinhood's Big Bet on Crypto Faces Obstacles Like Product Delays, Turnover | https://www.businessinsider.com/robinhoods-big-bet-on-crypto-faces-obstacles-product-delays-turnover-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/robinhoods-big-bet-on-crypto-faces-obstacles-product-delays-turnover-2022-5 |
Delta's new passenger plane, the Airbus A321neo, has a completely redesigned first-class cabin.
I flew first class on the plane from Atlanta to Boston before it made its public debut last week.
Not only did I love the design aesthetic, but I also found it to be a great place to relax and work.
Delta's brand-new passenger plane, the Airbus A321neo, comes with an entirely redesigned first-class cabin.
Each A321neo features 20 new domestic first-class seats with increased privacy, storage, and a roomier space for dining, relaxing, and working in the air.
Delta’s new A321neo fleet is powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, and the new planes offer 20% better fuel efficiency compared to Delta’s current A321ceos. The airline plans to add 26 A321neos to its fleet in 2022.
The refreshed look and feel of the first-class cabin on Delta's new A321neo is evident as soon as I board the plane. The new winged seat back has a futuristic look, but it's functional too, designed to offer increased privacy.
The overall aesthetic on the new plane is inviting, with a modern back-lit ceiling design that spans the length of the cabin — from first class to the rear galley.
It drew my eye upward and made the cabin feel roomier somehow.
To create the new domestic first class, Delta worked with Recaro and Factorydesign, using five years of customer and service crew feedback.
One of the new features is a fixed tray in between the pairs of seats — a convenient, dedicated place for pre- or in-flight drinks.
Delta configured the new A321neo with 194 seats: 20 in domestic first-class, 42 in Delta Comfort+, and 132 in the main cabin. The company plans to purchase a total of 155 of these planes through 2027.
When I settled into my first-class seat at 3B on Delta’s Airbus A321neo, I was struck by the thoughtful storage that placed everything I needed at my fingertips during the flight.
There was a large seat-back pocket for magazines, a stationary ledge for drinks between the seats, a water bottle holder tucked next to my seat, a cubby sized for a mobile phone or e-reader, and a tall compartment at my feet. It had more than enough space for my 13-inch computer and a notebook.
I love Delta's new amenity kits (typically available only in Delta One, but shown as an example for this flight), made in partnership with Mexico-based artisan collective Someone Somewhere.
The kits come in five different patterns (mine was a cheerful red and blue textile) and includes products such as a Someone Somewhere woven eye mask, Humble Co. bamboo toothbrush and toothpaste, and Grown Alchemist lip balm and lotion.
Each amenity kit comes with the Someone Somewhere artisan's name and location (mine was by a female artisan named Maria in Michoacán) and a QR code so guests can learn more about the person who made the kit by hand.
I also like that there was no plastic packaging — or even a zipper — on the kit. I'm told that the switch away from single-use plastics is helping reduce Delta's annual plastic waste by 90,000 pounds annually.
When the lights are low, the new blue track lighting above the overhead bins and the artful ambient lighting over the aisle provide an attractive glow.
My flight was only two hours and 20 minutes, so I didn't need to sleep, but it helped create a relaxing environment.
The headrest adjusts up to accommodate taller guests, and the sides of the headrest fold in to hug your head.
I was impressed by how secure the headrest felt when folded in — if I were sleeping, I could see it being a viable alternative to a travel pillow.
Plus, all of the seats (even those in the other cabins) are upgraded with plush memory-foam.
Delta's A321neo fleet went into service on May 20, 2022 from Boston to San Francisco, along with its new Pratt & Whitney GTF engines.
In the plane's newly designed domestic first-class cabins, the engine noise seemed significantly quieter than in the A321ceo.
The new first-class design features a bi-fold tray that measures 22 by 10 inches, more than enough space to hold my 13-inch MacBook Pro.
I could see myself leveraging this effective workspace in the air and knocking out some serious work on a domestic long-haul flight.
The first-class seat backs have a leather-covered ledge that provides enough grip to securely hold a phone or other device. There are plenty of places to stash or set any items you might need during the flight.
The futuristic-looking "wings" on the new domestic first-class seats really do provide increased privacy, both from your immediate neighbor and shielding passengers sitting ahead of you from view.
Three personal overhead lights per row of two first-class seats mean that there's ample lighting to work, read, or chat with your seatmate, even if the main cabin lights are dimmed during the flight.
As an Atlanta native, it was nice to see drinks by Atlanta-based canned cocktail maker Tip Top Proper offered on the flight. I indulged in a margarita that came on ice, served in Delta's signature Alessi-designed glass.
The new first-class cabins on Delta's A321neos have charging ports right next to the seat (instead of underneath the seat, like in most older planes), making it convenient to keep all of your devices fully charged.
There were three different meals offered on my Atlanta to Boston flight, including a warm veggie plate and a chicken breast over black rice. I opted for the Impossible Burger topped with manchego cheese and caramelized onions.
Served alongside a butternut squash salad and blueberry-lemon cheesecake with white-chocolate shavings, the vegetarian Impossible Burger was a nice blend of decadent and healthy. The roomy bi-fold tray had plenty of space for me to spread out to enjoy my meal.
All seats, no matter the cabin, come with screens for passengers to take advantage of the more than 1,000 hours of in-flight entertainment through Delta Studio.
Delta recently made the decision to offer gratis headphones to passengers so they can take advantage of in-flight entertainment through the seat-back screens.
If you're like me and often forget to pack earbuds with a plane-compatible jack, it's nice to have them offered at no charge.
Since I had a row to myself for this "ferry flight" to move the plane from Atlanta to Boston in advance of its inaugural passenger journey on May 20, 2020, I shifted to the window seat for the descent, to watch the Massachusetts coast go by.
Before I knew it, the flight was over, and it was time to hustle through Boston's Logan International Airport to catch my next plane.
While this flight was only two hours and 20 minutes, these Delta A321neos will begin serving longer-haul transcontinental flights, initially from Boston to San Francisco, with more routes planned for this year.
My short experience made it clear that this new first-class cabin design could make for a comfortable longer journey.
More: Features Delta Delta Air lines A321neo | 2022-05-23T17:06:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | PHOTOS: I Flew First Class on Delta's New Airbus A321neo | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-i-flew-first-class-delta-new-airbus-a321neo-plane-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-i-flew-first-class-delta-new-airbus-a321neo-plane-2022-5 |
Apple TV+ wants more series like 'The Morning Show' and 'WeCrashed,' insiders reveal, as it prioritizes A-list talent and steers clear of 'world builder' sci-fi
"The Morning Show" was the first original series that put Apple TV+ on the map.
Apple TV+ has had a few breakout hits, including "Ted Lasso" and "Severance."
The streamer is in search of more shows like "The Morning Show," "Defending Jacob," and "WeCrashed."
One agent said Apple wants "prestige broadcast," i.e. "things that are not overly dark, overly controversial."
With breakout hits "Ted Lasso" and this spring's dystopian thriller "Severance," Apple TV+ is still in the midst of forming its identity as a streaming service as it competes with heavyweights Netflix and Disney+. Where the latter two have created entertainment services chock full of series, movies, and IP-driven titles, Apple has kept its offering more tightly curated, relying on a "quality over quantity" philosophy that nonetheless cut through the noise when "CODA" won big at the Academy Awards in March.
CEO Tim Cook said on a January earnings call that Apple TV+ shows "have a reason for existing and may have a good message, and may make people feel better at the end of it," a sentiment he has expressed before about the streamer's content.
"At Apple, their mandate has always been — I sort of call it 'prestige broadcast,'" said one longtime scripted TV agent at a major agency. "So, things that are not overly dark, overly controversial. 'Defending Jacob,' obviously, is a crime show, but it's not 'True Detective.'"
Despite having a production deal with former HBO chief Richard Plepler — whose tenure included oversight of "True Detective" and "Game of Thrones" — Apple TV+ isn't looking to be the next HBO. It's not in the market, sources said, for either truly gritty dramas or big genre productions.
The streamer isn't completely devoid of steely fare, however, with Gary Oldman spy thriller "Slow Horses" currently on the platform and Taron Egerton prison drama "Black Bird," which hails from Plepler's Eden Productions, premiering in July.
Apple wants something less akin to HBO's "Mare of Easttown," specifically — the agency document notes the streamer's distaste for dramas in which a small-town cop discovers myriad dead bodies. While every studio's and streamer's needs are constantly evolving, documents like the one viewed by Insider, which originated from a separate agency than the TV agent source, summarize conversations between talent agents and executives and offer a blueprint to guide agency clients in developing pitches.
With major sci-fi series "For All Mankind," "Foundation," and "See" already on the menu, Apple TV+ isn't looking to add another "world builder" to the mix, the document noted, unless it's "an absolute world class IP with heavy hitter auspices."
On the comedy side, the document highlighted the streamer's need for more laughs to complement its Emmy-dominating hit "Ted Lasso," but the TV agent said they don't believe streaming platforms generally see comedy as a major driver of subscriber acquisition.
While Netflix made waves in the industry for giving creative executives throughout its ranks the power to greenlight shows into existence, Apple TV+ is known for keeping a more traditional, tight-knit hierarchy.
"It all flows upwards" to co-heads Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, said the agent — referring to the Sony Pictures TV vets who in 2017 stepped up as co-heads of Apple TV+. Head of development Matt Cherniss also has significant influence and decision power, this person said.
"It's become sort of a political maneuvering as well, in addition to the material," this person said. "The team may love something, but if you can't get that upper echelon on board, it's not going to happen."
Then there's Apple TV+'s love of star power. If there isn't an A-list name attached, forget about it.
"Step 1 is getting buy-in from the top floor," said the agent, referring to Van Amburg and Erlicht. "Step 2 is bringing in [a talent] attachment if you don't already have that. They actually won't greenlight anything without that level of person … Ideally, a recognizable star, but a recognizable director will also do."
In the case of "Severance," that heavy hitter came in the form of director Ben Stiller (the show also features Oscar winners Christopher Walken and Patricia Arquette in supporting roles). One source noted that, without a big name, Apple might buy a project but won't order it to series.
"The Morning Show" and "WeCrashed" remain North Stars for the Apple streamer.
"They'll have outliers, like 'Severance' and 'Pachinko,' but I think most of the slate more closely resembles 'WeCrashed,'" said the agent. "It's poppy, it's lighter, it's fun. Good cast. I feel like that's the kind of show I would point to as the more prototypical Apple show."
NOW WATCH: Watch Oprah and Tim Cook debut Apple's original-video service: Apple TV+
More: Apple TV Apple Streaming | 2022-05-23T18:06:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | What Apple TV+ Wants in Its Next Series, Per Hollywood Agency Insiders | https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-tv-plus-wants-new-series-morning-show-wecrashed-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-tv-plus-wants-new-series-morning-show-wecrashed-2022-5 |
Read the 24-slide pitch deck restaurant-kiosk startup Grubbrr used to nab $35 million to help solve restaurants' labor crisis
A rendering of a Grubbrr kiosk.
GRUBBRR digital kiosk
Grubbrr's CEO thinks the cashier is obsolete and wants to help restaurants save on labor.
The company develops software that powers kiosks that people use to order at restaurants.
See the pitch deck that helped the company raise $35 million in new capital.
Sam Zietz, the CEO of Grubbrr, thinks that the restaurant cashier is becoming obsolete and that restaurants will soon go the way of banks and airports, where automated kiosks take over much of the work performed by employees.
Grubbrr, based in Boca Raton, Florida, develops software for restaurant kiosk ordering and automation systems. Its clients include Blue Bottle Coffee, BurgerFi, and Duck Donuts.
Zietz said that while he thinks the industry shift to self-serve kiosks should have happened 10 to 15 years ago, plentiful access to low-wage labor meant restaurants didn't need to innovate.
"They had so much access to low-wage workers, they said, 'Why would we invest in technology when we can throw cheap labor at the problem?'" Zietz told Insider.
In 2017, the Grubbrr team decided to invest in developing its kiosk technology, hoping to be the first mover by the time Zietz's theory played out.
Then two events occurred that made kiosks and other automation devices more appealing to restaurants and franchisees. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a boom in interest in gig-economy jobs, and lawmakers implemented a $15 minimum wage for workers in some states and for federal contractors. While the federal minimum wage is still $7.25, Zietz said the opportunity for many workers to earn more money had made it more difficult for restaurants to find employees.
"We used to say, 'We reduce labor costs. We save you on op ex,'" or operating expenses, Zietz said. "Now we say we solve labor. This labor is not coming back — and if it doesn't come back, you need a solution, and the only solution is automation."
Sam Zietz is the CEO of Grubbrr, a restaurant-tech firm.
Grubbrr
Some locations of chains like McDonald's and Panera have had kiosk tech designed by other firms for years.
For Grubbrr, restaurant automation extends beyond kiosks to include digital menu boards that reflect real-time item availability; online ordering; QR codes; and back-end management software.
Grubbrr's kiosks and software are designed to integrate into a restaurant's point-of-sale or order-management system. It counts several point-of-sale-tech companies, including Square and PAR, as strategic partners.
The company says kiosks can also help increase revenue by upselling customers based on the items they've ordered.
"By being able to customize that upsell to something that resonates and provides value to the consumer in a manner that's not intrusive, where they're having the freedom of making that decision, all of a sudden people start ordering a lot more," Zietz said.
Zietz said he hopes to leverage Grubbrr's recent partnership with Samsung, which has developed kiosk hardware, to help Grubbrr develop global reach.
He said Samsung had been looking for a software solution to pair with its kiosks when its team was introduced to Grubbrr, adding that Samsung's reps told Zietz that Grubbrr's software would accelerate its go-to-market timeline by two years. The companies announced the partnership last June.
Grubbrr last month announced $35 million in new capital, raised through an intellectual-property-based funding agreement with Aon, a consulting firm. It said it would use the funding to help increase its headcount.
Grubbrr has about 200 employees and about 50 open developer roles. The company's job listings also include project managers and customer-service managers.
See the 24 slides that helped Grubbrr raise $35 million below. | 2022-05-23T18:07:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | Kiosk-Tech Firm Grubbrr Raised $35 Million With This Pitch Deck | https://www.businessinsider.com/kiosk-tech-firm-grubbrr-raised-35-million-pitch-deck-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/kiosk-tech-firm-grubbrr-raised-35-million-pitch-deck-2022-5 |
President Joe Biden speaks with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., about the American Rescue Plan at the White House in March 2021.
Two maps underscore the steep premium hikes people will face if enhanced Obamacare aid expires.
Older Americans would bear the brunt of the premium increases.
It's unclear if Manchin will provide his support to revive a smaller party-line bill that renews the program.
Democrats are sleepwalking towards a political time-bomb that could go off immediately before voters cast their midterm ballots in November.
Last year, President Joe Biden beefed up subsidies to cut monthly premiums and make health insurance more affordable for millions of people buying individual plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). For Democrats, that was an important part of the stimulus law designed to improve Obamacare and widen access to the middle-class.
But that temporary program is set to expire if Democrats fail to revive a reconciliation bill that extends that financial assistance past the end of the year. Under that scenario, steep price hikes often totaling hundreds of dollars will hit 13 million Americans benefiting from the program during a punishing stretch of inflation.
"There's no denying that if they are not extended, then there could definitely be a political impact," Charles Gaba, a healthcare policy analyst and blogger, told Insider.
"If Congress lets the ACA premium help in the American Rescue Plan expire at the end of this year, middle-class people buying their own insurance would be hit hardest," Larry Levitt, vice president for health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, wrote in a tweet. "They could face a double whammy of inflation and the loss of premium assistance, costing thousands of dollars.
Voters would start getting notified about their premium increases in late October — just as they begin casting ballots for the November midterms. Others would learn about their insurance bill increases scheduled to kick in next year when they start browsing plans on November 1, the start of the next ACA open enrollment period.
Gaba calculated potential premium hikes using different scenarios based on age, income, marital status, and family size. He stressed that his premium figures don't represent final amounts, but serve as a range of where insurers will probably establish their rates. Below are the potential increases for a household made up of a 60-year old married couple earning $75,000:
In this scenario, a couple nearing retirement age in West Virginia would see their monthly premium soar $2,704 if enhanced Obamacare subsidies expire, the sharpest increase in the US. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has been open to reviving pieces of Biden's agenda without committing to any specific plans and Democrats can't revive a bill without his support. He has been publicly noncommittal on renewing the program in a smaller package.
Other calamitous price increases would be around the corner in states like Georgia, New Hampshire, and Arizona — all states that Democrats are vigorously trying to defend in the November midterms. Gaba said the brunt would be felt by people earning higher incomes since they would lose access to government help.
"If you're in that situation, you'd see all financial aid removed and your net cost would increase pretty dramatically," Gaba told Insider.
There would be premium increases for younger, single Americans who are around 30 years old and earn $40,000 annually as well. But they generally pay less for health coverage under the ACA compared to their older counterparts because they'll still qualify for some financial help from the government.
Lower-income Americans with incomes less than 150% of the federal poverty level — $19,320 for singles and $39,750 for a family of four — often pay little or nothing for coverage since the federal government started picking up the tab under the stimulus law with more generous assistance. That wouldn't be the case if the program expires.
Insider reached out to four Democratic lawmakers locked in competitive races: Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Raphael Warnock of Georgia.
All but Warnock responded to a request for comment on the issue of ACA subsidies. Spokespeople for Kelly, Cortez-Masto, and Hassan generally reiterated their support to keep healthcare costs in check without mentioning reconciliation as a pathway to achieve it.
"Senator Kelly has heard from Arizona seniors and families who are struggling with rising health care costs," Marisol Samayoa, a spokesperson, said in a statement to Insider, adding he is "working to prevent an increase in insurance premiums."
Last year, 20 Senate Democrats urged Biden to make extending the Obamacare subsidies a priority in his Build Back Better plan. They included Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, another Democratic holdout who flummoxed Democrats last fall over her resistance to tax rate increases.
More: Policy Joe Biden Obamacare Congress
ACA' | 2022-05-23T18:07:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | Maps: the Obamacare Time-Bomb That Democrats Have on Their Hands | https://www.businessinsider.com/maps-obamacare-health-insurance-premiums-time-bomb-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/maps-obamacare-health-insurance-premiums-time-bomb-2022-5 |
The best credit card bonuses and deals this week include new offers on 3 Amex Hilton cards and a Capital One Venture bonus worth at least $750 in travel
Whether you're planning a summer road trip or looking to earn rewards to offset your everyday expenses, it's an excellent time to boost your points, miles, and cash back balances by opening a new credit card. There are dozens of lucrative offers currently available — including increased bonuses and even brand-new cards from major card issuers. Many are record-high welcome bonuses of 100,000 points or more — but some are only available for a limited time.
The return of a huge offer on the much-loved Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a great opportunity for folks who are looking to book travel later this year, but there's very little time left to apply. Until May 31, 2022, you can earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's worth $800 in cash back, $1,000 in travel booked through Chase, or $1,440 or more when you transfer points to Chase's airline and hotel partners for award travel.
Capital One unveiled some big changes to the Capital One Travel portal last week, and it's good news if you have cash-back cards like the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card or Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card. The Capital One Travel portal is now open to just about any cash-back (or miles-earning) Capital One credit card, and cardholders can also earn bonus rewards when they book hotels and car rentals through the platform.
In addition, the issuer launched new bonuses on two of its student credit cards. The Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card are offering a Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card. These cards don't normally offer a bonus, and the minimum spending requirement is very attainable.
The popular Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is back with a big offer as well: New cardholders can earn 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. That's worth $750 in travel when you redeem Capital One miles at a fixed rate to erase travel purchases, or potentially $1,275 (based on Insider's valuations) when you transfer miles to airline and hotel partners to book award travel.
If you like staying at Hilton hotels, there are new elevated Amex Hilton card offers to consider that include up to 130,000 points plus statement credits toward Hilton purchases. Even the no-annual-fee (See Rates) Hilton Honors American Express Card is offering an increased bonus: 100,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in purchases on the card in the first 3 months of card membership, and up to $100 in statement credits on eligible Hilton family hotel purchases in the first 12 months.
As new offers continue to roll out, you've got an excellent opportunity to take advantage of an increased credit card bonus now, so you're set up with points you can use for travel whenever you're ready to hit the road again.
pfi click tables | 2022-05-23T18:07:43Z | www.businessinsider.com | Best Credit Card Deals and Bonuses This Week: May 23, 2022 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-credit-card-deals-bonuses-this-week-may-23-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-credit-card-deals-bonuses-this-week-may-23-2022-5 |
Why employers and employees are split on HR tech
Created by Paycom with Insider Studios
Whether we're bypassing huge crowds, shopping online, or even streaming movies from the couch, technology helps us live better. Sadly, this doesn't hold true for a vast majority of employees.
A late 2020 survey conducted by OnePoll and commissioned by Paycom of 1,000 American office workers reveals an overwhelming 77% get frustrated by outdated tech at work. Disjointed systems, unnecessary logins, and bottlenecks shatter their focus every single day.
Yet in a separate OnePoll survey from January 2022 of 500 U.S. executives and HR professionals, 64% believe their digital transformation has accelerated in recent years. But for 67% of employees, it's not prioritized.
Where leaders see progress, employees meet constant digital dead ends that could redirect them toward headaches, burnout, and even turnover.
How is it possible for employers to purchase HR tech their workforce actually wants to use?
Tracing the digital divide
The thing about tech use is just that: using it.
In other words, employers often hear of tech's great potential, but since they're not using it every day, their perspective is different. On the other hand, employees are reliant on their tools for nearly every aspect of their work lives, such as:
Clocking in and out
Requesting time off
Training and performance evaluations
Interacting with HR
At the same time, few employers believe they're giving their people the tech they really need. Only 1 in 5 of them think the tech they've purchased is being used fully. While leaders are trying to adopt new tools, something isn't clicking across their businesses.
Meeting the demands of the digital reality — and, by extension, top talent — isn't about throwing more software at a workforce. In fact, no single tool captures an employee's work life. Instead, tech needs to work seamlessly across their entire experience.
It's not as though employers are completely in the dark when it comes to their employees' tech headaches. According to the 2022 study, 54% of leaders believe their staff gets frustrated by outdated tools and processes.
And when you have to regularly wrestle with a lagging experience, it's not hard to put a price tag on something better. Whereas just half of leaders think their employees would take a pay cut for twice better tech than what they're using, 67% of workers said they would.
Here, employers and employees approach a crossroads. Employers want to deliver a better digital experience because it strengthens recruitment, engagement, and retention. At the same time, employees have to find a way to tell leadership what they actually need.
Who can narrow this divide and not just get an entire organization on the same page, but the same letter?
HR professionals are poised to connect businesses across every level. They're not only within earshot of employees' needs but also the C-suite's eye in the sky as they report key details about a workforce's movement.
And leaders see HR's opportunity. According to the 2022 survey, executives cited communication between HR and employees as the top reason preventing them from better addressing tech needs. They also believed complaints around HR tech arise when it's:
Faulty or slow
Difficult to use
Hindered by too many apps and logins
But when the HR tech employees' need is delivered through one easy-to-use app — with one password and login — HR is already able to offset what employees consider their top frustration. Again, great tools must lend themselves to a great experience. Because in today's labor market, it's not enough for any leader to provide what's just good; they have to provide tech that's right.
Learn how Paycom can be the solution for your business.
This post was created by Paycom with Insider Studios.
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sp-paycom-2022 | 2022-05-23T18:07:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Employers and Employees Are Split on HR Tech | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/employers-and-employees-are-split-on-hr-tech | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/employers-and-employees-are-split-on-hr-tech |
Sponsor content Home Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Military & Defense
The Internet of Military Things is providing the connections needed to defeat today and tomorrow's threats
Created by Insider Studios with Northrop Grumman
Advanced technologies better connect the military through increased networking and helping the military remain agile.
Digital transformation is forcing a change in approach; a joint force, a more connected force, is needed to defeat today and tomorrow's threats.
Northrop Grumman is poised to help their customers transform military operations with the 'Internet of Military Things'.
For decades across the aerospace and defense industry, companies have created individual defense capabilities, such as a new aircraft, based on the mission needs of their particular military customer. Developing these capabilities meant creating hardware and software unique to that system and unique to the manufacturer.
While that process resulted in the military receiving highly-advanced capabilities, excellent at performing the intended mission or task, it also resulted in programs that locked the customer into the same supplier for sustainment and modernization for decades.
Continuously advancing technologies are changing that paradigm and changing the business of defense and national security. And this digital transformation is paving the way for delivering what the military needs — rapidly developed new capabilities to meet changing threats.
The changing battlefield
The modern battlefield is a complex place, with planes, satellites, and uncrewed aircraft hovering above; command posts, ground troops, radar, and missile-defense systems below; and perhaps ships lined up off the coast and submarines at sea.
All of these military systems and tools need to communicate effectively if defense personnel are to easily collaborate on missions. But militaries across the globe have traditionally developed proprietary, incompatible networks and systems — even within individual branches.
A sweeping military concept called Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, is poised to change the picture dramatically. It calls for connecting all sensors – such as radars and antennae – with communications systems across all military branches and sharing their information on a single network known as the Internet of Military Things (IoMT). By enabling secure data sharing and by unleashing the power of artificial intelligence, the IoMT will transform battlefield operations into a synchronized whole that is capable of making rapid, information-driven decisions.
"The Internet of Military Things is the way of the future," said Scott Stapp, Northrop Grumman's chief technology officer. "It's going to significantly improve the effectiveness of military operations."
Commercial advances now lead to military advances
For most of our lives, we've benefited from military technology being passed from the military to the commercial world. The examples are plentiful — from the radars keeping our cars safely apart on the highway to GPS helping us navigate a new city to the processing chips in our mobile phones. These technologies started in the military and are now essential to our daily lives; that's been the traditional path of advanced technology.
"You can connect to finances online, your tax records, to your health records. You can share information with your doctors instantly, everything is being connected," Stapp said. "It's all about dramatically increasing data flow, which includes voice and data communications."
That ubiquitous connectivity is not yet available to the military, meaning defense forces aren't as connected or capable as they could be.
"The military is not set up like that. It's set up as individual branches," Stapp added. "So sharing and learning what that data can do to improve mission-capability is a key goal in the development of the Internet of Military Things."
According to Stapp, Northrop Grumman is committed to making sure that as they develop capabilities for individual military branches, they're network-friendly from the outset and optimized to talk to as many other systems as appropriate.
"You'll begin to see, in military technology, the connectivity we have at home," Stapp said. "I recently installed a home theater comparing two great systems. One had better sound quality, but the other plugged seamlessly into my network. I chose the other because I valued the better connectivity."
Testing the theater of the future
As it continues to build the capabilities within the IoMT to be open and interoperable, Northrop Grumman is also developing the secure, interconnecting command and control networks that bring all of these things together. A previous military exercise involving the US Army's Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) and missile defense system illustrates how the company's connective technology makes a crucial difference on the battlefield.
In the test, a mock cruise missile was fired, and was instantly detected by a Northrop Grumman-built US Marine Corps radar system and an F-35 fighter jet. The sensors were deliberately jammed and therefore unable to independently identify the target, but upon receiving cues from the other two assets via the connective tissue of IBCS, the system fired a surface-to-air missile that successfully shot down the surrogate cruise.
Just a few short seconds of shared communication made the difference between success and failure.
"Normally these military systems would never talk to each other," Stapp said. "Because they did, one system that had lost its own eyes and ears was able to use its weapon thanks to the network provided by our engineers."
Northrop Grumman is also developing a family of reprogrammable radio communication systems that will allow the US Air Force to share intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information over a single network. Jenna Paukstis, vice president, communications solutions business unit at Northrop Grumman, said the company's family of open architecture, software-defined Freedom Radios, continually incorporate third-party innovations that not only help enhance the flow of information across the DoD, but will provide the enhanced situational awareness capabilities needed to maintain a strategic advantage in an age of technology-driven conflict.
"Our plug-n-play, adaptable radios, and gateways allow us to get the right data to the right user at the right time, and these systems are well positioned to help make IoMT a reality for men and women in uniform," Paukstis added.
Making better decisions with artificial intelligence
Northrop Grumman is expanding defensive capabilities with AI and machine learning algorithms, which ingest enormous volumes of information and interpret it much faster than humans can, leading to faster and better decision-making. An AI-orchestrated response also conserves firepower, coordinating operations in the heat of battle so multiple weapons systems don't all shoot at the same target simultaneously.
"If you have hundreds of missiles coming toward your base, a human will never be able to figure out which ones to target at which times, but AI can," Stapp said.
At a more advanced level, future AI systems will enable both piloted and uncrewed systems to share intelligence and act autonomously when necessary.
High-powered computing in small spaces
"AI requires massive computing power and server farms for storage, but in the military you don't have that luxury," Stapp said. "You need to shrink a thousand computers down to a size that can fit onto an airplane or a satellite."
Northrop Grumman is working to solve the problem by boosting the processing power of existing chips while collaborating with universities to develop lightning-fast quantum computing for the future. In the meantime, it has created effective data-preprocessing techniques that weed out noise and deliver the details critical to mission success.
"A fighter aircraft collects terabytes of radar data. Preprocessing reduces it to actionable kilobytes," Stapp said. "Rather than being inundated with thousands of bits of information, preprocessing allows the pilot to focus on what really matters. The pilot simply sees a red dot on the screen showing the threat and its range, altitude, and angle."
The IoMT creates infinite possibilities
Northrop Grumman continues to lead system development to connect disparate systems, making it possible for information sharing via translators and other technological work-arounds.
"We can help systems that can't talk understand each other, we do that now, but in the future we won't need work-arounds, systems will understand each other from day one," Stapp said. "The interoperability and connection of the IoMT means our collective defense forces will be able to see events, understand them, make better decisions, and then act faster than the enemy. That will be the real strategic advantage."
The ability to coordinate operations across domains and make sound split-second decisions based on the most accurate intelligence available, no matter where it comes from is a vision that Northrop Grumman is helping make a reality.
"We can't even imagine all the possibilities the IoMT will create," Stapp said. "The first step to harnessing those possibilities is for businesses to embrace open-systems, to embrace connectivity."
Find out more about how Northrop Grumman's technology is helping to transform the modern battlefield.
This post was created by Insider Studios with Northrop Grumman.
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sp-northrup-21-1 | 2022-05-23T18:08:01Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Internet of Military Things Can Help Defeat Threats | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/the-internet-of-military-things-can-help-defeat-threats | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/the-internet-of-military-things-can-help-defeat-threats |
JPMorgan just outlined its most detailed plan yet for increased spending on tech and fintech products, despite investor criticisms. Here are 9 slides laying out the playbook.
JPMorgan held its first investor day in two years amid increased scrutiny over its spending plans.
The bank posted dozens of slides detailing its spending across technology, consumer, investment banking, and other divisions.
Here are the top 9 slides seeking to explain the bank's vision and justify its spending.
On Monday, JPMorgan Chase held its first investor day in two years.
The series of presentations from top JPMorgan executives — including Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon — were an opportunity to prove to investors that the nation's largest bank is adapting to a rapidly-changing macro environment of rising interest rates and inflation. Indeed, JPMorgan said it was raising its target for net interest income this year to $56 billion, up from $44.5 billion in 2021.
But it was also a chance for JPMorgan execs to beat back charges of runaway spending on new investments at the bank, which it signaled in January would reach $15 billion this year (a number that drew the ire of analysts during earnings calls and investors, the Financial Times reported in March).
Ahead of the investor day, shareholders delivered a rare rebuke to Dimon this May, with just 31% percent voting in favor of the bank's planned pay package this year.
This year, Dimon has pointed to "intensifying" competition from new, non-bank competitors like Apple and Walmart as justification for the bank's tech investments and acquisitions, which now total at least 13 since 2020.
By taking the stage at investor day, Dimon and other JPMorgan execs had a chance to offer a glimpse into the bank's financials that hasn't previously been disclosed during quarterly earning updates. In an effort to counter the recent negative headlines, they lifted the hood on wide-ranging and deep bets on technology and new consumer products.
JPMorgan said spending on tech alone this year will total $14.1 billion. Nearly half of that, or $6.7 billion, the bank's CIO Lori Beer said in a presentation, will be spent "on change the bank" investments.
Top execs also detailed new investments within JPMorgan's consumer and community banking division Monday, including a plan to launch a competitor buy now, pay later product to rival offerings by fintech players like Affirm. Last September, Marianne Lake, JPMorgan's co-CEO of consumer and community banking, signaled the offering by speaking of Chase's need to innovate in consumer lending.
The installment lending tool, which the bank is calling "Pay in 4," will be offered "to nearly 30 million of our consumer banking customers who will be able to turn it on like a light switch, and it will work anywhere that their debit card works," Lake said Monday.
JPMorgan's spending comes amid a broader shift in banking that has a majority of consumers, or 54 percent, using digital banking tools more now due to the pandemic, according to the 2021 digital banking attitudes study by JPMorgan's consumer banking arm. Meanwhile, 99% of Gen Z and 98% of millennials use a mobile banking app, according to the Chase study, released last year.
The bank's investor day Monday encapsulated JPMorgan's efforts to show investors that its spending plans will help it fend off the competition, adapt to evolving consumer tastes, and attract more Gen Z customers.
Here are the top 9 slides that best illustrate the bank's vision for the future — and how it plans to to pay for it.
JPMorgan CIO Lori Beer showed that rising expenses are being driven by new investments.
Expenses spent on new tech investments will increase from $4.8 billion in 2019 to $6.7 billion this year, growing 11% annually. Beer broke down the investments into four areas: Those that are going into JPMorgan's different business lines for new products and services, money spent on modernizing technology and software development, those concentrated around data and AI, and expenses for customer protection and cybersecurity.
Costs to maintain existing tech have remained flat even as volumes have doubled.
The amount of money the bank spends on "running the bank," Beer said Monday morning, has remained largely flat over the past two years, growing just 3% annually to an expected $7.4 billion in 2022. The level of spending has remained static even as compute and storage volumes have doubled at the bank since 2015, Beer added.
Beer said $4.1 billion of the bank's planned $6.7 billion of new tech investments will go to new products and platforms.
As evidence of areas that are receiving the billions in new investments, Beer pointed to growing usage of Chase.com and the bank's mobile consumer banking app, an e-trading platform within JPMorgan's corporate and investment bank, and new payments capabilities across the bank.
JPMorgan plans to consolidate its 33 data centers to 17 by 2025.
According to Beer, JPMorgan has embarked on an aggressive plan to pare down its data center footprint. Insider has previously detailed the bank's embrace of a multi and hybrid-cloud approach by tapping into public cloud providers and its private cloud alike. Beer added that roughly 30% of JPMorgan's total infrastructure costs are going towards cloud work.
Spending on technology and software development will save about $1.5 billion over the next three years.
This spring, Monika Panpaliya, the head of JPMorgan's global technology-product office, detailed to Insider the efforts the bank has taken to shape a more agile, flexible engineering workforce by embracing a startup-like tech organization.
Beer's slides highlighted "agile adoption," automation, and cloud tech as key drivers of the $1.5 billion savings.
JPMorgan says it expects "high impact" from its AI investments.
According to Beer's slide, JPMorgan expects to see more than $1 billion in business impact driven by its AI investments by next year. The bank has been implementing AI in its equities trading business, where it has used the technology to send faster quotes to clients, and also to detect fraudulent transaction activity.
Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak, co-CEOs of JPMorgan's consumer and community banking division, highlighted client engagement within the bank's new self-directed investing service.
The number of new client accounts within Chase's self-directed investing service has grown more than 50% since 2019, the slide detailed, to 1.3 million last year. More than 90% of Chase's self-directed clients had a previous relationship with the bank. JPMorgan has hired from large competitors like Goldman Sachs' Marcus as it builds out its self-directed investing tools.
Piepszak announced the launch of Wealth Plan, a goals-based wealth management service.
Wealth Plan follows on recent product launches like Chase First Banking, which launched in 2020 and is designed for parents and family customers, as JPMorgan look to tap into a broader market for wealth advice and planning.
Lake described the launch of Chase "Pay in 4," an installment-lending product built to rival BNPL offerings at fintech competitors.
Chase Pay in 4 builds on existing lending products like My Chase Plan, which allows card customers to break up large purchases into installments for a fixed monthly fee.
"We may not be a first mover in buy now, pay later, but we have the full suite of payment lending and commerce capabilities," Lake said at an industry conference last year. "Over the longer term, I think that's the bigger picture."
More: JPMorgan Chase Cloud | 2022-05-23T19:38:10Z | www.businessinsider.com | 9 Key Takeways From JPMorgan's 2022 Investor Day | https://www.businessinsider.com/9-key-takeways-slides-from-jpmorgans-2022-investor-day-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/9-key-takeways-slides-from-jpmorgans-2022-investor-day-2022-5 |
Boies Schiller just announced it's combining its NYC and Armonk offices into one regional hub. The law firm is also losing 3 partners and making leadership changes.
Casey Sullivan and Sindhu Sundar
Elite litigation firm Boies Schiller Flexner has seen an exodus of attorneys in the past several years.
Boies Schiller Flexner; Shayanne Gal/Insider
Boies Schiller leadership said in an internal memo that three partners are leaving the firm.
The firm is also consolidating its New York City and Armonk offices, and changing some leadership.
The changes come after Boies Schiller sustained an exodus of attorneys over the past several years.
The elite litigation firm Boies Schiller Flexner is undergoing a slew of personnel changes, according to an internal memo.
The memo, issued May 23 by Boies Schiller's managing partners, announced the departure of three lawyers; the consolidation of the firm's Armonk and New York offices; and the appointment of new firm leaders.
One of the three exiting lawyers is Peter Skinner, who the firm listed as the head of its global investigations and white-collar defense group. Skinner is joining Morrison & Foerster, the memo said.
According to the memo, Ilana Miller, who was the firm's co-general counsel according to her LinkedIn bio, is also stepping down.
William Marsillo is expected to take an in-house position at "a leading telecommunications and energy infrastructure company," the memo said.
Skinner, Miller, and Marsillo did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. Neither did Larren Nashelsky, the Morrison & Foerster chair.
The memo also brought news of several leadership appointments, including Eric Brenner, who will become administrative partner for the firm's greater New York metropolitan area. In this new role, he'll oversee the firm's consolidated offices in Armonk and New York City.
"In recent years, we have seen a noticeable increase in collaboration across the firm's offices on winning and staffing new matters," the memo said. "That, coupled with COVID-inspired changes to the way everyone works, creates an opportunity to rethink the administration of individual offices."
The firm has also chosen replacements for others stepping down from their roles or exiting the firm.
Amy Neuhardt will take over as deputy general counsel after the departure of Ilana Miller, who the managing partners said would be "taking some time off from the practice of law."
The memo was sent by managing partners Jonathan Schiller, Matthew Schwartz, Sigrid McCawley, David Boies, and Alan Vickery.
Some of its challenges have included negative publicity surrounding David Boies' representation of the failed medical-device startup Theranos and convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein. It also grappled with internal unhappiness among partners over compensation and transparency into management decisions.
Despite the tumult, the firm has remained active in several notable cases this year. Reuters reported early in May that the wife of billionaire Edward C. Johnson IV had hired Boies in a high-stakes divorce trial.
Boies' work on behalf of Virginia Giuffre also contributed to a settlement with Prince Andrew in February. Giuffre had accused Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was underage.
More: Boies Schiller Boies Schiller Flexner Big Law | 2022-05-23T19:38:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | Boies Schiller Loses 3 Partners, Announces Leadership Changes | https://www.businessinsider.com/boies-schiller-loses-3-partners-announces-leadership-changes-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/boies-schiller-loses-3-partners-announces-leadership-changes-2022-5 |
Fox News host Tucker Carlson is getting support from his network, including media critic Howard Kurtz.
Fox News' media show host defended Tucker Carlson following the Buffalo mass shooting last week.
It's the latest example of Fox taking an approach to defend Carlson by name, not just the network.
Carlson has a documented history of echoing white supremacist rhetoric and conspiracy theories.
Fox News weekend host Howard Kurtz dedicated a segment on his Sunday show to defending colleague Tucker Carlson, marking the latest example of the network taking a top-down approach to backing its primetime star.
Carlson, the face of the nation's most viewed cable news show, is again facing backlash and the heightened attention he's become accustomed to, this time following the May 14 Buffalo mass shooting and his well-documented echoing of white supremacist rhetoric and adjacent conspiracy theories, including the shooting suspect's self-professed embrace of the "great replacement" theory.
"Now his comments on immigration and politics and those of anyone at this network are, of course, fair game for public debate," Kurtz said, with Mediaite first cataloging the segment. "But blaming him for the shooting is absurd. The latest case of a blood on your hands approach to finger pointing."
Kurtz, who joined Fox News in 2013 after hosting "Reliable Sources" for CNN, dismissed comparisons to the suspect's online writings with Carlson's on-air rhetoric as "knee-jerk partisanship." He also compared Carlson to the late conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, falsely asserting that former President Bill Clinton blamed Limbaugh "in part" for the Oklahoma City bombing (Clinton only referred to "promoters of paranoia" and did not mention Limbaugh by name).
The New York Times recently analyzed 1,150 episodes of "Tucker Carlson Tonight." Its assessment included an April 2021 segment where Carlson closely mirrored the racist theory and baselessly alleged that Democrats and the nation's elites have been intentionally bringing in "more obedient voters from the third world" to "replace" the current US electorate, which was 70.9% white in 2020.
Despite several ad boycotts and PR headaches for the network following a range of Carlson controversies, he has proven too big to cancel with his pace-setting ratings as one of the only hosts attracting three to four million viewers per night.
In the Roger Ailes era at Fox, it was relatively common for hosts to take an extended break following on-air controversies. Former Fox News host Glenn Beck went off-air several times after landing himself in hot water — though the network would announce the absences as vacations and not suspensions — such as after he called former President Barack Obama "racist" and someone with "a deep-seated hatred for white people."
"Half the headlines say he's been canceled," Ailes said upon the news of Beck's departure in April 2011. "The other half say he quit. We're pretty happy with both of them."
Ailes occasionally demonstrated more of an iron fist when dealing with employees before he was ousted in 2016 amid allegations of serial sexual harassment in the workplace. Current CEO Suzanne Scott has taken a different approach, according to an anchor at the network who spoke on the condition of anonymity for the book "Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth" by Brian Stelter.
Rather than deploy the occasional pre-planned vacation when a host generated controversy, Scott gave the network's top-viewed hosts more autonomy, according to the frustrated host.
"That's what she prefers," the anonymous Fox anchor said of Scott. "She believes 'programming' is what works."
The same has gone for Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of the Fox Corporation, according to longtime "Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade, who also has a weekend show at the network along with streaming ventures such as the history program "What Made America Great."
"I've had more interaction with him than I had with Roger Ailes in twenty years," Kilmeade said of Murdoch in a podcast interview. "I've never felt more autonomy than I do right now."
Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow for left-leaning Media Matters for America and a longtime Fox News expert, explained that Carlson has cemented his status at the network as other high profile but less ideological hosts have since departed.
"Fox News is not subtle about how the network prioritizes Tucker Carlson's white nationalist propaganda," Gertz told Insider. "The staff knows that Lachlan Murdoch gave Carlson the green light to promote these blood-soaked conspiracy theories. Anyone who wasn't comfortable with that has already left."
Carlson enjoys even more leeway thanks to his work that exists behind a paywall on the FOX Nation streaming app. There, he doesn't face the same risks about ads being pulled and has waded further into conspiracy theories such as the January 6 insurrection being a "false flag" operation orchestrated by the US government.
While Kurtz spent most of Sunday's monologue defending Carlson specifically, he also mentioned the network and bemoaned how Fox became the subject of criticism specifically because 11 of the 13 victims were Black. Ten people were killed at the Buffalo supermarket on May 14.
"Yet, after mostly Black shoppers were gunned down in that Buffalo supermarket, people who don't like this network or compete with this network unleashed this constant barrage: it's partially Fox's fault," Kurtz said, referring to the criticism.
More: Fox news Tucker Carlson Howard Kurtz Buffalo shooting | 2022-05-23T19:38:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | Fox News Is Playing Defense for Tucker Carlson Post-Shooting | https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-tucker-carlson-replacement-theory-network-response-kurtz-buffalo-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-tucker-carlson-replacement-theory-network-response-kurtz-buffalo-2022-5 |
Brent D. Griffiths and Camila DeChalus
The House Ethics Committee announced that it is investigating Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn.
The panel said it is looking into an alleged "improper relationship" with a staffer.
Lawmakers are also investigating whether Cawthorn "improperly" promoted an anti-Biden cryptocurrency.
The House Ethics Committee announced on Monday it is investigating embattled Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn over a potentially "improper relationship" with a staffer and his promotion of an anti-Joe Biden-themed cryptocurrency.
The committee, which rarely makes public statements, said it voted unanimously on May 11 to establish an investigation into the North Carolina lawmaker. An Ethics panel investigation is a serious step, but does not necessarily prove any wrongdoing.
Cawthorn is already set to leave Congress in January, following his primary defeat to North Carolina state Sen. Chuck Edwards. It's not clear what consequences he'd face on his way out should the investigation find any wrongdoing.
In response, Cawthorn's office said it "welcomed the opportunity to prove that Congressman Cawthorn committed no wrongdoing," adding that the North Carolinian was "falsely accused by partisan adversaries for political gain."
"This inquiry is a formality," Cawthorn's chief of staff Blake Harp said in a statement. "Our office isn't deterred in the slightest from completing the job the patriots of Western North Carolina sent us to Washington to accomplish."
Some congressional experts previously told Insider that they doubt anything will come out of a congressional ethics investigation.
Congress does little to hold members of Congress and congressional staffers accountable when they conduct investigations, Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, government affairs manager of Project On Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group, previously told Insider.
"The track record of the ethics committees in both chambers is really being largely impotent and largely useless when it comes to these things," he said.
If a US lawmaker is found to have violated house ethics rules then they could be subjected to a number of penalties including a censure which is a formal statement of disapproval by the House Speaker. Or in extreme cases Congress could expel a sitting lawmaker.
A first-term lawmaker, Cawthorn has courted controversy from before he was even sworn into Congress. The constant swirl of scandal and headlines finally chafed on top North Carolina lawmakers enough that one, Sen. Thom Tillis, made the rare move to endorse a primary challenger to a Republican incumbent from his state.
"Chuck Edwards has proven he's a hardworking conservative leader who delivers conservative results," Tillis previously said in a statement. "He'll never give up on his day job in search of celebrity status in Washington, D.C., with no record of results to speak of."
The committee's interest in Cawthorn's possible improper promotion of cryptocurrency is almost certainly in response to a Washingon Examiner report that found that Cawthorn held a stake in the "Let's Go Brandon"-themed cryptocurrency. The report found that the Republican may have violated insider trading laws by hyping up the meme coin while appearing to have non-public knowledge of the currency's trajectory — namely that NASCAR driver Brandon Brown, the original Brandon in question, would be sponsored by the coin. News of the sponsorship, which was later nixed, briefly sent the cryptocurrency's value skyrocketing.
Insider's subsequent reporting found that Cawthorn could have violated a different law by not properly disclosing his stake in LGBCoin. Lawmakers are required to file reports about their financial holdings, including crypto purchases.
Last week, Cawthorn vowed that he would use his remaining time in Washington to "expose" fellow Republicans who had helped take him down or not stood up for him.
Before Cawthorn hinted at revenge, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy expressed that he still wanted to "help" Cawthorn.
More: Madison Cawthorn Congress crypto House Republicans | 2022-05-23T19:38:29Z | www.businessinsider.com | House Ethics Panel Probes Madison Cawthorn Over 'Improper Relationship' | https://www.businessinsider.com/house-ethics-panel-investigates-madison-cawthorn-improper-relationship-crypto-promotion-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/house-ethics-panel-investigates-madison-cawthorn-improper-relationship-crypto-promotion-2022-5 |
I sold my Shopify store for nearly $1 million 8 months after launching it. Here's how I built a business that appealed to buyers.
Miguel Facussé founded menswear brand Jack Archer in 2021 and sold it to OpenStore for $938,600.
He built the brand through persuasive copywriting, running ads on social media, and collecting data.
His advice for building and selling an e-commerce brand is to prioritize marketing in your strategy.
I've sold snacks in the streets of Costa Rica, built houses in Honduras, and run a sushi restaurant in Miami, but it wasn't until I got into e-commerce that I found my first opportunity for life-changing wealth.
I started my menswear brand Jack Archer in April 2021 out of a personal need for a better alternative to the big luxury brands, combined with a lot of research and experimentation. I not only tested materials and designs but copy and messaging as well.
I discovered that persuasive copywriting can dramatically increase conversion
I didn't have any formal experience in copywriting beyond my own trial and error from various business endeavors. Problem-solution statements got the most attention — in our case, the slogan, "Pants shouldn't be a pain in the butt," was a clear winner.
Without a marketing team, I spent my personal time researching the biggest pain points customers had with existing products to determine the copy that would resonate. I didn't have a full-time job outside of building the business, but I did a little consulting work and was primarily an entrepreneur who was experimenting with ideas.
Scouring through hundreds of reviews on brand and department-store websites reinforced my hypothesis that existing options fell short — consumers wanted a higher-quality, well-fitting product at a fair price point, but I wanted data to back it up.
The beautiful thing about online selling is that it's incredibly easy to test a hypothesis. Without ever dropping a dime on inventory, I ran ads on Facebook and Instagram so I could test my cost per acquisition before the product even existed. The tests were primarily to see how different copy and phrases performed. After spending about $10,000 of my savings on these ads, it was clear the company's CPA was low enough to be profitable. Jack Archer passed the test.
When I poured $500,000 of my savings into my first large inventory order, it was a risk, but the data provided reassurance. Once inventory was on the way, I ramped up my campaigns and presold $500,000 of goods within a month. The risk paid off.
After 8 months of success with Jack Archer, I knew that building a business from scratch was my passion and strength
As I was scrolling Instagram in December 2021, I saw an ad suggesting I submit my store for an acquisition offer. The possibility of selling my store was news to me. I was under the impression that only larger, household-name direct-to-consumer brands were acquisition targets.
My acquirer, OpenStore, is a Miami-based startup founded by the venture capitalist Keith Rabois last year. It evaluated my company based on business fundamentals: returning-customer rate, average cart value, and marketing efficiency, among other factors. Its goal was to project the long-term sustainability of my business based on past customer behavior.
The entire process for determining the value of my business was data driven. I connected my Shopify account to their portal and uploaded a recent profit-and-loss financial statement to its system in just a few minutes.
Within a few days, I got an email with an offer: $938,600 for Jack Archer.
I'd also done my own calculations around what my business should be worth, and their price was in line with the number I had in mind. I felt confident in their algorithm and ready to move forward. The process after I accepted the offer was a breeze.
Through a portal, I provided OpenStore with all the verification materials they'd need to ensure that the initial information I provided was accurate, as well as all of the existing documentation they'd need to successfully take over the business. Right off the bat, they asked all the right questions and requested all relevant materials, so there wasn't much back and forth. About a week later, OpenStore completely took over my business and continues to run it today.
If you want to build and sell an e-commerce business the way I did, do these 2 things first:
Put marketing at the forefront of your strategy. Running a direct-to-consumer business means you'll spend a lot on marketing, usually through paid social media. My initial test campaigns and dedication to persuasive copywriting were key to my early success. As we grew, it was all about optimizing and identifying new channels, and we eventually expanded to Facebook. In all, I spent about $400,000 on paid social before selling my business. If not done properly, this kind of spend can eat away at your margins quickly, so keep a close eye on your CPA, always consider new ways to optimize, and don't let this important aspect of the business fall by the wayside as you scale.
Stay organized and efficient. If your goal is to sell your business someday, the buyer will want to know that you have your act together. Prioritize bookkeeping, tracking, and reporting. Set up a strong foundation early with the right tools, so you never have to go back to fix things later. It's not worth the headaches, and you'll thank yourself later.
After selling Jack Archer, I'm grateful to have the means to start my next endeavor, Growth Mechanics. The best part about selling any business is it grants you the opportunity to consider what you want to do next.
Have you built and sold an ecommerce business and want to share your story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas@insider.com.
More: original contributor Acquirers Shopify | 2022-05-23T21:09:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | How I Sold My Shopify Store for $1 Million 8 Months After Starting It | https://www.businessinsider.com/sold-shopify-store-1-million-8-months-after-starting-it-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/sold-shopify-store-1-million-8-months-after-starting-it-2022-5 |
Former President Bill Clinton hailed President Joe Biden as a "get-the-job-done leader" in a profile about the president for Time Magazine's Top 100 list.
Biden was named one of Time Magazine's Top 100 influential people of 2022 — his fifth time appearing on the list. In a tribute penned by Clinton, the former president praised Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law in its pursuit to "improve our roads and bridges, bring clean water to more communities, and expand affordable broadband ."
The former president also acknowledged the tasks that remain at-hand for the Biden administration, namely in addressing the recent record-breaking rates of inflation, but said he still remains confident for a solution with Biden "on the job."
More: Joe Biden Bill Clinton Infrastructure Ukraine | 2022-05-24T03:01:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | Bill Clinton Hailed Biden As Leader, Praised Infrastructure Law, Ukraine Response | https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-clinton-biden-get-job-done-leader-infrastructure-ukraine-response-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-clinton-biden-get-job-done-leader-infrastructure-ukraine-response-2022-5 |
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took aim at GOP primary candidates who were self-professed Trump diehards but had, in his opinion, no record to back the claim up.
Ted Cruz showed up to stump for his GOP colleague Mo Brooks in Alabama on Monday.
In his speech, Cruz mocked Republican primary candidates for professing "their allegiance" to Trump.
'I love Donald Trump! No, no, no, I love Donald Trump even more. No, no, I have Donald Trump tattooed on my rear end!" Cruz joked.
While campaigning for congressman Mo Brooks in Alabama, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz appeared to mock other members of the GOP who have professed their "allegiance" to Trump in their primary races.
Cruz showed up at a town hall event with Brooks on Monday, coming out strongly in support of the congressman in Brooks' Alabama Senate primary race.
"Here's my philosophy when it comes to Republican primaries. I support the strongest conservative who can win," Cruz said. "We're not tilting at windmills. We're fighting to save the country."
"Have you noticed in a Republican primary that every candidate in the primary comes before you and beats their chest?" Cruz said.
"They say, 'I'm the most conservative soul that ever lived!' Just once, I'd love to see a Republican primary candidate stand up and say, you know, 'I'm a moderate establishment squish. I stand for nothing whatsoever,'" Cruz added. "That would at least be refreshingly candid and honest if they said that."
"And when it comes to Donald Trump, every Republican candidate on earth professes their allegiance to President Trump: 'I love Donald Trump! No, no, no, I love Donald Trump even more. No, no, I have Donald Trump tattooed on my rear end!'" Cruz joked.
He criticized these Republicans for not "(walking) the walk" while lauding Brooks for, in his opinion, having the "strongest conservative record in the Alabama primary."
Brooks thanked Cruz for his support, tweeting: "Senator Cruz's message was clear: our country is at stake, and if you want a proven conservative warrior fighting for you in the Senate, there's one choice, Mo Brooks. I'd be honored to have your vote tomorrow."
Cruz's strong support of Brooks came just days after former President Donald Trump once again slammed Brooks on his social media platform, Truth Social. Trump wrote a post on Sunday, citing an article by the Alabama Political Reporter that said Brooks' campaign mailers were still bearing Trump's rescinded endorsement months after it was withdrawn.
"CAN'T DO THAT MO!" Trump wrote in response to the article.
Cruz throwing his weight behind Brooks also significantly diverges from Trump's established stance on the congressman. In contrast, the former president appeared to have bailed on Brooks entirely when he rescinded his endorsement in March, saying the congressman "went woke" on the 2020 election for encouraging voters to look forward toward the next election rather than back at the 2020 election.
The pulling of the endorsement in March came after close to a week of what seemed like mulling on Trump's part on whether or not to back Brooks while the congressman slumped in the polls. A week before pulling the endorsement, Trump called Brooks "disappointing" and wondered if the former congressman had "changed."
"When I endorsed Mo Brooks, he took a 44-point lead and was unstoppable. He then hired campaign staff who 'brilliantly' convinced him to 'stop talking about the 2020 election.' He listened to them. Then, according to the polls, Mo's 44-point lead totally evaporated," Trump said in his statement pulling his endorsement, once again referencing baseless claims that the election was stolen from him in favor of President Joe Biden.
Until the endorsement was pulled, Brooks had been known as a staunch Trump ally.
Brooks is now surging in the polls in Alabama months after Trump rescinded his endorsement — and amid a series of high-profile Trump endorsement flops.
More: Ted Cruz Mo Brooks Alabama | 2022-05-24T03:01:36Z | www.businessinsider.com | Ted Cruz Breaks With Trump, Stumps for Mo Brooks | https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-breaks-with-trump-stumps-for-mo-brooks-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-breaks-with-trump-stumps-for-mo-brooks-2022-5 |
Warren Rojas and Taiyler Simone Mitchell
Donald Trump made last-minute plea to Georgians to vote for David Perdue and defeat Brian Kemp.
Trump joined Perdue in a Monday night tele-rally as the candidate trails his rival in the polls.
Perdue, a former US Senator, joined the Georgia gubernatorial race in December at the urging of Trump.
Former US Senator David Perdue closed his campaign for governor of Georgia Monday with a racist jab at Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams and a tele-rally with Former President Donald Trump.
During the tele-rally on Monday, Trump restated his support for the former US Senator.
"Our country, I don't think it's ever been in worse shape than it is right now," Trump said, adding that the outcome of Tuesday's primary elections in Georgia is "critical" to restoring the Republican majority in the Senate. Perdue is one of eight candidates — including Abrams and sitting Governor Brian Kemp — running for governor of Georgia.
"You'll look back in years to come. And you'll say that was a great vote just as I hope you feel that your vote for me was a great vote," Trump said in the 11-minute telephone rally.
Trump has been trying to oust Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensbeger since the duo properly certified Joe Biden's 2020 electoral win. Kemp and Raffensperger conducted a statewide audit and oversaw multiple recounts of the more than 5 million votes Georgians cast in the 2020 presidential contest.
Their refusal to go along with Trump's baseless claims of election fraud relegated them to the disloyal camp. The revenge-seeking, single-term president has been hounding them ever since.
Perdue, though, has claimed that he would not have certified the 2020 election in Georgia.
On Monday, Perdue also took a racist jab at Abrams
"When she told Black farmers, 'You don't need to be on the farm,' and she told Black workers in hospitality and all this, 'You don't need to be' — she is demeaning her own race when it comes to that," he told attendees at a campaign stop in Dunwoody, Georgia, about Abrams, who is a Black woman. "I am really over this. She should never be considered for material for governor of any state, much less our state — where she hates to live."
Abrams moved to Georgia in high school and previously served in the state's legislature. At a fundraising event for Gwinnett County Democrats near Atlanta, Abrams said that she was "tired of hearing about being the best state in the country to do business when we are the worst state in the country to live."
"When you're number 48 for mental health, when you're number one for maternal mortality, when you have an incarceration rate that's on the rise and wages that are on the decline, then you are not the number one place to live in the United States," Abrams said.
"But we can get there. You see, Georgia is capable of greatness. We just need greatness to be in our governor's office," she added.
The former senator lost his seat in 2021. Perdue failed to cross the 50% threshold to win reelection outright in November 2020 and was forced into a high-stakes runoff against Democratic nominee Jon Ossoff in January 2021. Perdue's loss — along with that of fellow Republican Kelly Loeffler to Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock — flipped control of the Senate to Democrats and gave Biden a unified Congress to work with.
A month later, Perdue rejected the chance to challenge Warnock this fall, describing his call to skip another Senate run as "a personal decision, not a political one."
However, Perdue threw his hat into the ring in December against one-time friend Kemp, at the behest of a brooding Trump.
Trump talked up Perdue and former football star Herschel Walker, his pick to knock off Warnock in the general election, during a rally in Commerce, Georgia on March 26. Trump also joined Perdue for a 10-minute tele-rally in early May.
Former Vice President Mike Pence endorsed Kemp, directly opposing Trump's pick. Pence argued at a different pep rally Monday that voting for Kemp will "send a deafening message all across America that the Republican Party is the party of the future."
"Brian Kemp has divided our party and cannot beat Stacy Abrams," he added. | 2022-05-24T03:01:40Z | www.businessinsider.com | Perdue Ends Campaign for GA Gov. With Racist Remark Against Stacey Abrams, Trump Tele-Rally | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rallies-for-david-perdue-georgia-primary-brian-kemp-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rallies-for-david-perdue-georgia-primary-brian-kemp-2022-5 |
Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia tore into the West, accusing it of controlling information online.
A Russian ambassador accused the West of "cyber-totalitarianism" and "militarizing" the internet.
He complained of a "Russophobic information campaign" spreading on social media and online.
Russia has often promoted disinformation, which Vassily Nebenzia called "alternative views."
Russian diplomat Vassily Nebenzia launched a tirade against the West on Monday, accusing the world's largest democracies of controlling information about the war in Ukraine and shutting down Russia's "alternative views."
"States that call themselves a 'community of democracies' in fact are building a cyber-totalitarianism," Nebenzia, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, said at a UN Security Council briefing on worldwide technology and security.
The diplomat denounced Ukraine for openly stating that it's built a volunteer "IT" army to fight Russian disinformation online and to target Russian and Belarusian facilities.
Nebenzia said the West is similarly "militarizing digital domain" and that Moscow would push back on any cyberattacks against Russia. He added that Russia demands "to demilitarize information space," comparing a possible global online conflict to nuclear war.
"Once again, I call you to think of the danger of dragging the world into a cyber confrontation that is no less dangerous than [the] usage of WMDs," Nebenzia said.
On the other hand, multiple reports have documented an extensive Russian cyberattack campaign targeting Ukraine through malware and hacks, some of which are so destructive that they were said to be worse than Moscow anticipated.
Nebenzia said the West chooses to ignore any "alternative viewpoint" and disregards "all inconvenient facts," citing Russia's false claims that a civilian massacre in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha was a "hoax."
Governments and established media outlets have widely called into question these claims in light of satellite photo evidence and video footage.
Nebenzia also criticized Facebook for blocking accounts that promote Russian disinformation, which he described as content that "does not meet the West-dictated agenda." He complained of a "Russophobic information campaign" that attacks Russia on matters of politics, sports, education, and culture.
"Corporation Meta openly authorized at its platforms all hate speech and calls to violence against Russians," he said.
Russia's recent actions appear to contradict Nebenzia's strong statements. The Kremlin has banned most Western social media networks since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine.
In March, the country passed a law that makes dissent — which it defined as "spreading disinformation" — punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
At the Security Council briefing on Monday, the US and UK conversely accused Russia of trying to manipulate public opinion with false propaganda.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the Russian government "continues to shut down, restrict and degrade internet connectivity, censor content, spread disinformation online, and intimidate and arrest journalists for reporting the truth about its invasion."
More: insider news Politics International Russia | 2022-05-24T06:13:07Z | www.businessinsider.com | Russia Demands That the World 'Demilitarize' Online Information | https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-demands-demilitarization-online-information-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-demands-demilitarization-online-information-2022-5 |
Airbnb is set to delist all its rental homes in China come this summer, per CNBC.
CNBC spoke to sources familiar with the matter who said Airbnb was pulling its listings in China.
Per CNBC, Airbnb plans to maintain its Beijing office but will not be operating local listings.
The decision comes amid a prolonged lockdown in Shanghai due to China's Covid-zero policy.
Airbnb is closing its domestic business in China amid the country's harsh COVID-19 restrictions, CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
According to CNBC's sources, Airbnb plans to remove all its listings in mainland China this summer. One of the sources added that Airbnb plans to keep its office in Beijing, which employs hundreds of staff.
Insider also spoke to a source familiar with the matter, who confirmed that Airbnb was pulling the plug on domestic home listings and pivoting to focus on its outbound travel business.
Insider's source added that since Airbnb set up its China business in 2016, nearly 25 million guests have booked stays in the country via the company.
However, Airbnb stays in China have made up just 1% of the company's revenue over the last few years, per the source, who highlighted how China has "been on lockdown since early 2020, with no end in sight."
The source told Insider that the domestic Chinese market has been challenging for Airbnb to gain a foothold in, partly due to the intense competition the company faced in the country's domestic short-stay home rental market. This was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the source added.
The company's decision to withdraw its listings from the Chinese market comes amid harsh COVID-19 restrictions imposed by China, which has been sticking to its Covid-zero policy.
Portions of Shanghai remain under a harsh lockdown that has stretched nearly two months. While Shanghai grapples with its many lockdown pains — ranging from widespread food shortages to public unrest — Beijing, China's capital city, is also bracing for a potential lockdown.
Airbnb underwent a round of staffing cuts in May 2020 amid worldwide pandemic restrictions and a sharp dip in travel. At the time, Airbnb laid off around 25% of the company — or nearly 1,900 employees.
The company has seen a marked improvement in its business this year.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Airbnb's revenue climbed 70% in the first quarter of 2021. The company also told The Wall Street Journal that it expected revenue in the second quarter of 2021 to fall between $2.03 billion and $2.13 billion, amid a surge in demand for summer rentals.
More: Airbnb advice InsiderAsia China Travel | 2022-05-24T07:09:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | Airbnb Is Set to Quit China Amid COVID-19 Lockdown Pains: Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-set-to-quit-china-amid-covid-19-lockdown-pains-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-set-to-quit-china-amid-covid-19-lockdown-pains-2022-5 |
Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins, Alexandra York, and Shriya Bhattacharya
Alyssa Nguyen, a graphic designer.
May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Asian American-owned businesses generate $700 billion in annual GDP and employ 3.5 million.
Six Gen Z and millennial AAPI founders offer advice for starting and scaling a business.
May marks Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage month, a celebration of the 24 million people who identify as one or more of the 40-plus ethnic subgroups that make up the community.
This diverse group of people helps make up the entrepreneur backbone of the US: Asian American-owned businesses generate $700 billion in annual GDP (between 3 and 4% of the US GDP) and employ roughly 3.5 million people, or 2% of the US workforce, according to a 2020 study by the management-consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
But there's been a big jump in anti-Asian hate crimes, which increased by 339% between 2020 and 2021, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
Despite the adversity, young Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs have continued to grow their six-figure businesses. Some launched marketing agencies based on supporting other women of color while others created apps that promote improving mental health.
Here, six Gen Z and millennial AAPI founders offer their advice for starting and growing a company.
Alyssa Nguyen
Nguyen helps entrepreneurs establish creative directions, build brand strategies, and manage social-media campaigns.
Business: Alyssa Nguyen Design is a graphic-design business that aims to works with companies owned by women of color, many of which were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Nguyen helps these entrepreneurs establish creative directions, build brand strategies, and manage social-media campaigns.
Growth: Nguyen booked just under $170,000 in revenue last year, according to documents previously verified by Insider.
Advice for starting up: Nguyen relied heavily on the community she formed online to find clients. To build her network, she shared her graphic design work on social media and posted photos and videos of herself.
"It's so important to get on social media — that's where the creative community lives," she previously told Insider.
Travis Chen
Travis Chen, left, and Brian Femminella.
SoundMind
Business: SoundMind, is a music-therapy app designed for people experiencing trauma, depression, and anxiety. Cofounders Travis Chen and Brian Femminella launched the app in November 2021, after they saw the effects of the pandemic on people's mental health.
Growth: The company raised $800,000 in a pre-seed funding round that closed in March 2022.
Advice for starting up: The pandemic helped push people to pursue their passions more, Chen said. "It's the prime time to do everything you can, eventually find what you love doing, and who you like doing it with," he added.
Read more: Meet the Gen Z founders who created a music app to help combat pandemic-induced anxiety and depression
Bolun Li
Bolun Li at a conference talking about Zogo.
Courtesy of Zogo.
Business: Zogo is an education app that seeks to make financial literacy fun for young people. Li cofounded the company with friends Simon Komlos and Simran Singh in 2019. App users can take quizzes and play games to help further their understanding of various financial topics.
Growth: Zogo has been profitable since 2020 and has more than 100,000 users. It's also partnered with more than 100 financial institutions, including MassMutual, First Bank and Trust, Diamond Credit Union, and American Express.
Advice for starting up: Since the business is geared toward Gen Z customers, user comments on the company's social-media pages help promote the brand. Many clients flood Zogo's Instagram page with praise for its simple approach to financial knowledge.
Read more: The CEO who cocreated the 'Duolingo of financial literacy' has partnered with over 100 financial institutions — including American Express
Sherane Chen
Sherane Chen.
Business: Sherane Chen's eponymous business is a marketing firm that focuses on social-media management, graphic design, video creation, and hiring. She launched the business in 2019, after working in restaurants for about five years.
Growth: Sherane Chen has 26 clients and earned six figures in 2020, according to documents provided to Insider.
Advice for starting up: After Chen launched her business, she found clients by selling her marketing services door-to-door.
"I would say, 'Hey I found your social and saw you weren't active and I wanted to give you some tips on how you can get more customers in the door,'" she told Insider.
Read more: A 23-year-old former waitress started her own restaurant marketing business that earns 6 figures. Here's how she spends her days.
Vivian Nguyen
Vivian Nguyen sells toys, candies, and accessories on livestream-shopping app Popshop Live.
Business: Cyndercake, an e-commerce site that sells pop-culture toys and merchandise.
Growth: In 2020, Cyndercake booked more than $60,000 in sales on Popshop Live, which Insider verified with documentation. Nguyen's success also helped her launch an e-commerce site in 2021. "When I was starting to sell, it kind of felt like a garage sale," she said. "I figured that an online shop would be a good step to officially make my mark as a business owner."
Advice for starting up: Instead of relying on current trends to predict the demand for goods, Nguyen suggests livestream sellers survey their customers. Additionally, highlight your personality and business in your livestreams so buyers connect with you.
"Sell yourself and your products in a way where people would be interested in supporting you and purchasing the products, not just for the item, but also because of who you are as a person," she said.
Read more: 5 steps to starting a livestream and growing your fan base, from a top seller on Popshop Live who made $60,000 on her side hustle last year
Business: Amy Lee founded Amy Lee Life Coaching to teach people how to heal from trauma and abuse and reconnect with themselves. Lee works with clients one-on-one and holds group masterclasses.
Growth: Lee booked nearly $60,000 in revenue last year, according to documents previously verified by Insider.
Advice for starting up: When launching a new venture, Lee said it's essential to find a business model that doesn't lead to burnout. She suggests business owners prioritize at least two work-related tasks that they love and, if possible, outsource the remaining responsibilities to others.
"Focus on what you're good at," Lee said, adding that she doesn't enjoy technology-based tasks like systems and processing. "What does light me up is visuals, creating content, and coaching."
Read more: A virtual life coach who made $60,000 in less than a year shares her advice for building a business based on your passions
More: Features Entrepreneurship Voices of Color AAPI | 2022-05-24T10:51:08Z | www.businessinsider.com | How 6 Young AAPI Founders Built Successful Businesses | https://www.businessinsider.com/aapi-heritage-month-gen-z-founders-advice-6-figure-business-2022-4 | https://www.businessinsider.com/aapi-heritage-month-gen-z-founders-advice-6-figure-business-2022-4 |
Airbnb says it will be removing all 150,000 of its listings in China. Local hosts and users don't seem to care.
Katie Boon and Amanda Goh
Airbnb is set to delist all its rental homes in China come this summer.
Airbnb announced that it will remove all 150,000 of its China listings from July 30.
Several China-based hosts and users told Insider they're unfazed and will use local platforms instead.
Airbnb's Beijing office and its hundreds of employees will focus on outbound businesses.
Airbnb will be removing all 150,000 of its listings in China from July 30, the vacation-rental company announced on Tuesday.
The announcement comes six years after Airbnb set up operations in China in 2016.
"We have made the difficult decision to refocus our efforts in China on outbound travel and suspend our homes and Experiences of Hosts in China, starting from July 30, 2022," Airbnb cofounder Nathan Blecharczyk wrote in a letter posted on Airbnb's official WeChat account.
China's zero-Covid policy and its constant lockdowns were contributing factors in the company's decision to pull out of China, a source familiar with the matter told Insider. The source requested anonymity for professional reasons.
In 2017, Blecharczyk relocated to Beijing to head the team in China. The company rebranded to "Aibiying" in the same year. But since its launch in China, Airbnb has struggled to compete with domestic players. Bookings in China accounted for approximately 1% of Airbnb's total revenue over the last few years, the source said.
"We will continue to incur significant expenses to operate our business in China, and we may never achieve profitability or sizable supply penetration in that market," Airbnb wrote in its 2020 SEC report.
China citizens are not bothered by Airbnb's departure from China.
Xinhua/Zhang Nan via Getty Images
Airbnb hosts in China appear to be unfazed by the announcement.
"Can't talk about disappointment; businesses have business laws," Airbnb superhost Guang Su told Insider. Guang Su rents out two apartments in Beijing, ranging between $113 and $214 a night. He has 254 reviews, most of which are positive.
Peiying, a Shanghai-based Airbnb host with 31 listings who asked only to be identified by her first name, told Insider she would continue operating on other platforms. "I'm on Meituan and Ctrip. My prices are the same across all platforms and I hope to keep it that way. But it is likely I have to reduce the number of listings I operate due to the loss of the Airbnb market," she said. Peiying is an architect by trade and rents out old Shanghai houses that she remodeled herself, according to her Airbnb profile.
Meituan is China's leading online accommodation booking platform, while Ctrip is a travel aggregator that helps customers make hotel and flight bookings in China.
On Weibo, the Twitter of China, the predominant sentiment surrounding Airbnb's departure from China was consistent with the reactions from Airbnb hosts.
"At the start, people used Airbnb to book homestays overseas. But after Meituan and Ctrip started to have homestay sections, we found that Airbnb did not have as much discount as the latter two, so I started to use it less," a Guangdong-based Weibo user wrote on the social-media platform.
"It's used for travelling abroad, but its domestic competitors are too strong. Ctrip has good reviews — who wouldn't use it?" a Zhejiang-based user wrote on Weibo.
"Listings are listing; Airbnb listings can be cheaper sometimes, but there are expensive listings too — it depends on the situation. There is just one less option at the end of the day," wrote a Yunnan-based Weibo user.
Airbnb's Beijing office will still remain fully operational and will focus entirely on outbound travels, Blecharczyk wrote in the WeChat letter.
Airbnb has been facing increased difficulty in complying with China's ever-changing regulations, the SEC report said. In September 2021, local authorities passed a ruling requiring hosts of short-term rentals to post six certificates in order to operate. Certifications include homeownership, owners' IDs, and a written guarantee for public security signed by the police. The six certificates were not easy to obtain, and non-compliant properties had to be removed immediately, per Global Times. Airbnb also had to share users' data with the Chinese government.
Airbnb declined Insider's request for comment.
More: insider asia China airbnb China | 2022-05-24T10:51:14Z | www.businessinsider.com | Airbnb Is Leaving China, but Local Hosts and Users Don't Seem to Care | https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-leaving-china-citizens-unfazed-reactions-rental-listings-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-leaving-china-citizens-unfazed-reactions-rental-listings-2022-5 |
A 45-year-old worker suffered fatal injuries after a forklift struck her as she walked across a lumber shipping yard operated by Sunbelt Forest Products, the DOL said.
Pixelprof/Getty Images
A worker died after a forklift struck her at a shipping yard in Alabama in November, the DOL said.
Sunbelt Forest Products failed to follow safety standards and faces a $54,000 fine, the DOL said.
OSHA said the company allowed employees to walk where forklift drivers couldn't see them.
A lumber manufacturer faces a near-$54,000 fine after one of its workers was struck by a forklift and died, the US Department of Labor (DOL) said.
The 45-year-old worker suffered fatal injuries after a forklift struck her as she walked across a lumber shipping yard operated by Sunbelt Forest Products in Athens, Alabama, on November 15, the DOL said Monday.
The company's failure to follow federal safety standards contributed to the incident, the DOL said. Investigators at the DOL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited the company on May 10 and proposed $53,866 in penalties.
OSHA said the company hadn't marked separate travel paths for trucks, forklifts, and pedestrians "in any way" and allowed employees to walk where forklift drivers couldn't see them. In addition, the company didn't require forklift drivers to keep a clear view of the driving path, OSHA said.
Sunbelt Forest Products also didn't remove damaged forklifts from service, including some with cracked windshields, a broken side window, a missing rearview mirror, and a compartment door that wouldn't shut properly, OSHA said. This exposed workers to hazards, it said.
A forklift typically weighs between 4,000 and 9,000 pounds and "poses significant risk of severe injury or death to workers who may be struck by this equipment," Ramona Morris, OSHA's area director in Birmingham, Alabama, said in a statement.
Sunbelt Forest Products is headquartered in Florida and supplies pressure-treated lumber and wood to distributors including Lowe's and 84 Lumber along the East Coast and across some parts of the Midwest. Sunbelt Forest Products is owned by UFP Industries.
Sunbelt Forest Products and UFP didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment made outside of regular working hours.
At the time of the incident, Sunbelt Forest Products President Ken Dell Donne told News 19 that the company was investigating. "The employees in our Athens plant are a close-knit group and we share their sadness at the loss of our colleague," Donne added.
More: Department of Labor OSHA Occupational Safety & Health Administration Alabama | 2022-05-24T10:51:20Z | www.businessinsider.com | Lumber Company Faces $54K Fine Over Forklift Death | https://www.businessinsider.com/forklift-worker-died-lumber-alabama-osha-dol-fine-sunbelt-forest-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/forklift-worker-died-lumber-alabama-osha-dol-fine-sunbelt-forest-2022-5 |
Wonder how much that new hire is earning? The answer: 7% more than you.
In the Great Resignation, a big pay gap has emerged between new hires and old hands. If you've stayed put, you're paying a price for your loyalty.
How long have you been working for your current employer?
If your answer is a few months, congratulations. You have nothing to worry about. But if you've been at your company for more than a year, here's something your manager doesn't want you to know: You're probably underpaid.
Over the past year, the red-hot job market has forced employers to dole out huge paychecks to lure new candidates — and that's created a deep divide between the rookies and the veterans at companies across the US. LaborIQ, a compensation data provider, estimates that salaries for new hires are 7% higher, on average, than the median pay for people already employed in similar positions. For many in-demand occupations across tech and finance, the disparity is in the double digits. In the Great Resignation, longtime employees — the ones who have stuck around through good times and bad — are paying a secret tax for their loyalty.
Employees are starting to catch on. They're bombarding their employers with demands for raises. Or they're leaving for new, better-paying jobs, depriving companies of the people with the most institutional knowledge. Human-resources departments know they need to do something about it, but the only real solution is expensive: Raise everyone's pay to match the runaway salaries. It'd be tough to do, especially with budgets already depleted by the cost of recruiting fresh talent. The more you pay the newbies, the less you've got left to pay the old-timers.
A few companies are trying to even out the steep disparity between job stayers and job switchers. Some are doling out midyear bonuses to try to keep workers from looking elsewhere. Others are increasing salaries company-wide — Microsoft announced last week that it's nearly doubling its payroll budget and handing out bigger raises, starting in September. But many employers are opting for a cheaper path: hoping to ride out the disgruntlement in silence.
"Almost every company out there is in one way or another having to deal with this dynamic," Jay Denton, the chief labor market analyst at LaborIQ, told me. "Companies are struggling across the board. They're playing catch-up."
Job switchers vs. job stayers
This isn't the first time a booming job market has distorted salaries within companies. Compensation professionals have a confusing name for the dynamic. They call it salary compression, referring to the way the pay gap narrows between those with more experience at a company and those with less. Compression is bad because veterans, generally speaking, should get paid more than newbies, given that they've already proved themselves and are up to speed with the way their company works. When traditional salary ranges flip — when newcomers get paid more than longtime employees in similar roles — experts call it salary inversion.
The Atlanta Fed tracks the wages of those who have stayed in their jobs versus those who've switched, and that makes it possible to track salary inversion in action during the past two decades. In recessions, job stayers fare better than job switchers, reflecting the fact that the job switching during bad times is often involuntary — people are laid off and have no choice but to take lower-paying roles. In expansions, it's the opposite — job switchers come out on top. That's what's happening now. In April, the wages of job switchers rose 5.6% from a year earlier, compared with a 4.2% increase for job stayers. That difference of 1.4 percentage points is the biggest since the dot-com bubble in 2001. It's so big, in fact, that switching employers makes all the difference in whether your pay has kept up with inflation. In the first quarter of this year, the Fed's preferred gauge for prices rose 5.2%.
If you're one of the job stayers, what you probably want to know is how much money you're leaving on the table. LaborIQ keeps track of median pay for about 20,000 job titles and then calculates what companies need to offer to recruit new hires in today's job market, adjusted for each particular job and location. Nationally, the difference between those two numbers is 7%. But that gap ranges widely depending on the job. Denton, LaborIQ's analyst, told me the disparity had been particularly large in tech and finance, in which competition for talent has been especially fierce.
I asked Denton and his colleagues to pull a sample of job titles in tech with particularly large gaps. The national median salary for IT managers, they told me, is $116,243. But LaborIQ calculates that companies need to offer $139,313 for new IT managers — a gap of 20%. The gap is 14% for systems analyst programmers, 13% for database developers, and 11% for information security engineers and directors of data science. The gaps vary widely across major cities as well. For IT managers, the gap is 10% in Salt Lake City, 20% in San Francisco, and 22% in Austin, Texas.
Employers may hope to keep their staff members in the dark about the pay discrepancies, but the secret is already out. Employees talk to one another, and they scour sites that offer salary information, like Glassdoor, Salary.com, Levels.fyi, and Blind. And increasingly, as I wrote about last year, governments are requiring employers to list pay ranges in their job postings. "When those roles get posted with what the salaries are, people are like, 'Wait a second, I have that job,'" Denton said.
That knowledge has led to all kinds of trouble. Longtime employees are disgruntled. Morale has plummeted. And attrition has skyrocketed: In March, a record 4.5 million Americans quit their job. Now, inflation is turning even more job stayers into job switchers, as rising prices have forced people to seek the pay bump that comes with a new position.
Employers know they've got a problem. In a recent survey conducted by the staffing firm Robert Half, 56% of C-suite executives acknowledged having pay discrepancies between new and existing staff members. Of those, nearly two-thirds said they were planning to conduct regular pay audits and adjust salaries to close the gaps. But even the most diligent employers typically run audits just once a year. In this economy, Denton told me, salaries are going up so fast that employers would probably need to review and adjust salaries for existing employees as often as once a quarter. If they don't, they risk losing even more talent.
Payscale, which provides compensation data to employers, recently ran an audit of what its 600 employees could earn in the current job market. "We were worried about our current employees, who have been with us through whatever that tenure might be," Lexi Clarke, the head of people, told me. "We want to make sure that the offers we're making externally in the market and our current employees match up." As a result of the audit, employees received pay bumps of 3% to 20% — "substantially" bigger than in previous years, Clarke said. The salary adjustments helped reduce turnover at Payscale, which had been on the rise. Going forward, the company hopes to identify and address any disparities quickly, before they spiral out of control.
Raises, stock awards, fancy trips
Microsoft is another company that's taking big steps to boost pay. Last week, CEO Satya Nadella told employees that Microsoft would increase salaries for high performers and dole out more stock grants, starting in September. The moves were meant to stop employees from jumping ship — especially to Amazon, a competitor that recently more than doubled its maximum base salary to $350,000.
Microsoft has the deep pockets to offer dramatic hikes in compensation — it's nearly doubling its budget for existing payroll and quadrupling its stock awards. But other companies have been forced to get creative. "We've seen organizations really put their thinking caps on and see what they can do in order to keep employees from jumping somewhere else where they could potentially get more compensation," Dawn Fay, a senior district president at Robert Half, told me. Some are offering one-time bonuses. Others are handing out rewards for high performance, including fancy trips, tuition reimbursement, and gym memberships. "All of those types of things are being looked at right now more so than they ever have," Fay said.
Salary disparities, by metropolitan area
To see pay gaps for various jobs, click on menu and then hover over map:
IT coordinators IT directors IT managers Systems analyst programmers Database developer Data management systems coordinator Data scientist Director of data science Software development engineer Software development manager
So what does all this mean for job stayers who don't want to miss out on the salary frenzy? Switching jobs is the most obvious option. But conducting a job search is a pain and is fraught with uncertainty. To get the pay bump they want, employees might not need to look elsewhere. The first step is to determine how far their salary falls short compared with the job market and then use that information to negotiate a raise. In the Great Resignation, employers have never been more desperate to get staff members to stay — which means they're more open to haggling over salaries than they have been in the past.
As for the job switchers who have leveraged the Great Resignation to get big salary increases, being overpaid comes with its own risks. Right now, the national layoff rate is hovering near record lows. But if a recession hits — and the recent slide in stock prices may indicate that one is looming — employees with outsize salaries will be the most vulnerable to layoffs. For the job stayers, knowing they have a bit more job security might offer a measure of consolation.
Ideally, though, gaps between job stayers and switchers wouldn't open up at all, no matter how hot the job market gets. If the market is paying more for certain positions, then companies should offer that same pay to their existing employees. Years ago, Netflix decided it shouldn't wait for good employees to be poached by competitors before offering them a raise — it should proactively pay its workers what they could make elsewhere. The best employees were rewarded for their loyalty, not penalized for sticking around.
Now, spurred by the Great Resignation, a growing number of companies are being forced to take the same approach, conducting frequent pay audits to ensure the salaries of existing workers keep up with the market. It's a smart move — one sure to boost morale, improve performance, and reduce turnover. After all, if a company automatically pays its valued employees what the market demands, then talented staffers have no financial incentive to go looking for a new job. They know the pay is already greener on their side of the fence.
More: BI Graphics Rachel Mendelson Discourse | 2022-05-24T10:51:26Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Great Resignation's Giant Pay Gap Between Job Switchers, Loyal Workers | https://www.businessinsider.com/great-resignation-pay-gap-new-hires-earning-more-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/great-resignation-pay-gap-new-hires-earning-more-2022-5 |
NFTs are holding up better than cryptocurrencies amid the market turmoil, according to this AI-driven blockchain firm. An expert explains why they behave differently — and reveals the best categories to own
Lisa Han/Insider
Parts of the NFT market have shown more resilience and different investor behaviour than cryptocurrencies.
Louisa Choe, an analyst at blockchain analysis company Nansen, spoke to Insider to explain some of the difference.
She revealed two subsectors of the NFT market that are showing more strength right now.
The crypto sell-off of recent weeks has been brutal and many investors will have seen big dents to their portfolios.
No asset goes up in a straight line forever, particularly not at the speed seen since the pandemic crash in 2020. Steep drawdowns are a feature of crypto markets, just as massive gains are.
While most things are down from their highs by a lot, there is great variation in the magnitude of falls between assets and sectors of the crypto market.
Parts of the NFT market for example, have shown more resilience and different investor behaviour than cryptocurrencies.
Louisa Choe, a research analyst at blockchain analysis company Nansen, spoke to Insider to lay out how its AI-driven platform sheds light on the crypto market.
Nansen tracks activity across all the major blockchains, including ethereum, avalanche and BNB Chain. Every transaction on a blockchain is publicly readable. Nansen pulls all this data in then uses a combination of AI and human analysts to draw conclusions on the state of the market and where money is moving. There is a particular focus on 'smart money.' These are the wallets that have established track records of investing large amounts profitably.
She explained that contrary to some claims, the NFT market has not collapsed or even flatlined. The on-chain data paints a picture of a shifting market, not a dead one. Nansen data suggests the NFT market is maturing and moving towards a new growth phase right now, rather than dying off.
The average NFT mint price has hovered between .07 ETH and 1 ETH since July 2021 after seeing major spikes earlier that year. Nansen data suggests mints are getting more competitive, compelling projects to lower prices.
The increasing proportion of projects fetching higher sums than their mint price happened despite rapid growth in NFT minters. According to Nansen there were only 500 people minting NFTs at the start of 2021 and there were 1.2 million as of February 2022.
The data also shows the top end of the NFT market continues to outperform the general cryptocurrency market year-to-date. Nansen's blue-chip 10 index while down in dollar terms is still up 14% year to date in ETH terms foll wing May's crypto crash.
"What I thought was really interesting is initially, in January, when we first had the correction with the cryptocurrency space, NFTs didn't quite behave the same way. In fact, a lot of the blue-chip NFTs were actually doing really well," Choe said.
"So I think there's a misconception where people see NFTs as just an extension of cryptocurrencies. But the space has grown so much and matured. You have users who invest in NFTs that have never actually interacted with with other crypto before."
She explained that some of the difference between the NFT market and cryptocurrencies can be put down to the nature of the people involved. People have non-financial reasons to hold them, in contrast with most cryptocurrencies.
"There is that sense of social collectivism and social identity in the NFT space. A lot of time, you have users who are willing to hold on to NFTs which they use as their own personal profile pictures, or some other kind of online presence. Regardless of how the market's going, they have no intention of selling."
Choe said two parts of the NFT sector are doing better in relative terms that the wider market, according to the on-chain data; metaverse and social NFTs.
She said the metaverse NFT sector is benefiting from more institutional and smart-money interest, and is less dependent on volatile retail money than other parts of the market. Items that form part of virtual worlds are a good example of this.
"Social NFTs" is a broad category featuring things such as profile pictures, proof of group membership and dual purpose tokens that might have some kind of profile picture but you can also stake it, or use it in some other way such as in a decentralized autonomous organisation (DAO). There are also collectibles and social card games within this category.
More: crypto investing analysis crypto 2022 crypto NFT investing | 2022-05-24T10:51:44Z | www.businessinsider.com | NFT Investing: Blockchain Expert Reveals Strongest Parts of the Market | https://www.businessinsider.com/nft-investing-blockchain-expert-reveals-strongest-parts-of-the-market-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/nft-investing-blockchain-expert-reveals-strongest-parts-of-the-market-2022-5 |
Today's mortgage and refinance rates: May 24, 2022 | Rates remain below 5%
Mortgage rates have been holding steady below 5% for the past few days. After months of continued increases, rates have been less predictable in recent weeks.
"The fluctuations in rates over the past few weeks reflect continued volatility and uncertainty in both the mortgage and housing markets but also in the economy overall," says Robert Heck, vice president of mortgage at Morty.
Whether rates will rise again or remain at their current levels depends largely on where inflation goes from here, Heck says.
"If inflation were to spiral out of control and spur the Fed to take even more aggressive action, rates could rise to a level that could send demand and affordability into a steeper downward spiral than the decrease we're seeing currently," he says. "That said, current market indicators are not projecting interest rate levels in the next ten years to reach a level that would send mortgage benchmarks above 7%. This, and other market indicators, suggests that we'll settle in at these rate levels and adjust to these rates as a new norm." | 2022-05-24T10:51:50Z | www.businessinsider.com | Today's Mortgage, Refinance Rates: May 24, 2022 | Rates Remain Below 5% | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-tuesday-may-24-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-tuesday-may-24-2022-5 |
How to refinance a student loan
This week's student loan refinancing rates: May 24, 2022 | Rates could rise soon
Refinancing your student loan allows you to change up your term length.
Average interest rates on refinanced student loans have fluctuated since two weeks ago, according to Credible. Five-year rates on undergraduate loans have increased, while graduate rates have plummeted. Ten-year rates on both undergraduate and graduate loans have inched up just slightly.
The US Department of the Treasury has announced that federal student loan rates are rising for the upcoming academic year. These new rates won't directly impact private student loan rates, but it's possible that private lenders will increase their rates now that their rates don't have to be as low to compete with federal loans. You might see rates on refinanced student loans go up in coming months.
Refinance rates on 5-year variable undergraduate student loans are at 3.62% on average this past week. That's an increase of 22 basis points since two weeks ago. Six months ago, this rate hovered around 2.59%.
The refinance rates on 5-year variable graduate loans have dropped compared to two weeks ago. Currently, the average rate is 3.08%, which is still a little higher than it was this time last year.
Refinance rates on 10-year undergraduate and graduate fixed student loans this past week are slightly higher than they were two weeks ago, with rates changing by just six basis points. Rates have increased more significantly since six months ago.
Check different companies and see your terms with each lender. Look over the offers and figure out which rate and term length is best for you. When you look at your rates, lenders will usually perform a soft credit check, which doesn't impact your credit score.
You have to refinance through a private student loan lender, as you can't refinance a student loan through the federal government.
Once you've chosen a company, fill out its application and verify your finances and identity. After the lender makes its final offer, you'll need to sign the agreement and accept the terms. Then, your new lender will pay off your existing loan and you'll be set to go with a new loan.
Refinancing your student loans may net you a better your interest rate, help you switch from a variable-rate loan to a fixed-rate loan, or change your term length. By switching up your term length, you might be able to spread out payments over a longer period for smaller monthly payments, though you'll cough up more in total interest.
Be careful before choosing to refinance a federal student loan. You will lose key protections that come with federal loans if you refinance them. For example, you'll no longer be eligible for the COVID-19 related student loan payment pause, currently in place through August 31, 2022, and federal student loan relief programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
You also won't qualify for specific repayment options like Income-Driven Repayment plans, which take your specific income and family size into account when determining monthly payments.
The interest rate on a fixed-rate student loan never changes. The rate you get when you take out your loan is the rate the lender you get until you pay back your loan in full.
A variable-rate loan has an interest rate that the lender will alter periodically during your loan's term. Lenders usually tie this rate to specific market benchmarks impacted by the federal funds rate. Variable rates may start lower than fixed rates, but could increase significantly over the life of your loan.
More: Student Loans pfi Loans Credible | 2022-05-24T10:51:56Z | www.businessinsider.com | This Week's Student Loan Refinancing Rates: May 24, 2022 | Rates May Rise Soon | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loan-refinancing-rates-today-tuesday-may-24-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loan-refinancing-rates-today-tuesday-may-24-2022-5 |
Exclusive: US tech investing giant Tiger Global leads $14 million Series A round into AI chatbot startup Zowie
Zowie cofounders: Matt Ciolek and Maja Schaefer (CEO).
US investing giant Tiger Global has led a $14 million Series A round into chatbot startup Zowie.
The Polish startup aims to transform customer service queries into sales for ecommerce sites.
It comes as bigger funds increasingly pile money into early-stage startups.
When Maja Schaefer first started raising seed capital for her AI chatbot startup Zowie, she got in touch with a local venture capital firm Inovo.
"We could talk in Polish, it was casual," she told Insider.
But the jump to raising Zowie's Series A round was "much more difficult."
Zowie has just landed $14 million in a deal led by tech investing giant Tiger Global. The startup, which counts the likes of L'Oreal and Avon among its customers, has developed a chatbot for e-commerce sites that aims to transform customer service queries into sales.
The round comes less than six months after closing a $5 million seed round in January. It is also in line with Tiger's move to back more early-stage funds after the New York hedge fund was hit with $17 billion in losses due to the widespread tech sell-off.
Zowie's bot can detect and automate responses to repetitive questions such as status updates on package deliveries in order to reduce the workload on support agents. The startup claims it can also detect buying intent among visitors to a site and connect customers with actual support staff.
"Given the growth of the e-commerce vertical and increased consumer spending globally, Zowie is uniquely positioned to continue reaching more e-commerce customers and expanding the business on a global scale," John Curtius, partner at Tiger Global, said.
The Polish firm integrates with companies such as e-commerce marketplace Shopify and marketing automation platform Klaviyo, and charges businesses for every package of automated interactions that they buy.
The Series A round was also backed by Munich-based VC network 10x Founders — whose founding investors have invested in the likes of delivery giant DeliveryHero and mobility company Tier. Meeting with 10x was a "door opener", as they connected Schaefer with Gradient Ventures, Google's AI investing arm — who also co-invested in Zowie's $5 million seed round in January.
Darian Shirazi, general partner at Gradient Ventures, cited the "incredibly large market for Zowie's solution" as a key factor for investing in the startup. "Every merchant on Shopify, BigCommerce, and every other e-commerce platform is a potential customer for Zowie's products and services," he added.
It was the investors at Gradient that made the connection to Tiger Global.
Zowie will use the newfound capital to bolster its growth in the US, where most of its customer base is located.
"Having US investors is really valuable because we're scaling there, and they help us hire and interview the right people," Schaefer said.
"It's important to be close to the market, and understand cultural differences, buyer perspectives, and the hiring market. I can recommend this to every European founder — if the US market is important, aim to get on board with an American investor."
More: Startup female founder Tiger Global | 2022-05-24T10:52:14Z | www.businessinsider.com | Exclusive: Zowie Raises $14 Million in Round Led by Tiger Global | https://www.businessinsider.com/zowie-raises-14-million-tiger-global-and-googles-gradient-ventures-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/zowie-raises-14-million-tiger-global-and-googles-gradient-ventures-2022-5 |
Marlene Engelhorn, heir to the chemical corporation BASF, appealed to world leaders to "rebalance the world" and "tax the rich."
A group of millionaires has demanded that world leaders force them to pay more tax.
They made the demand at the exclusive World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland.
Energy and food prices continue to rise across the world, pushing up the cost of living.
A group of millionaires attending the exclusive Davos retreat in the Swiss Alps has called on world leaders to force them to pay more tax.
On Sunday, several millionaires joined left-wing tax activists on the streets of Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders and members of the business elite have gathered for the World Economic Forum.
"While the rest of the world is collapsing under the weight of an economic crisis, billionaires and world leaders meet in this private compound to discuss turning points in history," Phil White, a member of Patriotic Millionaires, said, per the BBC.
White added: "It's outrageous that our political leaders listen to those who have the most, know the least about the economic impact of this crisis, and many of whom pay infamously little in taxes. The only credible outcome from this conference is to tax the richest and tax us now."
"As someone who has enjoyed the benefits of wealth my whole life, I know how skewed our economy is and I cannot continue to sit back and wait for someone, somewhere, to do something," Engelhorn said, per The Guardian.
Energy and food prices continue to rise across the world, pushing up the cost of living and widening the wealth divide.
Speaking ahead of the Davos forum, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said that anxiety over rising food prices was "hitting the roof," leaving "weak" countries open to recession .
During the pandemic, 573 people became billionaires — around one every 30 hours — yet 263 million people are expected to be plunged into poverty this year, the charity Oxfam International said Monday.
More: Davos Davos 2022 World Economic Forum WEF | 2022-05-24T12:22:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | Davos Millionaires Call on World Leaders to Tax Them More | https://www.businessinsider.com/davos-millionaires-tell-world-leaders-tax-us-more-economic-forum-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/davos-millionaires-tell-world-leaders-tax-us-more-economic-forum-2022-5 |
The CEO of a startup that sends mobile chargers to EV drivers reveals how he landed $23 million from investors including Mark Cuban and Obama adviser-led Pendulum
SparkCharge just closed a $23 million Series A from investors like Mark Cuban, Pendulum, and Tale Venture Partners.
SparkCharge, a mobile electric car charging startup, just raised $23 million.
Investors in the Series A round include Tale, Pendulum, and Mark Cuban Companies, among others.
Here's an exclusive look at the Somerville, Massachusetts-based firm's latest raise.
Investors from Barack Obama adviser-led Pendulum, the Mark Cuban Companies, and more just poured $23 million into a budding startup aiming to make charging an electric car as easy as hailing an Uber.
Somerville, Massachusetts-based SparkCharge was founded in 2017. It operates an on-demand charging service, mobile charger, and an app.
EV drivers can request a charge via SparkCharge's app, called Currently. SparkCharge deploys one of its local technicians to deliver charge with its Roadie mobile unit to EVs at offices, multi-family dwellings, businesses, campuses, and more. The service is currently available in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
The Series A round was co-led by Tale Venture Partners and Pendulum. Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Silicon Valley Bank, and Pusha-T, among others, also participated.
Tale and Rise of the Rest contributed to SparkCharge's $3.3 million seed round in 2019, and Mark Cuban first saw the startup on reality show Shark Tank.
The Currently app has three tiers of pricing:
The comfort plan (for those who want the service from time to time): $4.99 per month + $0.69 per kilowatt hour of charge
The commuter plan (for occasional EV drivers): $14.99 per month + $0.59 per kWh
The explorer plan (for drivers who rely on SparkCharge as a primary source of charging): $29.99 per month + $0.51 per kWh
Each plan has no delivery fee and unlimited charges.
Right now, that puts its rates above the national average price for public charging of around $0.30 to $0.50 per kWh, according to consultancy West Monroe. Tesla owners have recently reported peak demand rates of $0.58 per kWh.
But it's all in the name of making EV charging — a $207.5 billion business by 2030, according to Guidehouse Insights — more accessible, CEO Josh Aviv told Insider.
Many zip codes have been left out of charging infrastructure conversations, Aviv said. "When you get even further out of cities, you really start to see the disparity there."
Aviv told Insider his pitch to investors emphasized three things:
SparkCharge CEO Josh Aviv
The biggest barrier to EV consideration — and the most dissatisfying aspect of owning an EV — is public charging availability, according to JD Power.
Whether a prospective EV driver lives in a multi-family building without access to a garage or plug, a public charging station isn't working, or if there simply isn't infrastructure in a community, accessible charging is a hurdle.
"Those low-income zip codes are actually almost being barred from joining this clean-tech and green revolution," Aviv said, noting he wants to eliminate those roadblocks to adoption.
SparkCharge did not provide data surrounding the average number of SparkCharge techs or Roadie units available in each city where it operates.
While conventional EV charging stations require utility and electrical work, SparkCharge can be deployed within 7 days of entering a city. Aviv said charging is also typically delivered in 30 minutes or less of a request.
This means greater speed-to-market and eliminating the time it takes to charge (especially if there are lines in EV-heavy cities).
Consumers are likely willing to adopt models like this that can eliminate stressors surrounding public EV charging, said Brent Gruber, executive director of JD Power's global automotive practice.
"If it's a technology or an approach or a business model that aids in the convenience and makes it more accessible, those are things that play right into the sweet spot of consumers and their areas of concern right now," Gruber said.
SparkCharge has partnerships with Uber, Hertz, and Kia Motors, and is planning to expand its service to 50 markets by mid-2023. It's also looking to introduce new mobile charging products this August.
"Once you experience that freedom and convenience, you really don't want to have to go back to the old way of charging," Aviv said. "It's almost like the first time you get something delivered from Amazon — why am I going back to the mall?"
More: Transportation Electric Vehicles Charging
portable charging | 2022-05-24T12:22:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | An Exclusive Look at Startup SparkCharge's $23 Million Series a | https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-startup-sparkcharge-series-a-funding-cuban-pendulum-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-startup-sparkcharge-series-a-funding-cuban-pendulum-2022-5 |
I spend $400 a month on freelancers for my small business. Here's who I hire and why it's worth the extra cost.
Hiring freelancers to help with low-lift tasks can save small business owners hours every week.
She budgets $400 a month to hire freelancers to do work for her small business.
The expense is worth it, Glantz says, because it saves her time to spend on more important tasks.
As a solopreneur, I make money through multiple income streams: from services offered by my business, from coaching and courses, through revenue from my podcast and newsletters, and from books and seasonal products launches.
But one of the biggest and most long-running mistakes I made was refusing, for years, to hire anyone to help me out. I thought I could do it all and I did, but it left me overworked and exhausted.
Not only did it feel impossible to keep up with day-to-do tasks, but I didn't have the time to innovate or think of new ways to scale my businesses.
So at the end of last year, I decided I'd start finding people to help me, and began budgeting $400 a month to spend on hiring freelancers.
While the kind of help I need every month varies, I typically find freelancers on Facebook groups or through websites like Fiverr and Upwork. Here are the kind of freelancers I usually hire, how much they cost, and what they bring to my business.
1. Researchers
During any given month, I'd spend two to three hours a week doing outreach to secure speaking engagements at conferences, press segments, or brand sponsorships. While I already had different email templates ready to personalize and send out, it still took too much time researching every opportunity and hunting down the correct contact information.
So, I started hiring a research assistant who I pay to create lists of contacts for me to send my pitch emails to. For example, last week I hired someone for $25 for an hour to put together a list of 50 conferences I could apply to speak at. This saved me at least three hours of work. On average, I spend around $75 a month hiring researchers to create these lists for me.
2. Google Ads specialists
When it comes to acquiring new customers and subscribers for my newsletter or podcast, running Google ads has been an effective way to make that happen. Since I'm not an expert at setting up these ads or doing keyword research, I hire a freelancer to set these campaigns up for me on a monthly basis.
This saves me at least two hours a week, and results in more effective ad campaigns because they're done by a specialist and optimized for success. I usually pay between $40 and $60 per campaign, and budget $125 a month for two to three campaigns.
3. Personal assistants
When I took inventory of how I spent my workday, I noticed that I was spending a lot of time on low-impact tasks, like formatting a presentation deck, scheduling social media posts, or writing podcast show notes.
These things had to get done, but they took up hours of my time and pulled me away from taking important meetings, strategizing ways to grow my business, and other tasks that only I could do.
Now, I budget around $200 a month to hire personal assistants to help me with the tasks that I don't have to do myself. This amount gets me anywhere from three to five hours a week of extra help, which has made a noticeable difference in the amount of time I need to work every day after I finish my high-priority to-dos.
I understand the hesitation as a small business owner or entrepreneur to spend money on freelancers and delegate tasks to someone else. But if it'll save you time to spend on more important needs, it's worth it.
More: Strategy Small Business freelancers business expenses
Personal assistants | 2022-05-24T12:22:43Z | www.businessinsider.com | How Much It Costs to Hire Freelancers to Help My Small Business | https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-freelancers-to-help-small-business-what-it-costs | https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-freelancers-to-help-small-business-what-it-costs |
Read the pitch deck the cloud-data-storage firm LucidLink used to win over investors for a $20 million Series B led by Headline
Peter Thompson, LucidLink's cofounder and CEO.
LucidLink, a cloud-data-storage startup, raised a $20 million Series B round led by Headline.
LucidLink's platform lets users stream data from the cloud for projects instead of downloading it.
Its cofounder Peter Thompson told Insider how its pitch deck helped it raise the latest round.
LucidLink, a cloud-file-hosting startup that wants to eliminate the need to download large files and projects, announced on Monday that it raised a $20 million Series B round.
It did so by winning over investors on the technical level, Peter Thompson, its cofounder and CEO, told Insider. Headline led LucidLink's Series B round, with participation from Top Tier Capital Partners, Baseline Ventures, and BrightCap Ventures.
Thompson and his cofounder, George Dochev, started the company in 2016 with backgrounds in file-storage software. Since then, LucidLink has raised $40 million between two rounds, which included investments from Adobe and Bain Capital. LucidLink declined to share its recent valuation.
Cloud file services have taken off during the pandemic. The Seattle cloud startup Qumulo raised $125 million at the start of 2020, while the cloud-file-storage companies Backblaze and DigitalOcean have gone public.
While Google Drive , Dropbox, and Box also offer cloud storage, LucidLink touts its ability to let users stream in data from the cloud instead of having to download large projects, Thompson said.
"Some people have said it's like Dropbox on steroids," Thompson said.
Thompson said the service has become popular among creative industries that deal with large assets and video files across scattered teams. Its clients include the film-production company Warner Bros., the broadcast department of ViacomCBS, and the advertising agency TBWA.
Thompson said LucidLink became so popular within the creative industries that it's even poached employees from them, adding that hiring from professions like video editing and marketing helped it improve the product.
"They were able to help us understand the language of the customer and what are the problems they face on a daily basis," Thompson said.
With that in-house knowledge, Thompson and his team were able to communicate to investors the value of their product and lay out how it could grow with more investment. Thompson said that with those funds the startup would be able to add support roles in all departments to ramp up growth and expansion.
Having demonstrative results and a product that works was also key to a successful pitch, Thompson said.
"As much as we can let the product speak for itself, we know that we're going to be winning the game," he said.
Read the pitch deck LucidLink used to raise its $20 million Series B round
Lucid Link
More: Cloud Pitch Deck Fundraising | 2022-05-24T12:22:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Read the Pitch Deck LucidLink Used to Land a $20 Million Series B | https://www.businessinsider.com/see-the-pitch-deck-lucidlink-20-million-series-b-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/see-the-pitch-deck-lucidlink-20-million-series-b-2022-5 |
Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson says the S&P 500 will fall by another 14% into a bear market. He recommends buying these 15 stocks to weather the plunge and outperform peers when the bull returns.
Morgan Stanley's chief equity strategist Mike Wilson predicted the last three market crashes.
He's bearish on stocks and thinks the S&P 500 still has another 14% to fall by the end of the second quarter.
He shares 15 defensive plays to weather the bear market and provide upside when the bull returns.
It's been seven successive negative weeks for the S&P 500 and it's just on the precipice of a bear market , having dropped 16% since the start of this year, now sitting around the 3,973 level.
But that doesn't mean it's a "buy the dip" situation, according to Morgan Stanley's chief equity strategist Mike Wilson.
"However, given the risks to growth are just emerging, it's too early to get bullish," said Wilson in a May 23 research note.
Deutsche Bank chart of consecutive negative weeks for S&P 500
Wilson turned bearish on the stock market early last year when he made a call that the S&P 500 could correct 10% to 20% due to a "fire" and/or "ice" scenario.
A "fire scenario" is one in which red-hot inflation causes the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy aggressively, while an "ice scenario" is one in which economic growth decelerates, hitting stock valuations and earnings expectations.
Both scenarios are in the process of playing out and Wilsonsays stocks have further to fall, as the bear case becomes consensus amongst most market participants.
Stocks have fallen sharply this year on the back of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates and implementing a more hawkish approach to monetary policy. At the same time, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's COVID outbreak, as well as surging inflation and slowing growth have become additional headwinds for the market.
"We think 3400 is a level that more accurately reflects the earnings risk ahead and expect that level to be achieved by the end of 2Q earnings season," Wilson said. "Until then, vicious bear market rallies should be used to lighten up on the areas most vulnerable to the oncoming earnings reset."
Waning consumer demand is playing a key role in Wilson's current bear case. He references a recent Morgan Stanley survey of around 2,000 US consumers which found more than half of consumers were planning to cut back on spending over the next six months due to inflation.
An even higher share of lower income consumers are expecting to reduce spending, according to the survey.
A chart demonstrating low consumer vacation intentions from Morgan Stanley research note
Wilson was one of the first strategists to warn about the impact of excess inventories being held by companies that were preparing for a boom in consumer demand from excess savings built up over the pandemic. He expects this to weigh on companies profit margins.
"While we think the margin pressure and waning low end consumer demand dynamics have been largely understood by the market, we think the excess inventory element and the associated risk to pricing is less understood and is just now beginning to be reflected in stock prices," Wilson said.
Morgan Stanley clients have turned more bearish as of late, accepting that a slowdown of growth in the technology sector is possible and that inflation won't be short-lived, according to Wilson. However, he believes that many still aren't fully pricing in risks.
"Many still think there is a Fed put but they acknowledge the strike price is now lower and agree with our long-standing view that it's somewhere below 3500 on the S&P 500," Wilson said. "This would be down approximately 15% y/y which is a level that will start to have a negative wealth effect and slow demand, a necessary condition for the Fed to get inflation under control."
Despite the negative sentiment, clients are still asking Wilson what stocks to buy in this current market environment or in the case of a full market reset.
Using a GARP screen, Wilson's team has picked out 15-high quality names that can weather the bear market and provide upside at the other end.
Here is a list of the stocks he recommends snapping up as the market starts to bottom out.
T stock on May 24
Ticker: T
Price target: $22
Upside (as of 23/05/2022): 8%
2. Comcast Corp
CMCSA stock on May 24
Upside (as of 23/05/2022): 31%
KO stock on May 24
Markets Inside
4. Pepsi Co
PEP stock on May 24
Price target: $198
5. Proctor & Gamble
PG stock on May 24
6. Exxon Mobil Corp
XOM stock on May 24
7. Beckton Dickinson Co
BDX stock on May 24
Ticker: BDX
Sector: Health care
8. Abbott Labs
ABT stock on May 24
9. CVS Health Corp
CVS stock on May 24
Ticker: CVS
10. Anthem Inc
ANTM stock on May 24
Ticker: ANTM
11. Johnson Controls
JCI stock on May 24
Ticker: JCI
12. Deere & Co
DE stock on May 24
Ticker: DE
13. Mastercard
MA stock on May 24
14. LyondellBasell Industries
LYB stock on May 24
Ticker: LYB
15. Linde Plc
LIN stock on May 24
More: Investing Features Investing Strategy
mike wilson morgan stanley
market bear
stock list
defensive plays | 2022-05-24T12:23:01Z | www.businessinsider.com | Stock Market Crash: 15 Stocks to Weather a 14% Drop in S&P 500 From Morgan Stanley | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-stocks-to-buy-bear-market-protection-upside-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-stocks-to-buy-bear-market-protection-upside-2022-5 |
8 tech companies that are still hiring amid the tech slowdown — plus insider tips for getting hired
Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe.
Abhijit Bhatleka/Getty; Skye Gould/Insider
Big Tech companies are announcing hiring freezes and layoffs.
These cost-cutting measures may leave job seekers shaken, but opportunities are out there.
Talent leaders at eight companies share how they're still hiring for tech positions.
For the past year, tech workers have enjoyed the luxury of being an in-demand, highly paid talent group. But recent news may have some of these workers sweating.
After a boom in recruiting, several large tech companies have announced layoffs or hiring freezes, causing experts to ring alarm bells about a potential downturn. At the beginning of May, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, announced a hiring freeze. Uber and Twitter followed. Last week, Netflix laid off 150 employees after the streaming service lost subscribers for the first time in a decade.
Startups and public companies are preparing for cost-cutting and layoffs across the board with less venture-capital funding, plummeting stocks, and soaring inflation. Experts warn this may indicate the end of a decade-long period of growth in tech, and that companies should prepare for a new normal.
But for workers affected by layoffs or rescinded job offers, there's still time to land a different job and ride out what comes next. Many popular tech companies are still filling key roles and courting top talent. Here are eight such companies, along with insider tips for landing your next role.
Stephen Mayhew/Duolingo
Duolingo has about 100 open roles across functions, including in engineering, product, and design.
"Duolingo's business is doing extremely well, and we do not plan to slow down hiring this year," said Jocelyn Lai, Duolingo's global head of talent acquisition.
First launched in 2012, Duolingo went public in 2021 and now has offices in Pittsburgh, Seattle, New York, Beijing, and Berlin, with workers operating on a hybrid schedule.
When Lai joined the company almost three years ago, it had about 100 employees. By the end of last year, the language-learning platform had just over 500 employees.
Discord , a wildly popular instant-messaging and social-networking platform, is also still in growth mode. The company has 100 open roles in engineering, design, machine learning, and more.
"Discord originally was founded as a place where gamers found their community, and that's how we grew in popularity," Devin Schroeder, a talent leader at Discord, previously told Insider. "One of the things we're really focused on growing is making sure that no matter what you're interested in, that you can find something to geek out over, something that you totally love."
If you've felt burned by hiring managers in the past, Schroeder emphasized that Discord was focused on taking a personal approach to hiring. Before opening a role, recruiters work closely with other teams at the company to ensure they have a clear understanding of what the role entails and know how to find talent from a wider, more diverse talent pool.
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket
Founded in 2004 by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel, Roblox has exploded as a popular app and early adopter of the metaverse, a digital realm where people can interact virtually.
Roblox describes itself as a platform for experiences, where game developers can earn money by converting virtual currency generated by premium in-game items and other benefits.
The company is hiring for over 300 positions, including entry-level roles. A passion for building the metaverse is one of the characteristics the company is seeking in candidates right now.
"Roblox is attracting top technical talent with our investment in innovation, strong business growth, and the long-term vision of ushering in the metaverse," said Dan Sturman, Roblox's chief technology officer. "We also hire people who are genuinely excited about building this new category of human co-experience where so much innovation is happening."
HubSpot ranked second on Glassdoor's 2022 list of the Best Places to Work, and the top-rated employer is hiring for 788 roles globally.
Becky McCullough, the vice president for global recruiting at HubSpot, said this reputation comes from the autonomy that HubSpot offers employees. Employees have the flexibility to work remotely, and engineers work in small teams that can move quickly and take ownership of their own projects.
McCullough said HubSpot would hire hundreds of engineers in 2022.
"We feel really great about the direction that we're heading, and we're not pulling back on our growth as a company," McCullough said. "We're in it for the long term."
Adobe has a stellar reputation as an employer. The software company is also ramping up hiring. It has almost 2,000 jobs on its careers website, with roles in product management, engineering, sales, and corporate functions.
"Adobe is always on the lookout for candidates with diverse backgrounds who can help us find creative solutions that advance our mission to change the world through digital experiences," said Tricia Guyer, the senior director of talent acquisition at Adobe.
Adobe has also laid out the specific software tools and computer-science backgrounds that recruiters look for in candidates, including Adobe's own technology.
"Once the skills check out, we're ultimately looking for someone who shares our values and brings new perspective and experiences that make Adobe stronger as an employer and a company," Brian Miller, the chief talent, diversity, and inclusion officer, previously told Insider. "We often say that it's not what you do at Adobe, it's how you do it."
PayPal is recruiting talent globally, with over 1,100 open roles in the US, including in cybersecurity and data science.
In a statement to Insider, the company emphasized its commitment to hiring students through internships and university programs, including at historically black colleges and universities.
In a previous conversation with Insider, Renana Friedlich, the senior director of security operations at PayPal, said traditional education and career paths weren't a requirement to land a job at PayPal, even in technical roles, such as cybersecurity.
Free online certifications and training programs provide a wealth of knowledge and technical skills, she said.
"I have people on my team that come from customer-service backgrounds, and people that come from mathematics, and Ph.D. students, and people who don't have degrees at all," she said. "They all have a place within our community of cybersecurity professionals."
Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box.
Box is hiring for over 300 roles, including product and engineering. The cloud-services company ranked fifth on Glassdoor's list of Best Places to Work in 2022.
"We are watching developments in the market but are optimistic that the strength of our business will continue to help us attract top talent to Box," said David Moore, the vice president of recruiting at Box.
In a previous conversation with Insider, Moore emphasized that Box wanted to expand access to high-paying tech jobs, in an industry notorious for its lack of diversity. Box also allows all of its employees to work remotely, opening new talent pools across the country.
Expensify made headlines last year when its initial public offering made 50 of the company's 140 employees on-paper millionaires. The expense-management software company's 12-step hiring process is designed to find workers who can thrive in the company's nonhierarchical structure, Adele Kennedy, a people operations generalist at Expensify, previously told Insider.
For those who are interested in this millionaire-making company, you're in luck: Expensify is continuing to look for engineers to join its small-but-mighty ranks.
"Expensify is continuing to hire engineering generalists who are excited to join our global team," said Ryan Donato, an Expensify employee. Donato encouraged interested job seekers to apply to one of the company's five open roles before the company's three-week work trip to Europe this August.
More: Features HubSpot Adobe | 2022-05-24T12:23:07Z | www.businessinsider.com | 8 Tech Companies That Are Still Hiring Amid the Tech Slowdown | https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-companies-still-hiring-engineers-tech-slowdown-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-companies-still-hiring-engineers-tech-slowdown-2022-5 |
A Tesla Model 3 is assembled at the company's Fremont, California factory in 2018.
Mason Trinca/The Washington Post
A Tesla factory worker sued the company, saying she experienced "rampant sexual harassment."
Tesla tried to push the case into private arbitration.
A judge dismissed Tesla's request in a one-sentence ruling Monday.
A judge has bluntly dismissed an attempt by Tesla to push a sexual harassment lawsuit against it into private arbitration.
Judge Stephen Kraus rejected Tesla's request with a one-sentence ruling Monday in which he didn't give his reasoning, a court filing seen by Insider, first reported by Bloomberg, shows.
Arbitration is a dispute-resolution process that takes place outside court, meaning proceedings remain private. It's popular among companies for keeping employee disputes out of the public eye, especially if arbitration clauses form part of employees' employment contracts.
Insider's Áine Cain and Grace Kay reported Tesla has been the target of 46 discrimination and harassment lawsuits from workers over the past five years. Tesla moved to push the vast majority into arbitration, they reported.
The sexual harassment lawsuit relating to Monday's ruling was brought against Tesla in November by Jessica Barraza, a woman who started working in the company's Fremont, California factory in October 2018.
Barraza said Tesla's Fremont factory was home to "rampant sexual harassment" and the company operated like a "frat house," according to her complaint, which was viewed by Insider. She said in the complaint she was frequently cat-called and that male coworkers would "brush up" against her or "unnecessarily touch her" on a weekly basis.
Barraza said she began to experience panic attacks in September 2021 after a male coworker sneaked up behind her as she was clocking out and positioned his leg between her legs, per the complaint. According to the lawsuit, Barraza's complaints about the incident were ignored.
"Ms Barraza saw other women experiencing the same environment, and witnesses will testify that they too experienced or observed the rampant sexual harassment at Tesla," her complaint says.
Tesla and an attorney for Barraza did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider for comment.
In a November interview with The Washington Post, Barraza said Tesla CEO Elon Musk helped foster the sexist environment inside the factory, citing a tweet from Musk in which he joked about starting a university with the acronym TITS. "That doesn't set a good example for the factory — it almost gives it like an … 'he's tweeting about it, it has to be okay,'" Barraza said.
Insider reported Thursday that Musk's company SpaceX paid a flight attendant $250,000 to settle a sexual misconduct claim against Musk in 2018. Musk has denied the story is true.
More: Tesla Sexual Harassment Elon Musk Arbitration | 2022-05-24T12:23:13Z | www.businessinsider.com | Judge Tosses Tesla Arbitration Bid With 1-Sentence Ruling | https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-arbitration-tossed-judge-1-sentence-ruling-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-arbitration-tossed-judge-1-sentence-ruling-2022-5 |
Walmart told local Fox stations that it "sincerely apologized for items that had caused concern for some of our customers."
Walmart has faced heavy criticism over a Juneteenth-related ice cream product.
The retailer has pulled the ice cream from shelves and issued an apology, Fox 7 Austin reported.
Comedian Roy Wood Jr was among those ridiculing the product for appearing to capitalize on the holiday.
Walmart is removing from shelves an ice cream product that commemorated Juneteenth, a US holiday that marks the freedom of enslaved African Americans, according to reports.
Local outlet FOX 7 Austin first reported the news.
Social media was abuzz with comments from users who were angered by the product, which featured a swirl of red velvet and cheesecake flavors. Many criticized the company for appearing to capitalize on the holiday and its history.
Walmart did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.
Last year, President Joe Biden enacted a law to make Juneteenth, which takes place on June 19, a federal holiday. The holiday has been celebrated since the late 1800s and recognized in the majority of US states. The push to make it a federal holiday, however, gained momentum following protests in response to George Floyd's murder by a white police officer.
—Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) May 23, 2022
Social media images show that Walmart's label on the ice cream read: "Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation and enduring hope."
Comedian Roy Wood Jr. was among those who ridiculed the ice cream. "Would you like some Juneteenth Ice cream on a Juneteenth plate as you sip your beer in a Juneteenth Koozie?" he tweeted.
More: Walmart Retail juneteenth Ice cream | 2022-05-24T12:23:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | Walmart Recalls 'Juneteenth Ice Cream' After Backlash: Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-recalls-ice-cream-commemorating-juneteenth-backlash-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-recalls-ice-cream-commemorating-juneteenth-backlash-2022-5 |
Elon Musk says he's testing out SpaceX's Starlink internet on his private jet
Elon Musk says he is testing Starlink internet on his plane.
Nina Lyashonok/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing/Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIME
Elon Musk said he's testing SpaceX's Starlink internet on his private plane.
He said in a tweet that Starlink was working "quite well" on his plane but needed "polishing."
Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, has inked a few deals with airlines for Wi-Fi on planes.
Elon Musk said on Monday that he's testing out SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet on his private jet.
"I am testing Starlink on the plane. Some polishing needed, but it's working quite well," Musk tweeted. He also wrote in the Twitter post that he works while traveling on the jet.
His tweet was part of a Twitter thread about SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell defending Musk, following sexual misconduct claims involving a flight attendant working on the billionaire's plane, which Insider first reported on Thursday.
"Astute observers of my plane (and there many) will note that I don't use a flight attendant," Musk tweeted on Monday.
According to Insider's report, SpaceX paid the flight attendant $250,000 in 2018 after she alleged that Musk exposed himself and propositioned her for sex during a flight in 2016. Musk denied the sexual misconduct allegations last week but didn't deny the $250,000 severance payment.
Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, is starting to launch its satellite internet service on planes. The company inked its first deal with a major airline in April, which will allow Hawaiian Airlines passengers to receive free in-flight WiFi. Semi-private regional jet service JSX said it had also signed a deal with Starlink for its fleet.
Delta Airlines has also held discussions with Starlink and had tested out the technology, CEO Ed Bastian told The Wall Street Journal.
Starlink, which has more than 2,300 working satellites in low-Earth orbit, is available in 32 countries worldwide, SpaceX said in mid-May.
More: Elon Musk SpaceX Space Private Jet | 2022-05-24T12:30:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Elon Musk Says He's Testing SpaceX's Starlink on Private Jet | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-testing-spacex-starlink-satellite-internet-private-jet-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-testing-spacex-starlink-satellite-internet-private-jet-2022-5 |
A $280 billion investment fund wants to boot all of Meta and Twitter's directors over their handling of the Buffalo shooting
A $280 billion fund invested in Meta and Twitter wants to boot all directors of both companies.
It accused the companies of allowing hateful material from the Buffalo shooting on their platforms.
It marked the "latest example" of the companies failing to rein in hate speech, the fund said.
A $280 billion fund invested in Meta and Twitter wants to boot every director from each company's board over failures relating to how hateful content was policed in the wake of the Buffalo mass shooting.
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, said in regulatory filings Monday that his fund will vote against re-electing all directors at Meta and Twitter at their next annual meetings, both of which are scheduled for Wednesday.
A gunman shot dead ten people in Buffalo, New York, in a racist attack on May 14. Of the 13 people injured or killed in the attack, 11 were Black. The gunman streamed footage of the attack live on Twitch, echoing the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand attack in which a gunman streamed footage live on Facebook.
Meta's board of directors includes CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. Twitter's board of directors includes cofounder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey as well as current CEO Parag Agrawal.
DiNapoli wrote in Monday's filings that Meta and Twitter had failed to enforce safety standards after the Buffalo shooting. He cited reports that clips and screenshots from the gunman's live-stream of the attack had circulated on Meta and Twitter's platforms, as had snippets from a racist manifesto written by the suspect.
"This is just the latest example of Meta's failure to enforce its community standards and guidelines to control the dissemination of hate speech and content that incites violence," DiNapoli wrote in one filing, making the same accusation against Twitter in the other filing.
He added: "Meta's future success is endangered by its repeated failure to adhere to its policies and its association with those who incite violence and spew hate speech through the company's platforms."
DiNapoli said his fund held $1.1 billion worth of Meta stock and $34.6 million worth of Twitter stock as of March 31.
Meta and Twitter did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider for comment.
More: Meta Twitter Buffalo shooting Hate Speech | 2022-05-24T12:35:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | $280B Fund Wants to Boot Meta, Twitter Directors Over Buffalo Shooting | https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-twitter-buffalo-shooting-ny-retirement-fund-boot-directors-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-twitter-buffalo-shooting-ny-retirement-fund-boot-directors-2022-5 |
More streaming TV shows are getting renewed than ever before — except at Netflix
More streaming TV shows were renewed in Q1 this year than ever before, according to Ampere Analysis.
Over half of streaming renewals in the US and UK last year were for shows in season four or later.
Netflix renewed fewer shows in those regions last year than in 2020, while ordering more new series.
Netflix has shown a willingness to cancel shows early. But new data finds that the overall streaming landscape is betting on longer-running series.
More streaming originals were renewed for their second or later seasons than ever before during the first quarter of this year, according to the data firm Ampere Analysis. The data looked at streaming shows that originated in the US and UK.
It follows a trend seen throughout 2021. Ampere Analysis found that 51% of streaming renewals in the US and UK last year were in their fourth or later season, a 6% increase from 2020.
Of course, the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the TV and film industry in 2020.
But it's still notable that over half of the renewals were for shows that have ran for at least four seasons, suggesting an emphasis on investing in series with dedicated viewers. It's a stark contrast to a few years ago, when Ampere Analysis released a report that found that streaming services were more likely to cancel shows early compared to traditional TV networks.
The company had analyzed 61 canceled shows between September 2018 and March 2019, and found that that the average streaming series had a two-season lifespan, four seasons on cable, and six-and-a-half seasons on broadcast networks. Netflix accounted for 61% of the streaming cancellations.
Since then, major streaming platforms like Disney+, HBO Max , Apple TV+, Paramount+, Discovery+, and Peacock have joined Netflix, Hulu , and Prime Video in the space, accelerating competition and the desire for shows with dedicated fanbases.
Ampere Analysis said that Disney+ and Discovery+ are most responsible for driving the uptick in streaming renewals. Unscripted series, which Discovery+ specializes in, made up the largest proportion of those renewals.
"For streaming newcomers like Disney+ and Discovery+, which have well-established fan bases for key IP, it's easier for commissioners to make long-term commitments to titles they know viewers will love," said Olivia Deane, a senior analyst for Ampere Analysis.
Ampere Analysis' latest report is also notable when comparing the larger streaming space with Netflix, which isn't shaking its reputation for canceling shows too soon.
The data company found that orders of new shows in the US and UK at Netflix increased 8% in 2021 compared to 2020. But the streamer's renewals of returning shows decreased by 2%.
Netflix has an advantage in other international markets, though. It's investing heavily in content from countries like South Korea, where its biggest show "Squid Game" originated, and Latin American regions, where it is looking to stem slowing growth. The company's large global footprint could become more of a priority after it lost subscribers in Q1 for the first time in a decade.
NOW WATCH: Anime could give Netflix a major advantage against Disney in the streaming war | 2022-05-24T13:53:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | More Streaming Shows Are Getting Renewed Than Ever, Except at Netflix | https://www.businessinsider.com/more-streaming-shows-are-getting-renewed-except-at-netflix-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/more-streaming-shows-are-getting-renewed-except-at-netflix-2022-5 |
Delta's new Airbus A321neo plane is sleeker, more comfortable, and more efficient than its current A321ceo.
The first public flight happened last week on May 20, from Boston to San Francisco.
I flew a media flight before the inaugural passenger one. Here's a tour.
Delta's new Airbus A321neo made its debut on May 20, 2022, flying from Boston to San Francisco. The single-aisle, narrow-body plane is 20% more fuel efficient than the current A321ceo.
The aircraft showcases a brand new first-class design. It's a significant upgrade in comfort, storage, and privacy for transcontinental domestic passengers, along with other upgrades across all cabins.
Walking down the jet bridge to Delta's new A321neo is essentially the same experience as on other planes.
Once you step foot onto the plane, some of the differences — namely, the artful new ambient ceiling lighting — are immediately noticeable. The lighting design begins in the forward galley used by flight attendants.
Delta's new A321neo sports 20 first-class seats.
Delta reimagined its first-class cabin in the A321neo, and it's noticeable on first glance. The seats feature large wings on either side of the headrest, designed to provide additional privacy in-flight.
The seats feature quilted memory-foam cushions that are simultaneously plush and firm. However, even with 5 inches of recline, the seats' footrests don't move.
The new first-class seats are a roomy 21 inches wide.
The overhead bin doors on Delta’s A321neo open upward, so closing them doesn't require a passenger or flight attendant to push a downward-opening bin door upward with the weight of the luggage inside. If you’re shorter than 5-foot-6, it might be challenging to reach the open door.
Overhead bin space in Delta's new A321neo is noticeably roomy. The planes feature Airspace XL overhead bins, which hold 60% more luggage (as compared to the A321ceos) across all cabins.
Each first-class seat features a high-definition 13-inch monitor for on-demand entertainment in the air.
A fixed tray between each pair of first-class seats is an ideal spot for bottles of water or other drinks during the flight.
A vertical divider fills the gap between first-class seats, offering additional privacy between rows.
The plush headrest can be angled in to cradle your neck, possibly eliminating the need for a travel pillow and making sleep on longer domestic flights possible.
The upgraded first-class storage extends beyond overhead bin space. Each seat comes with a floor cubby that's plenty large enough to hold a computer, notebook, e-reader, and more. The positioning means passengers' essentials are within arm's reach.
The leather-covered headrests adjust up and down to accommodate passengers of varying heights, and they can bend in to cradle the head.
There's a built-in water bottle holder next to each first-class seat in Delta's new A321neo, making it convenient to stay hydrated in the air.
Delta's new A321neo has one lavatory in front of first class (behind the cockpit), one between first class and Comfort+, and two in the rear of the plane (behind economy).
In the newly imagined first-class aboard Delta's A321neo, no bit of space is wasted. The storage space is ample.
The new "winged" first-class seat design not only offers privacy from passengers' immediate neighbors, it shields them from the view of those sitting behind.
Another thoughtful design detail in first-class: Each seat has a built-in phone holder so passengers can charge their devices without misplacing them. Each seat also features two USB-A outlets and a universal power outlet.
Delta's Airbus A321neos are powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, offering 20% better fuel efficiency over Delta's current A321ceos. The in-flight experience is also noticeably quieter, making it easier to hear crew announcements.
The A321neo features Delta's fastest wifi connection across all cabins, and guests can enjoy $5-per-device streaming internet access on the A321neo. Guests who don't want to spring for wifi can use Delta's free messaging option.
Each first-class seat has a bi-fold tray that measures 22 inches by 10 inches, which is plenty of space to hold a 13-inch computer and a snack or a meal.
The base of each privacy divider has a leather-covered ledge, ideal for resting a mobile device or other small item. The leather helps with grip, so you won't have to worry about your item falling.
Delta's A321neo's first-class seats feature 37 inches of pitch and 5 inches of recline.
The 13-inch high-definition screens can be angled if the person in front of you reclines, so you can adjust the monitor for optimal viewing.
Delta Studio offers more than 1,000 hours of in-flight entertainment, including new releases and old-favorite movies, TV shows, live television, podcasts, music, and more.
First-class rows have three overhead lights per two seats, offering ample light to work while the cabin lights are dimmed.
The large, high-definition screens in first class allow pleasant entertainment viewing, from more than 400 movies to keeping up with the plane's location on the flight tracker.
While the first-class seats got the most dramatic upgrade, all 194 seats on Delta's new A321neo have seatback screens and come with plush memory-foam cushions.
When Delta unveiled its upgraded domestic first-class cabin, some differences are apparent at first glance — notably, the "wings" that give passengers a cocoon for privacy.
The economy and Delta Comfort+ seats still come in rows of three seats on each side of the aisle, the same configuration as the airline's older A321ceo planes.
The new ambient ceiling lighting stretches through all three cabins (first class, Delta Comfort+, and economy) and can be adjusted for different phases of the flight, such as takeoff, meal service, and landing.
Each of the 42 Delta Comfort+ seats come with quilted memory-foam cushions and headrests.
They measure 18 inches wide and have 34 inches of pitch, an advantage over the 31 inches of pitch in standard economy seats, particularly on a longer-haul domestic flight.
All 132 coach seats also have memory-foam cushioning for upgraded comfort over older planes. They each feature a high-definition 10-inch monitor to enjoy the extensive collection of entertainment options through Delta Studio.
All passengers, no matter the cabin, are offered gratis headphones.
The biggest customer-facing changes on Delta's new A321neo are in the first-class cabin.
But other upgrades, such as memory-foam cushions, faster wifi, and increased overhead bin space, are felt throughout the aircraft.
Plus, some changes you can't see — namely a 20% more fuel-efficient engine — are meaningful for both guests and the environment.
More: Features Delta Delta Air lines delta airlines | 2022-05-24T13:53:54Z | www.businessinsider.com | PHOTOS: Delta Just Flew Its Airbus A321neo for the First Time | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-delta-just-flew-its-airbus-a321neo-first-time-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-delta-just-flew-its-airbus-a321neo-first-time-2022-5 |
Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that flexible workspace startup Upflex used to raise $30 million in a round led by WeWork
Christophe Garnier, CEO, Upflex
Upflex
Upflex's platform helps property owners list available, flexible workspaces to lease.
The company raised a $30 million Series A and works with companies like Cushman & Wakefield.
Upflex is also partnering to list WeWork's coworking spaces on its platform.
Upflex, a software-as-a-service startup that works with real estate brokers and property owners to lease work spaces for shorter periods, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by WeWork.
Along with the funding, the company is also partnering with WeWork to bring its network of flexible workspaces to Upflex and allow WeWork to access floors in locations it currently doesn't operate in.
Upflex's platform lists over 6,000 spaces by working with real estate developers and property owners who have empty offices. Its technology is white-labeled, so the brokers can use Upflex to allow clients to book work spaces and look at data to know how many people use the location. The floors are furnished and made available to companies to lease for one to three years, less than the usual five to 10 years.
Its other clients, mainly corporations, use the app to book desks, meeting rooms, or other work areas.
Upflex started in 2018 and CEO Christophe Garnier told Insider that the pandemic boosted the need for more flexible office work.
"People wanted flexibility even before the pandemic, so companies had to give the optionality for their employees," Garnier said. "But the pandemic accelerated that in a very, very big way, like maybe by three to five years."
Other investors in Upflex's Series A round include real estate brokerages Cushman & Wakefield and Newmark, and Silicon Valley Bank. The company has raised a total of $34.1 million so far and already counts Colliers International, along with investors Cushman & Wakefield and Newmark as clients.
Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that Upflex used to convince investors like WeWork to join its Series A funding round:
Upflex pitchdeck
Upflex pitch deck
More: Features startups 2022 Pitch Deck | 2022-05-24T13:54:00Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Pitch Deck Upflex Used to Raise $30 Million Led by WeWork | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-upflex-used-to-raise-funding-wework-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-upflex-used-to-raise-funding-wework-2022-5 |
How much an Instagram influencer with 140,000 followers earns and spends in a month
Natasha Greene is a food and lifestyle creator who has 204,000 followers on TikTok and 137,000 on Instagram.
Natasha Greene.
Natasha Greene is a lifestyle and food influencer on TikTok and Instagram.
In May 2021, she made content creation her full-time job.
Here are her exact earnings and expenses for the month of April 2022.
It's no longer news that people can make a good living as a creator. But those earnings also come with high expenses.
Creators can easily spend thousands of dollars — and in some cases much more — on an elaborate video. But even when the content is simple, costs pile up.
Natasha Greene has been a full-time food and lifestyle creator for a year, and has had to learn to balance the income and expenses of her business.
Greene first started blogging in 2011 on her website AsiliGlam, but she only leaned into content creation as a job during the first wave of the pandemic, in 2020.
Since then, she's amassed a following of 204,ooo on TikTok and 137,000 on Instagram, where she goes by @asiliglamcooks.
Here's a breakdown of her exact earnings and expenses for the month of April.
Income: $26,410
Type of income Monthly amount
Brand Deals $18,500
Instagram Reels bonus $1,520
Pinterest Creator Rewards $5,920
Cookbook sales $314
Blog Ad Network $156
Like many other creators, Greene makes most of her income from brand deals. Recent companies she's partnered with include hummus brand Sabra, fitness brand Tonal, and cookware brand Our Place.
Greene also earned a monthly bonus from Instagram for her short-form Reels videos. The bonus program pays creators a reward for well-performing Reels as part of of Meta's push toward short video content.
Greene also receives a stipend from the Pinterest Creator Rewards program, a rewards initiative that is currently in beta testing for select US-based creators.
Greene also earns money from sales of her three electronic cookbooks — which she self-published — and from advertisements on her blog, AsiliGlam.
Greene found success with food content on her profile @asiliglamcooks and has recently branched out to cover other topics, like home decor.
Expenses: $1,499.20
Type of expense Monthly amount
Groceries $600.00
Content creation + photographer $600.00
Internet $60.00
Kitchen tools and props $50.00
WordPress tech support $50.00
iPhone $44.20
Video editing apps $20.00
Email hosting $19.00
Adobe $16.00
Website hosting $15.00
Domain Renewal $10.00
Canva $10.00
Cookbook hosting website $5.00
Greene's content-related expenses can add up quickly, she said.
"Most of it is a lot of tiny little things you don't think about," Greene said, like the $5 charge for the website that hosts her cookbooks or $10 for editing tool Canva.
Groceries, though, are routinely a large expense. Her recipes include a lot of seafood and meat, so the check grows quickly, she said, but basic cooking ingredients can cost more than one would think.
"Even just a gallon of olive oil, that's 40 bucks at the store," Greene said.
When she began posting recipes consistently, Greene set a budget of $500 a month for groceries, but now that she has a bigger following, she often finds herself spending more to create content for brands or "trending" recipes.
"When you're shopping organic and you want to make it beautiful, you want to color with vegetables and all these great things, you have to spend the money," Greene said.
Greene's other big cost is professional photography. Once a month, she works with a photographer to shoot images and short-form videos for her Instagram feed.
Cookware and table-top accessories have been an unexpected expense, she said.
"Your knives dull out eventually. You need a new set of knives; you need cutting boards," Greene said. "And then utensils and plates and glassware, vases, place mats. I could spend 200 bucks in HomeGoods just to create a piece of content."
There are extra costs that are hard to categorize as business expenses, Greene said, particularly as she tries to expand from food into broader home and lifestyle content.
For example, last year she fully renovated her kitchen, which cost her $27,000.
"Sharing home content creates another incremental expense to buy furniture and rugs and plants," she said. "And it's hard to say that that's an expense for your business every time, because it's still your home."
But for Greene, investing money has been a natural part of the process of building a business — and she has grand plans for her future as a creator.
"My dream is to create a global brand," she said. "I automatically think of what Martha Stewart did. I'm trying to become a lifestyle brand that leads with food, but also speaks to and creates content for the everyday woman."
More: Influencer Creator economy Creator money | 2022-05-24T13:54:06Z | www.businessinsider.com | How Much an Instagram Influencer Earns and Spends in a Month | https://www.businessinsider.com/see-exact-monthly-earnings-and-expenses-of-lifestyle-creator-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/see-exact-monthly-earnings-and-expenses-of-lifestyle-creator-2022-5 |
Pennsylvania Republican US Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and former President Donald Trump in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Trump-endorsed candidates aren't claiming election fraud when they are faced with defeat as Trump often does.
For example, Trump urged Dr. Mehmet Oz to declare victory in the tied PA Senate primary, but he hasn't.
One GOP strategist told Politico that Trump's influence seems to be fading in the party.
Hundreds of Republican candidates running for election in the midterms have sought to mimic Donald Trump's populist rhetoric and combative style, earning them the former president's prized endorsement.
But so far there is one key element of his playbook they are not copying: His refusal to concede defeat when beaten at the ballot, and attempts to undermine negative results with election-fraud conspiracy theories.
The Trump-endorsed Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, a TV physician, is locked in a dead heat with rival David McCormick in the GOP primary.
In messages on his Truth Social app last week, Trump urged Oz to declare victory and cry election fraud, the same tactic he used when defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, despite a similar paucity of evidence.
Yet Oz, who based his campaign on his closeness to Trump, has so far refused to adopt the approach advocated by his mentor and and said he will wait until the vote count is completed.
In North Carolina, the pro-Trump firebrand Rep. Madison Cawthorn lost his primary and seat in Congress last week to challenger Chuck Edwards after a series of blunders and scandals. Yet Cawthorn did not resort to disputing the result in a bid to cling onto his job, but conceded to Edwards and urged Republicans to get behind his opponent.
Janice McGeachin, a Trump-endorsed candidate in the Idaho gubernatorial race also conceded to incumbent Gov. Brad Little after her primary defeat last week.
All three are ardent backers of Trump's 2020 election-fraud claims, and Cawthorn and McGeachin have blamed the GOP establishment for subverting their campaigns. But it's significant that none have gone so far as to claim the campaigns were rigged.
It may be a different story when pro-Trump challengers are facing Democratic rivals in November, but GOP strategists are saying there are issues of greater concern to voters than questioning election integrity.
John Thomas, a Republican strategist working on House campaigns across the country, told Politico that Trump's influence was fading and the agenda had moved on since his time in office.
"You want the glow and the halo effect of Donald Trump, but he's not shaping policy at the moment," Thomas said. "It matters who can get that nod and that halo effect from Trump, but outside of that, he kind of feels like an ex-president to me."
Analysts and Republican strategists told Insider in March that Trump's support for election fraud conspiracy theories could alienate moderate voters, on which Republican prospects of success in several November elections depend.
Among the key tests of Trump's endorsement strategy is the gubernatorial primary being held in Georgia on Tuesday, but the prospects for the former president and his election-fraud agenda look bleak.
Trump has backed David Perdue to unseat incumbent Brian Kemp as part of a bid for revenge over Kemp's refusal to help Trump overturn the 2020 election when Biden claimed a narrow victory in the state.
But polls are putting Kemp firmly ahead in the race, and he has secured the support of key Republican figures including Mike Pence, in another sign that there are limits to Republican fealty to Trump's election-fraud obsession.
More: News UK analysis Donald Trump 2022 midterms | 2022-05-24T13:54:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | Trump-Endorsed Candidates Are Not Claiming Fraud When Losing | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-endorsed-candidates-not-following-playbook-claim-fraud-when-lose-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-endorsed-candidates-not-following-playbook-claim-fraud-when-lose-2022-5 |
PayPal Mafia's Keith Rabois has acquired 40 Shopify sellers in the past year through his startup OpenStore. He's not slowing down despite the recent problems in the aggregator space.
Keith Rabois.
OpenStore, Keith Rabois' latest venture, acquired 40 brands after launching less than a year ago.
OpenStore is competing in a crowded and volatile e-commerce rollup market.
Rabois' believes he can avoid the pitfalls of others in the space by leaning on automation.
OpenStore, the retail-holding startup cofounded by Keith Rabois, the venture capitalist and founder of Founders Fund, has acquired 40 brands in less than a year since its launch. Rabois plans to keep up the brisk pace of acquisitions despite turmoil in the aggregator space.
This year, the Miami startup is embarking on a spending spree after raising $30 million and $75 million in series A and series B funding rounds, respectively. "The No. 1 goal is to acquire 10 times more" brands, said Rabois, known for placing early bets on DoorDash, Affirm, and Stripe. Rabois has also held early executive-level roles at PayPal and is part of the so-called PayPal Mafia.
OpenStore is in a crowded and volatile e-commerce rollup market that's home to at least 100 startups, and where fast-paced dealmaking is commonplace. These rollups or aggregators compete to buy the most successful brands on Amazon, and to a lesser extent Shopify, and improve their marketing, packaging, and positioning to increase their profitability. But the sector has encountered headwinds as of late.
Boston's Thrasio, the largest in the space, has acquired more than 200 global merchants that sell on Amazon since launching in 2018. Last year, it generated $1.2 billion in revenue, but as Insider previously reported, the company is laying off staff and replacing its CEO as it moves from "hypergrowth" to a period of focus and refinement.
If Rabois' plans come to fruition, OpenStore could eclipse Thrasio while avoiding some of its pitfalls.
'We had an offer in 24 hours'
As Rabois sees it, OpenStore's main differentiator is its focus on automation. The OpenStore process sees prospective sellers upload their Shopify storefront details and financials to OpenStore's website to be analyzed by bots. OpenStore evaluates a brand's customer loyalty, unit economics, and rates of return, the company said. OpenStore's algorithm then makes them an offer in a matter of days. Eventually, the plan is to move all those merchants to a single platform.
Rabois calls his acquisitions "fundamentally different" from Thrasio's or other Amazon aggregators because of the inherent difference between Amazon and Shopify.
"Amazon owns the experience and runs the store for you — from fulfillment to customer acquisition to payments. Companies that aggregate these businesses don't have much room to make improvements. It's basically more of a financial arrangement," Rabois previously told Insider. "We acquire Shopify merchants, where there's a massive amount of room to optimize and enhance operations."
Rabois said the company's targeting sellers with less than $10 million in sales and typically looks at cost structure, including revenue and customer-acquisition costs.
There are signs that founders are starting retail brands with an eye to an early exit. The former founders of three direct-to-consumer brands who sold their businesses to OpenStore did so after less than three years of operations. In one case, an online store was sold that had just three months' worth of sales. All three entrepreneurs were drawn to OpenStore by the promise of a quick turnaround on deals, they said.
Miguel Facussé started his menswear brand, Jack Archer, last spring as a way to address some of the "pain points" he'd seen in male apparel. "I went on Reddit and started to search for people complaining about clothing," he said. For instance, Jack Archer offers pants specifically designed for comfort during travel, among other items, including underwear.
"The beautiful thing about online selling is that it's incredibly easy to test a hypothesis," Facussé said. "Without ever dropping a dime on inventory, I ran ads on Facebook and Instagram so I could test my cost per acquisition before the product even existed."
The company notched more than $1.2 million in sales across three months. Facussé sold the business to OpenStore for about $1 million in cash in a deal that took days. He said the lengthier completion date was likely because of the smaller amount of sales data he had.
By comparison, Brendan Brosnan, the founder of the yoga-apparel brand Yogaste, received an offer from OpenStore with the type of brevity Rabois touted. "They were true to their word," he said. "We had an offer in 24 hours." OpenStore acquired Yogaste for $250,000 in cash and $150,000 for the brand's full inventory. The company had accumulated over $3.59 million in sales across 26 months.
In addition, OpenStore scooped up Wearva, a clothing company that celebrates Mexican culture, which generated $1.45 million in sales between August 2020 to April 2022. Emanuel Estrada, the founder, didn't disclose the financial details of the deal.
'We can absolutely handle acquiring a business in a day'
The swift nature of the deals isn't unheard of.
In Thrasio's heyday, the company's leadership boasted that it acquired several companies a week. But the pace stands in contrast to the more cautious environment within the aggregator industry as of late.
As the aggregator sector matures, some believe it's in a phase of readjustment after a hot streak that saw seller valuations surge. This year has seen rollups take a more cautious approach to buyouts, with some even pausing deals, Marketplace Pulse said.
Deals that have occurred are focused on consolidation. In December, the UK company Olsam acquired Flywheel Commerce, a US aggregator. In April, Olsam bought Marketfleet, a US aggregator focused on outdoor products. Before that, Berlin Brands Group acquired Orange Brands last fall. More recently, Moonshot Brands purchased the assets of Product Labs, including the scooter brand La Scoota and the fitness brand WOD Nation.
In addition to layoffs at Thrasio, Suma Brands, a Minneapolis Amazon aggregator, laid off a significant portion of its staff in March. The layoffs occurred just months after securing $150 million in fresh funding to grow its acquisitions and deals team.
Still, Rabois plans to up the pace of deals. "We can absolutely handle acquiring a business in a day," he said. "I eventually want to get to one an hour, but that is definitely a challenge."
More: Shopify E-Commerce Amazon | 2022-05-24T14:02:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | Keith Rabois' OpenStore Is Rapidly Acquiring Amid Aggregator Slowdown | https://www.businessinsider.com/keith-rabois-openstore-is-rapidly-acquiring-amid-aggregator-slowdown-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/keith-rabois-openstore-is-rapidly-acquiring-amid-aggregator-slowdown-2022-5 |
A top crypto VC who manages a $1.4 billion fund breaks down what he wants to see before investing in a Web3 startup — and shares 3 ways to get through a bear market
Vance Spencer is the co-founder of Framework Ventures, the largest venture capital firm to invest in decentralized finance solutions.
Framework Ventures
Vance Spencer is the cofounder of the $1.4 billion investment firm, Framework Ventures.
Spencer explains where the "biggest alpha" is during a bear market.
The firm was an early backer of lending giant Aave and blockchain-gaming developer Illuvium.
In 2014, Vance Spencer and Michael Anderson first stumbled into crypto via ethereum's white paper. The two, Spencer said, were some of the first thousand to download the document and read it.
"Our perspective at that point was, 'Who is the 18-year-old kid, Vitalik Buterin?" Spencer told Insider. "But I had always had an interest in fringe technology. It felt like a logical next step."
The two quit their jobs at Netflix and Snapchat to start a blockchain-based sports-collectible startup called Hashletes that they later sold to begin DeFi, or decentralized finance, venture investing.
"We were living in Michael's parents' house at the time," Spencer said. "There was no concept of failure because the case in which we failed was almost too disheartening to consider."
In 2019, Spencer put all of his money up to be one of three LPs in Framework Ventures – a fund that would soon become one of the largest DeFi-investment firms in all of crypto.
"We put all of our chips and cash on the table in terms of backing the fund," Spencer said.
Framework Ventures was formed under the thesis that blockchains are built for broader-use cases than the market had at the time.
Tons of people were holding crypto, Spencer said, but didn't have the ability to utilize it to its full potential, including lending, staking, and yield farming.
At the time, however, the DeFi market was worth less than $1 billion.
"We decided on DeFi as our first major thesis because it was right on the horizon. We knew it was going to work soon, and we could put a lot of momentum behind it," he said. The firm later announced its first $15 million fund in 2019.
Framework Ventures bet big on the sector with investments in liquidity protocol Synthetix, blockchain oracle network Chainlink, and lending giant Aave. Synthetix (SNX) and Chainlink (LINK) jumped 137% and 264%, respectively, in the span of a year.
In 2020, the firm used an $8 million raise to launch Framework Labs, a development arm of the venture firm that builds proprietary software to help scale and incubate its current investments.
This is a part of the firm's "technology-first" strategy, Anderson said. This led the $1.4 billion firm to become one of the largest liquidity providers for DeFi projects.
"That's our best source of alpha going forward," Anderson previously told Insider.
Pitching to a $1.4 billion crypto investment firm
Last month, Framework Ventures announced a $400 million fund, allocating half of the capital to blockchain gaming projects. The venture firm has previously invested in play-to-earn developer Illuvium and GameFi platform Polemos.
"We've gone from DeFi because it was the first category to have product-market fit to gaming," he said. "We're going for investments that are more mainstream and more consumer in their nature now."
These investments, Spencer says, reflect the direction of the industry as well.
Blockchain gaming garnered $2.5 billion in investments last quarter, according to a recent BGA and DappRadar report that also predicts investments in the nascent space will shoot up by 150% this year. VC firm Andreessen Horowitz announced a whopping $600 million fund devoted to gaming investments on May 18.
When choosing their next venture, Spencer said, the firm looks for a team that's willing to take risks and be competitive. This is not, however, in the same capacity as a traditional VC would do.
"I think in Web2 this would mean poaching Stanford undergrads from their college dorm rooms," he said. "But we really value non-traditional backgrounds."
Seventy percent of the Framework Venture's portfolio is international, including gaming developers like Illuvium.
The team also has to have the technical ability to build their products and be flexible amid a murky regulatory environment.
"They also have to be okay with living in the gray area that is the crypto regulatory atmosphere right now," he said.
Where's the alpha?
Following the collapse of UST and LUNA, broader crypto markets toppled as well. This is also in part due to the Federal Reserve's rate hikes to soften inflation as seen by bitcoin and ethereum trading in tandem with risky tech stocks.
Bitcoin and ethereum fell 25.88% and 32.45% in the past month, according to Messari. On May 12, crypto markets shed $200 billion in a single day.
Before investing, Vance recommends looking at the fundamentals of a project and not whatever is trending in the space at the moment.
"You want to run a little bit countercyclical to whatever the main investment narratives are," Spencer said, citing PFP NFTs, or profile picture non-fungible tokens.
Popular collections, which holders often use on their social media profiles, include the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cool Cats, and World of Women. Individuals NFTs from these collections have gone for an upwards of $2.7 million worth of ethereum.
"People thought PFP collections were going to be the future. That's probably not going to be the case. It's probably something with a little bit more utility," he said. "Think about products people actually want to use and orient your career on that."
In a bear market , Spencer recommends staying away from trying to predict price action with technical analysis.
"Things that are not good uses of your time are doing TA on charts," he said, adding that crypto markets are more often than not unpredictable.
Go straight to the source, Spencer said, specifically Ethereum developer calls.
"That's where all the alpha is," Spencer said. "That's where you can actually tell what is going to be featured in the network and potentially the price that will follow."
These are public calls, hosted by the Ethereum Foundation, where users can hear more about network upgrades and updates on its blockchain.
"On the trading side, I'd emphasize more research, due diligence, and getting involved in something," Spencer said. "That is the only thing that will keep your interest during the bear markets. It's never going to just be the prices."
More: Investing crypto DeFi
Vance Spencer | 2022-05-24T15:24:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | Crypto VC on Where the 'Biggest Alpha' Is During a Bear Market | https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-vc-defi-bear-market-fund-investing-returns-billion-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-vc-defi-bear-market-fund-investing-returns-billion-2022-5 |
The Volvo XC40 Recharge.
Electric cars are more expensive than similar gas-powered options.
But EVs cost less to own when you consider monthly payments, maintenance, insurance, and fuel.
The F-150 Lightning Pro cost less each month than its gas counterpart, a study found.
Many people are scared away from going electric when they see how much a battery-powered car costs. And who can blame them? The cheapest gas car in the US retails for around $15,000, while the lowest-cost electric car will run you roughly double that.
But new research shows that buyers comparing sticker prices are thinking about things all wrong. They should be thinking about monthly payments, since the overwhelming majority of people finance their vehicles.
When you stop thinking about a lump sum and instead look at the monthly cost of owning an electric car — factoring in fuel savings, maintenance costs, and state incentives for EV purchases — buying one starts to look a lot more economical than a comparable gas car, according to a report from Energy Innovation and Technology LLC, an energy and climate policy think tank.
Previous research has shown that the high upfront cost of an EV may be worth stomaching for cheaper fuel and maintenance costs down the line, but the Energy Innovation and Technology LLC report determined that, in most states, it costs less to own an EV than a similar gas car from day one.
Researchers studied six electric models: the Hyundai Kona Electric SEL, the Kona Electric Limited, the Ford F-150 Lightning Pro, the Kia Niro EV EX Premium, the Volvo XC40 Recharge Plus, and the Nissan Leaf. Each model was compared against an equivalent combustion-engine vehicle from the same brand.
The firm determined the monthly cost to own each vehicle over its financing term, including loan payments, maintenance, gas/electricity costs, insurance, and other taxes and fees. Researchers modeled costs across all 50 states, accounting for a federal $7,500 tax break for clean-vehicle purchases, state-specific programs, and energy costs in different states.
The Kona Electric SEL and F-150 Lightning Pro were cheaper to own per month in every state despite carrying a $10,000 premium over their gas counterparts. Annual savings for those vehicles added up to $800 and $1,400, respectively. Three other models — the XC40 Recharge, Leaf, and Kona Electric Premium — had cheaper monthly costs in about half the country. Where they were more expensive, it was often by $15 or less, the report said.
Some of the most EV-friendly states, according to the study: California, Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington.
The savings only get better once an owner pays off their loan, since EVs are more efficient and require less maintenance than combustion-engine cars. Once it's paid, each EV in the study costs $1,500-$3,000 less to operate each year than its gasoline equivalent, according to the report.
Boosting the federal EV tax credit to $10,000 would make electric cars the more economical choice across the vast majority of the US, Energy Innovation and Technology LLC said.
The report adds to a growing body of research indicating that electric cars are cheaper over their lifetimes than conventional vehicles. But good luck finding one to buy right now. Thanks to supply-chain problems and big demand, there aren't enough electric cars to go around.
More: Transportation Tech Auto Industry Electric Cars | 2022-05-24T15:24:59Z | www.businessinsider.com | Electric Cars Cost Less Monthly Than Gas Cars in Most States: Study | https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-vs-gas-cost-charging-loan-maintenance-study-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-vs-gas-cost-charging-loan-maintenance-study-2022-5 |
Mary Meisenzahl and Cadie Thompson
Oli Scarff / Getty Images
Business leaders need to consider what kind of company culture they want to build, Neil Murray of JLL says.
A one-size-fits-all approach to bringing workers back to the office won't work.
Murray says the future of work is hybrid and will never return to the pre-COVID pandemic norm.
Pandemic restrictions have eased in many cities, and for some companies that means it's time to bring workers back — though many employees would prefer to stay home at least part-time.
Before making the decision for employees to return to the office, executives have to ask themselves what exactly they hope their workplace culture will look like, Global CEO of Workplace Dynamics at JLL Neil Murray told Insider in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Many leaders are asking, "'When are my people coming back?' or 'Should my people come back?'" Murray said, but first, they should first figure out the answer to the question,"What do I want my workplace culture to look like?"
Executives should consider what kind of people they want to work for them, what kind of clients they want to work with, and what their overall purpose is, Murray said. With the answers to those questions in hand, businesses can ask workers to come back, which can take "iteration and experimentation and understanding and monitoring the data," and then "doubling down on what works."
A culture and internal set of norms will always emerge within the work environment, Murray says, so it's wise for businesses to be intentional about creating that culture.
Some surveys show that many workers have strong preferences for working from home, so bringing them back to the office is complicated. A blanket policy for everyone is not necessarily useful, Murray said.
"Generations of research has told us that the power of individual engagement is what fuels organizations and therefore one size doesn't fit all. You have to be thinking about the people you want working in your firm and how they are going to be engaged," he said.
This more flexible approach means things likely won't return to a pre-pandemic office state ever again, in Murray's view.
"There is no doubt that [the future of work] will be hybrid. It will not return to exactly how it was, there's no chance."
More: Careers Real Estate JLL Company Culture | 2022-05-24T15:25:05Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Think About Return to Office for Company Leaders | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-think-about-return-to-office-for-company-leaders-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-think-about-return-to-office-for-company-leaders-2022-5 |
Netflix's advertising plans were the talk of the TV upfronts. Here's what ad and media executives said about the streaming giant.
Natalie Jarvey and Claire Atkinson
Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings said the streamer was exploring advertising.
Netflix's plan to introduce advertising was the elephant in the room at the television upfronts.
Amid appearances from Miley Cyrus and Kelly Clarkson, NBCU's Jeff Shell alluded to the streamer's "pivot."
Netflix may face challenges, but ad industry experts agree that there's big interest from brands.
Major media corporations employed the likes of Lizzo, the Kardashians, and Shaquille O'Neal at the glitzy weeklong pitchfest known as the TV upfronts to get big ad spenders excited about their content offerings.
But the elephant in the room was Netflix 's newly hinted at plan to reverse its ad-free strategy and open up its subscription service to advertising amid a subscriber losses and a revenue growth slowdown.
From the highly choreographed theater sets to the post-show chatter among attendees, Netflix's imminent arrival on Madison Avenue hung like a specter as something to be concerned or excited about, depending on which side of the negotiating table you sit on.
"We've been committed to the ad-supported video business since literally the first moments of our company's history. This is not an extension of our core business or a pivot. It is our core business," NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said in opening the company's event at Radio City Music Hall last Monday, leaving it to chairman of advertising and global partnerships Linda Yaccarino to spell it out for the hundreds of suited executives: "We told you how Comcast NBCUniversal was inviting your businesses in, while other companies were actually pushing you out…Comcast NBCUniversal isn't some new filly start-up or adolescent ad-tech company or the latest messy merger."
Others pointed out the hurdles. One Fox executive at the network's post-upfront party expressed doubt that studios would change their licensing deal terms to enable Netflix to run ads in their shows. After all, those studios have learned a thing or two since Netflix's early days, when it was able to amass an industry-leading subscriber base on the back of licensed movies and TV shows.
Whatever the challenges, brand marketing experts agreed there was huge interest from advertisers in getting their promotional messages on the streaming service that has defined pop culture with hits like "Squid Game" and "Queen's Gambit" and rejuvenated interest in classic sitcoms from "Friends" to "The Office."
"Certainly, more options for advertisers is a good thing for agencies and brands," said Chris Vollmer, managing director at MediaLink, a consultancy that works with brands and media companies. "There's the expectation that if Netflix is going to do it, they're going to do it in a way that's innovative and user-friendly. And, ideally, if it's innovative and user friendly, it's going to be effective for brands, too."
Netflix would be entering the ads business at a time when brands are under pressure to roll back their spending ahead of an expected downturn and interest rates are pushing up the cost of debt.
Ad-supported tiers are becoming more popular. HBO Max introduced a lower-priced plan with advertising last spring, and Disney+ is planning to roll out a similar offering later this year. Meanwhile, Fox and Paramount have invested in the growth of free ad-supported services Tubi and Pluto TV, respectively.
"It's something they have to do, something they should have started three years ago," United Entertainment Group CEO Jarrod Moses said of Netflix. "They were asleep at the wheel." Still, he added that the platform is big and sticky enough to attract some huge brands.
As for who will run the ad operation, there's intense speculation over what kind of conversations Netflix is having and whether it will hire from the outside or look internally.
Moses predicted that Netflix might try to hire away from one of the networks — and speculated it would wait and see which sales executives leave Warner Bros. Discovery as the newly merged company looks to cut costs.
Still, Netflix's plans remain nebulous — even as it reportedly eyes a late 2022 date to introduce advertising to its service. And given co-CEO Reed Hastings' past disdain for advertising, Netflix could still decide to stay ad-free. As recently as 2020, he told investors, "We want to be the safe respite where you can explore, get stimulated, have fun, enjoy, relax — and have none of the controversy around exploiting users with advertising."
No matter what Netflix decides to do, it's bound to be controversial. "After those smug bastards choked the life out of us for years, it feels really good to see them stoop to selling advertising," ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel joked during Disney's ad pitch last week. "Everybody loves 'Bridgerton.' How much do you think they'll love it when it's interrupted by a Xyrtec commercial every four minutes?"
More: Netflix Streaming wars TV Advertising | 2022-05-24T15:25:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | Netflix Advertising Dominates TV Upfronts Conversation | https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-advertising-dominates-tv-upfronts-conversation-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-advertising-dominates-tv-upfronts-conversation-2022-5 |
A dyslexia diagnosis led Diana Heldfond to create a startup focused on helping children with learning disabilities. Here's how she did it and raised $20 million from Tiger Global.
Diana Heldfond, the CEO and founder of Parallel.
Parallel Learning
Parallel Learning just raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Tiger Global.
The startup provides a one-stop shop for children with learning differences and their families.
Here's an exclusive look at the 10-slide pitch deck Parallel used to woo investors.
One in five children in the US has a learning or thinking difference, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities. It's something Diana Heldfond knows firsthand.
After being diagnosed with dyslexia at age 7 and receiving an ADHD diagnosis in middle school, Heldfond said she was lucky to have parents who knew to flag her symptoms to healthcare providers and ensure she had access to good care.
"I had a unique experience because I had access to resources and was one of the lucky ones in terms of catching my conditions early," she told Insider in an interview.
Heldfond added that children whose learning differences go untreated could fall years behind in their academics and develop mental-health issues later in life — and many who do seek out resources are greeted by a frustrating experience filled with long wait times and fragmented care.
That's how her startup, Parallel Health, was born.
The startup, founded in 2020, just closed a $20 million Series A fundraising round led by Tiger Global, Insider has learned. Obvious Ventures and the billionaire Barry Sternlicht's special-purpose acquisition company, Jaws, also participated in the round.
Parallel is a one-stop shop for children with learning disabilities and their families where kids can receive diagnoses, care, and support. The virtual platform offers families and school districts a suite of developmental services to address learning and thinking differences like dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, depression , and anxiety.
The startup's latest round of funding came just five months after Parallel's launch in December with $2.8 million in seed funding from Vine Ventures, which also participated in the Series A.
The children's mental-health ecosystem is fragmented, with children constantly being shuffled between providers and receiving drastically different care depending on which professional — such as psychiatrists, therapists, pediatricians, and teachers — they visit first, Heldfond said.
"One of the largest pain points when talking to families is the feeling of not knowing what to do next when they receive an initial diagnosis and finding care providers who can address concerns," she said.
Parallel, on the other hand, assigns every family on its platform to a care coordinator who streamlines the diagnostics, coordinates care with health professionals, and keeps classroom and special-education teachers in the loop. Parallel provides psychological evaluations, tutoring, behavioral therapy, and speech-language therapy. The startup has clinically licensed professionals in five states, with the goal to add 12 in the net six months and be national early-to-mid next year.
Other edtech and healthtech startups like Bookbot, Spokle, and Learnfully help children with learning disabilities become better readers, provide speech therapy, and connect families to caregiver networks, respectively.
Here's an exclusive look at Parallel's 10-page pitch deck.
More: Features Pitch Deck Tech | 2022-05-24T15:25:47Z | www.businessinsider.com | Startup Parallel's Pitch Deck to Raise $20 Million From Tiger Global | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-startup-parallel-health-kids-tiger-dyslexia-global-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-startup-parallel-health-kids-tiger-dyslexia-global-2022-5 |
A tractor-trailer hauling meat products overturned on I-70 West in Pennsylvania on May 20, 2022.
Courtesy of Rostraver Central Fire Department
A trucker hit several trees and spilled about 7 tons of hot dog filler in Pennsylvania on Friday.
Local news reported that the driver had faulty brakes and is facing a citation for speeding.
In the past, trucking accidents have caused spills of things like whale guts to molasses.
A truck accident caused over 7 tons or about 15,000 pounds of hot dog filler to spill onto a highway in Pennsylvania on Friday.
Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Tyler Martier told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the "violent stopping motion" of the tractor trailer caused the hot dog mixture to "catapult" on to the roadway. The hot dog filling, which is typically made of about half pulverized beef, pork, or chicken mixed with fats and preservatives, appears to have exploded out of its packaging upon impact.
The accident took place on I-70 in Rostraver, Pennsylvania. The Rostraver Central Fire Department said on Facebook that it was forced to bring the roadway down to one lane. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that traffic was at a standstill for about five hours following the accident.
The driver was speeding when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into multiple trees near the side of the road, the local news outlet reported.
The Rostraver Central Fire Department and Pennsylvania State Police did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication. Insider was unable to reach the driver for comment.
"Further investigation after the crash revealed that multiple brakes on the vehicle were completely inoperable, resulting in a total loss of stopping power," Martier told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The trucker and a passenger were treated at the scene, according to the fire department's report on Facebook. Local news said the two individuals had minor injuries and declined transportation to a nearby hospital.
The police told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the driver will face multiple citations, including one for speeding.
The accident is far from the first to cause an unsightly spill. The nature of trucking means that drivers haul all manner of products. Trucking accidents have caused spills of materials like whale guts to molasses, glue, or synthetic blood. In December, a semi-truck crash caused 20,000 pounds of raw beef to cover a highway in South Dakota.
More: Cars Truck Trucking Truckers | 2022-05-24T15:26:12Z | www.businessinsider.com | Truck Accident Drops 15,000 Pounds of Hot Dog Filler on Road | https://www.businessinsider.com/truck-accident-spills-15000-pounds-hot-dog-filler-road-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/truck-accident-spills-15000-pounds-hot-dog-filler-road-2022-5 |
RESULTS: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey faces multiple challengers
In this July 29, 2020 file photo, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey speaks during a news conference in Montgomery, Alabama.
Alabama is holding primaries for governor on Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m. local time.
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey is facing two primary challengers in Alabama's primary elections
Ivey, who first took office in 2017 and was elected to a full term in 2018, is now running for a second term in office.
Ivey is a staunch conservative who, among other things, has signed a strict abortion ban and the nation's strictest ban on gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender youth. So far this cycle, she's run campaign ads featuring her gun collection, fearmongering over immigration, and falsely declaring that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
But she's facing two major primary challengers from even more right-wing candidates. Businessman Tim James and Lynda "Lindy" Blanchard, a major Republican donor who served as US Ambassador to Slovenia under Trump, are hammering Ivey from the right.
Blanchard's campaign ads, for example, have slammed Ivey for signing a gas tax increase and blaming unvaccinated people for the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling her a "tax-hiking, Fauci-loving, never-Trump liberal," and saying she "shut down the churches but kept the abortion clinics open."
Trump reportedly offered to endorse Blanchard over Ivey if Blanchard dropped out of Alabama's 2022 Senate race. But Trump didn't end up backing her, despite his reported frustration with Ivey over a canceled rally he was set to hold in Alabama in the summer of 2021.
The latest poll of the race conducted by Cygnal for the Alabama Daily News and Gray TV, showed Ivey leading her opponents with 48% support among likely Republican primary voters, James at 16%, and Blanchard at 13%, with 11% undecided.
Alabama is also holding a high-stakes Republican primary for US Senate to replace retiring GOP Sen. Richard Shelby. Rep. Mo Brooks, former Senate chief of staff Katie Britt, and businessman Mike Durant are all competing for the nomination. If no candidate earns over 50% of the vote on Tuesday, the top two will advance to a June 21 primary runoff.
Alabama state legislative primaries:
More: Alabama kay ivey 2022 midterms INSIDER Data | 2022-05-24T15:59:58Z | www.businessinsider.com | Alabama Governor Primary, Kay Ivey Vs. Lynda Blanchard: Live Results | https://www.businessinsider.com/alabama-governor-primary-kay-ivey-vs-lynda-blanchard-live-results-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/alabama-governor-primary-kay-ivey-vs-lynda-blanchard-live-results-2022-5 |
The best interview question to ask to spot underrated talent — and how to answer it
Jessica Stillman,
Answering "What are the open tabs in your browser right now?" is about being truthful and showing your passions and problem-solving skills.
"Talent," a new book by economist Tyler Cowen and VC Daniel Gross, talks about spotting great hires.
In a recent Bloomberg column, Cowen shared his favorite job interview question.
He likes to ask, "What are the open tabs in your browser right now?"
Finding and hiring top talent is a challenge at any time. Thanks to a tight labor market, choosy employees, and ongoing debates about what knowledge work will look like post-pandemic, right now it's a blood sport.
Which makes now the perfect time for "Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World," a new book by economist, blogger, and noted super-reader Tyler Cowen and VC Daniel Gross. The book digs into how to spot undervalued talent, and its Amazon page is packed with glowing blurbs from luminaries like Malcolm Gladwell, Marc Andreessen, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
What will you find in it? In his regular Bloomberg column, Cowen shared a snippet in the form of the co-authors' pick for the best job interview question. It's weird, but Cowen insists it's also highly effective.
Painting a portrait through open browser tabs
Given how much time most of us spend in front of our screens these days, Cowen suggests you can learn a tremendous amount about a candidate by taking a careful look at their online behavior. And what better way to probe that than to ask a candidate, "What are the open tabs in your browser right now?"
Why is this unusual question so effective? First, your browser tabs are a real-world signal of what you're truly interested in (as opposed to what you think the interviewer wants you to say you're interested in). It's revealing, but not invasive or nosey. Because you're asking candidates to talk about their open tabs, not show them to you, they can just not mention anything too personal.
"It's not just cheap talk," Cowen says. "Some job candidates might say they are interested in C++ as a programming language, but if you actually have an open page to the Reddit and Subreddits on that topic, that is a demonstrated preference."
The underlying logic here is similar to asking, "What do you like to do on the weekends?" which has been recommended by several other VCs as a way to gauge a candidate's true passions. But Cowen points out it's harder to BS about browser tabs than it is about theoretical leisure-time activities. "Hardly any applicants are prepared to talk about their open browser tabs. So you are testing for spontaneous and largely truthful responses," Cowen says.
What's the right answer?
If you're sold on the question, what are you looking for in an answer? That depends on the job. Tab abusers (like me) who frequently have dozens of tabs open simultaneously might worry that confessing to their browser chaos will count against them, but Cowen insists the right number of tabs depends on the type of job you're interviewing for.
"I have known people who have dozens or hundreds of open browser tabs at a given time. That is a sign of curiosity and internet fluency — but perhaps also insufficient prioritization and poor organization. Depending on the job in question, it could be either a positive or negative," he says.
Nor does every job require a person to be 10 tabs deep into scientific articles or job-specific technical documents. Personal and offbeat topics can tell you important information about how a candidate thinks and approaches problems.
"When I asked media personality Megyn Kelly about her open browser tabs during a recent radio program, a bunch of them had to do with solving problems with the family dog. A problem-solving mentality is a good sign," says Cowen, adding: "If you get a heated pitch about why a particular website is the best guide to 'Lord of the Rings' lore, you may have found a true nerd with a love of detail." Whether that's a plus for your open position is up to you.
The bottom line is that there's no right answer to this question. But there are also very few unrevealing answers. Ask about browser tabs, and you're likely to get an unvarnished look at what truly gets a person excited and how they work day to day. Which is just what you want to know when you're interviewing job candidates.
Read the original article on Inc. Copyright 2022. Follow Inc on Twitter.
More: Inc. Interview Questions Job search Job Interview | 2022-05-24T16:00:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Best Job Interview Question to Spot Talent, and How to Answer It | https://www.businessinsider.com/best-job-interview-question-spot-talent-how-to-answer-it-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/best-job-interview-question-spot-talent-how-to-answer-it-2022-5 |
Boris Johnson is under fresh pressure to keep his job over partygate.
Stefan Rousseau - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Boris Johnson could face vote of no confidence in his leadership as early as this week, MPs tell Insider.
It comes after pictures showing him at a party during one of England's lockdowns were leaked.
Several Conservative MPs say they believe the threshold of 54 letters was close to being reached.
A vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson could be triggered as early as this week, Conservative MPs believe.
It comes after pictures of the prime minister at a lockdown-breaching event were published by ITV News, further piling on the pressure over so-called partygate.
On Tuesday morning, North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale joined the ranks of Tory backbenchers calling for Johnson to quit. He previously submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister, but withdrew it at the outset of the war in Ukraine, saying it was the wrong time to change leaders.
Tom Tugendhat, the MP for Malling and Tonbridge who has been touted as a leadership contender, told Times Radio the country needed "seriousness" at the top of government, adding: "I'm afraid these photographs just don't look serious, do they?"
He added he would be "talking to colleagues" about the situation.
Johnson has for several months been facing a vote of no confidence, or VONC, with a trickle of letters being submitted to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee of backbenchers.
But this latest set of revelations has edged things closer to the threshold of 54 letters, which would trigger a vote, sources said.
One former minister told Insider: "The 54 must be close based on the private outrage … I always thought there were well over 50 sometime ago."
One Tory MP told Insider: "The feeling is a VONC may be about to be triggered … It's just chatter but it feels bad."
He added that leadership candidates were "moving", noting the vote could be triggered as early as Tuesday and voted on before recess begins on Thursday afternoon "or even remotely next week".
The long-awaited partygate report by the senior civil servant Sue Gray is expected to be published Wednesday, which could prompt further letters being submitted. Johnson is expected to then give a statement to Parliament and speak to Tory MPs privately.
Another MP said that any successful coup against Johnson would require leadership candidates such as Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, and Tugendhat, to work together, although this was dismissed by others as unlikely and unnecessary.
A fourth backbencher said he could "sense movement" but it was hard to tell whether that included "new people shifting".
Brady is known to keep the number of letters he has received, as well as the identities of the senders, hidden, and to ring MPs before announcing the threshold has been met.
Some reports say that some Johnson supporters have submitted letters so they can find out when Brady is close to meeting the threshold, and withdraw them at critical moments.
But there is no love lost between Johnson and the 1922 executive committee, which Brady heads.
Sources previously told Insider that while the group worked with Number 10 during a similar crisis in Theresa May's leadership, that was unlikely this time around because of the personal animus between the prime minister and several of its members.
It comes as the Conservative Campaign Headquarters plans an away day for 100 MPs on Wednesday evening to strategise for a forthcoming election. It was described as "awks" by one of the MPs in the context.
Johnson is said to be mulling a snap election as early as this year, rather than allow his fate to be decided by backbenchers — and to get out ahead of a worsening economic picture. | 2022-05-24T16:00:28Z | www.businessinsider.com | Boris Johnson Could Face No-Confidence Vote This Week: Tory MPs | https://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-could-face-no-confidence-vote-partygate-photos-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-could-face-no-confidence-vote-partygate-photos-2022-5 |
Anthony DiNardo
Satisfying Clean is a detailing service that specializes in cleaning cars, trucks, and tractors.
Owner Reece King shares his detailing work on TikTok and Youtube.
He cleans the interior of a farm truck using detailing brushes, sprays, and a specialized vacuum.
Narrator: This farmer's truck is covered in rocks, hay, and sand. Here's how Reece from Satisfying Clean details filthy vehicles to look brand new.
The first step is to clear any garbage in the interior. Reece removes hay by hand because it's faster than using a vacuum. Next, he removes the floor mats so he can access all of the sand and dirt underneath.
Reece starts from the top of the vehicle first so that all of the sand falls to the floor. This is the best way to avoid double cleaning.
A special wet and dry detailing vacuum is used to remove sand, dirt, and debris. Vacuuming the floors takes the longest, but has the biggest payoff.
It's important to vacuum those hard-to-reach areas to try to get as much dirt and sand out of the interior as possible before moving to the next step.
After dry vacuuming, Reece sprays an all-purpose cleaner on the pedals and uses a fingernail brush to scrub off the dirt. Next, the floor and carpets are sprayed.
Reece uses a drill brush to agitate the floor. This releases the dirt so that it can be easily vacuumed up. It's important to always spray the interior first so the drill brush doesn't damage any surfaces.
The process is repeated throughout the vehicle on different surfaces. For smaller areas a detailing brush is used to remove dirt. To finish the detail, Reece sprays a polish on all the interior plastics and wipes it away to reveal a bright shiny finish.
The process can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, but farmers are always pleased with the transformation. | 2022-05-24T16:00:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | Deep Cleaning a Farm Truck Covered in 5 Years of Hay and Dirt | https://www.businessinsider.com/deep-cleaning-a-farm-truck-5-years-of-hay-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/deep-cleaning-a-farm-truck-5-years-of-hay-2022-5 |
RESULTS: Georgia holds congressional and state legislative primaries
Georgia is holding congressional and state legislative primaries on Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
The most prominent congressional race of the night is a Democratic member-on-member primary between Reps. Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bourdeaux in the metro Atlanta area.
Both McBath and Bourdeaux flipped control of previously-GOP held districts in the past two election cycles. Bourdeaux made her mark as the only Democrat to flip a competitive, Republican-controlled seat in the 2020 election while Democrats lost a dozen House seats on net nationwide.
In response, Georgia Republicans eliminated both their competitive seats in post-2020 congressional redistricting.
Republicans redrew the 6th District to include more safely-Republican exurbs highly unlikely to elect a Democrat and made the new 7th District into an overwhelmingly Democratic seat based in blue-trending Gwinnett County.
Bourdeaux represents 57% of the new district's population while McBath only represents 12% of the new seat, according to FiveThirtyEight, but neither currently reside in the district.
State Rep. Donna McLeod is also running for the district against McBath and Bourdeaux — and is the only candidate out of three who lives within the new district's boundaries. Federal law doesn't require members of Congress to live within the districts they represent, but McLeod has emphasized her ties to the newly-drawn seat in primary debates, the 19th* News reported.
Both McBath and Bourdeaux share largely similar policy positions and voting records, but McBath is benefiting from significantly more outside spending on her behalf, according to OpenSecrets.
Groups including Black PAC, the Black Progressive Action Coalition, Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund, and Protect our Future, a PAC funded by a prominent cryptocurrency billionaire, have spent over $4 million supporting McBath, while the Democrats Serve PAC has spent a much smaller sum of $20,000 opposing her.
Billionaire and 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg also resumed his big political spending habits after a hiatus. In a bid to influence this race, his PAC dropped a last-minute $1 million into ads supporting McBath, Politico reported.
Democratic members drawn into the same district are also set to face off in member-on-member primaries in Michigan, Illinois, and New York later this year.
Meanwhile, in Northwest Georgia, controversial GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was elected in 2020, is facing multiple Republican primary challengers after a judge ruled against groups seeking to remove Greene from the ballot.
Greene was removed from her committee assignments in 2021 over a series of inflammatory, conspiratorial, and anti-Semitic tweets and was permanently suspended from Twitter in 2022. More recently, she's come under scrutiny for an outburst at President Joe Biden's state of the union address and for also speaking at a white-nationalist conference headlined by Nick Fuentes, whom the Anti-Defamation League has described as a "well-known white supremacist pundit and organizer."
Greene, a prolific small-dollar fundraiser, has raised $9.2 million and spent $6.3 million so far this cycle, dwarfing the roughly $230,000 spent by her main Republican rival Jennifer Strahan.
The Democrats seeking to run against her in the deep-red district include Marcus Flowers, Holly McCormack, and Wendy Davis.
A crowded Republican primary is also taking place in the safely-Republican 10th Congressional District vacated by Rep. Jody Hice, who is running for secretary of state.
If no candidate wins over 50% of the vote in Georgia's primaries on Tuesday, the top two candidates will head to a June 21 runoff election.
Georgia state legislative primaries:
More: Georgia 2022 midterms INSIDER Data DDHQ | 2022-05-24T16:00:41Z | www.businessinsider.com | Georgia Congress Primaries, Marjorie Taylor Greene: Live Results | https://www.businessinsider.com/georgia-congress-primaries-marjorie-taylor-greene-live-results-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/georgia-congress-primaries-marjorie-taylor-greene-live-results-2022-5 |
RESULTS: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp faces Trump-backed challenger David Perdue
Georgia is holding highly-watched gubernatorial primaries on Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
Former Sen. David Perdue is challenging incumbent Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in a major test of President Donald Trump's endorsement power — and the political potency of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state.
Kemp was elected in 2018 as a Trump ally running on a decidedly conservative platform. But Kemp fell out of favor with the former president — first over his selection of political newcomer Kelly Loeffler for an open US Senate seat, and then after the governor certified President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory in Georgia and defended the integrity of the state's voting process.
Trump then endorsed Perdue, who lost reelection to now-Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in a 2021 runoff election, to face off against Kemp. Perdue has also attacked the integrity of Georgia's elections and said he wouldn't have certified the 2020 election had he been governor.
Other Republicans challenging Kemp include far-right activist Kandiss Taylor, human resources professional Catherine Davis, and political newcomer Tom Williams.
If no one candidate secures over 50% of the vote on Tuesday, then the top-two finishers will head to a June 21 runoff election.
When Perdue entered the gubernatorial race in December, his endorsement from Trump and the force of the former president's 2020 election claims were seen as invaluable assets in a GOP primary, as Kemp's popularity had appeared to wane among many MAGA grassroots supporters.
However, Kemp rebounded politically, outraising Perdue and running a stream of advertising while the former senator largely went dark on the airwaves during the last week of the race. The governor also took advantage of the high visibility and power of his role, signing into law conservative pieces of legislation passed by the GOP-controlled legislature including a restrictive election law and a bill limiting the discussion of race in public schools.
Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee, has cleared the field to lock up her party's nomination to challenge either Kemp or Perdue in what will be one of the most hotly-contested governor's races of the 2022 midterms.
In 2018, Kemp narrowly edged out Abrams by a 50.2%-48.8% margin, or 1.4 percentage points.
Democrats are hoping to build on Biden's 2020 victory, along with the 2021 runoff victories of Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Ossoff, to prove that the party's strength in the Southern state is real — despite the challenging national political environment.
More: brian kemp Stacey Abrams Georgia Georgia gubernatorial election | 2022-05-24T16:00:47Z | www.businessinsider.com | Georgia Governor's Race, Brian Kemp Vs. David Perdue: Live Results | https://www.businessinsider.com/georgia-governors-race-brian-kemp-vs-david-perdue-live-results-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/georgia-governors-race-brian-kemp-vs-david-perdue-live-results-2022-5 |
RESULTS: Georgia's election chief Brad Raffensperger faces Trump-backed primary challenger
Georgia is holding crucial primaries for its chief election official on Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
Georgia's secretary of state race has attracted national attention this year — which is unusual for such a contest.
The race features a heated Republican primary contest led by incumbent Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — who refused to help former President Donald Trump overturn now-President Joe Biden's 2020 victory in the Peach State and has defended the integrity of that election — and Rep. Jody Hice, who has questioned the veracity of the results and secured the endorsement of the former president.
During an extraordinary January 2021 phone call, Trump pleaded with Raffensperger to "find" additional votes that would help him overcome Biden's roughly 12,000-vote victory in the Southern swing state. During the conversation, Trump made baseless accusations about voter fraud in the election, but Raffensperger declined to go along with the then-president's wishes.
Hice, who has compiled a conservative voting record while in Congress, has amplified the former president's debunked allegations of election malfeasance and criticized Raffensperger's handling of the 2020 election in making the case for why he should be the party's nominee.
The GOP primary also includes David Belle Isle, the former mayor of Alpharetta, and TJ Hudson, the county manager of Treutlen County.
While many observers predicted that Raffensperger would have a difficult — if not unrealistic — chance at winning the Republican nomination this year after earning the enduring ire of Trump, the latest polling indicates a competitive race.
In an Atlanta-Journal Constitution poll of likely GOP voters published in late April, Raffensperger led Hice 28%-26%, within the margin of error, with 37% of respondents undecided. Belle Isle earned the support of 5% of respondents, while Hudson sat at 3% support.
On the Democratic side, the candidates include Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen, former Fulton County Commission chair John Eaves, former state Sen. Floyd Griffin, former state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler, and former Cobb County Democratic Party chair Michael Owens.
An 11Alive poll of likely Democratic voters released in late April showed Nguyen ahead with 12% support, while Owens was close behind at 9%, Eaves and Dawkins-Haigler both received 7%, and Griffin followed at 6% support.
A whopping 60% of respondents in the survey were undecided.
Democrats have largely been united against SB 202, also known as the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which tightened election rules in the state by limiting drop boxes and strengthening voter identification requirements, among other measures.
The legislation was signed into law last year by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp despite objections from Democrats, who contend that the law was rooted in Trump's unsubstantiated election claims and would restrict the voting power of the state's Black voters.
More: Georgia Brad Raffensperger Jody Hice Donald Trump | 2022-05-24T16:00:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | Georgia Secretary of State Primary, Brad Raffensperger: Live Results | https://www.businessinsider.com/georgia-secretary-of-state-primary-brad-raffensperger-live-results-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/georgia-secretary-of-state-primary-brad-raffensperger-live-results-2022-5 |
Ben Winck, Alcynna Lloyd, and Madison Hoff
New home sales slowed through April to an annual pace of 591,000 units, the Census Bureau said.
That landed below the average forecast of a 750,000-home pace and marked the slowest rate in two years.
Home affordability has been slammed by surging mortgage rates and record-high prices in 2022.
Sales of new homes in the US plummeted in April to the slowest rate in two years as buyers' demand collided with soaring mortgage rates and sky-high selling prices.
New single-family home sales slowed through April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000 units, the Census Bureau announced Tuesday morning. That landed well below the economist forecast of a 750,000-home pace and reflected a nearly 17% slowdown from the prior month's rate.
The pace of sales is now the slowest since April 2020, when the coronavirus crash and widespread lockdowns curbed activity throughout the US economy.
March new home sales were revised to a pace of 709,000 from a preliminary rate of 763,000 units.
The report offers an early sign that the buying frenzy that's boosted the housing market throughout the pandemic might be quickly losing momentum. Sales started to slow in 2021 as Americans squared up against the fastest home-price growth in decades. The price rally has held strong through 2022, offering little relief for buyers trying to find a deal.
Soaring interest rates have also put downward pressure on demand. The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates twice this year in a bid to cool demand and ease inflation. Those rate hikes lift borrowing costs throughout the economy, including through higher mortgage rates. Home loans are now the priciest they've been since 2009, further eroding affordability in the housing market.
"Affordability is a growing challenge as higher new-home prices and rising mortgage rates are pricing out some buyers," Odeta Kushi, First American chief economist, told Insider. "One year ago, 25% of new-home sales were priced below $300,000. In April of this year, only 10% of new home sales were priced below $300,000."
As prices surge, millions of homebuyers have been priced out of the market – especially the nation's first-time homebuyers. According to a study by TD Bank, the demographic is becoming increasingly daunted by homeownership.
TD Bank surveyed more than 1,000 hopeful buyers and discovered that 29% are uncertain if right now is a good time to purchase a home. Of all concerns, affordability seems to be the biggest hang up as 67% of participants cited it as a concern, while 46% said saving for a down payment was their biggest hurdle to homeownership.
"Low inventory, steep competition, and high prices in many areas across the U.S. are fueling fears for buyers and creating an even more daunting undertaking for those entering the market for the first time," researchers wrote.
Overall, TD's survey found that only 36% of this year's potential homebuyers believe now is a good time to buy – a steep decline from 59% in 2021 and "a dramatic drop" from 2020 when 68% of prospective buyers thought it was a good time to purchase a home. Tuesday's report suggests that pessimism is finally making its way into actual market activity. As buyers become increasingly wary of the market, any speculation over a potential housing bubble can be put to rest – especially if demand continues to cool.
More: Economy Real Estate Housing Market Census Bureau | 2022-05-24T16:01:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | Housing Bubble 2022: New-Home Sales Plunge 17%, Ease Overheating Fears | https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-bubble-2022-new-home-sales-april-plunge-cooldown-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-bubble-2022-new-home-sales-april-plunge-cooldown-2022-5 |
Expect the hot labor market to continue for 3-5 years, even with an economic slowdown, KPMG US chief exec says
Gabrielle Bienasz and Cadie Thompson
Paul Knopp is CEO of accounting firm KPMG's operations in the US.
He spoke with Insider at the World Economic Forum's gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
He told Insider the labor market would likely remain "hot" even with an economic slowdown.
Even with an increased risk of an impending recession, one top executive says that the labor market will stay hot.
"Generally speaking, the really hot labor market is something that is going to persist for 3-5 years at least," Paul Knopp, CEO of KPMG's US operations, told Insider on Monday.
"We need more people in manufacturing, we need more people in technology, we need more people in healthcare," Knopp added, saying because enrollment is dropping at universities and the US population is aging, there might not be enough future labor supply as well.
Knopp spoke with Insider at the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders and business people typically gather each year to "build problem-solving communities and initiatives," according to the WEF's website.
Manufacturing is indeed experiencing a labor shortage that could only get worse, as is healthcare, per recent research. The US added more jobs than expected in April (428,000 in nonfarm industries). And job openings were at a record high in March, with 1.9 open jobs per unemployed worker, according to the New York Times.
But the Federal Reserve 's decision to raise interest rates, a stock market slump, and headwinds like inflation and fuel prices have painted a grimmer picture, stoking fears of a downturn.
Bank of America said Friday there is a 1 in 3 chance of a recession next year but that it will be "milder" than past ones. Companies including Wells Fargo to Carvana are also conducting layoffs.
Knopp said he thinks whether or not a recession will occur depends on how well the Federal Reserve can execute its desired "soft landing," where inflation can fall without hurting employment levels drastically.
Right now, it's "unclear" if the Fed is going to be able to achieve that, Knopp said, adding that he can get why some might say a downturn has already begun, "because there are so many people in this country that are so dramatically affected by food and fuel costs."
Companies like Walmart and Target cited those as headwinds in disappointing quarterly earnings last week.
"But in terms of the traditional definition of a recession, we are hopeful we are able to avoid one," Knopp said.
Knopp also touched on the subject of hybrid work in his interview with Insider, which was fitting given that he took the reins of KPMG US during the remote work era.
He told Insider Monday the flexibility to work from home is positive, but that meeting people in person is also good.
"We just have to calibrate what the right amount of in-person experience is with remote work," he said. "So what is the workplace now, it's not virtual permanently, but it's changed forever."
More: Paul Knopp KPMG KPMG US | 2022-05-24T16:01:17Z | www.businessinsider.com | KPMG US CEO: Labor Market Will Stay Hot, Even With Economic Slowdown | https://www.businessinsider.com/kpmg-ceo-labor-market-stay-hot-even-with-economic-slowdown-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/kpmg-ceo-labor-market-stay-hot-even-with-economic-slowdown-2022-5 |
Dave Levinthal and Kimberly Leonard
Some watchdog organizations are now looking to President Joe Biden to compel Congress to ban lawmakers from trading individual stocks. To date, Biden has been all but silent on the issue.
Dustin Chambers/Getty Images
16 watchdog groups are demanding that Joe Biden push Congress to ban stock trades by its members.
An Insider investigation published in December found widespread violations of conflicts of interest law.
Biden has remained largely silent on the subject of banning lawmakers from trading stocks while in office.
President Joe Biden must "publicly and actively" push Congress to ban its members from trading individual stocks, a coalition of 16 reform advocates, government watchdog groups, and political organizations wrote Tuesday in a letter to the president.
"President Biden, you promised the American people that you would advocate for them by pushing Congress to free itself from being influenced by their personal financial holdings," the coalition wrote Tuesday. "Supporting the effort to end the inherent conflict of interest stock trading presents would allow you to fulfill your promise and advance an important bipartisan priority."
Signatories include the Campaign Legal Center, Center for American Progress, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Indivisible, National Taxpayers Union, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Project on Government Oversight, Public Citizen, Reform for Illinois, RepresentUs, Stand Up America, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and Transparency International, US.
Government ethics scholar Norman Ornstein and American University distinguished professor James Thurber also signed the letter.
Insider's "Conflicted Congress" investigation, initially published in December, found that 60 lawmakers and at least 182 senior-level congressional staffers have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012 by failing to disclose their stock transactions within a timely manner.
"Conflicted Congress" also found numerous examples of conflicts of interest among federal lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans.
Since then, lawmakers from both parties have introduced several bills to limit or ban lawmakers' trading of individual stocks or otherwise increase financial transaction transparency and strengthen fines for violating existing law. But after a congressional hearing in April on the matter, progress has slowed as lawmakers attempt to craft a single bill that could pass on the floors of both the House and Senate.
All the while, Biden has said little about banning members of Congress from trading stocks.
Biden reportedly planned to publicly support such a measure during his State of the Union address but didn't. Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki earlier this year punted the stock-trade question to Congress. Meanwhile, some Democrats have grown frustrated with the president for not being more outspoken.
"His silence has left the reform effort without the lift that it needs," Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, told Insider. "I expect the president to put out a short but clear statement that he wants to get this done ... Congress will move a lot quicker than they currently are if he makes that kind of statement."
The coalition's letter reminded Biden of his previous statements and actions regarding lawmakers and their personal finances.
"As a presidential candidate, you created a plan of 25 commitments to 'guarantee government works for the people,' which included a pledge to prevent members of Congress from being influenced by their personal financial holdings," the coalition wrote. "Indeed, as a senator who did not trade stocks, you served as an example of how to avoid undue influence from personal financial holdings. You also promised not to trade stocks as president and prohibited individuals serving on your 2020 presidential campaign from trading stocks.
"You are uniquely suited to speak on this issue," the coalition concluded.
More: Congress Joe Biden Conflicted Congress campaign legal center
Reform for Illinois
National Taxpayers Union
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Stand Up America | 2022-05-24T16:01:35Z | www.businessinsider.com | Watchdogs to Joe Biden: Start Leading on Congress Stock-Trade Ban | https://www.businessinsider.com/watchdogs-demand-joe-biden-start-leading-congress-stock-trade-ban-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/watchdogs-demand-joe-biden-start-leading-congress-stock-trade-ban-2022-5 |
The month that rocked ESG: A suspended exec, a greenwashing crackdown, and Musk vs. S&P
Stuart Kirk, the global head of responsible investment at HSBC, was reportedly suspended after making controversial remarks during an event.
FT Live YouTube channel
The existential debate over sustainable investing and ESG factors has intensified this month.
Republican lawmakers, investors, and regulators have all taken aim at aspects of the space.
A new firm is tapping into anti-ESG sentiment, and the SEC is cracking down on greenwashing.
"We focus on sustainability not because we're environmentalists, but because we are capitalists and fiduciaries to our clients," BlackRock's Larry Fink wrote in January in his influential annual letter to fellow CEOs.
The CEO defended the way BlackRock wields environmental, social, and governance factors as part of its investment processes. He sought to set the record straight on the firm's views of so-called stakeholder capitalism, while a fierce backlash brewed against the way ESG considerations are used in the industry.
"Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics. It is not a social or ideological agenda," Fink wrote. "It is not 'woke.'"
Fink's sharply worded meditation on stakeholder capitalism — the corporate buzzword that translates to companies taking into consideration the interests of their employees, communities, and other stakeholders — all but set the mood for the year as this debate has intensified.
Debates over ESG's merits and impact are not new. But Republican lawmakers, investors, and even a bank's global head of responsible investment have in recent weeks ramped up criticisms of aspects of sustainable investing; evaluating risk stemming from climate change; and the wider ESG ecosystem that has trillions of dollars at stake.
A string of high-profile events in May has highlighted the tension playing out over ESG applications while investors digest the Securities and Exchange Commission's sweeping proposal that, if adopted, would require public companies to disclose substantial climate-related information to the public. A primary issue at the heart of ESG-focused debates is that some think the industry is not doing enough to fight societal crises, and others believe it is doing too much.
"As much as some firms would like to, pulling back from ESG is not an option today," Jeremy Swan, managing principal of the advisory firm CohnReznick's financial sponsors and financial services practice, told Insider.
"It has become a requirement from investors in these funds that ESG policies and foundations be put in place. The primary skepticism is related to greenwashing, as many companies rely on data that can be manipulated to tell whatever story they want it to," Swan said. "This is what the SEC is trying to contain."
Here's a timeline of key events.
Throughout May: The GOP's ESG pushback
Throughout the month, Republican lawmakers have publicly pushed back on what they see as overreach in the world of investing based on ESG criteria.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech on May 10 that states such as Texas ought to "rein in" big investors' use of ESG principles while investing, according to a Bloomberg News report.
On May 18, Riley Moore, the West Virginia State Treasurer, said in a tweet that the "ESG movement is a slippery slope," decrying the decision by a unit of S&P Global to remove Tesla's stock from its S&P 500 ESG index.
And on Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas appeared on CNBC to complain about BlackRock's approach to ESG.
May 9: A new firm, with big investors' backing, taps into anti-ESG sentiment
A firm called Strive Asset Management announced that it had launched with the goal of "depoliticizing corporate America," saying the enormous money managers BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street have used their influence as shareholders unfairly.
Some prominent financiers are on board with this view. The firm says it has secured funding from prominent investors including Peter Thiel, his firm Founders Fund, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick.
Strive cofounder Vivek Ramaswamy said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he would not have sided against Exxon last year, as big asset managers did, in the oil giant's battle with the activist hedge fund Engine No. 1.
"We will tell oil companies to be excellent oil companies and coal companies to be excellent coal companies and solar companies to be excellent solar companies," he told the Journal.
A spokesperson for BlackRock declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Vanguard did not respond to a request for comment. A State Street spokesperson said the firm's investment management arm has maintained a consistent approach in its voting practices.
"We have published several frameworks on how we evaluate the proposals on social and environmental matters and believe this transparency builds credibility and is in the best interests our clients. Our stewardship efforts will continue to be focused on creating value and fulfilling our fiduciary duty," the State Street representative said.
May 18: Musk and Wood criticize S&P Global's call
Last week, the markets and ratings giant S&P Global said it had removed Tesla's stock from its ESG index as part of its annual rebalancing. The move prompted criticisms the next day from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and from the widely followed Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood, whose firm's funds hold Tesla shares.
S&P said that accusations of racial discrimination and poor working conditions at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, along with the electric automaker's handling of a government investigation into deaths and injuries linked to its autopilot cars, added up to a negative overall ESG score.
"While Tesla may be playing its part in taking fuel-powered cars off the road, it has fallen behind its peers when examined through a wider ESG lens," wrote Margaret Dorn, the head of ESG indices for North America at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a post detailing the decision.
"ESG is a scam," Musk said on Twitter in one of his rebukes of S&P's decision, while Wood said removing Tesla's stock from the index was "ridiculous" and "not worthy of any other response."
May 19: An HSBC executive's controversial remarks
On Sunday, the Financial Times reported that HSBC Asset Management had suspended Stuart Kirk, its global head of responsible investment, pending an internal investigation after Kirk made comments related to the climate crisis during an industry event hosted by the news outlet.
Kirk presented a series of slides, entitled "Why investors need not worry about climate risk," and downplayed the science-backed threat that climate change poses. A video of Kirk's presentation had garnered 66,000 views as of Tuesday, far more than other videos on the FT Live YouTube channel.
"Unsubstantiated, shrill, partisan, self-serving, apocalyptic warnings are ALWAYS wrong," headlined one of the slides as part of his presentation.
The FT reported that the presentation's theme and content had been agreed upon internally before he spoke last Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the event's planning. Kirk did not return a request for comment. A spokesperson for HSBC said the firm would not comment on an individual employee's situation.
HSBC CEO Noel Quinn wrote on LinkedIn that he did not "agree — at all — with the remarks made at last week's FT Moral Money Summit. They are inconsistent with HSBC's strategy and do not reflect the views of the senior leadership of HSBC or HSBC Asset Management," adding that HSBC is "absolutely committed to a net zero future."
May 23: The SEC's greenwashing crackdown
On Monday, the SEC announced that it charged the asset management arm of BNY Mellon for "misstatements and omissions" about the ESG considerations made while making investment decisions for some mutual funds in its care.
In other words, the SEC took aim at greenwashing, the catch-all phrase describing instances when money managers mislabel products as environmentally sound without proof.
BNY Mellon Investment Advisor settled the charges with the SEC and paid a $1.5 million fine. The SEC also said that the firm had taken remedial steps, including changing certain processes and policies.
Adam Aderton, co-chief of the enforcement division's asset management unit at the regulator and a member of its climate and ESG task force, said in a statement that the SEC will "hold investment advisers accountable when they do not accurately describe their incorporation of ESG factors into their investment selection process."
More: Finance Asset Management ESG Sustainability | 2022-05-24T19:58:45Z | www.businessinsider.com | May 2022: the Month That Rocked Sustainable Investing | https://www.businessinsider.com/esg-sustainable-investing-hsbc-backlash-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/esg-sustainable-investing-hsbc-backlash-2022-5 |
Storm clouds are gathering for high-flying IPO bankers as public offerings plummet and Wall Street considers hiring freezes. Now, insiders say, the layoffs are coming.
Reed Alexander and Britney Nguyen
Wall Street is worried about layoffs and hiring slowdowns for bankers who specialize in public offerings.
Wall Street bankers who handle IPOs could be in for "trouble" in the coming months, recruiters say.
The economic downturn is cutting into their revenues and killing lucrative business opportunities.
And new college grads worry that a recessionary environment can harm their employment prospects.
Less than six months ago, investment bankers were celebrating their record bonus year by splurging on yachts, wagyu-steak dinners, and matching Porsches. Now, some are just hoping they can hang on to their jobs.
"Right now, everybody's worried about a recession ," Brennan Hawken, an equity-research analyst at UBS who covers large-cap banks, told Insider in a recent interview.
"If you end up in a deteriorating macro environment, then they won't just use attrition — there will be explicit layoffs," he added, referring to big banks.
As markets ride a roller coaster of volatility , corporate valuations plummet, and public offerings slow, concerns are mounting on Wall Street over the increasingly likely possibility that last year's hiring frenzy, which touched nearly all sectors of investment banking, is nearing an end — or even a wholesale reversal.
Some finance-industry headhunters are already seeing portions of their business go up in smoke.
"We've seen a significant slowdown" in investment banker hiring since the end of the first quarter, Kevin Mahoney, a partner at the executive-search firm Bay Street Advisors, told Insider this month. Several of the firm's clients have chosen to "push off 'nonessential' or 'strategic' hiring plans" until at least the fourth quarter, if not 2023, Mahoney added.
In some cases, this means banks must do more with less as hiring stalls. Senior bankers are being asked to "fill coverage gaps" and junior bankers are pressed to "step up execution," he told Insider.
Other large investment banks are implementing hiring freezes for senior-level and front-office roles, according to Natalie Machicao, a principal in the practice for investment-banking-executive search at the global management consultant Sheffield Haworth.
"They don't necessarily have an end date for those hiring freezes at the moment. It could be for the rest of the year," Machicao told Insider.
"They're getting some last, very senior, hiring done that has already been in the process," she said, adding: "Otherwise, we have other retainers that have been put on pause for the foreseeable future, and we don't know if they're going to reevaluate."
If you end up in a deteriorating macro environment, then they won't just use attrition — there will be explicit layoffs.
Investment-banking business is down from 2021's dizzying heights. Datasite, a software platform for dealmakers in mergers and acquisitions, told Insider that announced mergers dropped nearly 30% in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same time a year ago. But the worst pain is in capital markets, the segment of the banking industry that handles public offerings for private companies and startups.
Now, as storm clouds gather, some banks are said to be preparing for layoffs.
"I've already started to hear early indications" of workforce reductions and hiring freezes, Hawken said.
College grads fear fewer full-time offers
Last year, investment-banking deal volumes reached record highs. A low-interest-rate environment helped usher in the return of megaleveraged buyouts and a volley of "blank-check" companies went public or raced to find acquisition targets.
But Wall Street's fortunes appear to be in for a reversal as investment-banking revenues pull back and firms like Deutsche Bank issue recessionary warnings. Some companies, including tech giants, are hitting the brakes on hiring.
After expanding its ranks by more than 50% over the past year, the social-media company Snap, which owns Snapchat, told employees it would reduce headcount growth to just 10% this year, Insider reported first this week. In an internal memo, CEO Evan Spiegel blamed factors like "rising inflation and interest rates, supply chain shortages and labor disruptions," as well as geopolitical turmoil related to the war in Ukraine.
Meta, which owns Facebook, recently told employees that the company would enact a hiring moratorium for engineers but that a reevaluation of recruiting needs would eventually touch "almost every team across the company." Over at Uber, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said that the ride-hailing firm will treat hiring as a "privilege" as it looks to trim expenses in other areas, such as marketing.
The warnings of hiring shifts have not gone unnoticed by Wall Street.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said this month that a recession could be around the corner. Bankers at large US lenders previously told Insider they were unsure about the future — in terms of their bonuses and the outlook for hiring or layoffs.
On the bank's first-quarter earnings call in April, Kenneth Jacobs, the CEO of Lazard, said: "Three factors in M&A that we tend to focus on — financing, valuation, and confidence — all are probably more fragile than they were last year at this time."
Concerns of a recession aren't unwarranted, he added, especially if corporate earnings continue to fall.
For graduates entering the job market, the grim headlines are fanning the flames of anxiety.
Steve Sibley, a finance professor who leads the investment-banking workshop at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, told Insider that one of his students who just graduated and started a job as an investment-banking analyst feared that his younger peers would enter a job market full of hiring headwinds.
The student expressed concerns that the number of full-time offers banks would extend to this summer's intern class would be lower than in past years, particularly at banks that lack a restructuring practice, Sibley told Insider.
'A lot of trouble right now'
If there's one area of banking that's primed to absorb the brunt of the pain, it's equity capital markets — the slice of the industry that helps private companies become publicly traded.
"ECM looks like it's in a lot of trouble right now," Machicao, the headhunter at Sheffield Haworth, said. "I've heard that there could be some banks even contemplating layoffs in ECM, and I have also heard that bonuses could be down big."
A significant slice of work in equity capital markets has disappeared this year as CEOs and corporate boards react skittishly toward the idea of taking their companies public amid unpredictable market swings. Hammered by repeated stock-market drops, the S&P 500 index was down as of late May more than 18% since the start of the year.
The revenues generated worldwide by public offerings have bottomed out. From January to May 2021, the deal-tracking firm Refinitiv counted 818 public offerings that brought in over $167 billion in proceeds. But from January to mid-May this year, Refinitiv counted just 451 public offerings globally that made just $59 billion.
That's a roughly 65% drop. And Wall Street is feeling the sting.
"Some parts of our firm faced significant headwinds like equity capital markets, where issuance volumes were lackluster for the quarter," Goldman's Solomon said in last month's earnings call. And Bloomberg reported in March that Swiss bank UBS had laid off some of its equity-capital-markets bankers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It cited a drop in banking revenues.
"You're going to cut back in ECM," Chris Marinac, a bank analyst, said, "but you may hire elsewhere to go chase this restructuring business."
The survivors will be the bankers who can adapt to stay busy and keep generating fees, according to Marinac, the director of research at the financial-services firm Janney Montgomery Scott.
"Some will get purged, and some will change gears," he said. "We have to think of it differently. When we're not doing IPOs, we're now going to do restructuring."
Candidates who are still in the running for Wall Street jobs seem to be adopting some measures to protect themselves, namely by negotiating more desirable compensation packages.
Jeanne Branthover, the global head of financial services and fintech practice at the executive-search firm DHR International, told Insider she'd recently noticed candidates making a big push for final offers made up of more cash than equity (stocks or options, for example). "They don't want to take a risk," she added.
These bankers might be on to something. Bank stocks have dipped over the past year. JPMorgan's stock is down almost 23% year-over-year, while Goldman Sachs is down more than 15%, and Bank of America is trading almost 17% lower.
Still, some leaders are defiant in the face of headwinds, particularly in considering the outlook for other niches of banking, like M&A. Kevin Brunner, a cohead of global mergers and acquisitions at Bank of America, is one.
"We continue to view 2022 as being a top-five M&A year," Brunner told reporters on a media call this month. "The current market is tracking very close to levels in 2018 and 2019, which were very good years, and there is still a significant amount of activity in the M&A market."
Other experts said they're also bullish about the prospect for strong business in restructuring, or banking on behalf of private-equity firms throughout the downturn.
I'm just glad I kept the seat. I've just got to hold on during this lousy period and make sure I stay in the game.
If there's one phenomenon experts agree may be undone by this cooling phase for hiring, it's that some of the power Wall Street workers seized throughout the "Great Recession" will likely go back to their bosses.
The finance industry's center of gravity tilted heavily toward employees in 2021, in a way that made some senior bankers uncomfortable, with droves of young bankers quitting over burnout or frustration with the industry's strict working conditions.
But experts like the UBS analyst Hawken expect that an economic downturn can put a damper on that employee-led workplace insurgency.
"There's no question, that mentality will change," he said.
During times of turmoil, "you don't worry about the seat not being good enough," Hawken said, adding: "You simply say: 'OK, I'm just glad I kept the seat. I've just got to hold on during this lousy period and make sure I stay in the game.'"
Do you work on Wall Street? Contact these reporters with your story and what you're observing in the hiring market. Reed Alexander can be reached via email at ralexander@insider.com, or SMS/the encrypted app Signal at (561) 247-5758. Britney Nguyen can be reached via email at bnguyen@insider.com, or SMS at (910) 386-8860.
More: Wall Street Jobs Careers
Ken Jacobs | 2022-05-24T19:59:09Z | www.businessinsider.com | Hiring IPO Bankers on Wall Street Stalls As Market Conditions Worsen | https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-hiring-freeze-layoffs-investment-banks-IPO-stall-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-hiring-freeze-layoffs-investment-banks-IPO-stall-2022-5 |
'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' is now streaming on Paramount Plus — here's how to watch the video game character's latest adventure
How to watch 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' on Paramount Plus
Can I watch 'Sonic 2' without Paramount Plus?
When will 'Sonic 2' be available to rent?
Is 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' worth watching?
When will 'Sonic 2' be released on Blu-ray?
How to watch the first 'Sonic the Hedgehog' movie
Sonic is back for a new feature-length adventure in "Sonic the Hedgehog 2."
The video game adaptation is now streaming on Paramount Plus ($5/month).
It's also available for digital purchase from Amazon, Apple TV, Vudu, and Google Play for $20.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" is the latest feature-length adventure starring the famous video game character. The new release is now available to watch on Paramount Plus less than two months after it hit theaters on April 8. You can also buy the movie to stream at home from retailers like Amazon and Vudu.
Picking up where the events of "Sonic the Hedgehog" left off, the sequel follows Sonic on a new adventure to stop Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) from taking over the world. This time, the evil genius is after the power of the Chaos Emerald. Joining the cast are a couple of video games characters that fans of the Sonic series will instantly recognize: Tails and Knuckles.
Check out the 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' trailer
Ben Schwartz returns as the voice of Sonic, and he's once again joined by James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Lee Majdoub, and Jim Carrey. Idris Elba and Colleen O'Shaughnessey lend their voices to Knuckles and Tails, respectively.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" is now available to watch on Paramount Plus. The movie became available to all subscribers on May 24.
To watch, you can sign up for the Paramount Plus Essential plan with ads for $5 a month, or the Premium plan without ads for $10 a month. Both grant you access to the service's full library of on-demand shows and films. The Premium plan also adds streaming access to your local CBS network.
If you're not sure about making the commitment, Paramount Plus offers a free seven-day trial. You can use it to watch "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" for free — just be ready for the plan to auto-renew at $5 a month if you don't cancel before your week is up.
You can then watch the movie and any other Paramount Plus content on most popular web browsers, smartphones, smart TVs, or streaming devices.
Can I watch 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' without Paramount Plus?
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" is also available to watch through video-on-demand (VOD) retailers like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu, and Google Play. The movie costs $20 to purchase in up to 4K quality.
$19.99 from Apple TV Plus
Once you buy the film, you can stream it whenever you'd like and as many times as you want. VOD apps are available on most web browsers, smartphones, smart TVs, streaming devices, and gaming consoles. Check each retailer's site to ensure that your device is compatible.
When will 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' be available to rent?
Starting June 7, "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" will be available to rent from digital retailers like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu, and Google Play. Though we don't know the price just yet, rentals are usually much cheaper than digital purchases. Viewers who only plan to watch the movie once, are likely better off waiting for the rental option
Once you've paid for your rental, you have 30 days to hit play and 48 hours after that to watch the movie.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" holds a decent "69% Fresh" rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 160 reviews. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement from critics, but the majority of reviewers found the movie to be enjoyable for what it is. And that's the camp that I fall into as well.
As a longtime fan of the video game franchise, I found the sequel to be unabashedly funny without being too silly, with compelling performances from the entire cast. Idris Elba and Colleen O'Shaughnessey specifically understood the assignment; both actors bring Knuckles and Tails to life in a way that stays true to the video games.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" has its flaws for sure, but if you go in hoping for a light and entertaining watch, you won't be disappointed. Especially for those who enjoyed the first movie, I can't recommend watching the sequel enough. "Sonic the Hedgehog 2," in my opinion, is a rare case of a sequel besting its predecessor.
When will 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' be released on Blu-ray?
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" is slated to release on physical media on August 9. It's already available to preorder on Blu-ray for $23 and 4K Blu-ray for $28.
Paramount/Sega
The first "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie is currently available to stream on both Paramount Plus and Amazon Prime Video.
The film sets the stage for the events of the sequel, though you can definitely still enjoy "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" without watching the first movie.
Paramount+ 30-day Free Trial
Free from Paramount+
More: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Streaming Insider Reviews 2022 Insider Picks | 2022-05-24T20:07:21Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Watch 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' — Now Streaming on Paramount Plus | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/how-to-watch-sonic-the-hedgehog-2 | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/streaming/how-to-watch-sonic-the-hedgehog-2 |
"Should he have said, 'Don't hang my vice president, please?'" Behar said, referring to the "hang Mike Pence" chants documented on January 6 after he refused Trump's urges to use his ceremonial role as a way to halt the election certification process.
More: White House Kellyanne Conway conway book Alyssa Farah | 2022-05-24T21:30:26Z | www.businessinsider.com | Kellyanne Conway and Alyssa Farah Griffin Feud on 'the View' | https://www.businessinsider.com/kellyanne-conway-alyssa-farrah-the-view-interview-shouting-match-video-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/kellyanne-conway-alyssa-farrah-the-view-interview-shouting-match-video-2022-5 |
The investment chief of a pension fund plans to stop investing in new venture capital funds as a result of the current market downturn
The Fairfax County Employees' Retirement System plans to focus on funds it previously invested in.
The pension fund may refrain from investing in new funds as they expect VC returns to slow.
Despite the market outlook, it plans to continue investing in blockchain, AI and life sciences.
Some limited partners are now considering how to manage their cash and allocations, potentially leaving newer, less established venture capital firms on the back burner as funding continues to slide into territory not seen since early 2020.
Andrew Spellar, chief investment officer at Virginia's Fairfax County Employee's Retirement System, said he still holds some optimism in the market, but they will be more cautious about where to put cash.
"If there are any reups, we're more likely to go with current funds and less on new funds," Spellar said. "We're going to want less exposure to risky assets and double down on areas in which we feel more secure."
Spellar noted that performance reports from the funds they've invested in have been "positive to flattish" from the first quarter, but he predicts reports expected to arrive in June to tell a far different story. Spellar said the next reports could show some losses, which will impact how they invest in the near term.
Layoffs and plummeting stock prices prompted many to start bracing for a large investing pullback into the tech sector.
But, according to Spellar, the pension fund was able to shield itself from much of the declines by investing a lot in real assets such as commodities, so any potential losses from the public market and private investments have not hurt the fund thus far.
Spellar said the fund had strong growth, particularly in its innovation theme or in funds that made investments in artificial intelligence, life sciences, cybersecurity, and blockchain.
While the pension fund still expects these areas to grow, it may not do more investing anytime soon.
"We're pretty full in terms of allocations on that theme, so for now, we don't expect new allocations around it," he said. "Last year, we had good returns for blockchain and even life sciences have been good."
Fairfax County has been investing in technologies like blockchain since 2018. It committed $10 million to the Morgan Creek Blockchain Opportunities Fund. Spellar said it has since invested in funds run by VC firms Blockchain Capital and Polychain. The county said its investments in blockchain focus mainly on blockchain technology companies, with no more than 15% going to tokens and cryptocurrencies.
As part of its commitment to blockchain and crypto, Fairfax County plans to seek approval from its board to invest in funds using yield farming strategies. As reported by Bloomberg, the Fairfax County Employees' Retirement System and the Fairfax County Police Officers' Retirement System want to invest in two funds that could yield at least 9%. Bloomberg said both pension funds have invested at least $50 million into Parataxis Capital Management; an investment firm focused on digital tokens and cryptocurrencies.
Of course, Spellar said, all of this depends on how crypto markets perform. Crypto prices have plunged in recent days, and one of the most hyped cryptocurrencies–Luna and the stablecoin TerraUSD crashed–losing nearly 90% of their value.
More: Venture Capital Limited Partners Crypto assets | 2022-05-24T21:30:32Z | www.businessinsider.com | Why One LP Does Not Want to Invest in New VC Funds | https://www.businessinsider.com/limited-partner-invest-in-new-vc-funds-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/limited-partner-invest-in-new-vc-funds-2022-5 |
Brian Kemp supporter Jeff Michael kicks up his heels May 24 during an election night victory party in Atlanta, Georgia.
Brian Kemp fans lived it up Tuesday night following his decisive primary win against David Perdue.
They enjoyed booze, burgers and a much-needed break from campaigning.
"There's clearly a mandate with conservatives right now," one Kemp admirer told Insider.
ATLANTA, Georgia — Beers flowed like water and cheesy bite-sized sliders disappeared by the handful Tuesday night as attendees at Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's primary election watch party took some time to savor his commanding victory over Trump-backed candidate David Perdue.
"I'm grreaaaat! How are you?" one woman, who looked wound up enough to jump out of her skin, greeted another at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame where Kemp was holding his primary watch party Tuesday night.
One little boy handed out Kemp buttons and stickers to everyone he came in contact with.
"Future governor of Georgia, right here!" a cocktail-sipping partygoer announced to no one in particular as the precocious paraphernalia pusher disappeared into the crowd.
"I think there's clearly a mandate with conservatives right now," Alpharetta, Georgia resident Eamon Keegan, 36, said of Kemp's much stronger hand leading into the general election this fall.
Kemp easily overcame a challenge from Perdue, a former US senator who had entered the race in December on the urging of a vengeance-seeking Trump. The former president and his allies have continued to blame Kemp for Trump's 2020 election loss in Georgia and had hoped Perdue would unseat the incumbent governor and faceoff against Democratic voting rights activist Stacey Abrams in November. But Kemp's runaway win over Perdue was called less than half an hour after the polls closed in Georgia. It was an unsurprising win and his fans had come already ready to celebrate.
Suit-clad gents juggled Kemp-branded tumblers full of Napa Valley chardonnay in one hand and succulent pulled pork sliders in the other, working overtime to try and keep errant barbecue sauce from ruining their designer dress shirts.
Newton County resident Tammy Cartledge, 53, said Kemp got her vote in 2018 and again this year by standing up for what she believes in.
"I'm pro-life. And I'm a girl that likes to carry her gun," Cartledge told Insider. "And he protects that."
Jill Fuentes, a 32-year-old Atlanta resident said she voted against Kemp in 2018, backing Abrams in their previous contest. But Fuentes, a Black woman, and small business owner said Kemp won her over by fighting to reopen the state during the pandemic.
"Gov. Kemp is really focused on the real issues that Georgia is facing and not the politics," Fuentes said, adding that "I love the fact that he is building a coalition behind him."
'Thank you for everything'
Brian Kemp supporters sign a commemorative poster at the Georgia governor's primary victory party May 24 in Atlanta, Georgia.
On Monday night, in a last-minute push for votes, Perdue held a tele-rally with Trump, who cast the former senator as better suited to unite Republicans and defeat Abrams in November. Meanwhile, at about the same time Trump's former vice president —and now political rival — turned up in Georgia to campaign for Kemp, in what would look like a proxy war between the ex-commander-in-chief and his one-time top deputy.
Tuesday's win for Kemp is in essence a win for Pence. And Perdue's defeat is an embarrassing loss for Trump, adding to other failures among his endorsees to clinch victories.
Perdue quickly conceded, saying he had called and congratulated Kemp on his win and offered his full support.
"Everything I said about Brian Kemp was true, but here's the other thing I said was true; he's a much better choice than Stacey Abrams," Perdue told his supporters from his primary night camp in Atlanta. "We're going to get behind our governor...we're going to do everything we can to make damn sure Stacey Abrams doesn't take over this state."
Back at the Kemp party, Atlanta resident Jeff Michael, 56, was sipping a cold drink and chatting up strangers when Insider approached. Michael said he appreciated Kemp's steady leadership and the tax relief he's provided.
As the night progressed, a Kemp poster staff had placed outside the main ballroom filled up with personal messages.
"Thank you for everything." "Keep putting Georgia 1st." And "You Rock!" were just some of the notes well-wishers scribbled to their favorite candidate on a night that felt like a Georgian lovefest.
More: Donald Trump brian kemp Mike Pence Marjorie Taylor Greene | 2022-05-25T03:39:42Z | www.businessinsider.com | Kemp Fans Want 4 More Years of Fun, Freedom and Needling the Feds | https://www.businessinsider.com/brian-kemp-beats-david-perdue-in-georgia-primary-victory-speech-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/brian-kemp-beats-david-perdue-in-georgia-primary-victory-speech-2022-5 |
Meet 14 power players leading Wall Street's charge into the public cloud at Goldman Sachs, Citadel, JPMorgan, and other top financial firms
Two Sigma's Jason Chen, Blackstone's John Stecher, Morgan Stanley's Allison Gorman, and Goldman Sachs' George Lee.
Wall Street's tech leaders are all in on public-cloud technology.
Cloud software is transforming everything in finance, from investment banking to marketing.
Here are 14 power players on Wall Street leading the industry's push into the cloud.
Finance hasn't always been open to public-cloud technology, largely due to security and regulatory concerns. But post-pandemic, that's all changed. The cloud is currently taking Wall Street by storm, and a new class of power players is emerging with it.
Big banks, top hedge funds and investment firms, and private-equity shops are increasingly opening up to the tech and using it seemingly everywhere. The cloud now touches every nook and cranny on Wall Street from investment banking to risk management and marketing. Its acceptance has consequently led to cloud experience becoming a critical skill across every level of tech organizations, on both the buy and sell sides.
"I'd say that one of the biggest challenges is also one that holds great opportunity, and that is finding IT pros with adequate cloud skill sets," Saul Van Beurden, the Wells Fargo technology chief, told Insider.
Meanwhile, a race is heating up among the major public-cloud providers — Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBM, and Microsoft Azure — as each tech giant looks to take a bigger piece of the finance pie.
Much of what draws the two industries together comes down to the bottom line. Wells Fargo Securities estimated banks can save about one-third of their costs by transferring workloads to the cloud. On the other side, Wells Fargo's equities research found that US banks and investment firms spend more on technology than any other sector.
Just as the technology itself is emerging as a key piece of the industry's tech stack, the executives overseeing such cloud efforts, once stationed behind the scenes as IT leaders, are rising as key powerhouses in the financial world. Who they are and what they do is now more important than ever.
Here are the 14 power-player executives leading cloud strategy, vision, and execution for the country's largest financial firms.
Bank of America's Tony Kerrison
Tony Kerrison, Bank of America's chief technology officer and core technology infrastructure executive.
When Cathy Bessant, the former tech chief at Bank of America, elevated Tony Kerrison to her elite-leadership table in May 2021, it signaled the bank's increased focus on infrastructure and cloud initiatives.
As the chief technology officer and head of core-technology and infrastructure services, Kerrison oversees how the firm's eight business lines orchestrate the bank's back-end technology: the cloud, data centers, internal servers, networks, engineering, application services, and automation.
Kerrison succeeded Howard Boville, Bank of America's former CTO who left the bank to lead IBM's financial-services cloud venture in March 2020.
Bank of America, for its part, had bucked the trend of shifting to public cloud that other Wall Street companies had followed. The firm's own private cloud, which launched in 2019, saved the bank $2 billion in infrastructure costs the year it kicked off. Eventually, Bank of America partnered with IBM to help build out the tech giant's finance-focused cloud, which launched in April 2021.
Blackstone's John Stecher
John Stecher, Blackstone's chief technology officer.
As chief technology officer at Blackstone, John Stecher has overseen the wholesale migration of the $125 billion asset-manager's operations to the public cloud, as well as new cloud-based projects developed in concert with fintech players.
Last year, Stecher explained Blackstone's decision to migrate much of the firm's businesses to Amazon Web Service's public cloud by the end of 2021. At the time, Stecher described the move as an opportunity to take an "advantage over our competitors both in the traditional private equity, but also in just the alternative-asset management space."
Blackstone, the largest private owner of commercial property in the world, has developed a cloud-based tool called Real Estate Data Direct to provide a comprehensive overview of its real-estate portfolio.
Blackstone has also worked with New York-based startup Beacon to develop quantitative-modeling tools that can tap into the firm's vast trove of internal, third-party, and alternative sources. Much of that work has involved porting Beacon's technology onto Blackstone's AWS servers.
Additionally, Stecher has also led a new, informal initiative with Blackstone to bring engineers closer to the dealmaking table. Engineers have assisted in closing tech deals for Israeli cloud-security startup Wiz, data manager Canoe, cybersecurity startup Vectra AI, and cloud-IT company Automox, among others.
"What we're doing is taking those folks, aligning them to the firm's investment themes, and then leveraging their brain power and knowledge in the space," Stecher said.
Citadel's Gautham Thambidorai and Andrew Janian
Citadel's Gautham Thambidorai, managing director of core engineering, and Andrew Janian, head of equities engineering.
Gautham Thambidorai and Andrew Janian are two key cloud executives at Citadel, billionaire Ken Griffin's Chicago-based hedge fund.
Thambidorai, who spent 15 years at Google before coming to Wall Street in November 2020, is responsible for platforms and infrastructure that serve Citadel's investment teams.
While at Google, Thambidorai co-designed a key piece of back-end infrastructure that the tech giant eventually implemented into its search-engine systems to retrieve and rank web-search results. His experience with large-scale, low-latency data work is critical for an asset manager with quant-focused teams like Citadel, which use such systems to edge out competitors.
Janian, meanwhile, spent 13 years at Two Sigma as its chief information officer and head of data engineering before coming to Citadel in March 2021. While at Two Sigma, Janian was central to many core pieces of the firm's back-end architecture, from its software development environment to building out pipes the firm used to access the markets and execute trades.
Now, as Citadel's head of equities engineering, Janian oversees the development of technology frameworks and data solutions for the hedge fund's equities businesses globally.
Citigroup's Shadman Zafar
Shadman Zafar, Citi's CIO for for personal banking and wealth management.
Shadman Zafar's extensive tech background grants him the role as Citigroup's de facto public-cloud leader.
Currently, Zafar is the chief information officer for Citi's personal-banking and wealth-management business. In that role, he oversees the tech organization supporting the bank's consumer businesses, but he's no stranger to the C-suite. Zafar has been Citi's head of North America technology, JPMorgan Chase's head of digital products, chief digital officer at Barclays Bank, and chief product officer and chief information officer at Verizon Communications.
Cloud security is top of mind for Zafar, who says that protecting cloud applications at the infrastructure and application level is critical to speedy cloud adoption. A multi-cloud and hybrid strategy, he added, is a "key ingredient" for the financial services industry because of stiff data privacy and compliance requirements.
"Sometimes a private-cloud solution can help optimize workloads for performance and cost when predictability of traffic patterns are high," Zafar said.
Goldman Sachs' Marco Argenti and George Lee
George Lee (left) and Marco Argenti (right), Goldman Sachs' co-chief information officers.
As co-chief information officers at Goldman Sachs, Marco Argenti and George Lee are two sides of the same coin.
Lee, a 27-year veteran of Goldman, once helmed the bank's technology, media, and telecom investment-banking group and previously served as CIO of investment banking. Argenti climbed the ranks at Amazon Web Services to be vice president of technology before joining the bank in 2019.
The bank operates a hybrid-cloud architecture that straddles internal data centers and public-cloud ones, and the executives each bring their unique business and technology perspectives to their cloud-leadership strategy at Goldman.
What executives believe to be the top cloud challenges and opportunities showcase their expertises. Lee, for examnple, said that "FinOps," or financial operations underpinning different cloud decisions and contracts the bank signs with cloud providers, is one overlooked area of cloud centers.
"The contracts themselves, while simple on their face, can have complex dimensions," Lee told Insider.
"The decisions around what you might run on premise versus in the cloud, which cloud you might suggest, how you factor the economic arrangement with the cloud — that stuff's getting prohibitively complicated to house in a spreadsheet. There is interesting innovation around how to think about ROI, how to think about the right economic path for these things," he added.
Argenti, meanwhile, said he views one overlooked advantage of cloud technology from the perspective of developers.
"The real advantage of moving to the cloud is really that it makes your teams actually operate with higher velocity of release, and often also higher quality of release. We saw clearly a correlation between developer productivity and operating within a cloud environment," Argenti said.
JPMorgan's George Sherman
George Sherman, JPMorgan's chief information officer of global technology infrastructure.
Getty/Andrew Burton
As JPMorgan's top tech executive overseeing public- and private-cloud infrastructure, George Sherman has strong opinions on what makes a winning cloud strategy.
The chief information officer of global technology infrastructure told Insider last November that he's sticking with a hybrid, multi-cloud approach despite the recent trend to partner up with a primary public-cloud provider.
"It's real easy to follow the crowd," he said in the November interview. "It's really hard to make the decisions as to where you think this is all going to land."
But as the top infrastructure executive at the country's largest bank — serving roughly half of America's households and moving about $6 trillion dollars a day — Sherman has good reason to hold steady on his stance.
Putting your infrastructure in somebody else's data centers comes with considerations. Top of mind for Sherman is vendor risk, or relying too heavily on a single provider. Additionally, there's the reliability of such systems and making sure the bank's massive size and scale doesn't max out one provider's bandwidth.
To that end, JPMorgan is tied up with all three main public-cloud providers — AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure — and additionally runs its own private cloud. Working closely with the bank's global chief technology officer, Andrew Lang, the two execs will work to have the public and private cloud on "equal footing," rather than lean more heavily on one.
At JPMorgan's investor day this May, CIO Lori Beer, to whom Sherman reports, detailed the bank's approach to the more than $14 billion in tech expenses it plans to spend this year. Beer said JPMorgan plans to consolidate its footprint of 33 data centers to 17 by 2025, and noted that 30% of the bank's spending on infrastructure is on cloud initiatives as it leans on multiple public cloud providers and its own private cloud.
Sherman specifically is largely focused on long-term strategy. Looking forward, he says edge computing, or moving storage and compute closer to the point of consumption, will be the next big thing.
Millennium Management's Michael Brams
Michael Brams, Millennium Management's head of computer engineering and cloud.
Michael Brams heads up compute engineering and cloud at the $55 billion, New York-based hedge fund Millennium Management.
Brams previously discussed with Insider the importance of developing cloud tech for one key reason: a well-developed cloud infrastructure can retain and attract top talent, he said last August.
"One of the drivers for enabling cloud, and really investing in cloud, is we wanted to ensure that we weren't going to lose portfolio managers to another company because they had a better cloud offering than us," Brams said at the time.
But Brams now expects another topical driver of cloud adoption this year among financial firms: supply-chain issues that are making it more difficult for companies to buy critical server parts. "This year in particular, people will shift their activities to cloud to mitigate some of the current supply chain challenges, such as long lead times on servers, switches, and other critical components," Brams said.
In Brams' view, cloud does bring the often-touted benefits of quick development and easily siloed sandboxes. But an overlooked advantage of cloud is also "its ability to provide granular transparency into technology costs, in a way that shared-on-premise infrastructure does not always provide, as well as the ability to fail fast and scale down if the costs are too high or the results aren't as anticipated."
Morgan Stanley's Allison Gorman Nachtigal
Allison Gorman Nachtigal, Morgan Stanley's managing director and head of cloud program.
As the head of Morgan Stanley's cloud cloud program, Allison Gorman Nachtigal is an integral piece to the bank's public cloud efforts. The managing director helps teams across the firm navigate the move to the public cloud.
Rather than a lift-and-shift strategy where companies move entire systems untouched to the public cloud, Morgan Stanley is, in some cases, completely overhauling systems to take full advantage of public-cloud benefits. For instance, Gorman Nachtigal helped the bank's research team rebuild its platform used to share data with institutional clients on Microsoft Azure. The new system allowed the bank to share a larger volume and different types of data, and do so quicker, compared to its on-premises offering.
Morgan Stanley inked a partnership in June 2021 to have Microsoft Azure as its primary-cloud partner. As part of the agreement, Azure handles the bulk of the bank's cloud-computing volumes while Morgan Stanley codesigns new applications and tools with the tech giant. To be sure its information is safely backed up, Morgan Stanley maintains a multi-cloud strategy with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and IBM.
The 32-year veteran of the bank is no stranger to public cloud and data. Gorman Nachtigal's experience at Morgan Stanley spans leading teams responsible for engineering, artificial intelligence, security, and data infrastructure. In March, she was promoted from leading the bank's cloud center of excellence to overseeing all strategy around cloud adoption as head of the Morgan Stanley Cloud Program.
Point72's Mark Brubaker and Chris Darringer
Point72's Chris Darringer (left), head of market-intelligence data platform, and Mark Brubaker (right), chief technology officer.
Point72's Mark Brubaker is no stranger to massive, years-long cloud projects.
As CTO of the $24 billion hedge fund, Brubaker has overseen Point72's sweeping efforts to migrate the majority of its applications to the cloud. The project, which is slated for completion at the end of 2024, will ultimately see the fund move 70 to 80% of its eligible applications to the cloud by tapping both AWS and Google Cloud. Point72 has hired aggressively to get there, bringing on at least 60 cloud engineers.
For Brubaker, migrating to the cloud can impact more than just which applications Point72 uses or how the hedge fund taps into or stores data. Instead, cloud adoption itself is a reason to reshape the structure of tech teams, with a particular emphasis on growing DevOps talent.
"As cloud adoption continues to accelerate, it's increasingly having an impact on how technology teams are structured," Brubaker told Insider. "DevOps teams are a critical element of successfully building and deploying cloud-based applications, because they help create and maintain the guardrails that ensure consistency across teams, processes, and products."
Brubaker pointed to the growth in the DevOps teams at Point72 under Sonny Baillargeon, the head of technology infrastructure, who joined the firm last November.
Chris Darringer, an engineer who leads Point72's big-data platform and infrastructure teams, echoed the sentiment.
"Sustainable growth continues to be a major focus in research, which means an even greater emphasis on standards, governance, DevOps, training, and active-cost management, as well as disaster recovery," Darringer told Insider.
Two Sigma's Jason Chen
Jason Chen, Two Sigma's managing director and head of core platform.
Two Sigma
Jason Chen, Two Sigma's head of core platform, leads the asset manager's teams responsible for compute, data storage, cloud infrastructure and platform services.
According to Chen, the biggest impact cloud has driven for Two Sigma has been its elasticity, which has helped "meet continuous business growth, helping with compute, data analysis, and networking bandwidth."
"We also continue to see interesting use cases for the managed services offered by Cloud providers, such as Google BigQuery and Google DataFlow," Chen said.
Two Sigma began shifting much of its workload to Google's public cloud around 2017, Insider reported last year. But the quantitative-investment manager also relies on AWS and Microsoft Azure.
For his part, Chen thinks financial firms moving into the cloud have to consider four distinct factors before onboarding any new tech.
For one, they must first understand the design of their own data architecture and how it will integrate with cloud-native services.
They should also "identify cloud use cases before onboarding products to understand how to best utilize cloud services, while keeping an eye on new managed services to understand their trade-offs."
Lastly, firms need to assess both cost models in the early stages of cloud development and the risk of being locked into cloud vendors, tools, or services only available on their stack.
Wells Fargo's Saul Van Beurden
Saul Van Beurden, Wells Fargo's head of technology.
As Wells Fargo's head of technology, Saul Van Beurden oversees a team of more than 40,000 engineers and other technologists.
According to Van Beurden, Wells Fargo's cloud adoption is one critical component of a broader shift toward a "platform-based company" — meaning the bank will offer services that are "digital-first, API-enabled" and allow Wells Fargo to "to provide ' banking-as-a-service ' to many."
Insider recently detailed Wells Fargo's move to the cloud, which could end up saving the bank $1 billion in costs over the next decade.
But Van Beurden also believes banks like Wells Fargo must reckon with the real-world implications of cloud technology and tools associated with cloud's large-scale computing power like AI and machine learning.
"I believe that the future of the bank will be defined at the intersection of technology disciplines— a magical cocktail of artificial intelligence and machine learning, data, and personalization," Van Beurden told Insider.
"We need to explain the outcomes of AI models. For example, if we get a lending request from a customer, we need to be able to say why we said yes or why we said no," Van Beurden added.
Van Beurden is focused as well on what he called "small data," or opportunities for Wells Fargo to find the "smallest significant set of data that will bring you to the right outcome," as well as use cases for synthetic data and "rapid advances in compute power."
"The speed that is coming with quantum compute cannot be expressed in factors of 10, or hundreds or even millions," Van Beurden said.
More: Features Public cloud Big Tech | 2022-05-25T09:40:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | Meet 14 Top Executives Leading Wall Street's Push Into Cloud | https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-top-executives-public-cloud-citadel-blackstone-goldman-sachs-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-top-executives-public-cloud-citadel-blackstone-goldman-sachs-2022-5 |
A desire for higher pay, more benefits, and remote flexibility are among the reasons people have been quitting their jobs over the past year.
RealPeopleGroup/Getty Images
Workers who joined the Great Resignation this year aren't all better off.
Data compiled by LinkedIn and reported by Bloomberg showed a higher-than-usual rate of job hopping.
Millennials and Gen Z value their time and a sense of purpose at work, in addition to money.
The Great Resignation hasn't been so great for everyone.
Even though a record-high 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in March, fewer are choosing to remain in their new positions, according to a LinkedIn study of 500,000 job changes in 2021 and first reported by Bloomberg.
LinkedIn found that among workers who started new jobs last year, the number who had been in their previous position for less than a year rose by 6.5% compared to the year before. That's the highest percentage of job migration the platform has recorded since it started tracking data in 2016.
The dataset doesn't distinguish between people who quit and ones who were fired, Guy Berger, principal economist at LinkedIn, told Bloomberg. But because businesses are still looking to fill open jobs at record-high rates, there's good reason to believe that people are leaving of their own accord.
LinkedIn's study backs up data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that a growing number of people who left their jobs to pursue better pay and opportunities are continuing to leave. Even among those who stay put in their new role, one in five regret quitting in the first place, according to a March Harris Poll survey by USA Today.
Although the US economy has recovered about 93% of all the jobs it lost during the pandemic, those employed workers are moving around a lot. March was the tenth consecutive month that more than four million Americans resigned. A desire for higher pay, more benefits, and remote flexibility are among the reasons people have been quitting, especially Gen Z and millennials. But if the LinkedIn study is any indicator, those perks don't necessarily mean they will love their new workplace.
"At the end of the day, you spend most of your life working," Laurel Camirand, who quit her job for a better one, only to leave the new position, told Bloomberg. "It sucks to be miserable."
All the job hopping is making some workers "miserable" and putting the pressure on companies
As the number of job openings tick upward and people move from workplace to workplace, companies continue to raise wages to entice new hires. This means there's a wage gap between workers who have stayed put and new hires.
But rising wages have helped workers overall, according to FlexJobs' Work Insight 2022 survey which found nearly half of 1,248 employed workers who negotiated for a salary last year were successful. Those numbers are encouraging workers to take the leap, especially during a time where inflation is taking a bite out of Americans' wallets.
In fact, Matthew Mish, head of credit strategy at UBS, told Insider that workers' bargaining power amid the worker shortage is one reason that working and middle class Americans stand a good chance of withstanding inflation over the coming months.
"There is continued strength in basic negotiations… in the hospitality and retail industries, especially," he said. "Economists don't see a lot of signs of weakness there."
But the data from LinkedIn and USA Today show that employers may have to do more than reaching deeper into their pockets in order to keep new hires happy: workers are looking for more fulfilling opportunities and a healthy workplace culture.
Lesley Labarba, a 28-year-old human resources manager who switched jobs twice in the last year and saw a 39% increase in pay, told Insider that she thinks young people rising in the workplace value their time more than generations past.
"As all these boomers exit the market and it's filled with Gen Z people, you begin to see time as a commodity," she said.
If you left your job in the last year in search of a better deal and are willing to share your story, you can contact this reporter at jlalljee@insider.com.
More: great resignation Hiring Firing Jobs | 2022-05-25T11:07:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | Great Resignation Regret: Workers Who Quit for More Money Quit Again | https://www.businessinsider.com/great-resignation-regret-quitting-more-money-pay-raise-job-hopping-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/great-resignation-regret-quitting-more-money-pay-raise-job-hopping-2022-5 |
Snapchat earnings from Spotlight
Making money from lenses
Managing schedules
How to make money on Snapchat, according to creators
Katie Feeney is a content creator with over 854,000 Snapchat subscribers.
Katie Feeney
Snapchat is a moneymaker for some creators who know how take advantage of the platform.
Successful creators post content frequently to Spotlight, sign brand deals, or create AR lenses.
Here's how creators make money on Snapchat and manage their schedules.
While Snapchat is largely known for its ephemeral messaging and, more recently, its push into original content, the platform is also a bonafide moneymaker for some savvy creators who have learned how to take advantage of it.
There are several ways Snapchat creators are making money.
Since launching its TikTok competitor Spotlight in November 2020, Snap has financially incentivized creators to post short-form videos to the app feature. The company pays on a curve, factoring in various engagement metrics, including the total number of unique video views and "favorites," as well as the number of daily users who view a Snap. Snap paid 12,000 creators more than $250 million in 2021 as part of its Snapchat Spotlight programs, the company said. And some of them earned millions.
Katie Feeney, a content creator with over 854,000 Snapchat subscribers, earned well over $1 million posting videos to Spotlight that were a mix of repurposed TikToks and funny, new clips.
But she's not the only Snapchat millionaire.
Read more about the strategies 4 Snapchat influencers used to earn over $1 million.
Another way to make a living off Snapchat is by designing augmented reality lenses.
Cyrene Quiamco is a former Verizon web designer who joined Snapchat in January 2014. She soon began publishing several branded stories a month before striking gold in late 2017, when Snapchat announced Lens Studio, which lets Snapchat creators develop AR lenses for free.
Since then, Quiamco has created Snapchat AR lenses for brands like Hulu , Marriott, Ulta, and her former employer, Verizon, and carved out a lucrative business along the way. In 2021, Quiamco earned about $750,000.
Read more about how Quiamco became a millionaire from designing Snapchat AR lenses for brands.
Snapchat creator Cyrene Quiamco.
Cyrene Quiamco.
Like Quiamco, it's not unusual for some creators to sign lucrative brand deals in exchange for promoting products and services in their posted content.
Snapchat has also made it easier for businesses to find creators to work with through its Creator Marketplace, launched in 2021, which helps brands to find creators based on criteria such as location, specialties, Lens category, and budget.
Here's our coverage on how Snapchat creators make money and manage their time.
How much Snapchat creators earn from Spotlight and how they do it:
Katie Feeney is a creator with more than 854,000 Snapchat subscribers. Feeney, who started posting to Spotlight when she was a high school senior, shared how she earned $1 million in just two months.
Sarah Callahan is a creator with over 10 million TikTok followers. The actress, model, and fitness influencer explained how she made over $1 million through Spotlight.
Joey Rogoff is a creator with about 81,000 Snapchat subscribers. Rogoff earned at least $1.2 million through Spotlight.
Kevin Parry is a stop-motion animator and visual effects artist with nearly 117,000 Snapchat subscribers. He earns thousands per Snapchat video.
How to make money from Snapchat lenses:
Cyrene Quiamco is a prolific AR lens creator for brands on Snapchat. Quiamco shared how she made about $750,000 in 2021.
How Snapchat creators juggle the demands of their busy schedules:
Jack Settleman is a sports influencer with nearly 184,000 Snapchat subscribers. Settleman, who runs the account SnapBack Sports, broke down his daily routine and earnings.
More: Snapchat Influencers Creator economy | 2022-05-25T11:07:59Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Make Money on Snapchat, From Spotlight to Lenses | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-money-on-snapchat-according-to-creators-spotlight-lenses | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-money-on-snapchat-according-to-creators-spotlight-lenses |
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